The pair hadn't envisaged that their separate ways would take them quite so far apart. After Liam and Assumpta received a token slap on the wrist for dangerous driving, (Ambrose received a slap on the wrist too from his sergeant for being too lenient with the trio) Niamh suggested that her friend should take a trip to Dublin and allow Leo to hear the truth once she had gotten herself sorted. To Niamh's surprise this was taken better than her original suggestion of helping her through the miscarriage. Assumpta knew Niamh meant well as she too had suffered that tragedy before she gave birth to little Kieran, but Niamh knew that Assumpta was often more comfortable dealing with things by herself.
Once Assumpta had left Ballykissangel as did Peter, he had received a phone call asking him to get back to Manchester as soon as he could as his mother was terminally ill. Peter was still on auto pilot as he made his journey to be with his mum. He still hadn't gotten over the loss of the baby so he knew this might push him over the edge. Thank goodness Assumpta wouldn't be around to watch him crumble.
Assumpta returned to Ballykissangel exactly a week later with a heavy heart, she hadn't been able to tell Leo the truth. She tried but she couldn't face hurting another person who loved her unconditionally.
Once she returned to the bar she expected Niamh to give her a telling off about avoiding Leo but she wasn't expecting the revelation she came out with.
"Father Clifford's gone."
"Gone?" Assumpta gasped, she didn't think for a second he would leave without even telling her where he was going.
"Back to Manchester, his mother is very ill."
"Oh my god!" Assumpta exclaimed. The guilt of allowing him to suffer losing another person he loved on his own got to her. She never should have gone on that pointless trip to Dublin. She should have been there for him.
"He'll be back soon though, don't worry."
"Who's worried?" She replied trying to sound convincing.
That day the guilt surrounding her and Peter increased. She had to force herself to keep it together for the sake of appearances and to stop the locals asking awkward questions. That proved especially tricky when Siobhan proudly showed her a picture of her twelve week scan. Assumpta would have been due to have her own scan any day now, if only she hadn't been so careless when driving to the blasted bank. If only she had left it until later on.
No sooner had she composed herself, she received the news via Brendan that Peter's mother had passed away. He'd asked her to ring him but she didn't know what to say other than 'sorry' and how useful was that going to be? She wanted to comfort him but she didn't have the nerve. Part of her couldn't help thinking that Peter was right about them being punished for their sins but how could Assumpta believe in asking for absolution if she didn't believe in God? She lived in hope that whatever this was, Peter would be back soon and they would be able to sort things out properly.