Bella (36 page)

   
“
I want to make this as special as possible for you! You deserve to
be happy again Bella, after all the drama you
’
ve
been through.
”

As I stood next to Richard, I could
see from the look in his eye and by the way he held me, that his love for me
was so pure.,
As we were dancing, the music went silent and
everybody stopped
and stared, I
thought at first they were looking at us dancing.

But as I glanced to
the door I saw a blast from the past. Simon
stood there looking at us both with tears in his eyes; my heart
skipped a beat when I saw how sad he looked. Why did he have to show up now? It
was as though I was being punished for finding happiness with
Richard. Simon walked across the dance
floor towards us both and
glared
at Richard.

  
“
What the hell is going on here?
”
He shouted.

  
“
How dare you come here and ask that question
when you have been gone for so long. Bella was so
unhappy after you disappeared, she turned to me for comfort and over
time we fell in love. This is our
engagement party, I love
Bella
dearly and I know she feels the same about me. We are getting married as soon
as possible. You had your chance
Simon, but blew it. You
’
re my brother, but
you
never even let me know
where you were. I know everything there is to know, that Robert
and Liam are your children. Bella has told
me everything.
There aren
’
t
any secrets between us and she can finally feel at ease
.
”

I just stood there
listening.

  
“
If you
’
d been any kind of man you would
’
ve
been there for your children.
”

I looked at Simon
with tears in my eyes.

  
“
Do you
realise how hard this has been for me? I
couldn
’
t
tell you all those
years ago that Robert was also your child and I had to grieve for him alone.
When I told you
Liam was yours,
you just walked away and left me standing there. You don
’
t deserve to be a father; at least
our father loved you and Lizzie and bought you up as his
own
”

Richard and I walked
away and left him standing there just as he did to me all those
years ago.

  Ben moved to New York and moved in with
Lizzie it turned out that the spark between them had never disappeared. He
found a place nearby and decided to open up a new fashion house with all his
own designs. As he and Lizzie had been childhood sweethearts and had been his
first love; he decided to call his new design
label.

                                     
‘
Lizzie.
’

   It didn
’
t
take long for word of mouth to
get
around and people were soon lining up for his designs.The label
‘
Lizzie,
’
became famous in the fashion world.

They eventually got married and moved to a
beautiful penthouse
apartment
not far from mine.

As Richard was in the business of
 
property developing it didn
’
t take long for him
to also become well known in his field, his
forte was renovating old mansions to their original glory.

   After buying an old mansion for ourselves
and doing it up, we decided to sell our apartment and move in
to the mansion. It stood in an acre of
ground and thought it would be a good place to keep horses. I opened up a
riding school and Lizzie and Violet decided to help in this new venture. It
didn
’
t take
long for
Lizzie to sell her shop and as Violet needed something to do, it seemed like
the ideal situation.

After we all received some training to open the
business, everything fell into place.

   When
the business was approaching the first
year, we decided to open the riding school for children . One day a woman
arrived with a beautiful little boy about five
years old, she said he was from the local orphanage and had been
chosen out of all the children to be given the opportunity to
learn to ride a horse. His name was Andrew
James but
everyone called him
AJ, he was a beautiful child with blonde
curly hair and big blue eyes. Lizzie instantly took to him and she
became his personal teacher.

After several months she approached the
orphanage and

asked if it was possible to foster little AJ,
with the intention

of adopting, if Ben and her were approved.

Lizzie and Ben sat AJ down and asked him if he
would like to go
and live with
them, he put his little arms around Lizzie
’
s
neck and cried.

  
“
I would love you to
be my mummy and daddy!
”

After attending court several sessions with the
Judge, it was decided that Lizzie and Ben would be ideal parents, they walked
into the waiting room where little AJ was sitting with Richard and I. He looked
at them, his little face full of anticipation waiting for news.

  
“
Let's go home son.
”
  They told him hugging him tightly. Lizzie felt her life was
complete. She had
everything
she could ever dream of. A man she idolised, a job
she loved and finally her beautiful son.

Roy eventually moved back to England and got a
place with his lady friend that he had met before.  

Richard and I loved the life we had created for
ourselves, but lurking in my mind was Simon. I wondered what had happened to
him after the night of our engagement. I
didn
’
t want to tell Richard how I felt so I decided to make some
enquiries on my own. Even though I
’
d promised there
should be no more secrets.

I hired a Private Detective and gave him as
much detail as I could, also the most recent photograph I had of Simon.

It didn
’
t
take long before the Detective came back with information.

   
“
Simon was in Rehab, recovering from an alcohol addiction. He was in
a very bad way when they found him, nobody knew who he was. He was found lying
in his own vomit in an alleyway not far from where he grew up as a child. He
had no identification on him, so a photo was placed in the local paper,
although no one claimed to know him. He had a serious case of liver poisoning;
and because he had gone too far his liver gave out. There was nothing they
could do. I
’
m extremely sorry to tell you this, but Simon passed away last
night.
”

  
“
Are you absolutely
positive it was Simon?
”
Thinking they could have been mistaken. He said nobody knew who he
was.

  
“
Yes madam. In the end
a lady came forward and identified him.
”

  
“
Who was it?
”
I asked still not believing what I was hearing.

  
“
Sorry, the lady
wishes to remain anonymous. So I can
’
t divulge that
information.
”

I couldn
’
t
get any words out and I couldn
’
t
take the news.

Everything was a blur to me.

 
I was too late to help him...... My love.......... My Simon.
I wasn
’
t
there when he needed me. I have to tell Richard....... I have to tell Richard
his brother is dead.

Richard was so upset.

  
“
Why did you go behind
my back? Marriage is about trust Bella! I could
’
ve
come with you. You didn
’
t have to find this out on your own.
”

  
“
I just felt like something
wasn
’
t right. I didn
’
t want to bother you until I was sure that my suspicions were
confirmed.
”

After taking in the news we realised we had to
claim Simon and arrange a funeral for him.I contacted Roy and told him the
awful news. He was as shocked and upset as we were, nonetheless there was still
a funeral to organise whether we liked it or not. I asked him to arrange it for
the following week, so we would all have enough time to make arrangements to
get there. I knew I had to say goodbye to Simon. I couldn
’
t let him go without saying goodbye and I knew he would never rest
in peace if I didn
’
t. I also knew that this would finally be the end of an era.

   We all arrived in England on a cold November
day, and thought it was best to stay with Roy. We got the chance to meet his
wife for the first time, she was nothing like Tammy, but they seemed happy
together, she greeted us with warm affection and it broke the ice.

Her name was Vera, she was quite small and well
built
,
unlike Tammy who was tall and elegant. She had
grey hair and hazel eyes. She did not appear as loving as Tammy was but Roy
seemed happy with her and that is the important thing. I think all he needed
was companionship. The day of the funeral arrived and I wasn
’
t looking forward to it, nevertheless I knew I had to say goodbye.

We arrived at our local
church and waited for the Hurst to
arrive; the
coffin was
covered in white
Lilies and his name spelt out in red carnations. The minute I saw his name in
flowers I cried, it hit me like a thunderbolt and I realised Simon would
no longer be mine. Roy was asked if it was
going to be a burial or cremation and he said that the family would
prefer the latter.
Most of the residence of Lighthouse Cove were in the
congregation, Richard had prepared a speech.
As I looked around the church there wasn
’
t
a dry eye in sight and I knew he was well loved. As Richard got up to speak he
looked at me.

  
“
I think you should do
this Bella. After all you have known him longer and I
’
m
sure he
’
d appreciate it.
”

I found this one of the hardest things I have
ever had to do in my entire life. My sobs were uncontrollable and Richard had
to take over. As the coffin disappeared behind the curtain I looked at it and
could not believe the man I had loved all
my life was laying there all alone.

   We left the church and waited for the vicar
to tell us when the ashes would be ready to be picked up.

He told us it would be in a couple of days. I
decided there and then that I would put Simon
’
s
ashes over the grass by the bench that we used to sit on.

The time arrived to pick up Simon
’
s ashes
.                                                                            
   

  
“
This is something you
should do alone. I hope it puts an end to your heartache.
”

I sprinkled Simon
’
s
ashes at our favourite place, and laid down a red rose.

I cried uncontrollably as I said goodbye to
him.

    
“
I will always love
you
.
”
I whispered.

As I stood there I could feel strong arms
around me and I felt Simon
’
s presence so strong. I could have sworn I smelt the scent of his
perfume, but
when I turned
around it was Richard. I just happened to look over his shoulder as he leant in
to give me a kiss and saw Simon walking away.

  
“
You have suffered
long enough Bella. Now you can finally be at peace. Richard held my hand as we
walked off together along the beach.

I turned round one last time and saw Simon
looking directly at me. The feeling of love for him was suddenly overpowering.

 
“
You belong to me
beloved Bella
!
”
He mouthed.