94Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7u1ALRNfKm
As he swam, Calum tried to let the worry go. But the peaceful underwater stillness did nothing to ease the worry gnawing at his guts. The worry intensified whenever he came to the surface for a breath, and it was never too long before he went under again. He feared for Jenny and their unborn child, and every time he surfaced, he feared Mrs Doyle would be waiting there with the bad news - that the men in suits had coerced Jenny into returning to Galway with them. If they did, Calum vowed, as he went under again, he'd do all he could to get Jenny and their child back.
94Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHJEunpw9tm
94Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBAY53F5ABL
The afternoon gradually gave way to evening with no word, but finally, as the sun was starting to move towards the west, Jenny came into the poolhouse, pale and shaking. Her eyes were red-rimmed, but mercifully, she was in her bikini and sarong, having been the middle of her own swim when the men in suits had come for her. "I hate my mother," she said through gritted teeth, sinking onto the banana lounge.
Calum pulled himself out of the water and sat next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders. "They grilled you badly, dove," he guessed.
Jenny nodded, leaning gratefully against her husband. "For hours," she said. "I almost didn't think they were going to let me go to the loo, or have a drink, but Mrs Doyle told them to have some mercy and let me have a break so I could attend to my basic human needs." She sighed. "Damn my mother for a fool. It's as if she doesn't even care what she's doing to me and our child. Stress isn't good for an expecting mother, and she of all people should know that."
"Oh?" Calum smelled gossip. "Do tell."
"Mum was treated the exact same way as she's treating me," Jenny explained. "I've never told you or Finn this, but Mum came from a, well, lower background, same as Finn. Her ma-in-law didn't like that, and when Mum and Dad started walking out, Grandma did all she could to separate them. She put Mum through the same wringer when she was pregnant with me, and Mum fought tooth and nail to keep me when I was born. Grandma was camped out in the delivery room, and Mum reckoned she was priming to catch me when I emerged. Mum had to practically beg the doctors to get Grandma the hell out of her room before she lost her mind and lost me, but it was still a near thing. Grandma didn't even want Dad's name on the birth certificate, but Dad put his foot down and disowned his mum, telling her that if she didn't accept his marriage to Mum, then he wasn't her son, and I wasn't her granddaughter.:
Calum felt sick. "Damn," he said. "And yet, here we are, some almost twenty years later, and the Lady Roisin has not learned a damn thing from when her mam-in-law put her through the same hell you're being put through."
Jenny shook her head. "No," she said. She took a deep breath. "I told the suits that no matter what, I wasn't leaving you. They didn't believe me, and suggested that you were controlling me, to which I told them you were the least controlling man on earth. Well, except for when it comes to the temperature of the shower in the mornings," she added with a faint grin. "I didn't tell them that, of course, but you get the idea. They insinuated I was being coached, to which I told them to shove it up their arses. Mrs Doyle did a wonderful job, by the way. She played the role of impartial housekeeper so well I might've been fooled into believing it, did I not know her as well as I do."
"The woman's gold," Calum said. "Had I a few more years on me, I might've made a bid for her hand meself." He kissed Jenny''s hair. "But I've a fairer prize here in my arms. Still, I cannot help but admire Mrs Doyle - she's a good head on her shoulders, and more resourceful than I imagined."
"Have you a plan?" Jenny asked.
Calum kissed her again. "Indeed I do," he said, pleased that his wife had read his intentions so well. "Jesse is a good man for manning the squidding boat, but neither he nor I have the nouse to manage a business. And I want to turn it into a business. Mrs Doyle has already promised to set me up with an accountant, and if I ask her the right questions, she might be persuaded into helping me manage things - or at the very least point me in the right direction to get me a good manager."
"I can help," Jenny said. "I'm not very good at a lot of things, but I can do math. And I can easily help haul nets and pots when the wee one is a bit older."
"You want to come squidding with me?" Calum said, surprised and touched.
"Why wouldn't I?" Jenny said. She smiled and kissed her husband on the cheek. "Once we get this legal brangle sorted out, the four of us can go out to sea and do some squidding. I won't be able to do much, but I just want to get out of the cities and towns for once, and get in some good salt air."
"Well." Calum had no arguments with that. "Then that is what we'll do," he said. "Jesse and I can sort out room for the baby if he or she decides to come whilst we're at sea. I'll talk to Mrs Doyle on the morrow, and we can take our first steps towards sorting things out."
94Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9N0Qbh5nYa
