Heart Stopper by R J Samuel Read Free Book Online

spoke. “She’s obviously upset at what’s happened.”
    “And have you two met before today?”
    Priya gulped down some port. Should she admit to meeting Reyna that night in Massimo? How much did Catherine know of her daughter’s movements?
    Catherine seemed to take pity on Priya. She said, “Reyna was staying with me in Connemara when she came to Ireland. She was supposed to meet Daniel at the pub on Friday night. Perhaps you met her there. Daniel mentioned he had to go to somebody’s birthday party there, somebody from the clinic. I assume you would have been there for that.”
    Priya felt her face go hot again. She was grateful for the air-conditioning without which she would probably have been sweating profusely. As it was, she could feel a light sheen on her face.
    “Yes, it was Tara’s birthday. And Daniel didn’t turn up; he was supposed to be there. I might have seen Reyna there. She did seem familiar when I saw her today.” Was she babbling? Could Catherine see through her feeble words?
    “I guess he must have been dead by that stage.” Catherine took a long swallow of the brandy emptying the glass. She poured some more out for herself. “My son, the world-famous cardiologist, dies from a heart attack. He wanted to be a famous doctor so much; he wanted to be just like his grandfather.” Another sip. “Not like his father. He didn’t want to be like his father. Though who could blame him. Leo was too different for all of them. The Fairers.” Catherine almost spat the last word out. Then her tiny burst of anger seemed to fade and she mumbled, “But I was wrong, wasn’t I.” She brushed at a wisp of silver that had escaped from her neatly styled hair.
    Priya glanced around the room. Nobody seemed to be listening. She wanted to be back home, in her little cocoon. She looked for Reyna, but there was no sign of her or her grandfather. Priya felt a jolt in her stomach, what had happened with that woman?
      “She’s probably with her grandfather sorting out the rest of the day, and the week, and probably the next few months.”
    Priya brought her attention back to Catherine immediately. “I wasn’t looking for her.” She was annoyed with herself for stammering. What was wrong with her? “I was just admiring the room; it’s quite lovely, isn’t it?”
    “Yes, it is. But you’d be surprised at the things that have happened in this room.” Catherine looked around the room as if seeing for the first time. “He was standing right there.” She pointed to the antique desk that they could just see through the crowd. Priya noticed a dark wood rocking horse under the desk. The light darted off the intricate saddle on the rocking horse, the mute sheen of its rosewood body blending into the paneled landscape.
    “Daniel?” Priya asked.
    “Yes, my 9 year old boy. My beautiful baby boy. He chose to stay here, with his grandfather. I had to leave him. I had to go. I was pregnant with Rain, Leo was going.” Catherine’s eyes were focused on the rocking horse. Its one visible carved eye stared into the distance. “Leo was going, with or without me. Tell me Priya, how is your father doing?”
    The sudden change of topic threw Priya off her train of thought. “He’s fine.” She hesitated when she saw the question in Catherine’s eyes. “Well, not really. He’s doing his duty in India at the moment; he’s going to go there for a month every year to help out at a clinic there.” Priya’s face tensed. “He’s trying to work through his guilt I think. My mother was treated at that clinic and they screwed up. It had nothing to do with him; they were only on holiday there. And he didn’t want to offend the ‘great’ doctor that ran the clinic. He questioned him, but not enough. So she died. And I was too busy getting my act together in Ireland with the new job and … other stuff. Wanted to prove everyone wrong. Didn’t realize how serious it was.” She stopped. “I can’t believe I’m