Read Online Blood And Water by Siobhain Bunni - Free Book Online Page B

embarrassed by the fact that he had addressed this request to the guests rather than her, as if she had no say in the matter. Indeed, it was less a request than a demand which left her little option but to smile politely and go with him.
    “What is it, Dad?” she asked, aware that they were being covertly watched by the table of intrigued guests.
    Already antagonised, she met his command that she move tables with a rebellious “Absolutely not”.
    “You do realise, don’t you,” William informed her cruelly, “that he’s only sitting beside you to get at me?”
    Enya looked at her father then back at the offending guest who was gleefully aware of the reaction his move had prompted.
    “Is that so?” she replied.
    “Yes, so find somewhere else to sit,” he commanded with the weight of his authority evident in his voice, moving her along, expecting her to acquiesce.
    “Don’t be ridiculous, Dad,” she replied with a smirk. “He’s harmless.”
    “Just do as you’re told, for once.”
    “Sorry?”
    “I asked you to move, so move seats, find somewhere else to sit. I don’t want you beside him. Is that clear?”
    There was no recognition of her being there for him, no offer to help her find an alternative place to sit, no suggestion she might join him at his table.
    ‘Move’ was all Enya heard. If he hadn’t been so nasty in his request, she might have politely complied. But his conduct triggered the quirk peculiar to her that ran through her like a river, provoking an instinctive no, and without another word she returned to the table.
    A chivalrous Cathal rose and pushed in her chair as she sat.
    “Interesting,” he remarked, nodding towards his retreating and fuming opponent. He sat down and reached for the wine to fill her glass.
    “Really? In what way?” Enya replied, casually accepting the wine with a grateful bow of her head.
    “Oh, it was easy to interpret that body language,” he said with a smile. “Hmmm … I didn’t think I’d ever meet anyone who’d say no to William Bertram.”
    “Well, you hadn’t met me, had you?” she said.
    So began what was initially an unexpressed symbiotic relationship, each with their own ulterior motive: to irritate Minister Bertram. Each more childish than the other.
    On their first date they made a pact not to talk about him, which in itself Enya saw as an indirect insult to him.
    “It would kill him to know we’re not talking about him,” she laughed as they sealed their agreement with a toast and moved on to find out more about each other. It was remarkably easy not to mention him and the cynic in her was silenced by the amount of things she and Cathal actually had in common. By the end of the night Enya found herself looking at her relationship with her father’s opponent in a different light: less as an act of rebellion, more a prospect she might actually enjoy.
    Not surprised by her father’s refusal to accept their relationship, Enya found herself exiled to the family peripheries. Even after William by the tiniest of margins won the political battle at the polls, he still refused to acknowledge her. She was still, of course, invited to family get-togethers but Cathal was never made feel wholly welcome and in the end he made his excuses and nobody lamented his absence. Insulted, he forced Enya to choose: stand with him or with her father. With no other option, uncomfortably and with silent misgivings, she made her choice and stopped going altogether. Ciara was devastated at the time while the others, including Seb, said it was for the best. Although they were disappointed by her absence, no one liked the atmosphere that Cathal and their father created – the mood became explosive when they were present in the same room at the same time. Many years later, after their relationship began to disintegrate, she wondered if their marriage lasted as long as it had out of sheer defiance of her father.
    In hindsight, with the exception of having Lia, she