The next morning Rachel woke up at half past eleven. She had a throbbing in her head and felt extremely ill. She groaned and opened her eyes, but quickly closed them again when they were greeted by sunlight. She brought her hand up and rubbed her eyes.

“Morning sleepy head” Came Peter’s voice. She opened her eyes slightly and saw him standing by the door “How are you feeling this morning?” He asked, coming over and sitting on the edge of the bed.

“Like crap” Rachel replied bluntly which made Peter laugh a little “Exactly how much did I have to drink last night?” She replied.

“Well let’s just say the bar was pretty much empty after we left”.

“Oh man” She shook her head, and then decided that probably wasn’t a very good idea when it sent pain through her head “Is James up”.

“Yeah he’s been up since the crack of dawn, he’s out with Natalie, they’re both pretty worried about you, we all were. You’ve never been a big drinker Rach what on earth were you thinking?” Peter asked. Suddenly the events of the wedding came flooding back to Rachel and she remembered what had happened.

“I don’t want to talk to about it,” She said quietly. Peter looked at her, as tears started to shine in her eyes.

“Ok you don’t have to, but if you decide you do want to then I’m here” He told her. All of a sudden Rachel burst into tears “Hay what’s all this?” Peter asked, sitting next to her and pulling her into a tight hug.

“I’m in love with him Peter. I’ve been in love with him for thirty years” Rachel said. She didn’t say his name but Peter knew she was talking about Micky.

“Oh Rach” He said.

“I told him when I ran out of the wedding and he came after me. I told him I was in love with him, he told me he was in with me too and he kissed me. It was the most exciting feeling, to be in his arms, to know he loved me too”.

“So what happened?”

“I sent him away. He was all ready to call off the wedding so we could be together but I told him no, I made him go back inside and marry her because I felt guilty. I already hate her, I mean I’ve never met her and I hate her but I can’t be the cause of her pain”.

“No, just yours” Peter told her “Rach, Denise is a friend of mine I’ve come to know her very well but I have to admit Micky is nowhere near as happy with her as he was when he had you in his life” He said. Rachel looked up at him.

“Is this suppose to be making me feel better, because it’s really not” She told him.

“Sorry”.

“Do you think I made the right decision by telling him we couldn’t be together?” She asked, Peter thought about it for a moment.

“On paper yes, you did the right thing. From Denise’s point of view, yes you did the right thing and I shouldn’t say this because Denise is my friend but no, I don’t think you did the right thing” Peter told her, Rachel started to sob again.

“No neither do I” She replied, “I made a big mistake Pete and I’ve lost him again. I’ve spent my whole life losing him and I don’t think I can do this anymore”.

“Don’t think like that, of course you can” Peter told her.

“What am I going to do Pete? I’ve really messed up,” Rachel said.

“Well for a start you’re gonna stay here with me for as long as you need. I don’t want you going back to London like this”.

“I can’t I haven’t got any clothes, plus I’ve got a job to go to and James is at university” Rachel protested.

“That doesn’t matter, is there anyone in London who has a key to your flat?”

“Yeah a couple of friends do in case of emergencies”.

“Well I think this is an emergency, so call one of them up tell them to throw as much clothing as possible into a bag and I’ll arrange to have them picked up, do the same with James’ things” Peter instructed.

“What about my job? I’ll get fired”.

“How long have you worked there?”

“Eleven years”.

“Well it’s about time you had a long vacation, I’m sure they’ll allow it Rachel, just tell them an emergency came up and you to take some leave. You’ve been loyal to them for eleven years, it’s about time they repaid the favour”.

“I’m not sure, I mean how long are you thinking of?”

“As long as you need but tell them a month for now”.

“A month! Peter I couldn’t I’d be in the way, James too”.

“Nonsense! My kids moved out ages ago and I’m in this big house all by myself. You’d be doing me a favour I could use the company. I want you to stay Rachel” Peter told her and Rachel smiled.

“Well I’ll have to talk to James first but I’m pretty sure I’ll know his answer. Thank you Peter you’re a great friend”.

“Yeah, I know” Peter replied with a grin “Stay in bed for a while ok, get some rest” he said.

“Yes doctor Tork” Rachel said, saluting.

“Actually those are Doctor Nesmiths orders. You know for a guy who’s an alcoholic I’ve never had to take care of hung over teenagers, I guess my kids saw what happened to their dad and stayed away from booze, or they were just really good at hiding it” Peter said and Rachel laughed.

“So Mike was here huh?”

“He helped James and I bring you home and told us what to do when you woke up, get some rest I’ll tell James to come see you when he gets back”.

“Thanks Pete” Rachel said

“Sleep ok, I’ll see you later” Peter told her, he kissed her forehead then left.

continued