Hot Revenge Box Set 2

After clearing up the breakfast dishes, I go looking for Klempner. I find him outside, on the terrace. The fog is clearing and leaning with both hands on the wall, he stares out over the valley, watching wreaths of silver mist twine over the lake.

I take a place beside him. “You okay?”

He turns. “Yes,” he smiles, “I'm extraordinarily okay.”

He looks away, then looks back, meeting my eye. “But we both know I fit in there like a giraffe in a wet suit. However, my thanks for the invitation. I appreciate it. I really do...” He picks at a bit of lichen growing on the stonework.

“But you're not ready to settle down with the carpet slippers and the chocolate Labrador by the hearth?”

“No. And as you said, there are things I need to do, dealing with Baxter being the priority.” He blows air. “Do you think Mitch will handle that? For some fairly obvious reasons, I can't stay here long. But even if I could stay, it wouldn’t work. Not long term.”

“I think you should ask her yourself…”

“But…”

“… But… I suspect that for both of you, simply knowing that the other is there will count for a lot. And besides, if you're careful, you can visit from time to time. See your daughter, your grand-daughter.”

He looks at his feet, scuffing at the ground. “I suppose.”

“Does it occur to you that for Mitch, a… um… part-time relationship, might appeal?”

His forehead furrows. “Run that by me again.”

“Mitch has had men controlling her all her life. Or trying to. She’s enjoying her freedom, especially now she’s earning money… Real money… in her own right. Living a life of her own but having a partner… you… there occasionally might just work, for both of you. The two of you would simply spend quality time together.”

He rubs the back of his neck. “Would that work?”

“It might. It wouldn’t be for everyone. But for Mitch… And for you… Who knows? Wouldn’t it be worth a try?”

His head sways, slowly, up and down. “Do you think Jenny will want to see me?”

“I think so, yes. It might be a bit of a rocky road for a while, but it will be good for her.”

“And you? Will I be welcome here?”

“For me, yes, you’ll be welcome. But for now, will you stay for Christmas? I’m sure Mitch would like that.”

“Yes…” He scuffs at the ground. “I think I will. In any case, there are things I need to do here too.”

“And after that? Back to Thailand?”

He flashes me a startled glance, then his smile twists into humour. “Um... Nooo… Not Thailand. It's not a very healthy environment for me just now. No, it’s South America for me next.”

“Will you keep me informed on that? Anything you learn.”

“Of course. I’ll set something up so we can stay in contact this time… without you having to rig up my old wiretap again.”

*****

Klempner

At the door, standing ajar, I hesitate, my stomach suddenly dropping away.

Have I done enough?

With muscles oddly reluctant to move, I tap on the door, very quietly.

“It’s open.”

I push, and too slowly, the door swings wider.

Jenny’s sitting in a rocking chair by the window. Her hair, so like her mother’s spills over a thick shawl pulled around her shoulders. A warm blanket covers her lap. And her face, while pale, has lost that sheen she had when Michael and I found her.

And held in her arms, wrapped in layers of knitted woollens…

Cara…

Your daughter.

My granddaughter.

I want to say something. Something appropriate, but I’m not sure what it should be.

I abused you…

Mistreated you…

Took my revenge on you…

had no involvement

gaze rises to me, you smile…

did I ever think to see you smile at

“May I come in?”

“Of course you can.”

adjusts her position, fiddles with the layers of blankets and then, in a

Oh, God…

She’s feeding her…

where to look. “My apologies. I didn’t intend to interrupt my

exactly new to me. Even seeing Jenny giving birth to

Breast-feeding?

Too personal…

neck, I spin, trying to find

Anywhere else…

my eyes

walls in a multicoloured herd accompanied by a kind of rainbowed Pegasus above

find myself easing one way then the other, trying to get perspective on the

It moves…

mother loose with

it?

She's still using that trick I see. Making them

smile I’ve

in agreement with the mermaid. “It was a butterfly the

how she does

paintings; how they were intended to be seen

“Will you tell me

“Like what?”

and Mom. How you met. How you got

Past gnaws at me. “You’re

“I think so, yes.”

talk has never been

room. She watches me, calm,

could change what’s past.

has happened. But you can change the future…” She tilts her chin. “You’ve already

still, I don’t know what to say. Inside I’m tight, cold, but heat rises up my

Long seconds pass.

shifts, adjusting the blankets and her clothes as the rocker moves slightly, to and fro. Absently, I notice that the chair also has received the ‘Mitch treatment’, painted cream, ferns twine up and around

two towards me, the baby

inside me jolts. “Hold

her. She’s your granddaughter.

and the heat in my chest disperses to

offering me the

to see James, Michael and Mitch, all gathered

look to James. He raises brows, lips twitching. “She’s the mother. It’s

Michael steps forward, a hand under her arm. “Take it

closer, offering her baby

My granddaughter…

world. The features are soft and unformed. A drop of milk dribbles from her mouth… She smells milky too, a kind

do

What’s expected?

a finger

as I touch, another hand, smaller than the end of my thumb, takes hold of my finger,

Such tiny fingernails.

me. “You want to. I can see

I’ve never done this

sake don’t

her in my

my hand, slipping it under the

Then she steps away.

think not quite focussed on me. A wisp of hair

Dark-haired like her father?

there a touch

…

What to say?

“Hello, Cara.”

says, “It’s

Crap…

fucking times can I fucking

get the name

“It’s not? I thought…”

hand on her arm “Charlotte? I thought…” There’s hurt in his voice. And confusion. “I thought it

Even James is frowning.