by Graham West
Jenny’s mouth fell open. “What? You fancy me?”
Darren winced. “I have to go. This is freaking me out!”
He burst out of the café door and ran down the street, bumping shoulders with passing shoppers. At any moment, his phone would go and there would be a message from Jenny. She would be disgusted. She would tell him what a pervert he was. Why had he told her? Why couldn’t he have just given it a chance? He’d spent two years in that place; that would screw anyone up.
He found a bench in the local park and sat, his heart still pounding. The locals jogged along there—they brought their kids and walked their dogs. No one knew him. He was safe. There was plenty of time to cool down before facing his uncle, although God only knew what Harry the slob would say. Darren took out his phone. Maybe he’d check out a game and try to take his mind off things. Eight-ball pool looked good.
He was three games in when he sensed someone standing in front of him. Darren glanced up, expecting to find an old lady looking for a seat. But it was Jenny. She stood, staring down at him. A gentle smile formed as he squirmed under her gaze.
“Why are you sitting here? Don’t you have a home or something?”
“I needed time to think,” he replied, avoiding eye contact and wondering if he was dreaming the whole encounter.
“Why did you run away?” she asked with genuine concern that took him by surprise. Did she really need to ask?
“You know why!”
Jenny sat down beside him, her hands folded on her lap. There was a ring on her finger—Jake’s ring.
“It’s too hard,” he said. “I wanted to kiss you and it’s just not right!”
Jenny turned. “No, it’s not right. And yes, I was shocked at first.”
“At first?”
“Yeah, but then I got thinking. How many lads would be so honest? I know how much you want me in your life, yet you were willing to walk away because of the way you felt.”
“It isn’t fair. You were being kind—giving me a chance—and I was having these thoughts…”
“Yes, I know, and you admitted it. I spent years thinking you were a thug with no heart. But actually, I really think you are a pretty decent person, and you’re honest, too.”
“But these feelings?”
Jenny shrugged. “We can’t help the way we feel, and I’m guessing you’re not the first to have feelings for a family member. These things happen. It’s how you deal with it—that’s the difference between right and wrong.”
“That’s why I walked away.”
Jenny smiled. “But I don’t want you to walk away. Not now.”
Darren shook his head, the hope rising. “But isn’t it going to be a bit weird?”
“Only if we let it. Okay, I admit, I’m giving you a chance because I’m flattered, and I know in a few months, those feelings will fade. You’ll find a girl.”
“And what if the feelings don’t fade?”
Jenny smiled. “Then that will be your problem, not mine.” She reached over and stroked his cheek. “I’m going to give you something.”
Darren stared at her as she moved closer. His heart pounded so hard he felt as if his ribs were going to fracture. Then her lips touched his cheek, and electricity coursed the length of his spine.
Jenny backed off with a smile. “I want you to know that everything’s cool. Everything’s okay. I want you to be my brother. I want you in my life.”
Chapter Forty-Eight
“So how did the meeting with Darren go?” Jake asked without looking up from his phone.
“I’m just taking things slowly,” she replied, trying to sound casual. It was probably best not to mention their discussion, although Jenny couldn’t erase it from her mind. The voice inside her head was clear, and as her lips had touched his cheek, she felt a warmth that thrilled her.
Jake looked troubled. “How slow?”
Jenny hated lying. She recalled the conversations they had. Their relationship had to be built on trust, and she knew Jake loved her.
“I’m just sussing him out. It will take time.” Was it a lie? Or was she withholding information?
Jake nodded. “Okay. No probs.”
“I’m sorry,” Jenny said with a sigh.
“Sorry? About what?”
“Because I know how you feel. You don’t want him in our lives—”
Jake didn’t allow her to finish the sentence. “He’s not in our lives, Jen. He’s in yours.”
Jenny felt a physical pain in her chest. “I know. I know how you feel.”
Jake shook his head. “No, you don’t, babe. But if it makes you happy—if he makes you happy—then I’ll stand aside, because I don’t want to lose you.”
Jenny fought back the tears. “You won’t. I won’t let that happen.”
Jake didn’t look convinced. “You couldn’t wait to meet up again, though. As soon as I backed down, you were in there—messaging him.”
Jenny stared, trying to find the words.
Jake shrugged. “I don’t know how you feel about him. He’s your brother, and maybe that’s what you see when you look at him, but I just see a thug. I can never forgive him. Can you?”
There was a genuine sadness in his eyes. “It might be best if we keep off the subject. Let’s just concentrate on getting the cottage spruced up for this magazine guy.”
Jenny forced a smile. She wanted to tell Jake the truth. She wanted to tell him what had happened that afternoon. She wanted to tell him how honest her half-brother was, and how she had chased after him when he’d run away to the park. But most of all, she wanted to tell him how, in that moment, any traces of resentment had drained away.
***
Darren lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, recalling the moment. What was it about a girl’s lips? What was the big deal? Why did he feel as if the Earth had spun off its axis? She didn’t love him—not the way he loved her, anyway. But he had almost danced home, and even Uncle Harry, who wasn’t the most observant person in the world, had noticed.
“Hey, someone’s in a good mood,” he joked.
Darren had told him about the meeting with Jenny. “We’re getting on really well,” he said eagerly, unable to contain his excitement. “I even got a goodbye kiss.”
Harry had played it down. “A goodbye kiss, eh? Don’t read too much into that, lad!”
Darren had taken an ice cream out of the freezer and headed up to his room. He didn’t feel like tackling one of his uncle’s microwaved meals, even though they looked a hell of a lot better than the greasy breakfasts he cooked up every morning. He would play some music and chill for a while. Maybe catch a movie on Netflix if he could stop thinking about Jenny for more than a couple of minutes. Of course, she would have forgotten the kiss by now and so should he. He was just the brother—the half-brother—who hung around in the background, watching his sister get married and have a couple of kids. He would watch her make a life with him—Jake. The tough guy who liked to throw his weight around. Maybe he should never have stopped running. You can’t help who you love. Yeah, but that was just something people said. No one really believed it. Not when it came to having the hots for someone you were related to. That was just a bit too weird. It was wrong.
Darren sighed and pulled his headphones from his ears. He wasn’t up to listening to love songs, and the heavy metal stuff reminded him of Kevin Taylor. He checked his phone for messages. Nothing. Nothing from Jenny. He wanted to let her know how much what she’d said meant to him, but he guessed she already knew. Snap out of it! You have a sister! Just be happy!
Darren remembered how the kids at school had talked about his mother. Sure he knew she was good-looking, but he still hated it when they called her a MILF. Okay, they fancied her—but at least they weren’t related. Kevin Taylor teased him constantly about it, asking if he’d ever seen her naked. It was no big deal to a kid from the Kirkland Estate—Incest Central.
There were stories of aunties sleeping with nephews, fathers wit
h stepdaughters, and uncles with nephews, too. Taylor seemed to revel in the notoriety of the area where there was a street fight nearly every day. He wondered what Taylor would make of his situation. Ya know me, Daz—if it has a hole… Darren winced. He was better than that. Jenny had found forgiveness in her heart. She believed in him. Whatever it took, and however hard it was going to be, he was going to be the kind of brother she deserved.
***
Jenny had hoped Jake would understand or, at least, appreciate her honesty. But he looked like a cornered cat—every hackle had risen. Sometimes it’s better to stand and fight, Jenny thought. At least you can make up and move on. Brooding had never been her way, but Jake was different.
“You’ve totally forgiven him? And you told him?” he hissed. “Already?”
Jenny nodded and watched as Jake shoved his phone into his back pocket and stormed out of the room, slamming the door so hard that the whole cottage seemed to shake. Ten minutes later, his car engine fired up. She wanted to run out, plead with him to stay and talk, but there was not much to discuss. She’d told him that the road to forgiveness would be a long and difficult one, and Jake was probably thinking that if they had children of their own, Darren would be forgotten.
Jenny tried his phone, but Jake wasn’t picking up. Perhaps a message would be better.
We talked about being honest! Be back by 10 or I’m gone!!!!
She pressed send and lay back across the sofa, praying for a reply. Either Jake was on his way back or he was going to call her bluff. Her father was a ten-minute drive away and her own bed—the one in which she had slept since childhood—remained empty. But if she returned, even for a night, there would be questions, and her father would not like the answers.
She closed her eyes, and within a few minutes the familiar scent of Mosswood filled the room. Jenny shivered, feeling a presence. The table lamp flickered and died, leaving the room illuminated only by the light from the TV screen. Branches crept across the ceiling before her eyes as the roots from the trees that bore them snaked along the floor. Within seconds, the cottage had been consumed by nature’s voracious appetite. But this could never be a dream, could it? She had barely closed her eyes. She still clasped the phone to her chest.
The darkness of the woodland was broken only by shafts of moonlight breaking through the canopy of green above her. The lone figure of a girl in a bloodstained nightgown peered down at the ground. Amelia seemed transfixed, unaware that there was anyone else there. Jenny called her name but the sound was swallowed by the eerie silence.
She stepped forward and called out again. This time, Amelia looked up. I’m here, she whispered. Her lips didn’t move, but the words echoed through the woodland. Suddenly, the trees withered, withdrawing their branches and roots. Jenny found herself in the familiar surroundings of the cottage lounge, still clutching her phone. She looked down to discover that while the wood floor was unmarked, her feet were scarred with tiny scratches. The smell of the forest faded slowly as she sat upright. Jake was standing behind her.
“I’m sorry,” he said softly. Jenny didn’t have time to react before he sat beside her. “I’ll try to understand. I promise.”
She looked up at him and nodded distractedly. Amelia was at the forefront of her mind—had it been a dream or had she been hallucinating? She would spend tonight building bridges and tell Jake about her visit to Mosswood in the morning, no matter how foolish it sounded.
Chapter Forty-Nine
Robert Adams sat in the corner of The Keys flicking through the newsfeed on his phone while Josie polished a long line of wine glasses behind the bar. Lou had called the cleaners in early after the hen night which had, in Josie’s words, gotten well out of hand.
A small middle-aged woman with a blue pinafore and greasy jet-black hair tied back into a ponytail was shaking her head. “Women! They’re worse than men sometimes!” She looked over at Rob. “You should see the state of them fucking toilets! Friggin’ puke all over the show. Dirty bitches!”
Lou smiled and shrugged his shoulders. “Sorry, Norma!”
Norma sprayed the nearest table with disinfectant. “Yeah, well, sorry don’t pay no bills. We should be getting a bonus for this. There’s used condoms in there, too! You guys should be keepin’ an eye on that—kids having sex in the toilets. It’s disgustin’.”
Josie looked up. “Hey, Norma, they’d have been having sex in the bar if we hadn’t kept our eye on things. I said I’d never have any more stag or hen parties after the last one. They’re all as bad as each other, so I mean it this time. No more pissed-up gangs, and no more strippers—male or female.”
Norma nodded her approval. “The place stinks. Needs fumigating, if you ask me.”
Josie laughed. “Okay, Norma. I get the message. You get this place looking spick and span by eleven and I’ll put an extra few quid in your wage packet.”
Norma nodded and managed a half-smile. Josie winked at Rob, who thought he might try to hold his water until the toilets were clean. A few of the hens had managed to find their way into the gents’ and attempted to take a pee standing over the urinals before vomiting on the floor.
He wondered how the troop of partying girls felt right now. They would probably be nursing sore heads and wondering what they’d got up to. There would be plenty of photographs on social media and messages flying back and forth. Thinking of it made Rob glad he’d ditched the bottle. It was hard sometimes. That malt whisky on the bar still looked like nectar, but he liked waking with a clear head these days.
Rob slid the phone into his pocket and picked up a copy of a TV magazine and checked out the cover. There was a Photoshopped picture of a super-slim soap star with the caption: How I Lost three stone in three months! Rob yawned. Maybe if someone offered him enough money he’d manage to drop a couple of stone as well. He was in the middle of an article about an autistic film producer when there was a loud rapping on the front door.
“Probably the bride-to-be panicking because she’s lost her engagement ring,” Lou quipped as Norma made her way to the entrance. She returned thirty seconds later, looking directly at Rob. “It’s some girl,” she said. “Looking for Mr. Adams. Is that you?”
“It’ll be Jenny,” Josie said without bothering to look up from the glass she was polishing. “Just let her through.”
Norma beckoned to the girl. “Come on, sweetie. We won’t bite.”
Rob’s stomach knotted. Jenny knew The Keys and would never have hesitated.
The girl stepped through the doorway and stopped. She looked at him through tired eyes, her hair tidied tightly back into a ponytail.
“Kayla!” he gasped, standing suddenly, knocking the cup of coffee across the table. “What? Why didn’t you—”
“Ring?” she interrupted. “I thought you might have been in touch with me by now.”
Josie looked on, studying the girl who seemed anxious to keep her distance. “Why don’t you two talk in private?” she suggested. “You can use the room upstairs.”
Rob patted the chair next to him. “Here’s fine,” he said as Kayla made her way across the room. She slid into the seat beside him. Her sweat top smelled musty and her hair looked as if it hadn’t been washed in days. “I’m sorry. You know, just turning up like this. But you’re still my dad and this is important.” Kayla sounded tense.
Rob thought she might have been crying. “Look, if you’re in some kind of trouble—”
Kayla didn’t wait for him to finish. “It’s not me. It’s this lad I’ve been seeing.”
Rob saw the fear in her eyes. “So your boyfriend’s in trouble?”
Kayla shook her head. “I don’t know. That’s the problem.”
She looked away, clearly uncomfortable. “I thought he might have been to see you already. That’s why I was so worried!”
Rob shook his head. “Well, he hasn’t. Why would he?”
Kayla managed a weak smile. “He was mad cos you didn’t want to know me. He said he was gonna s
ort it.”
“Sort it?”
Kayla shrugged. “That’s all he said. I figured he’d find you and—”
Rob couldn’t disguise his anger. “And what? It’s none of his business!”
Fresh tears formed in Kayla’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Well, you can tell him from me to stay away!”
“I would, but I haven’t seen him for nearly two months. He’s not answering my calls.” Kayla began to sob. “That’s why I came to see you. I don’t know where he is.”
Rob frowned. “Two months?”
Kayla averted her eyes, running her fingers nervously around the edge of a cardboard beer mat. “He seemed okay, at first. I thought he was just protective, but then he’d go into these really strange moods. He’d disappear for days.”
Norma was hovering nearby, so Rob lowered his voice. “Well, he hasn’t been to see me, but someone has been vandalising my wife’s grave. An old friend of mine took a hell of a beating after he cleaned it up, and a young woman who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time ended up dead. You reckon that could have been your boyfriend?”
Kayla looked stunned. “Oh my god! That’s terrible!”
“That’s not an answer.”
“Jesus! No! Oh my god!”
“Listen, Kayla. I think you need to start at the beginning. Where did you meet this bloke?”
Rob saw the fear in her eyes. “Caden—his name’s Caden. He’s five years older than me. He seemed…kind.”
“Okay. Where did you meet this Caden?”
Kayla lowered her head. She had reduced the cardboard beer mat to a jigsaw. “The last time I saw you,” she said, her voice trembling, “I didn’t tell you the truth. Not the whole truth, anyway…” She paused, composing herself. “We moved to Ireland when I was twelve. I was made up to get out of London, and my mum did well with the hairdressing over there. But then she met this guy called Sean Kaplan. It was at a festival, and he said he was something to do with one of the bands. My mum believed him, but by the time she found out the truth, she was hooked.”
