“No thanks, Mum.” Jaena pushed the invitations, now sorted into two piles, to one side. “I think I’ll take a shower. Mitch should be here soon and we’re going to the movies. But don’t worry, we won’t be going alone.”
Madi smiled. “I wasn’t worried. I trust Mitchell.”
“What about me?” Jaena pretended to pout.
“I know you too well to trust you,” Madi teased. She could hear Jaena laughing all the way up the stairs. She began tidying up the boxes of beads and sewing items on the table and was still there when Marcus walked in. He kissed her neck that was bent over the table. Madi turned and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“What are you smiling for?”
“Oh, I’ve just had a chat with Jaena.”
“Anything exciting I should know about?” His eyes were smiling as he kissed her on the lips this time.
“I’ll tell you about it later.”
He waved a hand around at the table and the evidence of their afternoon’s work. “Get it done?”
“Getting there. Now how about coffee?”
“Love one.” He undid his jacket and shrugged out of it. “But how about I make it?”
“Still don’t trust me to make your coffee?” She smiled up into his face and caught her breath when he kissed her again.
“When it comes to coffee, I know you too well to trust you,” and he unconsciously echoed Madi’s words.
Chapter Sixteen
“Jaena, can you give me a hand with these groceries?”
Madi hefted two large bags onto the kitchen counter and dropped her car keys next to them.
“Jaena?”
“Hmm?”
“I asked if you could help me with these groceries.”
“Hmm.”
Madi sighed and went to get the remaining bags from the car. When she returned, Jaena was still standing near the French doors staring out into the darkened garden.
“Jaena?”
Madi began putting items away in the pantry and refrigerator. When she had finished, she poured herself a glass of water and glanced at Jaena who still hadn’t moved.
“How did your shopping for shoes go?” She knew Jaena hated shopping with a vengeance and wondered if this was the reason for her behaviour.
“Okay.”
“Only okay?”
“We found shoes.”
“Are you going to show me?”
“Hmm.”
A pause while Madi watched her daughter intently.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
“There’s nothing wrong.”
“You could have fooled me.” Madi put her glass in the dishwasher and walked over to where Jaena stood. “Is it Mitch?”
Jaena burst into tears and Madi took her into her arms. “What has happened? Have you argued?”
“It’s nothing like that.”
“Then what is it?”
“I think he’s found someone else.”
Madi laughed, and then stopped when she caught sight of Jaena’s face. Gently leading her daughter to the sofa, she forced her to sit down, and then sat down beside her.
“Tell me what has happened.”
“He won’t answer my calls or messages.”
“Well, Jaeney-honey, he is busy. You knew this was going to be a tough year with his new job and your study and a wedding. I’m sure he’ll get back to you when he can.”
“It’s been five days. And he’s ignored every message and email and phone call I’ve sent him.”
“As I said, he’s probably busy.”
“Then how do you explain this?” Jaena whipped out her phone and began scrolling through images of Mitchell with another woman. At least, Madi assumed it was Mitchell. Every photo showed him from the back.
“Where did you get these?”
“Mitch sent them to me. Can you believe the nerve of that guy!” Jaena stood and walked angrily over to the window. “Is this the latest way to tell a girl that you’ve broken up with her? Send her photos of yourself with another woman?”
Madi stood and followed Jaena. “There could be a reasonable explanation.”
“Like what?” Jaena spun around and glared at her mother. “If this had been my father would you have thought it innocent?”
“Of course not, but this is different. Mitchell is not Damien and he has never given you any reason not to trust him.”
“Until now.”
“Are you even sure it’s Mitchell?”
“Of course it is. Look at the shirt. It’s the same one he was wearing on Christmas morning … when he proposed.” And Jaena burst into tears again. “Besides,” she managed between sobs, “I know the way his hair curls at the back when it needs a cut, and, see, it’s doing it in these photos.”
“Oh, honey.” Madi gathered her daughter into her arms and held her tight. “Don’t go jumping to conclusions yet. Yes, I agree that it doesn’t look good,” as her daughter pulled back to look at her in disbelief, “but it may not mean anything.”
“Not mean anything? Have you forgotten my father?” Jaena demanded.
“Jaeney-honey, I’ll say it again: Mitchell is not your father. You need to give him the benefit of the doubt …” She stopped when the phone rang.
“If that’s Mitch, I’m not talking to him.”
“I won’t lie for you,” Madi replied as she let go of her daughter and went to the phone.
“Hello. … Mitchell.” She glanced at her daughter who buried her face in her hands on hearing her fiancé’s name. “I’m afraid now is not a good time,” she responded when he asked to speak to Jaena.
“Oh. … Okay.” She could hear the disappointment in his voice. “Could you just give her a message for me then, please Madi? Tell her that I’ve lost my cellphone and that I’m back home. Pop’s had another stroke and is in Hospital. It doesn’t look good. Will you tell her? And tell her that I love her.”
“I’ll tell her. And Mitch, we’ll be praying.”
“Thank you.”
Madi hung up the phone and turned to face her daughter who was staring at her curiously.
“What does he need our prayers for?” Jaena still sounded upset – angry even.
“His grandfather’s in Hospital with another stroke. Mitchell says it doesn’t look good.”
Jaena slid down the wall to sit on the floor. “Oh no. Poor Mitch. He and his Pop are so close.”
She seemed to have already forgotten that she was angry with him as she bowed her head.
Madi waited a few minutes before passing on the rest of the message. “He also said his cellphone is missing.”
Jaena lifted a tear-stained face and looked uncomprehendingly at her mother. Madi repeated the message.
“But what about the photos?”
“I haven’t an explanation. But don’t you think you should ask Mitchell about them?”
Jaena nodded and rose to her feet. “I need to get down there, Mum.”
Madi nodded. “I understand. But it’s too late to go tonight. You can go in the morning. Borrow my car if you like.”
Jaena shook back her hair. “Are you serious? Take your car?”
Madi gave a hollow laugh. “At a time like this, having you drive my car seems like the least of my worries.”
*********
Jaena sat in Madi’s car outside Mitchell’s house, wondering what to do. She had tried ringing his parents’ landline before she left home, but, even given the early hour, there had been no reply. She had decided to make the trip in the hope that someone would be home when she arrived. But her knocks at both front and back doors had gone unanswered.
She could drive into the city and try the hospitals, but she didn’t know which hospital Mitch’s Pop had been admitted to – and she was not familiar enough with the capital to find the hospitals without some assistance.
A neighbour’s cat approached the car and Jaena had an idea. Hadn’t neighbours cared for Pop when he was still recovering from his la
st stroke? Perhaps they knew something? She had no idea which neighbour it had been, but Mitch had said something about being right next door so that meant there were only two choices.
Within minutes she was back in her car with the information she needed and armed with directions to the hospital. Even so, she managed to take several wrong turns and get lost and it was almost midday when she arrived at the hospital.
The receptionist at the front desk looked at her suspiciously.
“Are you family?” she asked when Jaena enquired as to where she would find Charles Gallagher.
“Not exactly. That is, I’m engaged to his grandson. We’re to be married in six weeks.”
“Only family are allowed in,” and the receptionist returned to her keyboard.
“Please,” Jaena pleaded, not knowing what else to do. The hospital brought back memories of the time Marcus had been shot and she found herself struggling with nausea. “Please, if you could just ring the ward. Perhaps he’ll see me. Or perhaps one of the family will be there and will talk to me.”
“Doctor’s orders,” the receptionist said, but she did pick up the phone. It seemed an interminable wait, but eventually the receptionist told her she could go up.
Jaena was about to ask directions to the ward, but one look at the receptionist’s face and she decided against it. Surely it couldn’t be that hard to find her way around the hospital. There were signs everywhere.
Still, it was another quarter of an hour before she rang the buzzer outside the ward. It was Mitch, and not one of the nurses, that answered.
“You came,” he said simply and then she was being held tightly in his arms.
“How is he?” Jaena managed to ask when Mitch finally released her.
“There’s been an improvement this morning. He’s still not out of the woods, but he is better than he was. Mum’s with him at the moment. I have to go to the airport soon to pick up Dad. He’s flying back from Hong Kong. We were told to call the family yesterday. Wade and Lincoln are driving up and should be here soon – I think they were crossing over by ferry last night – ’though they may have been delayed because they should have been here by now.” He held her close again. “I’m so glad you came.”
“When did this happen?”
“Um, five days ago, I think. Yes, that’s right. Some of the guys from work took me out to celebrate our upcoming wedding.” He shuddered and Jaena wondered what that was all about. “Some of them are about to go overseas on a job we’ve been contracted to and I won’t see them again before the wedding. Just as we were leaving, I got a message that Pop had had another stroke. I left immediately. It wasn’t until I got home that I realised I must have left my phone behind.”
“I’ve been trying to contact you all week.”
“I’m sorry, Jaena. It’s just been crazy. Mum and I have been at the hospital night and day. I wanted to contact you, but last night was the first time I got a chance to ring.” He glanced at his watch. “I need to go. Do you want to stay here or come with me?”
“I’ll come with you. But – could I see your grandfather first?”
“Of course. I was going to say goodbye even though he’s not awake.”
Mitch took her hand and led her into his grandfather’s cubicle. His mother rose and gave her a hug and expressed gratitude for her coming, but showed no surprise when Mitch said they’d both be going to the airport.
“Do you want me to bring you a coffee or anything before we leave?” Jaena remembered the endless hours of waiting for Marcus to wake up and how coffee had sustained them.
Mitchell’s mother shook her head. “Thank you, but no. I’ve had so much coffee to drink that I don’t think I’ll sleep for the next week. Perhaps when Mitch brings his father back, I can go home for a shower and a decent sleep.”
Both Mitch and Jaena nodded then made their farewells. It took far less time for the two of them to negotiate the corridors and tunnels and arrive at Mitch’s car than it had for Jaena to locate the ward from the front desk. Within minutes they were in the car and heading for the airport. Despite the lunchtime traffic, Mitch held Jaena’s hand firmly in his left hand and drove with his right.
He kept glancing her way. “I still can’t believe you’re here. I’ve been hoping all week that you’d come – not that you even knew anything about it until last night.” He paused as he changed lanes. “Madi said last night was not a good time to talk. Is there anything wrong?”
“I’ll tell you later.”
Mitch glanced at her, but said nothing. Jaena had no idea that she had that look about her that Mitch had always interpreted as “approach with caution”. Mitch sensed something was wrong, but he had learnt by now to let Jaena come to it in her own time.
On arriving at the airport they learnt that Mitch’s father’s plane had just landed. “He still has to come through customs. It could be a while yet. Let’s sit over there and wait.”
They settled themselves into chairs opposite the arrival lounge and Mitch once again reached for her hand.
“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?”
Jaena looked at him intently for a few minutes before pulling out her phone. “Here. This.”
She scrolled through the photos and watched his face. He seemed shocked perhaps – or maybe it was upset – but not guilty as if caught out.
“Where did you get these?”
“They came to my phone. From your number.”
He turned the phone over as if it would give him answers. “When?”
“Yesterday.”
“And that’s why you wouldn’t talk to me?”
She nodded.
“Oh, Jaena.” He reached down and picked up her hand and held it tightly between both of his. “What must you think of me?”
“Mum said there could be a reasonable explanation.”
“Explanation, yes. Reasonable? I’m not so sure. You see, the guys took me out – I think I told you at the hospital – and one of them mentioned to the waitress that I was getting married soon and would be out of the game. There was a bit of flirting and whispering going on between the two of them and the next thing I know, she’s sitting on my lap with her arms around my neck. I tried to push her off and she was laughing and someone picked up my phone and took photos. Honestly, it only lasted for a few seconds, but it made me feel so dirty.” He looked down at his hands. “I had hoped you wouldn’t hear about it. It didn’t mean anything, but,” he shuddered again, “it seemed to tarnish somehow what we have.”
“It could never do that.” Jaena threaded her fingers into his.
“But I don’t understand how you came to get them. If they were taken on my phone and my phone was lost …” He stopped. “Of course! My phone went missing that night. Someone – one of the guys or the waitress – must have picked it up and then decided to send the photos to you. I guess it wouldn’t be hard to find out your contact details. You’d just have to read through some of my messages to realise that you’re more than just a friend. Some joke that was! It’s not even funny.”
Jaena retrieved her phone and deleted the photos. “I’m glad that’s sorted.”
“I’m sorry, Jaena. I really am. I hate to imagine what you must have thought of me.” He looked intently at her. “Yet, you still came.”
“I love you,” she said simply. “You needed me.”
He put his arm around her shoulder. “I don’t deserve you. I really don’t. God is so good.”
Jaena snuggled closer. “No, you don’t. And yes, He is.”
*********
Despite the arrival of several members of the family, Mitchell’s mother, Kathryn, insisted on Jaena spending the night and travelling back the next day. After visiting Mitchell’s Pop and assuring herself that he was indeed on the road to recovery, Jaena allowed Mitch to walk her to her car.
“You know, I’m getting tired of this. All these goodbyes all the time. I’ll be glad when we’re married and no longer have to be separated like this.
”
Mitchell opened her car door, lowered the window, and waited for her to climb in. “Me, too. Still, it’s not long now. Five weeks today.”
Jaena glanced at him in some surprise – whether because she was astounded that he knew how long to their wedding or because she had reckoned the time differently, he couldn’t be sure.
“It’s still forever,” she moaned.
He laughed and leaned over and kissed her cheek.
“Will you be able to come up soon? We still have to sort the suits out, although at this stage you could wear jeans and a tee-shirt and I wouldn’t care.”
He laughed again as he closed her door and then kneeled down so that his face was at the same level as hers. “I need to get back to work – I can’t take too much more time off especially with the wedding coming up – but I’ll call in on my way up. I was hoping that you could spend a few days helping me find a place to live after we’re married, but I can’t see how that’s going to work.”
“No,” Jaena agreed. “A year ago, I could’ve stayed with Uncle Marcus’s sister and her husband, but they’re overseas at the moment. Why don’t you just go ahead and find some place? It’s probably the easiest.”
“Are you sure you trust me?”
“Just don’t sign a twelve-month lease or anything so that we can change places if we don’t like it.”
“Okay.” He stood up. “You better go now, before I abduct you and keep you at my side for ever.”
She smiled, but he could see that the constant separations were getting to her as much as they were to him.
He watched as she negotiated the car park before slowly making his way back to his Pop’s side. At this point in time he felt torn – terribly torn – between the two people who needed him most and between wanting to be in two places at once.
*********
“This is the last one I have on my books,” the real estate agent stated as he slipped the key into the lock.
Mitchell looked around the exterior with interest. There wasn’t a lot to recommend the house. It wasn’t that there was anything wrong with it – it just looked like a square box with little character or few architectural features to add interest or redeem it in the eye of the beholder.
The Scent of Rain Page 21
