Mary Kate had just about enough of this. “Come on, Wilton, get real! You’ve already made your judgment. At least be honest about that. It would take ten tons of TNT to dislodge you from your holier-than-thou mountaintop. Just think about this one point. Do you really believe that I could have gotten any teaching job in the public schools in Illinois without passing the background check mandated by state law for anyone working in the public schools? That check is done by the State Police and it’s really quite thorough,” Mary
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Kate stated, her voice ice. “Had any charges or even a hint of charges shown up, I would never have gotten any sort of teaching job. No school district in the state could afford to hire a known criminal. Their insurance carrier, at least, would not allow it.”
Jase digested that for a moment. “I notice that you aren’t working for the public schools now.”
“Last hired tend to be the first dismissed when budget cuts hit, or have you always been so insulated from the realities of the day to day work world?”
Harry asked Mary Kate, “You plan to return to the midwest. Is there a man back in Illinois?”
“Millions of them,” she dismissed with a smile. “And they can stay there for all I care.”
“You no longer like men?” Jase questioned.
“You commissioned the private investigator’s report, you tell me,” Mary Kate answered.
Jase shook his head. “No, you tell me,” he demanded. “Who’s Len Young to you?”
“A friend,” she told him. “But like so many other things you’ve asked me today, is none of your business.”
“Your friend spent some time in jail,” Jase told her.
“Yes, he did. Contempt of court. Len wouldn’t break the confidence of a student. The judge didn’t like that. A terrified student told Len about a drug ring. Len passed the objective information on to the police, but refused, and still refuses to this day, to name the student who gave him the information. He spent a month in jail before the judge decided that Len would gladly rot in jail rather than endanger the student. Len’s an honorable man who acts on his principles and I respect him greatly.”
Jase looked at her. “You’ve had a fair amount of contact with people who have been in trouble concerning drugs. You want to tell us about how that came about?”
Mary Kate barely smiled. “Trust me, you wouldn’t care to hear what I would very much like to tell you at the moment. So stop pushing me.”
Jase laughed. “Is that a threat?”
Mary Kate sipped her water and looked at Jase. “A warning. The only one you’ll get. So I would suggest that you heed it. My temper, as you have no doubt learned from your private investigator, is explosive in the extreme. The only saving grace is that I have an extremely long fuse. Still, few people are brave enough to want to push me quite that far. Frankly, I’ve just about taken all that I’m going to take from you. PERIOD. So leave me alone. Or bear the consequences. And if I ever walk out of the bath again to find you in my bedroom rifling through my belongings, I’ll chop you off at the knees and beat you about your head and shoulders with the bloody stumps. Is that clear?”
Audra looked at her son, aghast. “You did what?”
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“What?” Harry demanded of his stepson.
“I took the pass key and went into her suite earlier today,” Jase admitted without compunction. “And I searched her rooms.”
“While I was in the shower,” Mary Kate added in disgust. “I’m just glad that I was securely wrapped up in a big towel when I left the bathroom. Otherwise, he would have been singing soprano, permanently.”
“You might have found that more difficult to do than you think,” Jase said as he smiled mischievously. “Besides your hair would have covered you in any event. I swear that I’ve never seen any woman with hair as long as yours.”
Mary Kate felt her face flame.
Jase looked at her for the longest moment. “It’s amazing that you can still blush.”
She glared at him. “I’ve just about reached my limits, Jase. Don’t keep pushing me or I’ll push back. That won’t be pleasant for you, I guarantee it,” she warned in a tone that left no one with any doubts of her seriousness.
Jase smiled, but it was an empty expression. “Don’t fight me. I could ruin you.”
Mary Kate threw her head back and laughed.
“Jason Alexander, you are being profoundly rude,” his mother chided. “I’m ashamed of you. I raised you better than this.”
“Ruin me?” Mary Kate echoed his words in amusement once she brought herself back under control. “You haven’t the power. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I don’t underestimate your ability to spread gossip and innuendo. I don’t underestimate that at all. I’m sure you’re quite proficient at those particular skills. Most bullies are.”
“I am not a bully!”
“Couldn’t prove it by me at this point. The one thing I’ve learned in my life is that the only person with the power to ruin me is me. So do your worst, MISTER Wilton. Major Wilton. I dare you. Just know this, a person can’t sling muck without some of it sticking to them. The amazing thing I’ve learned about slung muck is that if you just leave it alone, it dries pretty quickly and can be flaked off with minimal damage. If your report on me is as complete as you purport it to be, you already know this one thing -- I’ll always get back up fighting, no matter how hard I’m knocked down. I always have and I always will. So do your worst. I dare you.”
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that it’s dangerous to dare people, especially people you don’t know,” Jase replied, a degree of heat in his voice. “And I am not a bully.”
“That stung, huh? I find the truth frequently does.”
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Missy laughed. Her brother glared at her. “Of course you will survive,” Harry said trying to diffuse the situation. “You’re a Devlin.” Mary Kate smiled genuinely. “Yes. I’m a Devlin.” Thea spoke sharply, “We’ll see about that when the blood tests come back.” “Yes. We will. However, until that time, I think it would be best if I took a hotel room someplace,”
Mary Kate replied with resolve in her voice. “Nonsense,” Harry replied, equally resolute. “I’d call it common sense. When certain people can accept me as your daughter, I might be back,” Mary
Kate told her father. “It is profoundly unreasonable of you to expect me to stay in a place where my motives, morals, and even my paternity are being actively questioned. You wouldn’t put up with it. Why do you expect me to?”
“Do you know your blood type, Mary Kate?” Audra asked. Mary Kate sighed. “Yes, I do.” “What is it?” Harry asked. “O negative,” Mary Kate responded without hesitation. “O negative,” Harry echoed in satisfaction. “Can you prove that?” Jase demanded. “Of course I can! I’m just sorry that I need to. You will excuse me for a few moments, please.” Returning to the dining room with her wallet, she pulled a card out and handed it to her father. “My
blood donor card,” Mary Kate explained. Harry examined the card. “You’ve donated quite a lot of units.” “Over two gallons,” Mary Kate replied. “But just in case you doubt this document, blood type is easy
enough to verify. Within a few minutes of having blood drawn, a type can be easily determined. Any high school biology student can do the process. It’s a simple test. The kit’s only a few dollars. I can get on the internet and have one delivered via FedEx by tomorrow afternoon.”
Audra looked at Harry. Harry nodded. “Your mother was O negative. I am O negative. Peter was AB positive.” “Peter?” Mary Kate asked in confusion. “Your mother’s lover,” Thea answered, her voice sharp. Mary Kate’s mouth dropped open before she snapped it shut. Mother’s lover? Mary Kate mentally
echoed the accusation. She shook her head. “No. I don’t believe that for a moment.” “What you believe or fail to believe doesn’t change the reality of the situation. The fact is that your
“Thea,” Harry warned fiercely. “That�
�s more than enough.” “Excuse me,” Mary Kate said in a very controlled tone. Jase and Missy exchanged looks. Mary Kate saw that, but didn’t understand the meaning of the looks. “You aren’t excused. Sit down,” Harry ordered. “We’ll have the blood drawn tomorrow for the full
scale tests just to satisfy certain people. I accept that you are my daughter.” He looked at the other people at
the table and added in a warning tone, “I will hear nothing more to the contrary. Is that clear?” “That’s generous of you,” Mary Kate answered, a hint of anger in her voice. Harry laughed nervously. “Jase and Missy are both just very concerned about me, and Thea has never
learned to forgive.” “Coupled with the fact that I’m an unknown quantity about whom the private investigator’s report was
not favorable,” Mary Kate offered her voice dry, not taking her seat. “Then you understand?” Harry asked in a low tone. “What’s not to understand? However, understanding doesn’t mean I like it. Frankly, I don’t like
anything about this situation,” Mary Kate said bluntly. “And I haven’t since your Mr. Jermon cornered me at
my mother’s grave.” “Please sit back down, Mary Katherine,” Harry asked her. “The family is just very protective of me.” The plea in his eye was something that she couldn’t resist. Missy unbent a little after Mary Kate resumed her seat. “You lost everything in the fire, Mary
Katherine?” “Almost everything,” Mary Kate replied, as she fingered the pearls at her throat. “That must have been awful, losing your mother like that, and everything else too,” Audra offered. “Things are only things. Most of them can be replaced. With the exception of Mother’s paintings. Yet,
they were only things.” She swallowed hard and blinked back the tears that were forming. “Mother wasn’t at all well at the end. The cancer would have killed her anyway. They were trying to treat it. But she was so terribly frail. She was down to eighty pounds. Her hair had fallen out from the radiation therapy. I expected to lose her, just not like that. I never expected that she’d be taken from me like that.” Mary Kate bit her lip and looked down at her plate for the longest moment trying to compose herself.
“I have a canvas which Nancy painted. The portrait is of Melissa and Jase,” Audra offered. “I’ve always cherished that canvas of them as children. Missy was no more than two when it was painted. Jase was
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Mary Kate smiled. “I’d like to see it.”
“Anytime,” Audra replied. “It hangs in my sitting room.”
“I’ll look forward to viewing it,” Mary Kate said.
Harry cleared his throat.
“Do you paint?” Audra asked, care in her voice.
“No, not really. If I worked ten hours a day for the next thirty years, I might be able to show a skill level a tenth of Mother’s. Primarily, I work in pen and ink, sometimes pastels, or work in textiles,” Mary Kate answered. “I much prefer working in textiles.”
“Textiles?” Audra asked. “Fabric sculpture?”
“Not precisely. I do clothing design and fabrication,” Mary Kate said. “And I’ve done some interior design.”
“You’re welcome to use my workrooms anytime,” Audra offered.
“Thank you. I might.”
“You made the dress that you’re wearing,” Audra stated more than questioned.
“I ran it up this spring before the Senior Prom. Chaperones must be properly dressed, you know,” Mary Kate replied with humor in her voice.
“Chaperone,” Jase echoed. “You?”
“The people who have known me longest trust me. Most of the faculty were pressed into service for either the Prom or the post prom lock-in. Lucky me, I got to do both.”
Harry laughed. “That must have been interesting.”
She sighed. “It was a class of good kids. But yes, anytime you put a mixed sex group of seventeen and eighteen year olds together overnight, it gets interesting quickly especially for the chaperones. The struggle goes on to keep the kids together, but above all to keep them apart.”
“I’m just glad you decided to stay, Mary Katherine,” her father said.
“You really are a pushy old man, you know that?” Mary Kate replied, only half in jest.
Harry Devlin smiled. “I know that and I suspect you’re beginning to know that as well.”
“Mother always said I took after you in temperament, as well as in looks.”
“That’s all we need,” Audra replied only half-teasing.
“One Harry is quite sufficient,” her father said.
Mary Kate smiled. “I’d imagine. I don’t think there is any danger of having more than one Harry around. I can’t be anyone other than the person I am. If that makes anyone uncomfortable, then so be it. I have
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no intention of attempting to change myself to meet any of your expectations.” “Well,” Jase stated his voice gruff, “that’s certainly clear enough.” “I certainly should hope so,” Mary Kate replied with an excess of sweetness. “I truly would hate to be
misunderstood on this or any other topic.” Her father smiled at her. “No one is asking you to be anyone other than who you are.” Mary Kate sipped her coffee. “That’s just as well. I wouldn’t know how to be anyone else.” Harry laughed. “How about giving me a game of chess after dinner?” “As tired as I am tonight, I’m afraid that it would be strictly your pleasure,” she replied, punctuating her
comments with a sigh. “But why not? It seems as good of a way as any of learning how you think.”
“Checkmate,” Mary Kate announced before she sipped her cup of mint tea later that evening. Tonight had been an eye-opener. The whole day had been, for lack of a better term, interesting. The chess game that Harry had insisted on had been played to stalemate. Then Jase had challenged her. Now, that game was over, all she was ready to do was to go upstairs into her room and be alone. But she had to admit it felt good to play Jase to checkmate in that short of a time.
She felt very tense. Maybe an hour’s aerobic workout would reduce that tension level. Exercise had always been a relief valve for her.
* * * Jase looked at the board in disbelief. Then he looked at her. “Who taught you to play?” “My mother,” Mary Kate answered. “Looks like she taught you well,” Harry replied. “Nancy always was a helluva chess player.” “She enjoyed the game, as do I.” Jase looked at the board, still not able to believe what had just transpired between them. He couldn’t
recall the last time that he had been so thoroughly trounced. He couldn’t even remember the last time that anyone had beaten him at chess. Oh, he had watched the game between Harry and Mary Kate. Harry had thrown that game, or so he had thought, in an effort to find out more about how her mind worked. Now he knew that Harry had been fighting hard to win. Anyone who could seize a weakness like she had done and press it home was not someone whom he could, or should, underestimate. She was a gambler, willing to suffer a loss or two in order to achieve her final goal. That made her even more dangerous than he had originally thought her to be.
“If you will excuse me,” Mary Kate said. Jase looked over at the clock. The hour had just gone ten. “Is there an excuse for you?”
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Chapter Four
Mary Kate wore her leotard, tights, and cross training shoes. She had taken her hair down and had braided it into a single plait that hung to her hips. As usual, the braid hung over the front of her left shoulder, brushing the floor by her hip. While sitting on the polished hardwood floor of her sitting room doing her limbering stretches, a knock came at her door.
“Just a minute!”
Yet Jase didn’t give her a minute before he opened the door and came in, closing the door firmly behind him. In fact, he didn’t even wait until she had finished replying to his knock.
“What do you want now?”
“We need to talk.”
“I think we’ve said everything that needs to be said. Probably more than either of us shou
ld have said. Let’s leave it at that, shall we? Before even worse things are said between us.”
“We’ve not quite said everything that needs saying.”
“I’ve nothing more to say to you. Now, get out.”
“I don’t think so. I’ve plenty to say to you.”
“I can’t imagine what you would have to say to a woman who you called ‘thief’. In fact, I can’t imagine what you would want to say to me at all.”
“That stung, did it?”
She rose to her feet in one fluid motion. “It’s late. I’m tired of verbally sparring with you. I’ve got an exhaustion/tension headache coming on. So say what you came to say, then leave. Or just leave. I’ve had more than enough of you for today, this week, month, year, decade, and century, for all that matters.”
“Aren’t you even going to offer me a seat?”
“By all means, if you’re going to be here that long, then have a seat,” she offered, too emotionally exhausted to continue to spar with him. “You might as well since you’re already here. I would hate to be accused of disrespect for my elders. You will excuse me for continuing with my stretching?”
He lowered himself to sit on the edge of the chaise lounge. “Of course... I would hate to interrupt something so vitally important as your stretching,” he replied with a hint of acid in his voice. “Nice outfit, by the way. Not quite as nice as the earlier towel, but it’ll do.”
She executed Chinese splits then lowered her bottom the rest of the way to the floor and resumed her stretching routine. If he was going to be awhile, she might as well loosen up. Although she wasn’t sure that it
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would do any good. Talking with him was bound to make her tense. So at best, she would come out dead even. She supposed that was better than winding up in knots.
“I’m just getting ready to work out. Where I come from, a closed door is a sufficient statement that one shouldn’t enter until invited inside. But I see that common courtesy isn’t widespread in this house, at least in certain quarters,” she answered as she stretched out her back, bending forward until she lowered her face to the floor.
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