Blossoms in the Wind

by Ross Richdale

  A moment later she jumped in fright when the handle turned and the door opened. She sighed for it was Ava's head that peeped in.

  "He seems okay," Ava said. "But stay here until he leaves or I come for you. Meanwhile I'll shut the door between the hallway and the kitchen. Have you got your latest assignment?"

  Fluer nodded and handed her the folder. Ava disappeared and the door shut so she sat on the bed and gazed out the front window at the empty street. A car appeared and she received her second shock of the morning. The car that had just turned into the street at the corner was a Lexus sedan. She'd know the car anywhere. It was her mother's!

  It came slowly up the street and Fluer recognised her mother in the driver's seat. Suddenly, it accelerated and flashed pass their home. Oh hell, Mum must have seen Dad's car and was leaving! Damn, she wanted to talk to her mother but now her father was here, obviously her mother wasn't going to come in. She rushed across to the window and glance up the street. About half a block away she saw that the Lexus had turned into a driveway. It backed around and headed back towards their house.

  Without worrying about whether she bumped into her father or not, Fluer ran out the front door, dashed onto the middle of the road and waved her arms frantically at the approaching vehicle.

  It slowed and stopped before her. The driver's window slid down and her surprised mother gasped at her. "Fluer!" she gasped.

  Fluer ran up to the car. "Don't leave, Mum," she said. "Just park and come inside."

  "I didn't know Brandon would be here. I prefer not to meet him," Her mother sounded quite determined and quite different from usual.

  "Then come into my bedroom. Dad doesn't know I'm home."

  "Hop in. I'll park around the corner and we can walk back."

  Fluer nodded, ran around the car and sat in the front seat, Hannah Ovitus accelerated forward and parked in small car park beside a children's playground about two blocks away

  "You're looking well, Dear," Hannah said. "I like your clothes."

  Fluer grinned for she was wearing denim shorts and one of those floppy tops and in her haste was barefooted. At home she always wore modest dresses, as jeans or shorts were frowned upon. As well, she had painted her fingernails, also taboo there.

  "The new me, Mum away from the shackles of my childhood." She gulped and waited for a defensive reply from her mother.

  Hannah just stared at her and nodded. "I'm sorry Dear," she whispered. "I tried. Your father could be strict, I know. Bigoted too."

  Fluer grimaced. In her whole life she had never heard her mother admitting anything wrong about her father. "What's changed, Mum?" she asked.

  "We're having a trial separation, Dear. I've shifted into our summer house at Hatfield's Beach."

  This was an upmarket beach about forty kilometres to the northeast.

  "I'm sorry," Fluer whispered. "Was it because I shifted out?"

  "The tip of the iceberg, Dear. Your father never used to be as intolerant as he now is. That bloody religion..."

  Fluer gasped for she had never known her mother to swear before. "And your visit was to tell me everything?"

  Hannah nodded. "I missed you, Fluer. I think it was really only you that kept us together over the last decade. When you left I realised that having a flash house and lifestyle wasn't important any more."

  "So what is?"

  "Family, Dear and you're my family. There's nobody else not since Baby Carl died."

  Fluer thought back. She would have been about nine when her baby brother had died. He had been born with a malformed heart and had been given only a few weeks to live. He had died when he was five months old after several specialists had said any operations would only lengthen his life by a few months.

  "It was God's will," she remembered her father saying on that fateful day.

  "So Carl's death caused him to turn to religion."

  "To become more staunch, yes. His parents were quite strict Presbyterians and that is the church we were married in. My own parents were Anglicans. In those days most families attended church, at least nominally."

  Fluer almost spouted out about her abortion but remained silent when Ava's words came to her mind about telling nobody. At the moment, too, it appeared that Mum was having a difficult time. Telling her would make things worse, not better, for both of them.

  "It was Dad I wanted to get away from, not you Mum. You've done so much for me. I remember those bowls of hot soup you'd have waiting for me when I came home from school on a wet winter's day, those wonderful birthday parties that we had even though Dad disagreed and..." She reached across flung her arms around her mother and kissed her on the cheek. "Please come in and meet Ava and Jeff. They're real friends."

  "I have met them when they came around a few times. Didn't Jeff have an old sports car?"

  "Still has," Fluer said with a laugh "Different one but same breed."

  "I would have stopped but when I saw Brandon's car there."

  "How did he know where I lived and that you were coming today?"

  Hannah shrugged. "I've no idea. I wouldn't put it past him to have hired a private detective, though."

  "So come back after he leaves. I'll sent Ava a message on my iPhone telling her why I left the house." She grinned "I always have it in my pocket."

  "Perhaps we could go to the mall and have a coffee."

  Fluer frowned. "I've got no shoes."

  Hannah laughed. "Still got your upbringing, I see. Look over the back; I think there's a pair of my sandals there. I keep them to change into after wearing high heels at those dreadful business meetings. Our sizes aren't too different."

  Fluer glanced over the back. "Yeah they’re there but you'll have to pay for the coffee. I've got none of my cards on me."

  Hannah smiled. "No problem," she said and started the Lexus.

  EXPECTING A CONFRONTATION, Jeff opened the front door and greeted the tall man dressed in a business suit.

  "Good afternoon," the man said. "I am Brandon Ovitus."

  "I know who you are Mr Ovitus. I visited your place a couple of times last year. I'm Jeff Sutton."

  "Oh yes, the lad with the sports car?"

  They shook hands, Jeff introduced Ava who Brandon said he also remembered and asked him inside. As expected, Fluer's bedroom door was shut as they walked through to the kitchen area.

  "We were about to have a coffee," Ava said. "Would you like one?"

  Brandon accepted one, made a favourable remarked about their open-plan living space and sat down. Jeff gazed at Ava who just raised her eyebrows slightly, excused herself and left the room.

  An almost embarrassing silence followed.

  "I'm afraid Fluer isn't home," Jeff lied.

  Sharp eyes looked directly at him. "Her car is in the driveway."

  "She takes the bus to university. Said it is easier than trying to find a park," Jeff muttered and almost sighed in relief when Ava returned with Fluer's assignment tucked under an arm.

  She sat down with that tight look across her face. Oh no, she was about to say something frank... and she accused him of lacking diplomacy!

  "If you have come to check on Fluer, I can assure you that she is fine and wishes to get on with her life. We are all adults now, Mr Ovitus, Jeff, Fluer and myself. As you probably know Jeff and his mother have had a difficult life and so have my Dad and family." She leaned forward slightly. "But you are not here to hear about our problems for it is Fluer you are interested in." She held her hand up when it appeared that Braden was about to speak, "Hear me out, if you please."

  The man frowned but nodded.

  Ava pushed the assignment across the low coffee table before her. "You should be proud of your daughter, Mr Ovitus. This is just one of the assignments she has completed at university," She opened it and pointed to the large circled A on the first page. I am doing the same physics paper as Fiona but could only manage a B+."

  "Ava got one of the highest scholarship marks in last year's exams so is talented in
her own right." Jeff felt he should support her argument.

  Brandon reached for the folder and flicked through the pages in silence before glancing up. "Fluer always had excellent presentation skills and, in spite of what you might have heard Ava, I am proud of her."

  "So why did you drive her out?" Ava almost hissed.

  Jeff inwardly grinned. Ava was about to launch both barrels at the man! Perhaps he should intervene! He reached across, squeezed her knee and received a sideways glance as if to say, 'Just support me.' He nodded and let her continue.

  "She was about to stray from the flock," Brandon muttered.

  "By wanting her own life?"

  "We have certain values in our family that we uphold. Without them, Fluer will fall into the depths of an abyss."

  Hell here comes the religious crap, Jeff thought but remained quiet.

  Ava too appeared to be deep in thought. "I appreciate that but doesn't this wonderful assignment result tell you something?"

  "Of course it does but it is her personal life I am concerned about."

  Jeff caught Ava's eyes. Perhaps he knew about the abortion!

  "She is safe with us, Mr Ovitus, We all support each other."

  Brandon's eyes clouded over as he half stood. "But you live in sin. What does that show an innocent girl like Fluer?"

  'We are partners, yes," Jeff interrupted. "We love each other, yes. Do we live in sin, no! That word has religious connotations that we do not accept. Sure, we could go down to the courthouse and sign a piece of paper to state we are married but choose not to. Why? Because we are a mere eighteen years old and have our whole lives before us."

  "This is a liberal society, Mr Ovitus," Ava added. "You are free to believe what you wish and so are we. As for Fluer, she is now an adult and can choose to lead her life as she wishes. Your wife and yourself achieved much in bringing her up as a tolerant, law-biding, loving person. If you let go now, Mr Ovitus she may return to you but it'll be on her terms. Insist on living her life as you do will just keep her away... perhaps forever."

  Jeff grinned to himself. Ava certainly knew how to use words whereas he was beginning to feel like pounding the guy. Perhaps the man was too much like his own father!

  "So Fluer will see her mother but not me?" Brandon asked. "I know Hannah was going to visit her here." He shrugged. "She probably saw my car and decided to drive on."

  "Yes," Ava replied. "I do not know why she hasn't arrived so you could be right. Why don't you ask her yourself later?"

  Brandon looked her in the eyes before switching his gaze to Jeff. "There is a problem. You see, Hannah and myself are having a trial separation and I thought that if I met her here we could ..." He sighed. "All families have problems, don't they?"

  Jeff frowned. Oh hell, so he was more concerned about his wife than Fluer!

  "They do," Ava said. "I am sorry that has happened. We can assure you, though that Fluer is in safe hands with us. We shall speak to her and if she agrees, perhaps you could come back some time and speak with her. Neutral ground, you know!"

  Her mobile beeped, she excused herself and walked across the room to read the message. She returned and handed Jeff her mobile.

  "Work," she muttered to Brandon. "I still work part time for my father. He knows I have no lectures this afternoon and wants me to go in."

  Jeff glanced at the message and noticed that it was from Fluer. He read it and gulped. So her mother had come by and they were together at the mall. Ava had typed in 'Her Dad is just leaving' but hadn't pressed the send button. He nodded, passed the mobile back and noticed her send the reply back.

  Brandon stood and shook hands with the pair, "Thank you and I apologise for any differences of opinion. Please tell Fluer that I love her and I am proud of her A. I would like to meet her here, if she agrees..."

  After the Mercedes drove away a few moments later Jeff glanced up the street in the opposite direction. He knew his cars and noted that the car coming towards them was a Lexus.

  "Fluer and her mother are coming," he said.

  APPARENTLY, FLUER'S parents had met a couple of times after the separation but these were formal occasions at their respective lawyers' offices. It was Hannah's lawyer who suggested that she should confide in her daughter, hence the original reason she had for visiting. Now, the weekend afterwards, they had both agreed to meet at Jeff and Ava's place. This would be an informal meeting without any of their lawyers present.

  "Remember," Ava warned Fluer. "Stay neutral and under no circumstances tell them about your abortion. I personally think your mum would understand but your father is too set in his ways."

  "True," Fluer said. "Perhaps it would be better if she stayed separated from him." She smiled slightly. "He's got the most to lose for most of our money comes from Mum's family, though I must admit Dad built the business up over the years. She owns most of the shares that came to her when Grandma died a few years back. I never knew my grandfather for he died when I was a baby."

  Ava knew the company were wholesale distributors of electrical goods and farm machinery but little else about it, not that it mattered. Hannah's Lexus arrived outside and almost immediately afterwards the Mercedes pulled in behind it

  She grinned and together the three walked out to greet the pair. Apart from a somewhat frosty greeting, Fluer's parents ignored each other as they walked inside to where Ava, with Fluer's help, had prepared finger food and a coffee percolator bubbled away so that delicious smell of coffee filled the room.

  "So how are you, Fluer?" Brandon asked. He sat across the room from his wife with a glass of orange in his hand after politely refusing a wine.

  "Thanks to Ava and Jeff who have welcomed me into their home, I am fine Dad," she replied Ava grinned for she knew that Fluer purposely wore a pair of jeans and low cut top and had put on almost too much makeup to spite the man.

  "Fluer will not be returning home to live with either of us, Brandon," Hannah said. "She has made that point quite clear. If or when we settle our differences, she is prepared to visit us for meals and such like but on her terms, not ours."

  Barton turned to Fluer. "Your terms, Fluer? And what are they?"

  Fluer glanced at Ava who gave her a smile of encouragement, before turning to her father. "Just stop being judgemental, Dad. I will not continue to be a member of the faith I was brought up in. I find it narrow-minded and restrictive in its rules and practices. They have no right to dictate to me how I should live and now I am an adult, neither do you. If you wish to eject me from the family because I will not follow their way of life, so be it. You will be the loser, not me. If your blind faith is so important to you it appears that you will lose Mum as well as me." She fixed her eyes on her father. "That's it Dad, take me as I am now or become a lonely old man."

  Brandon's face was expressionless as he turned to his wife. "You put Fluer up to this didn't you, Hannah?" he asked.

  "No, Brandon, it was the opposite actually. Fluer told me she had had enough just after her eighteenth birthday but I was surprised as you when she suddenly left."

  Brandon turned to face Ava and Jeff. "Can I speak to my family alone, please?"

  "No," Fluer cut in. "They stay. I am not having you brow-beating Mum in an attempt to persuade her to turn her against me. All my life you have done that and Mum said nothing so she would not make waves."

  "They will stay, Brandon," Hannah said in a quiet but determined voice. "This is their home and they have graciously us let come here us to meet."

  "I agree," Jeff added. "Say your piece before us or go, Mr Ovitus."

  "Anything anyone says here today shall remain confidential," Ava added in a more empathetic tone. "That is our promise."

  Brandon nodded and turned to his wife. "I have thought about everything from our former discussion we had with our lawyers present, Hannah. It is true I was deeply affected by the death of our baby son and that it is now time to move on. I have decided to do that by resigning my position as an elder at the Golden Har
vest Church and indeed have left the church altogether. Last Sunday I attended the St George's Presbyterian Church in Takapuna."

  Hannah just stared at him. "You did, Brandon?" she whispered. "And the other things we discussed."

  "I don't want to lose you, Hannah." He turned. "I miss you, too, Fluer."

  "So?" Hannah asked.

  "We need to work through our differences, Hannah. I know you have been hurt but so have I?"

  "I guess so, Brandon. Just give me a little time. If I return home, I need to know that you'll welcome Fluer there without any conditions. Can you do that?"

  Brandon nodded and Ava sensed that he appeared to be genuinely remorseful and prepared to compromise. That step of leaving the church was obviously an important one.

  Fluer's parents left an hour later with promises to stay in touch. There were still agreements to be made but Ava was pleased that they had achieved far more than Jeff and her had expected.

  Her mobile chirped and she answered. The sobbing voice was barely recognisable. "Hello Ava. It's Terri speaking. It's happened!"

  "What has Terri?" Ava replied.

  "I've been arrested and charged with the murder of Jeff's father." Her voice changed into heart rendering sobs and she was almost incoherent as she explained how it had happened.

  CHAPTER 17

  Although Terri had been allowed out on bail, it had been a long wait for her trial to come up for it was now October and the fourth day in the Auckland High Court trial. Terri glanced out from where she stood and noticed that Yolanda was there, as usual. Earlier in the year Yolanda had moved back to New Zealand and had pleaded guilty of illegally removing a body after the fact. She had received a hundred hours of community service and a small fine but had escaped imprisonment. Beside Yolanda in the gallery were Ava, Jeff, Chloe and Adrian, all of whom had been character witnesses in her defence. They had become firm friends over the last year and after she had lost her job in Hamilton, Jeff had a vacancy in one of his apartments that he offered her so she had moved back to Auckland in July.