Chapter 19
Jack was on cloud nine. Pleased with how well his date had gone, he felt buoyed up and decided to visit his parents. He knew how Samphire Bay operated and assumed it highly likely that they would have already been told about their son and the attractive newcomer meeting in The Smugglers.
True to form, as he entered their kitchen he was greeted with a knowing grin from his mum.
‘Hi, Mum,’ said Jack, plonking himself down by the table.
‘Hiya, love, fancy a brew?’
‘Thanks. Where’s Dad?’
‘At Natalie’s. He should be home soon,’ she replied whilst putting the kettle on. Then, unable to resist, she turned and asked, ‘So, who’s the redhead you were seen with in The Smugglers?’
Typical, thought Jack. It had taken all of one minute for the interrogation to start.
‘Sorry?’ He decided to act dumb.
‘Don’t give me that, Jack!’ His mum chuckled, knowing full well what he was doing.
She joined him at the table with two cups and sat down.
‘You were seen at The Smugglers with a pretty red-haired lady.’ Jack frowned, continuing to fake confusion.
‘New to Samphire Bay, I believe she’s bought Robin’s apartment? ’
She was well informed, noted Jack, wondering what else she knew about Tara.
‘Yes, she does live in Robin’s old apartment,’ admitted Jack. ‘Out of interest, who told you that?’ he asked.
‘Ned told us this morning at church.’
Ned, of course, the pub landlord. Nothing got past him – and nothing stayed with him either.
‘So come on then, spill the beans.’
‘Her name’s Tara and I met her in hospital, where she’s a doctor in A&E. She’s the doctor who stitched up my hand.’ He lifted it up to show his mum her handywork.
‘Really?’ His mum sounded keen to know more.
‘Yes. Total coincidence that she bought Robin’s place and then I bumped into her jogging on the beach.’
‘Aw, that’s nice.’ She smiled, eyes twinkling. Could this be the one? She certainly hoped so. It was about time her son settled down.
Jack grinned wryly to himself, knowing precisely what was going through her mind.
‘Tara, that’s a nice name too,’ she continued, looking wistfully into space.
Jack openly laughed, suspecting she was now imagining wedding bells and him in a dark morning suit alongside a red-haired bride.
‘What?’ she asked, almost indignantly.
‘You. You’re so transparent, Mum,’ teased Jack.
‘What do you mean?’ It was her turn now to faux confusion.
‘You were marrying me off with her, weren’t you?’ he asked dryly.
‘Well…’ They were interrupted by Jack’s dad returning home.
‘Oh, hi, Jack. Didn’t expect to see you here,’ he called, entering the kitchen. ‘Thought you might be busy.’ He gave a cheeky wink, making Jack roll his eyes.
‘What, you meant with the hot redhead?’ he replied with sarcasm.
His dad laughed in response. ‘Something like that. Who is she then?’ He came to sit with them at the table.
‘She’s a doctor, works in A&E,’ gushed his mum.
His dad arched an eyebrow. ‘I see.’
‘And she’s called Tara,’ she continued.
Jack studied his father’s face, keen to see his reaction. He hadn’t forgotten how Tara had reacted to knowing his dad’s name. Up to now he hadn’t seen anything untoward. He decided to test the water further.
‘Tara O’Hara. Dr Tara O’Hara,’ he stated, all the time scrutinising his dad.
And there it was: a slight flicker of recognition, very small, but definitely there.
There was a momentary lull. ‘Have you heard of her, Dad?’ asked Jack, trying to sound as casual as possible, when inside he intrinsically knew this was a big deal. He could feel it in his bones.
‘Me? No, why should I?’ replied his dad, sounding very convincing.
Too convincing, in Jack’s opinion, remembering how good his dad was at covering up the truth, and his tracks.
His eyes slid over to his mum, who seemed oblivious to any awkwardness.
Perhaps he was imagining it? The phone rang, disrupting his thoughts as his mum dashed off to answer it.
Once alone, Jack decided to push further.
‘Tara has heard of you,’ he said conversationally.
‘How?’ His dad’s voice held a slight edge to it.
‘I think you’ve done some work for her friend…
an extension or something…?’ Jack’s gaze never left his dad’s face.
He noticed his eyelid twitch, a sure tell-tale sign, as it was a nervous tick his dad had whenever he was suffering with stress.
A part of Jack loathed what he was doing, testing his own father, but another part of him needed to know the truth.
What exactly was the connection between Tara and his dad?
And would it be enough to put him off? He gulped, hating being in this predicament.
Was he about to open a can of worms? Uncover something that deep down he’d really rather not know?
‘Well, I could have done, that’s possible. In fact probable,’ reasoned his dad.
He was right, conceded Jack. Knowles & Carter Architects were a well-known, reputable firm. It wouldn’t be unusual for someone in the area to have used them. Was he letting his imagination run away with him? Looking for trouble that simply didn’t exist?
‘You know, Jack, all me and your mum want is for you to be happy,’ said his dad, looking him in the eye.
‘Yeah, I know,’ frowned Jack, wondering why his dad should suddenly make such a statement.
‘Then I suggest you just relax and enjoy getting to know Tara. Let nature take its course.’
A switch flicked inside Jack. Something his dad was an expert at doing.
Was he intimating that his relationship with Tara was destined to end, like all the others?
Was the ‘let nature take its course’ comment a dig, meaning all his relationships naturally ended, never fully blossoming into fruitful ones?
A flare of anger shot through him as he flashed a glare of contempt towards his father, who was still managing to look perfectly at ease, apart from that twitching eyelid.
That’s what was giving him away, and Jack knew it.
‘You’re right, Dad. I do intend to get to know Tara,’ Jack replied whilst staring his dad full in the face.
‘Good.’ His dad nodded.
‘Yeah, I want to be open and honest, hopefully build a decent relationship,’ he continued.
‘Exactly,’ replied his dad with a tight smile.
‘Because honesty’s the best policy. Isn’t that right, Dad?’
Their eyes met. Suddenly Jack’s mum came back into the kitchen.
‘That was Natalie. You’ve left your phone there, Austin.’
‘Bloody hell,’ he cursed himself.
‘I can fetch it,’ said Jack. ‘I was going to call round there anyway.’
‘Would you mind?’ replied his mum. ‘That would be helpful, wouldn’t it?’ She looked towards her husband.
‘Sure, if that’s OK with you, Jack?’
‘Fine. No trouble.’
Truth be told, Jack wanted to speak to his sister. All this business with his father was unsettling him. That’s if there was anything actually going on, and not just his overactive mind playing tricks. He loved Natalie, she grounded him, always put things in perspective.
Leaving his parents’ house, with a promise to return soon with the forgotten phone, Jack’s mood had sadly shifted somewhat.
It took Jack just under an hour to reach Natalie’s house, since she lived on the outskirts of Buckshaw village.
‘Hey, Jack!’ she called when she saw him walk down the driveway. She was on the front lawn, gardening.
‘Hi, I’ve come to collect Dad’s phone,’ he said, rolling his eyes.
‘Oh, right, he sent you, did he?’ Natalie laughed. ‘Come on, let’s have a cuppa. The kids are out with their dad,’ she said, taking off her gardening gloves.
Jack was pleased to have caught his sister alone. They were soon sat in the conservatory sipping tea, and Natalie nodded towards the glass coffee table where the forgotten mobile phone was.
‘Put that in your pocket, before you forget to take it,’ she told him.
Jack slid the phone into his inside jacket pocket.
It felt hard against his ribcage. Could it contain any vital evidence?
Any incriminating text messages? Or secret contacts?
Was he going to search his dad’s phone once alone?
Yes, of course he was. He felt justified, his rationale being that his father surely wouldn’t have anything to hide, or, if he did, then he deserved to be found out.
‘What’s the matter, Jack?’ Natalie frowned, wondering why her brother looked so pensive.
He let out a sigh. ‘Natalie, I’ve met someone,’ he began to explain.
‘Who?’ she asked excitedly, sitting forward, all ears.
‘She’s called Tara and I met her in hospital. She’s the doctor who stitched up my hand.’
‘Really?’
‘Yeah. Tara’s great…’
‘But?’ replied Natalie a touch warily.
Jack gave another deep sigh. ‘She knows Dad, or at least of him.’
There was a slight pause.
‘How?’ she asked quietly. Jack could tell by the tone of her voice that her line of thought was pretty much on the same wavelength as his.
‘Tara said he did some work for her friend…’
‘Well then, that’s totally feasible,’ reasoned Natalie.
‘No, I’m sure there’s more to it. Just the way her face and body language changed when learning who my dad was. And also with Dad when I asked him about Tara. He went all cagey.’
‘Cagey?’
‘Yeah, well, on the surface he appeared OK, but that nervous twitch he has appeared.’
‘Oh,’ she flatly replied, knowing exactly what her brother was talking about. She sat back in silence.
‘I don’t really know what to do,’ continued Jack. ‘Just when I’ve met someone special, this happens.’
‘You could just ask her outright?’ she suggested.
‘I could, but she’s likely to stick to her original story, that he’s done some work for her friend.’
‘Ask Dad?’
Jack gave a harsh laugh. ‘He’s not going to admit to anything, is he?’
‘This could all be totally innocent, Jack. Dad will have met a lot of people through his work,’ conceded Natalie, ever the peacemaker.
‘So why act so guiltily then?’ he retorted. Then he added, ‘And it’s not like he hasn’t got form, is it?’
‘No,’ she agreed dully. ‘But I like to think that’s all in the past.’
‘I’d like to think it’s all in the past,’ answered Jack.
‘Well.’ Natalie sighed now. ‘Time will tell. If there is something, it’ll rear its head. It’s bound to.’
All the way home Jack kept going over and over what he and Natalie had discussed.
Before returning the phone to his parents’ house, he parked up in a nearby sideroad and pulled it out of his jacket pocket.
He knew the passcode to open it, his dad’s date of birth, and was instantly in.
Jack immediately clicked on ‘contacts’ and scoured down the list for Tara’s name.
Nothing. Then he went to ‘messages’ and quickly scanned what was there.
Again, nothing of any consequence. Jack went to ‘calls’ but didn’t see anything suspicious there either.
Then, as an afterthought, he searched the missed calls and inhaled sharply. There it was, Tara’s number.