Chapter 10 #2
‘It’s not great. The pay is awful, the customers are frequently rude and it doesn’t exactly have prospects. I’m only doing it till my film career takes off, though.’
‘Hmm. Or you could ask Holly to keep you.’
‘I would never do that.’
‘Really? If I were you, I’d get her knocked up and become a house husband. Not that I would ever want children.’
Miranda went to say something, but Lewis spoke over her.
‘No, I can’t imagine anything worse. It’s so funny that Holly is going out with a delivery driver, though. It’s like her final act of rebellion.’ He chortled to himself. ‘Look, Daddy, I’m shacked up with a poor boy.’
‘You’re a dick,’ Holly said. ‘I don’t care what Patrick does. And anyway, he’s going to be a famous, award-winning director. You’ll be telling everyone you know him when he gets his first Oscar.’
‘We’ll see. No offence, Pat.’
I didn’t get a chance to respond because at that moment Charles entered the kitchen carrying a gun.
It was a rifle, which he cradled in both hands.
‘Zack and I are going hunting,’ he said.
Miranda turned around, still holding the knife. ‘What? Now? In the dark?’
I had thought the same thing.
‘Didn’t he tell you?’ Charles asked.
‘He doesn’t tell me anything these days.’
‘Perhaps you should see a couples therapist.’ Before Miranda could close her dropped jaw, he went on: ‘Obviously we’re not going to start hunting in the dark. We’re going to stay in the lodge overnight. Get up early, go out and look for some deer.’
Holly winced. ‘I thought you were a vegan now.’
‘I’m not going to eat them. I’m going to kill them.’
Miranda was still brandishing the knife. She looked so furious that, if I’d been Charles, I might have scared. ‘What about dinner?’
‘We’re going to grab something on the way. Zack and I have a lot of work stuff to talk about. Things are crazy at the moment and this gives us a chance to figure out some problems without bothering the rest of you.’
‘What do you mean, crazy?’ Holly asked.
‘Oh, nothing for you to worry about, sweetheart.’ He kissed her on the cheek, the rifle now slung over his shoulder. ‘It’s all exciting stuff. A huge opportunity has come our way. It’s a lot of work, that’s all.’
‘You’re not going to invite me?’ Lewis asked. He sounded like a kid asking if he could join some bigger kids’ game.
‘You? Remember what happened the last time I took you hunting?’
Lewis flinched. ‘I was thirteen.’
‘Old enough to handle a gun. No, it’s much safer if you stay here with the girls.’
‘I didn’t want to go, anyway,’ Lewis said in a low voice. I felt sorry for him. Anyone would think Zack was Charles’s son, not Lewis.
Zack came into the kitchen. ‘Morag is here. She wants to talk to you, Charles. Something about some repairs the house needs. I told her to go ahead and bill the company, but she insists on running it past you.’
‘For God’s sake. There is always someone after my money.’ Charles put the rifle down and left the kitchen, going into the downstairs office, where Morag was waiting.
‘I’m going outside for a smoke,’ Lewis said.
A minute later I heard his footsteps on the gravel outside. The atmosphere in the kitchen was thick with tension – it really wouldn’t have surprised me if Miranda had stabbed her husband or hacked off a limb to add to the soup – so much so that I needed to get out and breathe in some fresh air.
It was already dark outside, and cold, my breath pluming in the night air.
This family. Were they always like this?
Or was all the bad feeling being caused by Jasmine’s presence?
And why was Charles acting like I didn’t exist?
Did he think my relationship with Holly was so inconsequential – the latest in a line of unsuitable boyfriends – that he thought it would be a waste of energy to get to know me?
What was it about Zack that he liked so much, I wondered.
From what I’d witnessed – the sniping, the secrecy, the poor communication – Zack and Miranda didn’t exactly make each other happy, and I would have thought Charles would side with his daughter, not her husband.
But not only did Charles appear to prefer Zack to Lewis, he seemed to enjoy spending time with him more than he did with Miranda.
It wasn’t that I wanted to have that kind of relationship with Charles – I certainly didn’t want to go hunting with him – but it would have been nice for him to acknowledge that I was part of Holly’s life now and therefore part of his family.
I was about to go back inside when I heard voices.
It was Lewis and a young woman. Morag’s red Fiat was parked nearby, next to a Jeep that I hadn’t seen before, and although I couldn’t see where they were, I realized Lewis was talking to Morag’s daughter, Avril.
Lewis was speaking in a gentle, placatory tone.
Avril said something, also impossible to make out, and this time I heard his response.
‘It’s got nothing to do with me.’
I heard her reply, too, her voice louder but cracking with emotion. ‘I hate you.’
She came stomping towards me from around the side of the house and, as she stepped into the glare of the security lights, I saw tears shining in her eyes.
At the same time, Charles and Zack came out of the house, carrying their rifles.
Morag was behind them, head down, wringing her hands together.
Yet again, she seemed nervous, and I wondered if it was because of the guns.
Then I saw Charles’s irritated expression and figured Morag’s disposition was because of their conversation about house repairs.
I assumed he’d reacted badly to whatever she’d told him. As if he couldn’t afford the repairs.
Lewis appeared out of the darkness, a fresh cigarette burning between his fingers, and Morag took him in without saying another word.
‘Hey, Morag,’ he said.
‘Lewis.’
Hadn’t they been friends once? There was no sign of any warmth between them now.
Morag turned to Charles and opened her mouth, then seemed to lose courage until Charles said, ‘What is it?’
‘Well. It’s just …’ She cleared her throat. ‘Avril is a good little hunter. One of Mum’s friends from the pub taught her how to shoot. She’s spent the entire school holidays talking about how bored she is. Maybe she could go with you?’
‘I don’t think so,’ he responded.
‘Why not?’ said Lewis. ‘Sounds like a good idea to me. Take someone along who can actually shoot. From what I’ve heard, Zack only shoots blanks.’
Zack came towards him, fists clenched. ‘What did you say?’
Were they going to fight? I was frozen to the spot, unsure if I should intervene. Was Charles going to do anything? Pick a side? But Lewis immediately backed down.
‘It was only a joke, mate.’
Zack jabbed a finger towards him. ‘You’re fucking lucky Miranda didn’t hear that.’
‘I’m sorry.’
Zack took another step towards him. He was almost twice as big as Lewis. I wasn’t surprised Lewis had apologized so quickly. It was an appalling thing to say, assuming he had been referring to Zack and Miranda’s attempts to conceive. If I was Zack, I’d have been furious, too.
‘Don’t push your luck,’ he said, his voice a low growl.
‘Boys,’ Charles said, as if he’d found the whole thing amusing. ‘Play nicely.’
Lewis cleared his throat and moved away from Zack, lighting another cigarette to, I guessed, calm his nerves. But instead of acting sheepish, he said, ‘So, are you going to take Avril?’
Morag looked to Charles for a response, but before Charles could speak, Avril said, ‘Mum, I don’t want to go.’
‘But you can show Mr Grant how good you are with a gun.’
‘I’m sorry, Morag,’ Charles said, ‘but we’re going to talk about business. Young Avril here would be even more bored than she is at home.’
‘And it’s all confidential,’ Zack added, without looking at her. He was still glowering from Lewis’s remark and didn’t seem at all amused by the idea of being joined on his hunting trip by a teenage girl.
‘Okay, fine,’ Morag said. ‘Forget I asked. It was a stupid idea anyway.’
It was certainly, I thought, a strange idea.
So much had happened since I’d come outside that I’d almost forgotten about Avril telling Lewis that she hated him.
What had that been about? Was it somehow connected to Morag’s request?
There was still so much about the relationships among these people that I didn’t understand.
Morag and Avril got into her Fiat and drove away, Charles and Zack both watching them go impassively. Then they put the rifles into the back of the Jeep and ushered Watson on to the back seat.
Before leaving, Charles went over to Lewis and eyed his cigarette.
‘Still smoking.’ He shook his head, disgusted. ‘You’re going to die before I do.’