Chapter 28 #2
Beyond a couple of the housekeeping staff, Burlington Hall is quiet when I arrive, and I don’t stop until I reach my study. I’m on autopilot, hands shaking, as I scan the paper and email it over.
I read it again. Words like rescind and withdraw swim before my eyes. I’ve no doubt this isn’t the end yet because the solicitors will need to go over everything with a fine-tooth comb, but it’s a start. A beginning.
When I walk out of my study, I feel ten stone lighter. My shoulders are softer, there’s a spring in my step that the dogs notice, and sensing weakness, they walk me straight up to the treats cupboard.
On the way, I notice things that usually blend into the background.
Max’s framed finger-paintings from his kindergarten days hanging along the wall, the Spider-Man costume slung onto the kitchen stool after he removed it this morning before we left for school, a ratty drawstring bag he keeps his snails in inexplicably filled with glitter. All of it.
Handing over the treats, I sit on the floor with Dolly, Maud, and Hamish in the middle of the kitchen, soaking it all in. This place has been home to Max. The only home he’s ever known and will continue to know. The home I knew as a child.
I hadn’t realized how tightly I was gripping our reality until it was almost taken away, and the relief is too great for me to hold on to any longer. Tears stream down my face quicker than Maud and Dolly can lick them away.
I’ve been living with a constant niggle of worry that one day Max would be taken from me. He’d be gone as Story was gone. As my dad was gone.
But we survived.
I turn at the sound of footsteps walking down the hallway, only to see Clementine clock me, pause mid-stride, and turn away.
“Not so fast.” Drying my eyes, I run after her in time to see her dart into Lando’s study. “Clementine, don’t be so fucking childish.”
The door rebounds against the wall from the force of her pushing it open, and I catch it just before it slams into my face. As calmly as I can, I close it behind me and prop myself against it. If she wants to bolt, she’ll have to push past me first.
She’s leaning against Lando’s desk, arms crossed defiantly over her chest like she’s ready for battle.
“We need to talk.”
Her chin juts. “I don’t have anything to say.”
“Then I’ll talk . . .” I summon the will to stay calm, which comes quicker than I expected. Perhaps as I’ve already dealt with one evil today, the second will come easier. “Are you in a relationship with Santiago Torres?”
Her mouth purses tight. “No.”
“Have you ever had—”
“You’re a vet, Hendricks. Not a fucking solicitor.”
My eyes roll heavily at the dramatics, but she’s right. I am a vet. And I know a scared, defensive animal when I see one. Any doubt I had about her and Torres vanishes.
“What’s going on? Can you explain what I saw?”
Her mouth rolls tight.
“Are you the reason Torres has been turning up to all Miles’s games?”
Her jaw pops.
“Clem, I know what I saw, and I haven’t told anyone. But fuck me, I have enough shit to deal with without holding on to this secret too. D’you know how hard it is for me to keep a secret from Miles?”
She stays silent, but this time, her eyes lose their wariness and drop down.
“Miles is out for blood, you know. He’s going to pay him back for nearly killing him.”
That gets her attention. “What’s he going to do?”
“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Have you forgotten that Miles nearly died?”
“Of course, I haven’t.”
“Then I’m asking again, what are you doing? You know how fucked up this is?”
“Nothing’s happening, Hendricks.”
I shake my head. I can see in her eyes that she’s lying, but I just don’t know why. “I’m not keeping this secret for you, Clementine. It’s too big. Either you tell Miles or I will.”
“Hen, please don’t. Miles will never speak to me again. Nothing is going on, I promise. I promise. You don’t understand.”
“Then help me to understand.”
Her head drops again, and she wipes away a tear. I wait for a response, anything, but she’s gone back to being silent.
I know why she thinks I’ll be a soft touch to her begging, because I am with Max, but this is different. Miles is the most loyal of all of us, and Clemmie’s behavior won’t make him angry. It’ll break his heart.
“Explain to him, Clem. That’s all you have to do.”
I leave her to her thoughts and walk back to the kitchen. Adrenaline is pumping through me, and I’m tempted to burn it off with a run, but I need to wait and hand over Sienna’s document to the courier.
So I order some lunch, pour myself a beer, and ruminate on everything that’s happened since the beginning of the year, starting with Story and ending with my son.
It’s been a whirlwind, to put it lightly. My past and everything I thought I’d buried have returned with vigor and smacked me in the face. But I see it clearer.
My life is slowly slotting into place. My brain has space to figure out what I want for my future, where I want it to be, and who I want it with.
My mum was right. I now have the chance to be more than Max’s father, and I know exactly where to start.