After the Gloaming #6
“Your mother and father loved each other very much, but James Maxwell was immature. He wasn’t ready to be a husband, let alone a father.
One night, he went out with some friends, drank too much, and in a reckless, impulsive moment, did something he would spend the rest of his life regretting.
” Deidre sighed and shook her head. “He was unfaithful with your mother’s best friend.
When your mother found out, she was devastated.
But she loved James Maxwell so she stayed.
He continued drinking heavily and one night he did not come home again. ”
“And she stayed with him, even after that?”
“Aye.” Deidre winced at the pain palpable in Caden’s voice.
“Your mother waited until you were born and then she told James that he was not worthy of being the father to her child; that her child might inherit the Maxwell name, but he would not inherit their shame. She packed her bags and left and they never spoke again.”
Caden sighed, dropped his chin to his chest, and shook his head. When he looked at her again, the signs of vulnerability had been erased from his face, replaced by the detached expression of one who had analysed and accepted a situation he recognized he could not alter.
“James Maxwell loved your mother and wanted to be your father, but his shame and stubborn pride kept him from ever reaching out. He repented, lived an honourable life and devoted a lot of his time to philanthropic pursuits.”
“If he genuinely repented, why didn’t he find me sooner?”
“Perhaps he felt unworthy of your love.” Deidre shook her head. “It’s so tragic. He loved you and your mother and he eventually became the man you both deserved, but it was too late …”
Caden continued to look for Deidre’s bones, even after she silently slipped out of the garage and disappeared between the shadows of dusk.
He searched through a dozen boxes of knick-knacks, an armoire filled with dusty, moth-bitten riding apparel, and a steamer trunk of old tin toys. He found a tricorn hat, a startling number of empty whisky bottles, a jar of brass buttons, and a rusty bayonet, but no bones.
Using the crowbar, he pried the lid off the last of the crates and found Deidre’s bones nestled in a bed of wood shavings.
Caden plunged his hands in the curled bits of wood and lifted Deidre’s yellowing skull from its resting place.
The upper and lower teeth stood in neat rows but a rather large jigsaw puzzle shaped piece was missing from the left side of the heavy cranial bone.
Caden paced back and forth on the narrow strip of rocky shore where he’d first met Deidre, watching as the setting sun’s blazing rays danced upon the sea.
Soon the din of the day would fade away and all that would be left would be the splash of the undulating waves, the whisper of the breeze, the hoot of an owl.
The vibrant world would be draped in muted shades of grey as the blanket of gloaming descended.
But what would happen after the gloaming?
Would Deidre come to him? Would she come to him again as a woman or a banshee? Had the curse been broken or would Caden be left standing alone on the water’s edge?
The sun slipped lower beneath the horizon. Like a curtain closing at the theatre, the gloaming made an exit and darkness arrived.
Caden’s heart thudded painfully in his chest. Minutes ticked by but Caden stubbornly refused to leave, refused to believe that Deidre was lost to him and his world.
Hades came bounding up, all gangly legs and ridiculous exuberance, splashing through the waves like a puppy. His tongue lolled out of his mouth and his tail wagged so violently it sent sprays of water all over Caden.
He looked at the silly beast and envied him in his ignorance. Dogs did not know what it meant to suffer heartbreak. Dogs did not know what it meant to love and lose.
Hades looked up at Caden. Despite the tail wagging and carefree bounding, the deerhound’s big, brown eyes reflected sadness.
Caden remembered the way the faithful beast had sat beside James’s bed and the way he had howled after James’s dead body had been carried out of Blackstone by two attendants from Henderson Funeral Home.
Caden squatted and wrapped his arm around the dog’s neck.
“Maybe you’re not so ignorant, after all. You know what it means to lose someone you love, don’t you Hades?”
Hades thrust his nose forward and began to growl.
“What’s wrong, boy?”
Caden followed the dog’s gaze and saw Deidre standing at the edge of the woods. His heart swelled.
She ran to him. When they embraced, his arms did not pass through her.
“It’s after the gloaming and you’re still here, still human.”
“I know!” She laughed and tipped her chin up to look at him.
The light from the waxing moon shone on her face, turning her hazel eyes a lovely shade of emerald, and he thought he had never seen a more beautiful woman in his life.
“You did it, Caden. You broke the curse. You made me human again. You’ve given me back my life. ”
“Yes,” he said, kissing her lightly on the mouth. “Now the question I have for you Deidre Monreith is: would you consider spending that life with a Maxwell?”
Tears filled her eyes, but this time they were tears of joy.
“Aye,” she said, laughing again. “I’ll spend my life with you, Caden Maxwell.”