Aaron took his and began to eat. He glanced at his stepmother. “So I assume bridge club isn’t on tonight?” he asked hopefully. After all, if the roads were closed, no one could get here. There was something about the members of the ‘bridge club’ that set his nerves on edge.
“I’m flying them in via the corporate helicopter. I didn’t see the point of canceling a weekly event just because the road is closed.”
His fork dropped to his plate. “And you didn’t think to offer this to Meggie to get her home?”
Meggie turned to him. “Aaron, it’s fine—”
“No, Meggie, it isn’t.” He turned and glared at his stepmother. “Well?”
“Miss Knight came to collect her car. Flying her home would mean leaving her car here again.”
“It’s not like it’s taking up your parking space,” Aaron snapped, his anger surging.
Meggie put a hand on his arm. “Really, it’s fine.” Her quiet voice was as placating as the look in her eyes.
Aaron nodded, dropping it. Half of him wanted to get Meggie out of there right now this minute. Hijack the incoming chopper if that’s what it took. The other half knew that was a stupid idea. Tanis would probably sue him for improper use of the chopper. That’s if she didn’t declare it stolen and have him arrested. And driving out wasn’t an option. The last thing either of them needed was to find the roads really were blocked and get stuck somewhere between here and Headley Cross. Yet another part of him wondered why Tanis seemed so welcoming. She wanted Meggie to stay. Yet what possible motive could Tanis have?
Tanis didn’t drop her gaze. “We’re hoping to run two games tonight. Perhaps you would care to join us?”
He shook his head.
“Then perhaps Miss Knight would make up a fourth?”
“I’m afraid I don’t play bridge,” Meggie said.
“We could teach you.”
“Thank you, but no.”
Tanis opened her mouth to argue, and Aaron stepped in fast. He knew how hard it was to say no to her once she got on her high horse and kept on speaking.
“Actually, I was thinking of making the most of having Meggie here tonight and finalizing the arrangements for the bonfire.”
“Oh?”
“The menu for one thing,” he said, making it up as he went along. “And how many stoves I’ll need to set up for another. Do they need an oven or just the hobs? Cooking utensils et cetera. We’ll stay in the kitchen. We won’t disturb you in the slightest.”
Tanis held his gaze for a long moment until the thudding of rotor blades came from overhead. She nodded sharply. “Very well. There’s the helicopter now. We’ll be in the parlor.” She got up and swept from the room.
Aaron looked at Meggie. “Are you sure you’re all right with staying?” He could see indecision, and he knew she wasn’t comfortable here.
“Like she said, I don’t have a choice. My car’s here, and I’d only have to get a lift back to collect it.”
“OK. Although it’s not a problem, trying to take you home and then picking you up tomorrow to get your car. My gut instinct is to get you as far away from here as possible.”
“I don’t understand. I thought…”
“Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to get rid of you. I just don’t think you should be here while her
club
is going on.”
“Why ever not? It’s just bridge, isn’t it? And we can discuss the menu anytime.”
“I know we can, but,” he took hold of her hand, “do you trust me?”
Her gaze held his for a moment. “Yeah, I do.”
“Good, and you will understand in a few. First, that CD of hymns you have in your car. Could we play it in here?”
“Now?”
“Yeah, now. While this meeting of hers is going on.”
She nodded. “Sure. I’ll go and get it.”
“I’ll come with you.” With all those people arriving, it was imperative he didn’t let Meggie out of his sight for an instant. He stood, not letting go of her hand. He led her quickly from the house.
“I can’t believe you don’t play bridge, despite your stepmother having bridge parties in the house each week. Did you never want to learn?”
“I’m more of a canasta man myself, but no, I didn’t. Besides it’s not bridge they get up to in that front room each week.”
“Then what are they doing?” Tugging her hand free, she stood in front of him, feet firmly planted on the gravel yard. “Aaron, what’s going on?”
“Like I said, they don’t plan to play bridge.” How did he phrase this without sounding a complete fool?
The helicopter swung overhead, the search light flashing over the farmyard before it landed on the other side of the house. A sense of foreboding and dread swept over him. Coldness flooded him from his soul outwards to the tips of his fingers. Vague memories from his childhood stirred. Something he hadn’t thought of in years, hovered at the back of his conscious memory. Someone called his name before it turned into a long drawn out scream. And chanting. Always the chanting. Along with a flickering light and some scent that made him feel faint and sick.
A car door thudded somewhere to his right. “I’ve got the CD. Aaron? Aaron, are you all right?”
He fought his way from the chanting filling his mind, to focus on the figure next to him. “Yeah, I’m fine, Meggie.”
“You don’t look it. You look dreadful. And you were muttering something weird under your breath.”
“Was I?”
“Yeah. It didn’t make much sense. It was almost like chanting.”
“Chanting?” Aaron shuddered, the voice in his head starting to reverberate. “Sorry.”
“As long as you’re sure you’re all right.”
He closed his eyes, wishing the sound in his mind would go away and wondering why the memories were flooding back now. Sucking in a deep breath, he hissed it out between his teeth. “Did you make this CD yourself?”
She walked with him towards the house. “Yeah, I did. It’s a compilation of various albums I have burnt onto my hard drive. Something to sing along to in the car.”
She stopped walking and grabbed his arm. Warmth from her touch ran up his arm, twisting through him. “Are you really all right? You look... spooked.”
“Her friends creep me out,” he finally admitted. “Yeah, I know. A big grown up bloke like me afraid of a bunch of women, but—” He sucked in a deep breath, rubbing his neck hard. “I’ve known these people years. Since I was a kid, and they’ve all been coming here week after week. They haven’t aged in all that time and neither has Tanis.”
“That’s just make-up and hair dye.”
“No, it’s more than that. I watched Dad age, Meggie, but I just realized that Tanis doesn’t look a day older from the day she came into our lives, before Mum died. I’ll find the photos and show you, but first I want to put your CD on.”
“Sure.”
He shut the door and, once the hymns filled the air, heaved a sigh of relief. “Are the services still the same time on Sunday?”
“Yeah. Ten thirty and six thirty.”
“OK. I’ll try to make the morning one at least.” He moved over to the dresser and pulled out the photo album.
Meggie sat back in the chair by the fire. “Did you know your stepmother before she and your dad married?”
He nodded as he sat next to her. “Yeah, she’s Mum’s stepsister, so she and Dad were friends for years. She came to stay when Mum was expecting my sister. Mum was sick a lot, what we’d now call a difficult pregnancy. Tanis married Dad soon after Mum died.” He opened the album. “That’s me.”
A cute blond kid grinned up at them. Gap toothed and sitting astride a bike.
“You’re so cute. How old were you then?”
“Six. I got the bike for my birthday.” He pointed to another picture. “That’s Mum and Dad.” The usual grief filled him.
“How old were you when she died?”
“Nine. Isaac was six. He blamed Leah for Mum’s death for years. He doesn’t now, but at the time…” He pushed a hand through his hair. “How else does a child reason it? Mum vanishes and leaves a baby in her place. We were told she died in childbirth, but something has never seemed right.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know I was only a kid, but I’m sure she came home from the hospital. I remember seeing her in the nursery, leaning over the crib. She had a long flowery dress on with a lacy white cardigan over the top. She looked up and smiled at me and told me to come in, not be scared, there was someone she wanted me to meet.”
He paused, rubbing his hands over his face. “Then somehow I was outside, and I could hear her screaming my name. Then she just screamed. I never saw her again.”
“Are you sure you’re not getting confused with seeing your brother after he was born? You were only a child. It’s easy to get memories confused. I know I do.”
“I know what I saw. The crib had pink blankets on it. She wouldn’t have used pink blankets for either Isaac or me.” He flipped more pages. “This was Dad and Tanis on their wedding day. See, she looks the same as she does now. And this was Dad just before he died.”
“Wow.”
Aaron looked sadly at the photo of the old, haggard man his father had become. “Fifteen years. This place sucked the life from him. Or something did.”
“What do you mean?”
Aaron froze as the chanting began in the front room. The darkness grew around them. The air grew so thick that he thought he might need a knife to cut it with. “I should turn up the music,” he whispered, forcing himself to his feet.
He somehow managed to make it over to the stereo with no clear recollection of how he got there. He fought to raise his hand, his arm muscles stiff and unresponsive. After what seemed like an eternity, his fingers touched the volume, turning it up.
Almost instantly, relief poured through him and the spell broke. He glanced at Meggie. Her brow was furrowed with concern, her arms wrapped tightly around her middle. “Sorry, Meggie. Maybe you’re right about the house. There’s something about it.”
“Don’t be.” She moved over to him. “I feel it, too. I did the first time I set foot in here. It’s not the farm, otherwise I wouldn’t dream of bringing the kids here or having you still host the bonfire. It’s just the house, or at least it seems like it is.”
“I never noticed it before, at least not like this. But having you here…” He paused, trying to get his thoughts in order. “You’re like a light shining in the darkness. Does that make sense?”
“Yeah.”
He took her hand. “Meggie…I know we’ve only just met. Well, a couple of days ago, but I was wondering if you’d like to go out with me at some point. Not just sorting the bonfire out.”
Her eyes, her whole face, shone with pure delight. “I’d like that.”
His hand cupped her face. “There is something about you, Meggie.”
She leaned into his touch. “Are you sure you’re not reading too much into this?”
“Like what?”
“Aaron, you’ve held your distance so far. Reading between the lines, I’d say you were afraid of another relationship.”
His hand stilled. “So you’re saying no? After you said yes.”
“No, I’m saying yes I’ll go out with you, but as a friend, nothing more.”
He held her gaze, not sure how to respond. “I…I see.”
“The way you speak about Nancy and how she died, I can tell it hurt you very much.”
He dropped his hand and turned away, the music the only sound in the room, aside from his thudding heart. “The last time I saw her, was right here,” he whispered. “But she left me, Meggie. It was her choice, even if I don’t understand why. Isaac told me months ago to move on. You’re right, I don’t want to open myself up to that kind of hurt again.”
“Nor do I. We’ve both loved and lost, but does that mean we can’t be friends? Be there for each other. Go out on mates dates. Do daft things together. And speaking of daft things, I have tickets for the seventies disco at the Purple Turtle tomorrow night. I wasn’t going to go, but would you be my partner?”
He looked at her, seeing the sincerity in her eyes. “I’d like that. Thank you.”
She smiled. “So, do you really play canasta, because I haven’t played that in ages?”
“Sure I do. Put the kettle on and I’ll find the cards.”
****
Two hours later, Aaron put down his last card. “My game, I think.”
Meggie shook her finger at him, trying to pretend to be cross as he laughed at her. “Have you never heard of the rule ‘let the guest win’?”
“Nope. Which number rule is that?”
“Rule five, subsection three, paragraph two, I think.”
He laughed harder. “I must have skipped that one and gone on to rule six.”
“Which is?” she asked as she picked up the cards.
“Never let the guest win after a tornado and whilst drinking tea.”
Meggie rolled her eyes at him. “Well, that rule sucks.”
“So give it a straw and some lemonade,” he winked.
She roared with laughter. “That is exactly what Cadfael would say. Mam, on the other hand, would give me a lecture on using the word suck. Although tea and lemonade sounds like a disgusting combination.”
“Yum, fizzy tea. Want some?”
“In your dreams, mate.” She shuffled the cards. “So this menu we were meant to be discussing.”
“Yes.” He pulled across a pad of paper and pencil. “What did you have in mind?”
“Soup of some kind,” she said thoughtfully. “Probably tomato as most people like that, and it saves having to do a vegetarian option, so we’ll need a huge urn for that. And hot dogs, burgers, that kind of thing.”
“OK. What about to drink?”
“Tea, coffee, and squash.”
“Have you done this before?”
Meggie laughed. “No. At least not on this scale. Catering for an unknown amount of people is not something to be done lightly. Tell me why I agreed to this.”
He tapped the pencil on the table. “I would imagine it’s because Jack is an impossible man to say no to, maybe?”
“Is that why Cassie married him?” She slid the cards back into the box.
Aaron snorted. “Probably. Though they do make a really good couple.”
“Yeah, they do.” She paused. Marriage wasn’t something she’d ever considered, not even when she was dating Ted. She couldn’t imagine belonging to someone forever. Except God of course. She allowed a smile to cross her face. She was stuck to Him like glue.
“What are you thinking?” Aaron’s hand covered hers. “Something lit your face from the inside just then. You positively glowed.”