Brothers' Tears by J.M. Gregson

Author:J.M. Gregson [J. M. Gregson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Severn House Publishers
Published: 2013-03-01T16:00:00+00:00

ELEVEN

The widow of the elder O’Connor brother was coping well with his death. It was a week now since James had died. Sarah had coped with the pressures of sympathy from those around her and those at a distance. She had composed a standard letter of thanks for the messages of condolence which had poured in from England and Ireland – Jim’s death at Claughton Towers had been too dramatic and well-publicised for people to miss it.

The most difficult thing for her to handle had been her daughter’s grief. Clare had been the person in the world hit hardest by Jim’s killing. She had been close to her father as she grew up, in the way that daughters are. He had been away from home a lot when she was young, but he had been able to indulge her when he appeared, in the manner which was customary for doting dads.

Clare had taken Jim’s death hard and the fact that she was an intelligent girl had made it more difficult for her mother. Her daughter had seen through Sarah’s conventional protestations of grief, been sceptical about the prayers and the trappings of religion behind which she had tried to retreat. ‘You didn’t feel like I did about Dad. I’m sure you had your reasons. But, Mum, don’t pretend you’re devastated by this when you aren’t. That would make it much worse for me to bear.’

They’d had an uneasy weekend, but Clare had gone back to university now. No doubt she would find her consolation with the thin and pimply youth who had been with her at Claughton Towers on that fatal Monday night. Jim had been baffled by what his daughter saw in that tongue-tied youth who was in so many ways still a boy; he’d been unable to divine what it was that attracted Clare. Probably the lad was good in bed; Sarah certainly hoped he was. She hoped he would provide consolation and diversion for Clare, rather than allowing her thoughts to dwell on the mother who seemed so little affected by her husband’s death.

No one knew the full story of their marriage and she had every intention of keeping it that way. These things were private and it was much better for all concerned if they stayed private. It was the same with grief. Sarah had a greater grief than Clare thought she had for Jim. But her mourning for him was for times long gone and what might have been, not for the man he had been at his death. Her task now was to keep control of herself until the world resumed its normal rhythms.

She decided on Tuesday morning that she would tidy the bathroom and remove all Jim’s stuff from it. It had to be done and she needed a task to occupy her. She took the waste bin with her and began to pitch male toiletries into it. She had scarcely begun when the phone rang. For the last few days, she’d been letting it ring and waiting until the evening to listen to whatever messages people left.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.