DOWN: The Complete Trilogy by Cooper Glenn

Author:Cooper, Glenn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lascaux Media
Published: 2015-07-31T16:00:00+00:00

Gareth had reluctantly, very reluctantly agreed. The wait was agonizing. Christine did her best to make herself presentable while Molly gobbled up everything sweet in the kitchen. When the doorbell finally rang Christine hurriedly applied a fresh coat of cologne and spritzed Molly as an afterthought.

From the sitting room she heard a man ask, “What was so important I had to drop everything, Dad? You’re not sick, are you?”

Gareth’s voice was stilted. “I’m not sick. There’s someone who wants to see you.”

“Who?”

“She’s in the lounge.”

A man with a close-cropped beard came in. The ten-year-old boy she remembered was there in the forty-year-old face looking back at her. He was a larger, more robust man than his dad, more like Christine’s own father.

He glanced at Molly on the sofa, her fingers frosted with powdered sugar, and said hello to Christine.

“I’m Gavin. You wanted to see me?”

She struggled with her composure. “Yes. I’m a friend of your dad’s. I wanted to meet his son.”

“Oh yeah? What’s your name?”

She hesitated too long to come up with, “Jane.”

Gavin sniffed the air, sending her heart racing. “Hello Jane. You ladies do like your perfume.”

Molly found that funny, cackled a few times, then shut up.

“How do you know dad then?”

“I used to live in the area.”

He seemed to study her face. “Did we ever meet?”

“When you were very young, Gavin. I’m sure you don’t remember.”

“I’ve got to say, you look familiar.”

Gareth sat on his chair and said emphatically, “You were too young.”

“If I was too young, how old was she? We look about the same age. How old are you, Jane, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Older than I look.” She was desperate to change the subject. “Gareth, why don’t I put the kettle on?”

When she came back into the lounge with a tray, Gavin wasn’t there.

“Where’d he go?” she asked.

“He’s upstairs. I don’t know why,” Gareth said, working into a state. “I knew this was a terrible idea. You should leave. I’ll tell him you had to leave. I wish you hadn’t come. I’m confused by all of this. It’s not right. You shouldn’t have come.”

“It’s okay, Gareth,” she said. “I saw him. It was good. He looks a fine man. I’ll say goodbye and we’ll go.”

“I don’t want to go,” Molly said, slurping her tea.

There were heavy footsteps coming down the stairs and Gavin came back in. He was holding an old scrapbook open to a page of photographs.

He put the book in front of Christine’s face and said, “Tell me how it is that you look exactly like the mother who walked out on me when I was ten? Tell me that, Jane.”

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