Dressed for Death by Julianna Deering

Author:Julianna Deering [Deering, Julianna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: FIC042060, FIC042030, FIC022030
ISBN: 9781441229397
Publisher: Baker Publishing Group
Published: 2016-01-26T16:00:00+00:00

Ten

Drew went into the garden after Tal, who was grieving and so didn’t mean what he’d just said. Still, there was no need to make a bad situation worse. He found Tal pacing the grass, sometimes steering clear of the carefully tended flower beds and sometimes not.

“Look here, Tal—”

“Have you come to tell me what a beast I am?”

Drew shook his head. “We all understand what a rough go you’ve had of it. But she has too, you know.”

“I know.” Tal sank down onto a marble bench beneath the weeping willow and put his head in his hands. “All this is hard enough without seeing what it’s done to her.”

“We’ve all been rather on edge, but perhaps she’s had it the worst, what with finding out about your father and you losing Alice that way. I think most mothers would rather be hurt themselves than have to bear the hurt of their children.” Drew shoved his hands into his pockets. “She’d make it all better for you if she could.”

Tal looked up at the cloudless sky with a groan. “Don’t you think I know that? Don’t you think I feel an absolute swine for snapping at her? She thinks she can fix everything with a jam bun and a cup of tea. I know she means well, but it’s not enough. Some things just can’t be fixed.”

The fierceness in his expression faded as quickly as it had come, and he put his head in his hands once again. “You saw her at dinner last night, nearly falling to pieces over a bent fork and a cracked plate.”

“I’m sorry. It’s always the little things, isn’t it?”

“Doesn’t help that I can’t manage to be civil, either.”

Drew shrugged. “She seems a bit lost these days. Without your father to lean on and all. I expect you feel the same way, but maybe the two of you could lean on each other now.”

“We’re all we have left, aren’t we? And you know how Mum is. Even when the world is coming down around my ears, I know she’s there for me.”

“It’s a good thing to know.”

Tal managed a crooked smile. “It is that.”

Drew clapped him on the back. “Maybe you ought to tell her so.”

Tal said nothing for a moment, and then he nodded. “I suppose I ought. Thanks, old man.”

Drew got to his feet. “Ready to go back?”

Tal made a wry face and stood, too. “You don’t have a healthy portion of humble pie on you by any chance, do you?”

Drew chuckled. “Sorry, no. But you tell her anyway. See if it doesn’t help.”

They walked back toward the terrace, but Tal stopped before they reached it. “No.”

Drew stopped beside him and studied his wan face. “What is it, Tal?”

“I can’t do this, Drew. I can’t keep pretending things are all right, that they’re ever going to be all right.” He caught a quivering breath. “I can’t go tell my mother I’ll help her get through this when I don’t know if I can even get through it myself.

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.