Summer Sins

‘You and Jasper lived at Crickglades together for a couple of years, didn’t you?’ Daniel was the first to break the small silence.

She checked on the omelette before turning to look at him. ‘Yes. I moved in when I was fourteen. I left after the divorce three years later.’

‘I guess that’s why I haven’t met you before—out at Crickglades, I mean,’ he said.

‘Did you see much of your grandfather Gerald?’ she asked.

‘Now and again,’ he said with a hint of regret. ‘Not as much as I would have liked.’

‘It wasn’t encouraged?’ She took a wild guess.

He gave her a twisted smile. ‘Yeah, something like that.’

She turned back to the omelette and deftly slid it onto a plate and handed it to him. ‘Well you’re very welcome here—any time,’ she said with a warm smile.

‘Thanks,’ he said, his cheeks flushing in a way that for once didn’t remind her of Jasper.

Daniel had been in bed for at least an hour when Hayley heard Jasper return. She felt rather than heard his car, the grumbling roar of its engine reminding her of a lion returning to its lair. She could almost tell his mood from the deep, throaty growl as he killed the engine, the slam of the driver’s door audible even in the lounge where she was sitting on the edge of one of the leather sofas waiting for him.

He came in, tossing his keys to the nearest surface with a muttered curse, his fists clenching and unclenching until he swung around and saw her.

Hayley’s eyes flared in concern when she saw the cut on his lip that was still bleeding. ‘Oh, my God! What on earth happened to you?’ she asked for the second time that evening.

He wiped at his mouth with the back of his hand, grimacing as he saw the smear of blood. ‘It’s nothing. It looks much worse than it is.’

The irony was remarkable, she thought as she came over to inspect the damage. ‘You sound exactly like your son,’ she said.

His whole body stiffened and a deep frown divided his forehead. ‘Has he been here?’ he asked.

‘He is here,’ she answered. ‘He’s asleep upstairs and looking very much like he ran into the same door you did.’

Jasper’s expression soured even further. ‘Yeah, well, it’s a pretty solid door, but I think I’ve put it out of action for a while.’

She frowned up at him in confusion. ‘What’s going on?’ she asked. ‘Both you and Daniel turn up looking like you’ve done ten rounds with a heavyweight champion.’

Jasper pulled out his handkerchief and spat the blood out of his mouth before he answered. ‘Stay out of it, Hayley. It’s nothing to do with you.’

‘No, I will not stay out of it. Tell me what the hell is going on. I have a right to know, if not as your wife then as a concerned third party. How could I not be concerned when a young boy of fifteen comes here with a black eye and a swollen lip?’ she said.

‘It’s no concern of yours.’

She sent him an accusing look. ‘Did you hit him?’

He jerked back from her as if she had slapped him, his face almost white with shock. ‘How can you ask that?’

It was a pretty stupid question, she had to admit. Daniel had done nothing but praise his father the whole time she had been speaking to him. ‘I’m sorry,’ she mumbled. ‘Of course you wouldn’t do something like that.’

‘What sort of man do you think I am?’ he railed at her. ‘He’s a bloody kid, for God’s sake. He’s got enough on his plate right now without me cuffing him around the ears.’

Hayley watched as he strode to the drinks cabinet and poured himself a measure of spirits, downing it in one swallow, his hands visibly shaking as he gripped the glass when he set it back down.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said again. ‘I was worried, that’s all. He seems a nice kid. He reminds me of you.’

He swung around to look at her, his expression distinctly ironic. ‘Does he? In what way?’

Her brow wrinkled as she thought about it for a moment. ‘He’s reserved, sort of private in a way. He doesn’t like to wear his heart on his sleeve.’

‘And you think that I’m like that?’