She arrived at twelve-thirty, and Adrian joined Lenny at the front door. Her resemblance to Matthew should have been frightening, except her features seemed softer in some way and her personality was open and friendly. After whispering to the man in the wheelchair, and him nodding in return, she came up, and without a single word of introduction, threw her arms around Leonard.
“Leonard. I am so sorry. I feel partly responsible.”
“How could you be responsible?” asked Lenny, returning the hug then letting her go.
“Not sure how much the police told you, but Matthew called me the day he decided to come here. Said he was going to have it out with you once and for all. My brother is nothing but bluster most of the time, full of hot air, and when I called Freya, she assured me you had a friend staying who looked as though he could handle any trouble.” Mary looked over at Adrian and smiled. “I had no idea Matthew would be carrying a gun, otherwise I’d have called the police myself. Honestly, that’s not like him at all. But then, I had no idea he was in such dire financial straits. He’d borrow money from me every once in a while—more of a handout, really—usually citing the fact that Mum wasn’t working. And I knew he liked a flutter here and there, but never realised things had gotten so serious. The police told me that he’s involved with some pretty nasty and ruthless loan sharks.”
Adrian refused to feel sorry for Matthew. On the streets he had witnessed the results of addiction first-hand—drink, drugs and gambling, sometimes a combination of all three—and had experienced far worse hardship in his own life than owing money. With the right support, by talking to the right people like Citizen’s Advice or even Gamblers Anonymous, Matthew could have gotten legitimate help without resorting to crime.
“It’s all water under the bridge, Mary,” said Lenny, as magnanimous as ever. “I’m just pleased you and your husband agreed to come.”
Mary introduced her husband, George, in the wheelchair—also a lawyer—and pointed to an older gentleman with a walking stick, currently leaning into the back of their car.
“And that’s my father.”
Aha, thought Adrian, Mr Darlington was very much alive and well. So much for what Lenny’s aunt had told Lenny. Once their introductions had been made, Adrian took the gift of wine from the older man and led them through the house towards the outdoor furniture overlooking the back garden. Maggie and her crew enjoyed a well-earned rest at one of the garden tables before the bulk of the guests started arriving. While Lenny chatted to his guests, Adrian went to fetch everyone drinks.
“Yes, I still kept in touch with Matthew,” said Mary, wheeling her husband to one side of the table. When Adrian looked back in the house, he noticed Mr Darlington had stopped to look at the photos in the alcove. “Largely, I suppose, because I felt a little guilty after college, leaving him alone with our mother.”
“I thought Matthew married?”
“He did. They lived with her. Can you imagine? The marriage lasted all of three months before the poor wife moved back in with her parents. But I’ve kept in touch with Freya and Pippa over the years. More so with Freya. Will be great to see them later. I just hope Freya’s still talking to me, now she knows what really happened to her father. But Freya’s how I knew about your progress on the house, which is absolutely lovely, by the way. Already brings back so many good memories.”
“She’s coming. I asked her to arrive early, too. For a chat before the pandemonium begins.”
When Adrian took the glass of red wine over to Mr Darlington, Lenny and Mary came to join them, leaving Mary’s husband on the terrace. As he approached the alcove, Adrian could see the older man’s resemblance to Mary as plain as day, whereas Luke looked more like Lenny’s side of the family. When Mr Darlington accepted the wine, he dabbed at his eyes with one knuckle.
“You know, I can’t help thinking a large part of this is my fault,” he said, shaking his head. “Mary knows all this, but my marriage was over long before I walked out. Even when we were together I provided financial support as best I could, bought and paid for the flat my ex-wife is still living in, but spent as little time there as possible. Mainly because when the twins were growing up, Millicent changed, became intolerable with her preaching and nagging and lecturing. But what happened to my eldest brought things to a head. Most summers, when they came here, I either spent time working far too hard in a sales job that was frankly going nowhere, or with the woman who later became my second wife. I’m not without blame here and I can’t help thinking I failed Luke.”
“You did your best, Dad,” said Mary, squeezing his arm. “You supported his dream to go to art college.”
“Not financially. Because I simply didn’t have the money—”
“He knew that,” she added. Mary’s fondness for her father became evident. “Which is why he planned to take a few years out, to work before starting college.”
“And I had no idea Millicent had pressured him into joining the armed forces,” said Mr Darlington. “My son, the pacifist. She didn’t consult me and, worst of all, Luke said nothing.”
“Nobody knew. That was the year after Mr Williams died. Luke shut down, talked to nobody, not even me. I sensed something wasn’t right, when she outright refused to let any of us attend Mr William’s funeral, after everything he’d done for us. We didn’t come here the summer of that year, just stayed at home. What a lot of people didn’t know about Luke was when he was in high spirits, he was the life of the party, so much fun to be around. But when the lows took hold, he sank to rock bottom. He would close himself off completely from everyone. I only found out much later from Matthew about our mother pressuring him and getting him to agree to enlist. I imagine he would have agreed to anything by then.”
“I should have been there,” said Mr Darlington, shaking his head. “I should have done more—”
“We all should have,” said Mary, putting her arm around him while looking at the photo of Max and Luke. “But none of us knew the whole story. Not until now.”
Everyone fell silent. Adrian knew only too well about parents failing their children.
“From what I’ve heard, from people in the area who remember him,” said Lenny, talking directly to Mr Darlington. “Luke seemed to be at his happiest here in this house. I only wish I’d known him. I bet we’d have been good friends.”
At this Mr Darlington smiled sadly but appeared to relax. At the same moment, Adrian heard the newly fitted front doorbell ring. As he went to see who had arrived, he overheard Mr Darlington’s words.
“I’m sure you would have been. And I can’t thank you enough for what you’ve done here. Not sure if people might think it morbid to see photographs of my dead son on the walls, but for me, it’s an absolute joy.”
When Adrian opened the front door Freya stood there, a cloth shopping bag drooping from her arm, her hair newly styled, looking fresh-faced and happy. Before Adrian had a chance to say anything, she hugged him tightly around the waist, which surprised a breath out of him.
“I’m so glad you answered the door, Adrian. While I’ve got you here, I owe you an explanation. Pippa and her husband gave me a lift. They’re just parking up the car right now, so I’ll be quick,” she said before letting the embrace go. “I’m sure Mary will have told you by now, but just before I saw you at the supermarket, she’d called me up and told me her concerns. I told her not to worry, that you two were perfectly capable of looking after each other. But as soon as you told me Leonard was alone, well, I felt responsible, so headed over here. I didn’t want to panic you, so I didn’t say anything. Matthew has always been all bark and no bite. Then on my way to your place, I saw his motorcycle turn into the side road for the Hughes farm. Anyway, I hung back a while and then followed. I know the fields around the Hughes place like the rooms in my home. And there was his motorcycle, parked up next to the turnstile to the back path we used to get to Bryn Bach. I got Howie’s junior cricket bat from the back of my car and followed the path to the back of the house. And then, when I saw Matthew leading Leonard in my direction, I knew exactly where he was taking him, so I got there first and hid in a bush. But admittedly, when I overheard Matthew claiming responsibility for my father’s death and the vile things he said about him, well, I just saw red. I’m so sorry you had to see that and if I scared you or Leonard.”
“Don’t apologise, Freya. Honestly, we were glad to have you there. You seem a lot more cheerful today.”
As Adrian stood there, Pippa appeared along the driveway, arm in arm with a man he assumed to be her husband. She waved happily at Adrian and Freya.
