Harry
“How long have you known about her panic attacks?” I asked Yaz, breaking the silence in the police waiting room.
Our company law firm had found a lawyer who spoke fluent French. He’d already collated all the evidence showing that Verity hadn’t been to France in over ten years, and that she had no knowledge of how the house was being used. Unfortunately, the one thing we couldn’t give the police was the whereabouts of Lady Markham. It seemed she had disappeared into thin air. By all accounts, it wasn’t the first time she’d pulled this kind of vanishing act. Mr Crawley told me that he’d been paying off creditors for her for years and had never been able to track her down. He’d been only too happy for my law firm to take all the evidence relating to the French property and deal with the authorities. When I explained to him that nowIwas dealing with Lady Markham’s affairs and that it should be me, not Verity,exclusivelyanswering queries about her, I’d expected some resistance – but instead, he breathed a sigh of relief over the phone and said, “Finally the child can get some peace.” To be honest, he sounded very tired and very old. After I told him how the police had detained Verity and how upset she was, he went silent for so long I thought he’d hung up on me.
Just as I was about to call his name though he’d said in a voice shaking with rage, “Son, you make sure that you and that fancy law firm of yours find that woman and youbury her. Understand me?”
“Yes.”
“Are you and Ms Markham involved?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve known Ms Markham for thirty years, and I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, she is the strongest human being of my acquaintance.”
“Right, sir, I–”
“Those children have been through enough, son.” His tone changed as he cut me off – it was rough, and the cut-glass English accent shook slightly. I closed my eyes and felt my chest tighten. “I wish I could have done more for them. That’s just something I have to live with. But I’ll not let anyone hurt them now.”
“I’m not going to hurt Verity, sir.”
“They need peace.”
“I can give her peace.”
“You better do that, orI’llburyyou.”
At that, I smiled for the first time that day. Mr Crawley looked to be pushing eighty on my last encounter with him, and his law firm consisted of just him and an equally ageing secretary I’d spoken to that morning. But he cared about Verity, and that I respected, so I managed to keep the amusement out of my voice when I answered with a sober, “Understood, sir.”
So now my lawyers were sorting everything whilst Yaz and I waited outside.
“Since just before her father died,” Yaz replied. “Verity always has her shit together. She would never have told me herself. I found her one day in the office. Luckily, I have a habit of barging into my brother’s business uninvited. I’d always assumed that her father’s illness and death were the trigger. I didn’t know that that bitch had still been harassing her. V made me promise not to tell Heath.” She shook her head. “I shouldn’t have listened to her, but I wanted to make sure she let me help her. She’s so private and self-sufficient. I taught her to meditate and some mindfulness techniques – all that ‘hippy nonsense’ she was always taking the piss out of.” Yaz smiled. “But, I think it’s helped. I just wish I’d told Heath.”
“You did what you thought was right at the time.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, bracing to ask my next question. “Yaz, two years ago when the bid was being decided, Verity and I…” I trailed off and looked down at my hands, avoiding eye contact as the memory of what had happened and how I’d hurt Verity flooded back. Knowing what I knew now, the memory of the look of hurt and rejection on her face was making it difficult for me to breathe. “I–I upset her and–”
“No shit,” Yaz snapped. “I know you upset her. Did you trigger the panic attacks? Is that what you’re asking? I’m not going to lie to you, Harry – it probably didn’t help.”
“Christ,” I bit out, my hands going to my hair as I hung my head in between my knees and stared at the floor. “I’m an unforgivable bastard.”
Yaz sighed. “She seems tough, but it’s mostly all front. You’ve got to be careful with her.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t see what was right in front of me. Not now, and not twenty years ago. I’ve been the most self-involved prick imaginable.”
“Listen, Harry,” Yaz said in a softer tone. “You and me, we’re dealing with Markhams now. They didn’t have the best start. Their childhood taught them that they can’t rely on the people who should love them, and that they should get used to disappointment and rejection. We have to teach them differently. Loving them isn’t always going to be easy but I tell you something, it’s worth it.”
“I know it is. Of course, I know.”
“Don’t let her down, Harry.”
“I’ve already let her down.”
“Well, don’t do it again. And don’t let her push you away either. I’ve known V for over half my life now, and you’re the first man I’ve ever seen her give a shit about. It scares her to death. You have to be the brave one. Right?”
“Right.”
“And she’s dealt with enough bullshit, so don’t let her have to deal with any more of it. Not from you, and not from her fucking mother.”
I turned to Yaz with a determined expression. “Oh, don’t worry about that. Markham bullshit is well and truly over for Verity and Heath. None of it’s going to touch either of them ever again.” I held Yaz’s gaze for long enough to see the slow smile that spread across her face before I pushed up from the bench we were on and stalked to the detective’s office to check on what progress was being made. I wanted this resolved today and to get Verity back in the UK designing beautiful buildings and busting balls in the architecture world –notdealing with a trail of destruction left by her fucking mother.
