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Miles made sure the fire in the sitting room was burning, and we had a cheese platter out. There were now a leather sofa and a glass coffee table, with a set dining room table in the back. When the doorbell rang, I nearly spilled my grape juice.
“You’ll be fine,” Miles said. “It’s me that will be in the hot seat tonight.” He answered the door while I got up and waited by the sofa. His mother’s feminine voice drifted over immediately. His father grumbled something.
I adjusted the skirt of my dress and smiled when his mum walked in. She beamed when she saw me, and she furtively looked me up and down.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Maggie Matthews,” I said and held out my hand.
“Victoria,” she said as she shook my hand. His mother looked like she came straight out of one of those fashion magazines. She wore an expensive-looking dress with a pearl necklace. Her blonde hair was cut right below her ears. She had a sincere smile that had the effect of immediately putting me at ease.
Miles’ dad, however, had the opposite effect. He kept his hands in the trouser pockets of his tweed suit and regarded me with narrowed eyes. I felt like a prized poodle being judged for a competition.
“Dad, this is Maggie,” Miles said, since he still hadn’t introduced himself.
“Maggie, huh?” he said and stepped forward to shake my hand. It was one of those bone crunching handshakes, and though I did my best to return a firm handshake, it only made him squeeze my hand harder. I managed not to cringe.
“Rude,” Detective Black said.
“Yes, that’s me,” I said.
“Rupert Mortimer.” Then he regarded the snacks we’d laid out and the room we were in. “Bit odd of you to buy a hotel, son.”
“Not odd at all. It’s a gorgeous estate that I can easily transform into a lovely home.” Miles managed to keep a cool tone, but I noticed the tension in his shoulders already.
“Please, sit,” I said. “Miles cooked dinner. He’s an excellent cook.”
“Did he win you over with his cooking skills?” his mother asked.
“That was definitely a part of it.” I smiled.
“Was the other part his bank account?” Rupert pricked an olive and popped it into his mouth.
“Darling,” she warned.
“Relax, she knows I’m joking. It’s all in good fun.”
This was a whole new level of rude. Once I had a customer demanding to return a book that she’d clearly dropped into her bathtub, but that seemed like a walk in the park compared to this man.
Miles looked at me, and I smiled, letting him know it hadn’t gotten to me. It had. Not for my sake, but for the sake of Miles and any future girlfriend he might have. His dad’s behaviour was not acceptable, and the fact that both Miles and his mum responded so mildly meant that this was typical behaviour for the man. They had gotten used to it. I could just imagine his mother saying to Miles: ‘Oh, you know how your dad is.’ And just like that, a grown ass man got away with shitty behaviour.
“Now, Maggie,” Victoria said, “tell me about yourself. Miles told us so little about you.”
“I run the local bookshop, and I’m an author of a detective series.”
“A successful detective series,” Miles added. “You know them, Mum. It’s the Detective Black series.”
She gasped. “No way. I’ve read one of those books. I didn’t realise that was you. It was a while back when I read it, and I’m terrible with names.”
My cheeks warmed. “That’s alright.”
“You must not make a lot of money with it if you’re still forced to work at your bookshop,” Rupert said.
I curled my hands into fists.
“Dad, don’t be rude. Besides, what does it matter how much she makes?”
His dad levelled him with a steely gaze.
“Actually,” I said. “I am not forced to work at my bookshop. I run it and occasionally help out on the floor because I love it. And I suppose I need it as well. Though I make enough money with my books, I don’t want to be cooped up in my office all the time, which is what would happen if it was my only job. This way I get to be around books, which I love, and people, which I also love.”
“So, you have a double income,” Rupert said, regarding me with a hint of respect for the first time.
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you live in one of these cottages I’ve seen on the way over?”
“No, I live in the flat above my bookshop. Next to my aunt.”
An alarm went off on Miles’ phone. “That will be dinner,” he said and jumped up. “If you would all sit at the table back there, I’ll get the things from the kitchen.”
“I’ll help,” I said and followed him, feeling myself relax more now that I was away from his awful father.
“Are you alright?” he asked me in the kitchen.
“Yeah, but I can’t believe he actually speaks to people like that.”
“I know. That is why I prefer to see as little as possible of the man,” Miles said.
“I don’t get it. You’re so smart and capable, you’re a sharp lawyer. How come you’ve never put him in his place? I’m just curious, I’m not judging.”
He sighed and looked away. “I only stood up to him once, and he kicked me out of the house. I was nineteen and stayed with Alistair for two weeks before I returned home. We all pretended nothing had happened. I suppose I cared too much about what he thought of me. I guess because he’s my dad.”
“Family is overrated,” I said. “Nobody asks to be born. And what family you are born into says nothing. It’s just chance. Or fate, whatever you want to call it. But the point is, if family is so important, then why isn’t he the one acting like it as well?” I had gone through a similar thing with my dad, and the moment I realised I could create my own family with the people who did truly care for me, a weight had been lifted.
Then again, I couldn’t decide for Miles how important his dad was for him.
“Trust me, I’ve thought about this a lot, but there’s no communicating with the man. It’s his way or the highway, and unfortunately my mother is part of the package. Let’s just get through this evening, and then you’ll never have to see him again. I promise. Now, help me carry this.”
First we carried out the potato soup, then he handed me the salad and rice while he carried the pan of curry. It was a special kind of curry with a secret ingredient, apparently, and it looked mouth-watering.
We sat down, toasted, and dug in.
The food barely made up for the company. Just barely.
––––––––
WE WERE HALFWAY THROUGH dessert when things took a turn for the worse. It started off with an innocent enough question. His mother asked me if I had grown up here.
“My aunt took me in at a certain age, when things with my mother became worse. She had some mental problems,” I explained.
Rupert leaned forward, towards his son, and said: “You know that most psychiatric disorders are hereditary, right?” He made a futile attempt to lower his voice, but I heard him. We all heard him.
I was holding my wine glass and gripped it so tightly that the stem broke. Blood dripped off my thumb.
“Dear heavens,” Victoria uttered.
Miles pushed back his chair. “Come on, to the kitchen.” He grabbed my arm and rushed me to the sink where he rinsed off the wound. He turned to grab a first-aid kit from one of the cupboards, and when he wanted to put a band-aid on the wound, he noticed my hand shaking.
He looked up.
I was crying silently.
“Damn it, damn it, damn it,” Miles said with increasing volume. Then he kicked the cupboard between us, making me flinch. He legged it out of the room. I heard shouting.
“Apologise to her!” Miles said.
“I simply stated a fact,” his dad shouted.
The sound of clattering dishes.
“You’re not your mother. You’re not crazy,” Detective Black said, appearing in front of me.
The fact that he was telling me I wasn’t crazy made me cry harder. I put my hand over my ears. “Stop talking to me. I want you to go away.”
Detective Black looked wounded, and he took a step back, as if I’d slapped him.
“Go away,” I said, sobbing. Then sat down on the floor, my legs drawn up to my chest.
Miles returned. “Maggie?” The cooking island was between us, so he couldn’t see me. But he walked around it and found me on the floor. “Maggie, are you okay?” He sat down next to me and pulled me into him, holding me tightly as he kissed the top of my head. “It’s okay. They’re gone. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
I waited until the tears had dried and said: “I know something fun we can do.” I refused to let this visit end on a bad note.
––––––––
“READY?” I ASKED.
“Ready.” Miles grinned.
I had changed into one of Miles’ shirts, one that barely reached my knees. I also wore woollen socks. Per my instructions, Miles wore the same.
I’d created a long path from the dining table to the sofa with dish soap and water. Pillows were stacked up against the back of the sofa in case I’d fall.
I started running and then did a little hop, holding my arms out for balance. I slid across the floor on my soggy socks and made it halfway. “Damn it,” I said. “Okay, you try.”
He started sliding, but lost his balance and continued to slide on his belly.
“Oh, that looks like fun.” I waited until Miles got up to add some more dish soap and water, using the plant spray.
This time I let myself fall onto my belly, which hurt, but at least I reached the pillows. “Yeah,” I shouted in triumph.
Miles did some sort of battle cry, and I looked behind me. He was sliding towards me on his butt. I shrieked as he reached me, and he toppled over, right on top of me.
“Interesting development,” a familiar voice said.
We both turned our heads to the shiny black shoes in front of us. Our gazes travelled upwards until we looked into Alistair’s disapproving eyes.
“Hello, mate,” Miles said.
“Problem, officer?” I giggled.
Miles got up and pulled me to my feet as well.
“What happened? I saw your parents at the pub. Your dad had a bruise on the side of his face,” Alistair said.
I glanced at Miles. He hadn’t told me that.
Miles just shrugged. “He said something stupid. Anyway, want some leftover curry?”
Alistair observed my outfit. “Why are you wearing Miles’ shirt?” His voice was tense.
“This is what you should wear when you go sliding through your home. Besides, otherwise my dress would get dirty.”
“Oh, but it doesn’t matter if my shirt gets dirty?” Miles asked, pretending to be insulted.
“I could hardly go in my underwear, could I?”
“Yes, she could hardly go in her underwear, could she?” Alistair said.
Miles chuckled. “It’s the same as a bikini. Now, are you going to take off your trousers and join us?”
“Yeah, Alistair. Are you going to take off your trousers?” I said.
Miles and I spent the next twenty minutes sliding over the floor while Alistair had taken out a stopwatch to time our personal records. He also was on dish soap and water duty and took this very seriously. The one time that Miles had started sliding before Alistair was ready, he sprayed Miles in the face with the water spray.
My stomach hurt from laughing, and I was covered in dish soap from head to toe. “Okay, I really need to clean up. Do you have a towel for me?”
“Actually, you can use the guest bedroom for personal guests. Go past the kitchen, on the right.”
“Okay, thanks.” I hurried off to the room he was talking about. It was next to Mr Field’s former burnt-down office. Miles had made two rooms out of it, the other half clearly still under construction. I made half a towel wet and got rid of most of the soap, then I dried myself. I’d definitely have to take a shower as soon as I got home.
I hadn’t seen Detective Black since I told him to go away, but right now I needed to ruminate. Technically Rupert had simply mentioned a fact, but it had opened up a trapdoor in my mind that I preferred to keep closed.
When I returned to the men, they were chatting quietly at the dining table. Miles was wet and soapy, Alistair looked crisp as ever. He got up when he saw me. “I’ll walk you home, if that’s okay,” he said.
“Sure. Thanks. Miles, I’ll see you around.”
Miles got up and kissed me on the cheek. “I’ll make it up to you,” he whispered in my ear, and then kissed me again.
I smiled. “You know, as someone who knows how much families can suck, here’s what I’ve learned: you can make your own family.”
“Yes, I took Biology classes,” he said with a cheeky grin.
“No, I mean, you can find people who—”
“I know what you mean, love. You are a beautiful person, and don’t you forget it.” He tapped my chin.
“Stop it,” I said as I felt myself getting shy. I nudged him, but he lost his balance and nearly fell.
Alistair chuckled. “It must be because you’re so slippery.”
Miles looked down at himself. “Yes, I’m fairly sure I could simply slide to the grocery store if I wanted to.”
I laughed at the image.
We left after a final goodbye and ventured into the cooler night air. I couldn’t wait to be in my air-conditioned flat. Alistair walked alongside me in silence. Judging by the frown etched between his eyebrows, Miles must have told him what had transpired earlier. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but I couldn’t blame Miles for telling him.
I felt embarrassed for breaking down like that. One poke at my sore spot, and I fell apart. But I suppose I had nothing to feel bad about. There was nothing wrong with crying, right? Yet, somehow I was always embarrassed by it. Even when I cried in front of Nancy or Eddie.
Alistair walked me back to my flat. “Will you be alright?”
“Of course,” I said in my usual chipper voice.
He narrowed his eyes at me and opened his mouth to say something, then shut it again. “Good night, then.” This time he hugged me. It was a long hug. I needed it.
When I was up in my flat, I got a text message and checked it. It was from Alistair.
There is nothing wrong with you. In fact, everything is right with you. Xxx
I smiled.