Chapter Three
Jenna lingered at the edge of the grave as the handful of mourners wandered away. She listened to the thud of the damp soil as it landed on the wooden casket. Her father had been dead for one week now, and it still seemed unreal. She’d moved through a haze of shock and anguish.
He was the only family she had. Or at least the only family she had ever known. It occurred to her that now he was gone, she was free to look up her mother. She could almost hear her father rolling in his grave at the idea. He’d told her that her mother had abandoned them both when they had found out about Jenna’s illness. He’d remained bitter about it right up to the end, refusing to talk about his ex-wife. But he’d stuck by his daughter, never considered having her put into care. She knew he had spent long years researching her disease, coming up with the best treatment, given up his life for her, returning only recently to work in his own medical practice.
Which was why Jenna had always abided by his wishes.
She owed him her life. Without him she would have ended up institutionalized and probably dead or wishing she were dead by now.
Dead like her father. Her nostrils filled with the heavy scent of lilies, and nausea roiled in her stomach. She swayed, reaching out a hand for balance, almost jumping when someone caught hold of her arm and steadied her.
She glanced up to see David beside her. He’d been her father’s business partner and had hardly left her side over the past week, helping her organize everything.
“Are you okay?”
Jenna thought about the question then forced her lips into a smile. “I don’t know.”
“Well, that’s honest.” He studied her, his head tilted to one side. “You look pale. At a guess you haven’t eaten today, and you look like you haven’t slept since…” He broke off.
“Since my father died,” Jenna finished for him. “You know I still can’t believe it.”
There had been a head-on collision. Her father’s Porsche had slammed into a foreign lorry driving on the wrong side of the road, and he’d died instantly. She hadn’t even gotten a chance to say goodbye.
She’d insisted on seeing his body in the morgue, but he had been unrecognizable, and she’d wished she had heeded the doctor’s advice. That piece of bloodied meat hadn’t been her father. A wave of blackness washed over her at the memory. She stumbled, and the hand on her arm tightened.
“Jenna?” David’s voice came from a distance. She tried to focus, but the blackness rose up and engulfed her.
When she came to, she was half sitting, half lying on one of the pews in the small chapel. David sat beside her, a look of concern on his face.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “You were right about the lack of food. I think breakfast yesterday was the last thing I ate.”
David pulled a chocolate bar out of his pocket. “Emergency rations.”
She took the chocolate and nibbled at a corner as she studied him. She needed help and advice, and David was the obvious man to ask. But she also knew he cared for her, and that complicated matters. He had tried to become more than a friend at one time, but she had put him off as she always did when anyone showed an interest. He was a nice man, way too nice and normal for her, even without the time bomb ticking away inside her.
Sometimes she would go out, pick up some man in a bar or club, go back to his place and spend a night. Always sex. Never making love, and always with a certain kind of man. One who hinted at danger. It filled some need inside her but left her lonely, and she never saw the same man twice. Something else she had never shared with her father; he wouldn’t have understood.
Now she was going to have to talk to David. She’d taken her medication that morning, but it had been almost the last. Her father always gave her more after the monthly checkups, varying the dose depending on the results. And she’d been due a checkup the morning after he died. David didn’t know about her illness; it wasn’t something she talked about except with her father, but she was going to have to now.
“Can I come to see you, David? At the surgery, I mean?”
He frowned but nodded. “Do you need something? Sleeping pills? I can write you a prescription now.”
“No, it’s something else. I’d rather not talk about it here, but it is quite urgent.”
“I have an evening surgery tonight. You could drop by after that.”
Relief washed through her, and she realized how worried she had been. She could relax once she had this sorted out. “That would be perfect.”
“Okay, I’m going to go make sure everyone has gone, but I’ll be back.”
She nodded. “Thank you. You’ve been a great help. I wouldn’t have coped without you.”
“Yes you would. You’re amazingly resilient. Now, sit for a while longer, and then I’ll drive you home.”
She finished the chocolate, screwed up the wrapper, and looked around for a bin. When she didn’t find one she reached for her bag. Opening it, she caught sight of the letter that had arrived in the post that morning. From the envelope, she knew it was from her father’s lawyers, but she hadn’t had the time or the inclination to open it before the funeral.
Now she pulled it out and tore open the seal. She scanned the letter quickly,
She emptied out the envelope, and a smaller one fell onto her knee. She stared at it for long moments, heart pounding. Her hand trembled as she picked it up and turned it over. Her name was scrawled across the front in her father’s handwriting.