The Curious Swan

by Kenzie Hart

  Charles smiles at his daughter. “Good. Then, it is settled. I’ve decided to open a practice here, and I will be back and forth quite often. I want to spend this last year with you while you’re home. Klara, may I ask you something?”

  “Of course,” Klara replies.

  “What is your dream?”

  “My dream?” Klara repeats.

  Charles nods.

  “You’ve never asked me about my dreams,” she responds, not quite knowing what to say.

  “Well, I’m asking now,” her father replies, placing his hand back onto hers.

  Klara thinks back to the wish she made with Edward. Her stomach twists, but it settles as she remembers how excited they were, making it together. “I truly enjoy literature. I hoped, one day, I could study children’s literature and then maybe teach it,” she admits.

  “And that would require university,” Charles says, already knowing that it would. “Is that something you would like to do?”

  Klara thinks on the question for a moment, a smile coming to her face. “Well, isn’t that what you’re paying my tutor to prepare me for?” she teases.

  “Exactly that.” Charles smiles. “Klara, this doesn’t mean that we’ve got everything figured out. We have a long way to go, and I want you to consider going to counseling, either alone or with me. But I want you to know, you won’t be going through this alone. I am going to be here to support you as best as I can.”

  Klara just nods and sits up, pulling her father into a hug. A huge grin is plastered on her face, and a weight feels as though it has finally come off of her. Klara thinks that, in a strange way, she has been stuck. Stuck between wanting to stay in her childhood forever and never actually having a proper one. Everything seemed easier to bear if she didn’t think about her future outside of her house, but with her father’s help, that might just change.

  Charles lets out a warm laugh at the embrace. “Would you like to open your present?” Charles says, grabbing a wrapped package from beside him and handing it to her.

  Klara pulls back from the hug and takes the gift into her hand. She gently pulls off the wrapping paper.

  “It was one of your mother’s … your mother and I … well, we used to read this to you,” Charles says.

  Klara examines the book in her hand. The leather is soft, and the enameled border shines against the worn cover.

  “But, Father, of course I remember. I thought we had lost this,” Klara gasps out.

  “I took it with me when I went to London. I know it was something so special between the two of you, for all of us, and I was selfish in keeping it for myself.”

  “I can’t accept this,” Klara says, trying to hand the book to him. “It was important to us all, and you should have it.”

  “No,” Charles replies firmly, pressing the book back into her hand. “It is time I let it go. You keep it, Klara. Always cherish it and the memories we created as a family with it.”

  Klara looks at the copy of Peter Pan resting in her hand. It was the book her mother always read to her. It was the book she connected with after, when she felt she had no one. It took her on adventures, taught her lessons, and kept her entertained through warm summer days and lonely, cold nights. She thought they had lost this copy, yet here it is, a special gift brought back for her. It is a reminder of her past but also a reminder to have hope for her future. A future her father would now be a part of.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  It’s been two weeks since Klara’s birthday party, and Eddie hasn’t heard a word from her. She hasn’t come by or been seen in town. And Eddie hasn’t been back to the Kentwood Estate. He thought about going a million times, but every time, he would decide against it for one reason or another. He’d been a real tosser to Klara, and he doesn’t have any way to explain himself. Everything from that night seems like a blur in Eddie’s mind, and he doesn’t know where to start. From the moment he set foot in that house, it was as though all hell broke free.

  Eddie feels disgusted with himself for the way he acted. Telling Klara she needed to grow up. Telling her that he wasn’t hers anymore. He got in a screaming match with her father and almost hit Charles. He might have if Charles hadn’t looked so bloody torn apart the entire time.

  But the truth is, Klara needs counseling. Hell, her whole family likely does. At least her and Charles. Eddie laughs to himself. It’s ironic that the only person who really seemed to be calm and collected was Cordelia, and that is a scary enough thought on its own.

  Eddie has ridden his bike out of town and to Klara’s at least fifteen times in the past fourteen days, but he turns back every time. Sometimes, he will get all the way to her front gate before retreating, and other times, he only makes it to the end of his street. His only solace has been his time spent out in the woods. Every free moment he’s had outside of work and football, he’s been exploring. The woods calm him, and it’s as though every sound within them forms a collective breath that seems to engulf him. He can get lost in the feeling, and that is exactly what he has been doing.

  To be quite fair, he wants to see her. He wants to talk to her, to hold her. But, when it comes down to it, he doesn’t really know what he would say. Or if she would even want to hear it. He supposes, if Klara got one thing right about him, it is that he was a coward. He had been a coward about telling his dad what he really wanted. About taking control of his life. He’d let everyone else make the decisions for him, and he went along with it. But at least he told his father. He finally got it off his chest, though not in the calmest of fashions.

  And, since then, things with his dad have almost gone back to being normal. He huffed about the house at first, but as the days passed and Eddie seemed to dig himself further and further into a hole in the ground with Klara, his father seemed to come around. And Eddie wants nothing more than to tell Klara that she was right and that he is sorry.

  Eddie slams the book Klara lent him to read down onto his desk. You’ve made a real mess of things, haven’t you, Eddie? He scoffs at himself. Pathetic—that’s what you are.

  “Are you ready to work on your memoirs, Grandmother?” Klara asks, swooping into the drawing room like a delicate bird. She moves softly across the hardwood floor and places a kiss upon Grandmother’s cheek.

  Cordelia is seated, more so lying, across the sofa, draped in a red caftan embroidered with silver thread. She has at least ten bracelets stacked up her arms and a look of contentment on her face.

  “You’re in quite the good mood,” Cordelia notes, taking in Klara’s rosy cheeks and spirited demeanor.

  “I am trying to be,” Klara replies saddened, taking a seat at the desk. “It’s been far too long since we’ve worked on your book, and I’ve quite missed it. And I could use the distraction.”

  “It has been a short while,” Cordelia says, thinking back to the last time they discussed her past conquests. A smile comes to her lips.

  “So, what will it be today? Are we traveling back to Russia? Or going to your time in Paris?” Klara says with a sigh. How romantic it all was. If Klara has learned anything from her summer with Eddie, it’s that romances like that are best kept in books.

  “Today, we are going to continue with Paris,” Cordelia replies with a similar sigh. “But, before we do, I want to discuss Edward.” Cordelia has kept a close eye on Klara since her birthday. Edward hasn’t been back to the house, and Cordelia thinks they should address it right now before too much time passes.

  “I don’t want to talk about Edward,” Klara says, sliding farther down into her chair, her stomach twisting.

  “Klara, we need to,” Cordelia replies, turning her gaze upon her granddaughter. Cordelia narrows her eyes and dips her chin, pushing her glasses back up onto her nose as they slip down.

  “There’s nothing to discuss,” Klara says, dropping her grandmother’s intense gaze. “If he was sorry for the things he said, he would have come by now, and he hasn’t.”

  “Yet you haven’t visited him either, K
lara,” Cordelia points out, raising her eyebrows.

  “Because I’m mortified. I’ve never felt as out of control as I did that night, and Edward was there to witness it,” Klara says, getting up and moving to look out the window. “It’s been two weeks, and it feels as though only a few days have passed. After everything with Father and seeing this new counselor with him, I can’t handle taking on anything else.”

  “I realize you feel stuck, Klara, but you must resolve this—and soon. Yes, you exchanged harsh words. But let me ask you something; the things he said, were they true?” Cordelia already knows this statement will upset Klara, but she needs to learn this lesson. Love isn’t easy, and it isn’t always pretty. Even the most-in-love couples fight, and normally, they fight quite hard because of all the passion they feel—or so this was Cordelia’s experience. But, if the love is worthwhile, it’s worth fighting for.

  Klara keeps her gaze out of the window and hugs on to her arms. “True or not, they were spoken in a way I did not like,” Klara says shortly.

  “And?” Cordelia presses.

  “And I’m embarrassed. I had to be carried away after our conversation. I broke apart right in front of him. And he hasn’t come by, Grandmother,” Klara says, dropping her eyes. “And I think that means he saw me that night and didn’t like what he saw.”

  Cordelia ponders her words. “So, you think that Edward hasn’t come to apologize and fix things because he doesn’t want to?”

  Klara turns to look at her grandmother and nods. “There is no other explanation. So, I would like to continue on from this conversation, if that is all right,” she says, walking back to the desk. “I would much prefer to lose myself in your story,” Klara says desperately trying to change the conversation. Thinking about Edward hurts her, and she doesn’t like it. So, she moves on to a new topic. One that brings her joy. And writing with her grandmother does just that.

  Cordelia purses her lips, pushing around the bracelets on her wrists. “I will give you one piece of advice and then not speak of it again. If you love Edward—and I believe that you do—you need to go see him and work through this. Passing time will only make things worse. Now,” Cordelia says, getting comfortable on the couch, “if we are to continue with Paris today, I am going to need something stronger than this tea.”

  Klara moves in front of the bar cart, pouring her grandmother a scotch. She walks the crystal glass to her, watching as she takes a small sip before resting her head back on the tufted cushion. “It was eleven fifty-nine on the last day of December, and I was seated between …”

  The sound of a knock echos through Eddie’s house, and he drops his pen onto his desk, scooting back from it. The knock is persistent, so Eddie yells out, “I’m coming!”

  He wants to yell out, I get it; you don’t have to be so bloody persistent, but decides against it.

  Since everything with Klara, his mood hasn’t been the best, and Mattie has made it clear that he has been quite an ass lately. And he can’t help but agree. He has been.

  Eddie moves through the kitchen to the front door, swinging it open. “Yeah—” he starts to say, but his voice cuts off when he sees who is standing on his front porch.

  “Charles,” Eddie gets out, and he has to clear his throat after he barely squeaks out the name.

  “Edward,” Charles replies, looking slightly uncomfortable. He didn’t plan out everything he wants to say to Edward, but he has enough in his mind to keep the conversation focused.

  “Uh, would you like to come in?” Eddie asks, unsure of what to do.

  It’s an odd feeling, seeing Charles again. Eddie has felt so many emotions toward him and isn’t sure what he is feeling now. At the party, they got on quite well, and he greatly enjoyed their conversations together. He hated him after seeing Klara cry over her father’s harsh words. But he also pitied Charles, watching as the weight of his own failures seemed to destroy him. But, at the current moment, Eddie is just feeling surprised.

  Charles nods and follows Eddie into the kitchen where Eddie motions for him to take a seat. Charles crosses his hands on top of the table and watches as Eddie sits across from him, looking uncomfortable.

  “I want to talk openly and plainly with you,” Charles says, trying to get it all out of the way. “On Klara’s birthday, we got into it quite heavily. A lot of things were said, and I am not pleased with how everything happened that evening.”

  “It’s been two weeks since then,” Eddie wonders aloud. “Why do you want to discuss this now?”

  “If you would kindly let me finish …” Charles says.

  Eddie wants to tell him to get out of his house, but Charles’s blue eyes are the same as Klara’s, and Eddie softens slightly when he thinks of her.

  Eddie takes a breath and tries to control himself.

  “I am here to tell you,” Charles continues, “that you were right. I wasn’t there for Klara, but I am now. I’ve decided to open a practice in town, and I’ve been back regularly to see Klara.”

  Eddie’s eyes go wide with surprise. It’s one thing for Charles to say he wants to do these things, and it’s quite another for him to actually follow through with them.

  “Klara and I, together, have been seeing a counselor, working through things. It has been quite the busy two weeks, but I think things are finally falling into place for us. For Klara,” Charles says.

  Eddie looks at Charles, seeing his sincerity, and his heart lightens a little. “I’m glad about that,” he replies genuinely.

  He is happy Klara is getting the support she needs. But a part of him hurts at the news. Eddie should have been there for her. He shouldn’t have been such a coward, and he should have gone to visit her, worked through things for themselves.

  Charles nods. “They are. There is just one final matter to be discussed then.”

  “And what is that?” Eddie asks curiously.

  Charles tightens his grip on his hands and raises his eyebrows at Eddie. “You, Edward. Your role in Klara’s life is what I am here to discuss.”

  Eddie lets out a laugh. “I think the fact that you’re here and not Klara obviously shows that she doesn’t want me in her life.”

  “Eddie, she has gone through a lot these past few weeks. And, to be honest, I thought you would have come to see her.”

  Eddie drops his eyes to the table, tracing a line moving through the wood. “I didn’t think she would want to see me after everything I said that night,” he mumbles.

  Charles moves his hand to his jaw, rubbing against his chin. “Edward, she has been happy. Things have been good. But I know she misses you; it’s easy enough to tell. Cordelia has confided in me that Klara seems to feel embarrassed about everything that happened, and this is why she hasn’t come to you. Now, I tell you this because I think you two are good for one another. And you make my daughter extremely happy.”

  Warmth spreads through Eddie. Thinking back, he supposes he can understand why Klara might feel embarrassed, but she shouldn’t. It was an understandable reaction for the circumstances.

  “Based on the look on your face, you seem happy to hear that piece of news, as I thought.” Charles’s lips curve into a smile. “Here is my thought. You need to decide for yourself if you would like to continue to be a part of Klara’s life and her be a part of yours. If you want that, then I suggest you accept my invitation to Cordelia’s end-of-summer party this weekend.”

  Eddie tries to process everything Charles has said. It would be a big gesture for him to just show up, and he isn’t sure if Klara would find that endearing or overwhelming. He doesn’t want to ruin what could be a wonderful night for her, seeing how much she loves parties. Especially after helping to ruin the last one she was at. But, if Charles is suggesting it, it has to be a good idea, right?

  Eddie nods at Charles.

  Charles stands up. “Take some time to think about it, but just know, both Klara and I would enjoy seeing you there.”

  Eddie looks up to meet Charles’s gaze. He r
eally does seem different than before. More collected and in control—at least when it comes to Klara. He can’t help the tinge of nostalgia that flips in his stomach, thinking about their conversations in the study. He admired Charles and enjoyed his company, and it seemed Charles truly felt the same.

  “I will think about everything you said, but I think I would enjoy that as well,” Eddie replies as he follows Charles to the door. “I’m really glad you stopped by.”

  Charles turns to him, a smile on his face. “I am, too, Eddie. I am, too.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  “Grandmother! What is the matter with you today?” Klara says, standing beside her grandmother, who is fanning herself.

  She has been seated at her dressing table for over an hour with a scotch and a fan, looking a mixture of flushed, excited, and nauseous.

  Cordelia rolls her eyes, scoffing at her granddaughter. “Nothing is the matter with me, child. I just want everything to be perfect tonight, yet all day, there seems to be one problem after another. First, the caterers didn’t have one of the correct appetizers brought in. The champagne boxes that were dropped off were the incorrect year. I still haven’t decided what dress to wear for the evening, and the party starts in just a few hours!”

  Klara was right in noticing that Cordelia seemed flustered. Her insides have been doing flips all day, and the warmth spreading through her has little to do with the liquid in her crystal glass.

  “Grandmother, this is why you have a party planner. You know she will take care of all these little details. You don’t have to worry about such things,” Klara soothes, placing a kiss on her grandmother’s cheek.

  “You’re right,” Cordelia agrees, trying to convince herself as much.

  “Can you believe it is already the end of summer?” Klara asks, walking to the window, drawing it open. The breeze is still warm, and it dances across her skin, tickling her.

  “It has been quite the eventful summer, hasn’t it?” Cordelia ponders aloud.