Double Fault

by Sheila Claydon

  She had bought him a book; thanking her lucky stars the newsagent was forward thinking enough to display a variety of possible gifts next to the birthday cards. It was the latest offering by one of his favorite authors and she hoped it was recent enough for him not to have read it yet.

  He read the blurb on the cover and then turned towards her and hugged her, his hands warm through the soft wool of her sweater. “You remembered how much I like his books. Thank you.”

  She shrugged self-consciously; too aware of his physical presence to ignore the weight of his arm on her shoulders but glad he liked the book. She wished he’d stop looking at her like that. Embarrassed by his scrutiny she forced a lighthearted laugh.

  “I guess a special breakfast is in order too. Come on children, come and help me. And later on we’ll make daddy a birthday cake.”

  “You mean I get to have cake as well,” suddenly the old familiar Pierce was back in force as he released her and stood up, sweeping Lauren up from where she’d been playing by his feet and tossing her into the air.

  She gave a giggle that was half terror, half excitement, and clutched at his hair. Immediately Ben clambered up onto the bed and held his arms wide, demanding equal rights. His father complied, leaving Kerry free to slip silently from the room to prepare breakfast, wishing as she did so she could wipe the memory of Pierce’s muscular chest and arms right out of her mind.

  * * *

  The rest of the day passed without incident, with Mel, Mary and George arriving in the early afternoon to share Pierce’s birthday cake for the children’s benefit. Tea was a relaxed affair and after Ben and Lauren had each blown out the candles twice, the conversation quickly turned to Mary’s involvement in the newly organized daycare. She talked about it enthusiastically for about ten minutes until she noticed the slightly glazed expression on Pierce’s face and gave a self-conscious laugh.

  “Sorry! I know I get a bit carried away.”

  George rolled his eyes as he gave a good natured chuckle. “That’s a slight understatement love. You’ve been talking about it so much you’ve forgotten to offer our services for this evening yet.”

  “Goodness, I quite forgot. We thought you might like us to babysit for you so you can go out and celebrate Pierce’s birthday together.”

  “Thank you…” Kerry began to refuse, wondering how she could do it tactfully, because the last thing she wanted was to upset Mary and George. She didn’t want them to think their offer wasn’t appreciated, but nor did she want to give them an insight into nature of the true relationship between herself and Pierce.

  “…and yes please,” Pierce finished the sentence for her with a smile of thanks. “It’s a wonderful idea now Ben and Lauren are settled. Besides, Kerry could do with a night off before the conference centre and hotel open officially and Melanie’s Kitchen gets into full swing.”

  “Mmm. I agree with you. She’s been looking a bit peaky lately.” Mel, who knew Kerry well enough to gauge all her moods, fixed her with an unrepentant gaze as she backed up the others. “We’ll put the children to bed for you if you like and give you a chance to make a real night of it. You need some time out to enjoy yourselves.”

  Kerry frowned. Somehow Pierce and Mel had maneuvered her into a corner; Pierce because for some reason it suited him, and Mel because she thought she knew what was best for Kerry. They were both too bossy by half. Suddenly she thought of a way to turn the tables on them.

  “I’ve just remembered…it’s Mel’s birthday on Monday, so she can come too and we can have a double celebration,” she turned to Pierce with every appearance of surprise that such a happy coincidence should exist.

  The glint in his eyes could have been relief or anger for all Kerry cared. It was enough that courtesy demanded he back up her invitation and that Mel, finding herself outnumbered by two to one, was forced to give in. With a sigh of relief she began to clear the table. At least she wouldn’t have to spend an evening alone in a candlelit restaurant with Pierce. With Mel there, the conversation would remain impersonal and businesslike and she was going to keep it at that level until she’d had more time to think.

  The expression on Pierce’s face when she and the children had surprised him sitting alone in his bedroom that morning was still haunting her. Given long enough surely she would be able to come up with a solution that would leave him free to live his own life without it affecting his relationship with the children. Right now though she needed time and she was buying it with Mel’s reluctant presence, and to hell with both of them.

  Chapter Ten

  The restaurant was dimly lit and Kerry felt a shiver of apprehension as Pierce waited for her to sit down. What she had considered a good idea earlier seemed far less attractive now she was face to face with him across the table. His apparent good humor was belied by the dark glint in his eyes every time he looked at her, and she wondered if he was going to pay her back for arranging the evening to suit her own needs. She jutted her chin defiantly. She was being ridiculous. After all what could he possibly do in a crowded restaurant with Mel in tow?

  She soon found out when he stood up to greet a blond giant of a man of about his own age who was threading his way between the tables. “David! I’m so glad you could make it. You remember Kerry of course, and this is Mel, her friend and business partner.”

  David Merrick shook hands with Mel and then kissed Kerry on the cheek before he slid into the empty chair between them. “He finally tracked you down then Kerry. When Marissa finds out she’ll start spitting blood.”

  “You’ll note David hasn’t lost any of his subtlety or tact,” Pierce’s voice was full of a grim humor as he spoke to Kerry. “Still as he lost a tennis partner when I left the circuit to look for you, I guess he’s entitled.”

  She was saved from answering by the reappearance of their waiter. By the time they had all decided what they wanted to eat and Pierce had ordered wine, the direction of the conversation had changed and she breathed a sigh of relief as she listened to Mel telling David about Melanie’s Kitchen.

  He asked so many questions about it and about Greenleas that his interest took them right through the first course. Then Pierce began to talk about his plans to develop the sports complex even further, and as the others began to respond to his enthusiasm she started to relax and stop worrying. He didn’t have an ulterior motive in inviting David back into their lives without any warning. She guessed he had just wanted someone to even up the numbers and David was available.

  She remembered how the two men had always managed to stay friends despite the fact that tensions on court had sometimes overlapped into their personal relationship. And David had always been nice to her too, treating her as someone special to Pierce, not as if she was just a continuation of a stream of girls who were virtually interchangeable, and often too star-struck to make intelligent conversation.

  Briefly she wondered what was behind Pierce’s throwaway remark and then dismissed it as being ridiculous. Of course he hadn’t abandoned his career to look for her. She forced herself to forget about him and concentrate on the others and was amused by Mel’s vivacity. Maybe Pierce had unwittingly done her friend a favor by inviting David to join them because Mel was positively sparkling, and her conversation seemed to be concentrating all of David’s attention too.

  “They make a good pair don’t they?” Pierce leaned towards her and touched her arm, jolting her thoughts into disarray as she suddenly realized what else he had achieved by inviting David. With the other two in full flow she was as alone with him as if Mel had never been invited. She swallowed nervously.

  “They certainly seem to get along well together.”

  “Does that surprise you?” His fingers were still brushing her wrist just below the sleeve of the pink wool dress she had worn for their wedding.

  “Not really. They’re both such strong personalities and they have lots of different interests, so I suppose it was inevitable they’d find a lot to talk about.”

 
He gave a satisfied smile. “That’s what I thought when I called David to see if he was free.”

  She started worrying again. He grinned when he saw her expression.

  “Of course I did have another reason for inviting him.”

  She shrugged, concentrating on her wine.

  “Don’t you want to know what it is, Kerry?” Suddenly his fingers locked over hers with such urgency she was forced to look at him. “I invited him so I could have a little time alone with my wife, something which is becoming increasingly difficult now we’re so close to launching the sports complex.”

  “You see I think…hope… you’re ready to hear what I intend to tell you tonight. I’ve been trying to find a way for days but every time we have a moment alone together you slip away from me or invite someone else to join us. So tonight I came up with the grand idea of occupying Mel with David, particularly as he’s one of the few people who knows the whole story, which gives me the chance to redress the balance a little.”

  She stared at him. She didn’t have the first clue what he was talking about but she was frightened by the expression in his eyes. In the dim lighting they seemed to be full of the same despair and anger she had glimpsed that morning. Surely he wasn’t going to wash their dirty linen in such a public place. She glanced around, wondering if people at the nearby tables were aware of the strain between herself and Pierce, and wondering, too, why Mel and David seemed quite oblivious to the tension.

  “Why here?” She kept her voice low, struggling for calm and hoping she could find a way to distract him.

  His answering smile didn’t hold any humor as he stared over her shoulder. “It was a question of bringing the mountain to Mohamed I’m afraid.”

  Puzzled, and sensing a black fury she couldn’t understand, she turned her head to follow his gaze and saw he was looking at two people sitting at a table in the far corner of the restaurant. Whoever they were they had obviously only just arrived because a waiter was still fussing with their chairs. When he finally moved away she saw the woman was a tanned and exotic looking Marissa, whose stunning figure was poured into a scarlet sheath dress. Her face turned pale. At last she understood. He had brought her here to humiliate her. I would only be a matter of time before Marissa saw them and then Pierce would cross to her table with a cleverly contrived exclamation of surprise and invite her and her companion to join them. She had no doubt it was something they’d cooked up between them, a way of showing Kerry she wasn’t going to interfere with their relationship, that life would go on in the same old way despite her.

  * * *

  The next twenty minutes seemed like an eternity as their waiter arrived with the main course and the flow of conversation became more general again. Pierce continued to behave normally with only an occasional glance into the far corner but Kerry was too shaken by his obvious interest to do more than make a token attempt at her meal. For a long time nobody commented on her silence but eventually Mel spoke to her.

  “Are you feeling okay Kerry? You’re awfully quiet.”

  She opened her mouth to reply, to say there was nothing to worry about but as she did so Marissa shifted slightly, her elegantly manicured hands gesturing in such a way that Kerry was momentarily distracted by the reflection she could see in the mirror tiles on the wall in front of her. Involuntarily she turned her head to see who she was talking to. At that exact moment Marissa’s escort threw back his head and gave a throaty laugh. If Kerry had been pale before, now she was deathly white. As she stared across the room her fork clattered to the floor from suddenly nerveless fingers.

  “Kerry, what is it?” Mel half rose from her seat because Kerry looked ready to faint but Pierce caught her arm and pulled her down again.

  “She’ll be all right in a minute. Seeing her father for the first time in three years has given her a bit of a shock.” He poured a glass of water and pushed it into Kerry’s hand. “Drink this and breath slowly…in…out…in…out. There’s a good girl.”

  Although he was treating her like a child she instinctively obeyed him, concentrating on her breathing while the room whirled around her in a kaleidoscope of color and her ears filled with the echoes of her father’s laughter. The others watched anxiously, their conversation floating just out of reach so she saw their lips moving without having the least idea of what they were saying. She could tell Pierce and David were arguing though and for a brief moment she wondered why, and then she began to let go. It would be easier to leave all this confusion behind her. She closed her eyes.

  “Kerry! Don’t run out on me now sweetheart. This time you’re going to face everything and everyone, including that bastard who calls himself your father,” Pierce sounded angrier than she’d ever heard him.

  It was his anger that did it because deep in the shadows that were clouding her consciousness she suddenly realized he wasn’t angry with her at all. His black fury was directed at other people…her father for one, maybe even Marissa. Slowly she opened her eyes and the color began to seep back into her cheeks.

  “I’m fine now,” she was surprised to find she was clutching Pierce’s hand and that she didn’t want to let go of it…ever.”

  “Good, because this is your big moment,” he gave her a grim little smile of encouragement before his gaze travelled to a point slightly above and beyond her left shoulder. Instinctively she looked round only to be half blinded by the light of a camera flash.

  Indignant waiters rushed to her rescue but they were too late. The grinning photographer already had his picture and as he checked it out on his digital display his smile grew wider. This was one for the papers…a picture of Pierce Simon holding hands with a girl of such delicate beauty she would illuminate the nation’s breakfast tables even while readers were trying to discover who she was.

  The bright flash had directed all eyes towards their table and within moments Marissa had seen Pierce and was crossing the room trailing her escort like a slightly cumbersome tug.

  “Pierce darling, why didn’t you tell me you’d be here tonight,” she exclaimed, her theatrical approach solely for the benefit of the photographer.

  “Possibly because you weren’t on my guest list,” his answer was terse to the point of rudeness although he couched it in a polite smile as he stood up. “Besides I didn’t think your friend would find me the most congenial of company.”

  Marissa gave a little tinkling laugh. “Don’t be silly darling. Charles would love to meet you again after so long.”

  “Would you Charles? In that case I’ll arrange it.” Pierce beckoned to one of the waiters and asked him to rearrange the seating while Charles Farrow directed a furious look at Marissa. He didn’t notice Kerry until the extra chairs arrived and everyone shuffled up to make room for them. When he did it threw him so totally that she had a sudden glimpse of the old, lonely man he would eventually become when tanning studios and Botox could no longer hide the fact he was getting older. In that moment his usual svelte sophistication, his arrogance, and his cool confidence faded. It was a fleeting image and then he visibly pulled himself together, straightening his spine and tightening his jaw.

  “Hello Kerry.” His voice was impersonal, his greeting about as warm as a midwinter day.

  “Hello Father,” she was relieved to find she felt nothing for him. No bitterness. No love. Not even sadness for what might have been. That one brief glimpse into his future was responsible. The lonely, selfish old man who had looked out of his eyes for one unguarded moment had shifted her hold on reality. With a sudden sense of release she knew he no longer mattered. Three years of struggling, of living one day at a time because the future was too bleak to contemplate, had turned her into a different person. Now she was someone whose confidence could no longer be shaken by the man who had never shown her any affection.

  Pierce seemed to sense her change of attitude and he squeezed her hand as he nodded to an additional newcomer. It wasn’t a humorous smile but it was one that conveyed a good deal of satisfaction. “I h
ad no idea I was so popular. Have you come to join us as well Richard?”

  They all looked at the famous gossip columnist with startled surprise, partly because his presence at the table was so unexpected, and partly because his columns were flamboyant, witty and frequently vitriolic and yet he was such an unobtrusive man. He was someone who would never be noticed in a crowd. He gave them a wide smile without a trace of apology.

  “Sorry to butt in folks but I’m just doing my job. All I want are a few quotes and then I’ll leave you in peace. Celebrating something are you?”

  “My birthday,” Pierce’s eyes sparkled when he saw Charles Farrow’s fury. He knew that the older man suspected a set up but also knew he was in no position to prove it.

  The journalist pulled a notebook out of an inner pocket as he directed his first question. “No chance of you returning to the tennis circuit then?”

  “None! It’s a young man’s sport.” Pierce’s fingers tightened on Kerry’s although he didn’t look at her.

  “And you think you’re over the hill at thirty-four?” Richard Jennings had obviously done his homework.

  This time it was Pierce’s turn to smile with what appeared to be genuine amusement. “Not exactly over the hill…just setting out on a different journey. The tennis circuit is great for the young and single and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world. It’s given me everything I have. Without it I wouldn’t be in the position I am today where I can pick and choose what I do.”

  “But?” With the unerring instinct of a seasoned journalist, the older man sensed a scoop.

  “But it’s no place for a married man with children.” Pierce shrugged, apparently bored by the question.

  Richard Jennings glanced quickly at Marissa before he looked back at Pierce. “Do I take it you’re about to announce a date?”

  “For what?” Pierce gave him the sort of long, cool gaze that would have thrown someone less thick skinned.