The Mystery of Chad Harris: Fate Delivers Us, Chapter 43
 
 
 

Julian is listening to his recordings of Eve, when there is a knock on the door.

" Come in……yes, Sally?"

" Mr. Crane, you have a visitor."

" Who is it'?"

" A Mr. TC Russell , Sir."

Julian rolled his eyes, and then nodded. The maid opened the door, and there was TC. It was time for them to talk.

" Thank you, Sally. You may go.", and the maid left, closing the door behind her.

Julian and TC stared at one another.

" Well, TC, I had a feeling you would come here."

" You did."

" Yes." Julian made the motion to turn off the music, but TC asked,

" Is that Eve?"

" Yes."

TC listened to his wife's voice for the first time. It was haunting. So haunting, yet beautiful. This is an odd moment for him. He would have to think about what it meant to him later.

" You can turn it off.", TC said.

Julian did as TC asked, and the men still stood across a room, staring at one another. Julian motioned for TC to take a seat, but TC still stood. Julian wanted to take a seat, but, decided to stand also.

" TC, what do you want."

" You intend to go after my wife?"

" What?", Julian asked, shock all over his face.

" I think it's a fair question. The two of you share a son. You're telling me that there isn't a part of you that wants to 'rekindle' what you and Eve had." The words were choking in TC's throat as he said them.

" My time with Eve has passed. The only thing we share is a son."

" That's a powerful bond."

" True enough, but, her heart belongs to you. That has not changed."

" And, dog that you are, I'm supposed to believe you when you say that you're not going after my wife."

Julian nodded. " Fair enough. I know my reputation, and despite it, I give you my word that I'm not going after Eve. Whatever that's worth."

" Not much, coming from a Crane. But, I'm going to tell you, Julian. I'm not going to kill you, even though I want to, because I love my wife. But, if I so much as think you're sniffing around my wife, trying to bring back 'old times', I'll snap your neck in two without a second thought."

" How civilized. Warned before the execution."

" I see it as a fair deal. There are six billion people on this planet, and at least half that is the female population. I don't care if you sniff around and shag all the others, except for the women in my family. They're off limits. You understand those boundaries, and this situation can continue without any problems. Understand?"

" I understand. …..but, I have a question for you."

" What is it?"

" What about Chad? What about my son?"

" What about him?"

" I know that he's been staying over at your house. Is that arrangement going to end?"

" Why should it?"

" He's my son."

" He's also Eve's son, and she wants him there."

" How is that going to work, TC? Eve wants him there, I'm sure of that, but, what about you? Is he going to be welcome in your home?"

" It's Eve's home too, and he will be welcome there. It will take me some time to adjust to the fact of this, but, Chad is his own man. I knew your son long before you did, Julian, and I respected him also. I will learn to live with it."

" I don't want my son living in a hostile environment."

" Well, now, you will have to TRUST ME. Chad will be living with his mother, and two sisters. His family. He has nothing to fear from us, and everything to gain. I want him there, and will do nothing to make him feel like he should move. "

" I like the sound of that."

" But, there have to be groundrules, Julian. I don't want you at my house - EVER! You need to see Chad, it will be off my property. You need to call Eve, make sure it's her cellphone or you can page her. I don't EVER want to pick up the phone in MY home and hear your voice on the other end - understand?"

Julian nods. " I understand. "

" Good. And, you can tell that sonuvabitch that you call a father that NOTHING better happen to Chad, or my wife, because he's pissed off that he's been found out. If Chad, Eve, or my girls are EVER hurt, I WILL blame Alistair. I will spend the rest of my life tracking him down and I will kill him without a second thought. The game is over. He lost. Leave it at that. You get that message?"

" Loud and clear."

" Fine. Well, this was a productive talk. I'm glad we got our cards on the table."

Before Julian replied, TC had turned his back and was out of the Library.
 

Eve sat in the chair in her bedroom. She looked out the window,  deep in thought, with the blanket enveloping her. She was deep in thought when  light came into the room from the hallway, because the door was opened. Eve looked over in the door entrance in shock.

" TC?"

TC went to a small lamp on the dresser and turned it on, giving the room only the bare minimum of light, so that they could see one another.  TC sat down on the edge of the bed, across from Eve.

They sat there, looking at one another for a few moments, until TC spoke.

" I went to see Julian tonight."

" You did?"

" I thought that it was time that I be clear on what I thought was and wasn't acceptable from him. I made him see that any attempt to 'rekindle' what you had would mean the forfeit of his life. "

Eve softly nodded.

" I told him that Chad would be welcome to stay in this house for as long as he wanted to, and that I would deal with Chad as his own man, irrespective of his father. "

Eve took a big gulp and swallowed.

" I also told him that if he needed to see you or Chad, it wouldn't be in this house. That he should call you on your cellphone or page you if he needed to talk to you. You two are parents.", TC nearly choked on the word.," So, the welfare of your child has to be shared by you. It's only natural, but, I don't have to know the details. And, I finally told him that if Alistair tried to hurt Chad, you, or the girls, I would kill him. "

TC got up and began to pace back and forth. " Mama said that I had to get off the fence. That I had to decide if I wanted a marriage or not, and take action with whatever decision that I wanted. The fact is, Eve, you lied to me. Every damn day that we were married, you lied to me. And, that hurt. It hurt that I looked like a fool in front of Julian. That you made me feel like a cuckold. That you emasculated me. Last week, hell, a few days ago, I was willing to call it a day. But then, I heard you talk to Chad, telling him about your background. I realized the hell your life was, and I began to understand what our family meant to you. I tried thinking about what it would be like to have a child, and then be told that it died, and to be all alone, with nobody behind you.

I went through some tough times in my life, Eve. But, I never went through them alone. Both my parents were there for me everyday until my father died. A lot of my rough times, I had Sam. I was never alone. I never went through any bad thing in my life alone. I was very self-destructive after I loss my tennis career, but I was never alone.

Your devotion to me and the girls made so much sense. You've always been in pain. I just never wanted to see it, and as your husband, I SHOULD have seen it."

" TC.."

TC put up his hand to silence her. " I should have seen it. But, I didn't. My mother admonished me for holding against you something that happened before we even knew one another. That is unfair. I can only determine the possibility of success of our relationship based on the years that we were together. And, I can't tell you that you did anything wrong. We had 20 years, Eve. Twenty years of you loving me more than I thought anyone could love me. I need you, Eve. It's a simple fact of my life. Without you in my life, I wouldn't feel whole. I'm still angry and disappointed. And, I need time. Time to get through it all. Time for all of this to sink in, and for us to work Chad into our family. I love you, and I even trust our love, even if I don't trust you, right now.

I'm going to move back into our bedroom. I'm not THAT advanced in dealing with this, but, Mama is right: the kids and Chad don't know how to proceed, if they don't know from day to day whether or not our relationship is going to survive. Me moving back in here will signal to them that this family is to go forward and heal. It will be slow, but, I think it's possible."

TC turned away from Eve, and went into the bathroom. Soon, she heard the shower going. Eve looked out her window, up to the sky.

" Thank you, God. Thank you for giving my family another chance."