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Chapters (56)
  1. Cover
  2. BRUTAL
  3. Dedication page
  4. Acknowledgements
  5. Prologue
  6. PART ONE
  7. 1
  8. 2
  9. 3
  10. 4
  11. 5
  12. 6
  13. 7
  14. 8
  15. 9
  16. 10
  17. 11
  18. 12
  19. 13
  20. 14
  21. 15
  22. 16
  23. 17
  24. 18
  25. PART TWO
  26. 19
  27. 20
  28. 21
  29. 22
  30. 23
  31. 24
  32. 25
  33. 26
  34. 27
  35. 28
  36. 29
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35
  43. 36
  44. 37
  45. 38
  46. 39
  47. 40
  48. 41
  49. PART THREE
  50. 42
  51. 43
  52. 44
  53. 45
  54. Epilogue
  55. BRUTAL
  56. By Mandasue Heller

‘Neither will I,’ said Frank. ‘And you know damn well that isn’t what I meant. I’ll never stop loving your mother, and I wish to God she was still here. But she isn’t, and nothing’s ever going to change that.’

‘Well, I hope you’re very happy with your new life,’ Jo said bitterly. ‘But don’t expect me and Evan to accept that . . . woman into the family, because it’s never going to happen!’

She hung up at that, and Frank slammed his phone down on the arm of the chair. He shouldn’t have said that about Maureen being gone, because Jo had been very close to her, and that remark had clearly stung. But she’d been out of order, too. Both she and Evan had made choices he’d disagreed with in the past, but they were adults, so he’d figured they were entitled to make their own decisions. It was disappointing they weren’t willing to extend the same respect to him, though.

Irena tapped on the door, and Frank guessed from the wary expression on her face when she entered the room that she’d heard him raise his voice.

‘Is OK?’ she asked.

‘Not really,’ he admitted. ‘But it’s my problem, not yours, so I don’t want you worrying about it.’

‘Is my fault,’ she said dolefully. ‘I should leave.’

‘It is not your fault,’ Frank argued. ‘If you want to leave, that’s your decision, but I won’t have you chased out of here because my children can’t accept that I’m moving on. I know they think it’s too soon, but I reckon they’d feel the same if this had happened next year, or in ten years, so there’s no point waiting for their approval.’

‘So you do not want me to leave?’ Irena asked.

‘No.’ Frank reached for her hand. ‘Nothing’s changed as far as you’re concerned.’

‘Then I will stay,’ she said, smiling as she walked over to him. ‘And we will prove son and daughter wrong – yes?’

Frank rested his cheek on her sweet-smelling hair when she slid onto his lap. He had no idea if this was the beginning of something special or the biggest mistake he’d ever made, but Maureen had wanted him to be happy, so he owed it to her, and himself, to at least try to make a go of it.

16

Frank didn’t hear from Evan or Jo again in the run-up to Christmas, but he tried not to dwell on it, reminding himself that he’d done nothing wrong, and it was down to them to make the first move to build bridges.