Charis (17 page)

But by this time the young policeman had seen Jennifer, still
sitting at the table, and was staring at her. Jennifer was looking at him, a
similar expression on her face. She was the first to look away, blushing. The
Sergeant managed to turn back to Ben, somewhat embarrassed and said, “I'm sorry,
Sir. I seem to have lost my train of thought.”

Ben and Charis caught each other's eye and both grinned.

“I was just about to introduce you to my sister, Jennifer Covington,”
Ben said, indicating Jennifer.  “She’s spending a few days with us. I'm sorry,
I didn't catch your name?”

“David Bryant,” he said as he moved to shake Jennifer's hand. “I'm
pleased to meet you,” he said to her.

Ben cleared his throat to get the young man's attention. “How can I
help you Detective?”

“Well, Sir,” David began.

“It's Ben. Please call me Ben.”

“Very well – Ben. I need to talk to you about Amanda Billings. I
believe you were the Consultant who attended her in the A&E on Friday
night?”

“Yes, I was,” answered Ben, and as it was a very pleasant summer evening,
he added, “Why don't we go and sit outside on the patio?”

The two men headed toward the door. Charis looked at Ben with a
worried expression on her face.

“It's okay,” he said to her quietly and smiled reassuringly. “I'll
be okay,” he whispered as the two of them went through the french doors into
the back garden.

Charis watched them go, the worried look still on her face. But Ben
seemed to be doing all right, so after a minute or two she turned her attention
to her sister-in-law. She wasn’t surprised that a man would find Jennifer
attractive. She’d always considered her friend to be gorgeous. She had dark
brown hair, which she kept cut quite short, large brown eyes and a heart shaped
face with a hint of a cleft in her chin. She was a couple of inches taller than
Charis, and slim so she looked willowy and very graceful. At twenty-two years
old Charis considered Jennifer to be a good catch for any young man. And this
David Bryant seemed to be quite smitten. An interesting situation.

While the men talked outside, Charis and Jennifer cleared the table,
stacked the dishwasher and tidied the kitchen. Charis was amused at the number
of times Jennifer's gaze wandered beyond the french doors and into the garden.
After about half an hour the men returned to the house. Ben's face looked
strained and Charis was concerned for him. But he smiled at her and she could
see he was handling it as best as he could. Jennifer was just finishing making
a pot of coffee so she offered them both a cup.

“Thank you,” David said smiling at her as he took his cup. Jennifer
blushed again and for the second time Ben and Charis caught each other's eye
and grinned.

“Please,” Charis said to him. “Come and sit down with us. Did you
get all the information you needed from Ben?”

“Yes, indeed. He’s been very helpful.”

“Well, now that’s over, perhaps we can put it out of our minds for the
time being and just relax and be comfortable,” she suggested.

So they sat and enjoyed their coffee and each other's company before
David stood up and said he must go. Before either Charis or Ben could say
anything else, Jennifer jumped up and said, “I'll show you out.”

David thanked them for their help and shook their hands. “I hope to
see you again,” he said before he walked to the door with Jennifer.

“Well, you took your time,” Ben said, smiling at his sister when she
finally came back inside.

“We were just talking,” she answered defensively, flushing a little.
“Apparently there's a little pub on the embankment called 'The Coach and
Horses'. He's asked if we'd like to meet him there after his shift ends, about
nine o'clock.” Her eyes were pleading with him to say yes.

“I don't see why not. He seemed a nice young man.”

“Thank you!” she beamed at him.

Nine o'clock saw them walking to the pub. David was already waiting
for them.

“I hoped you'd come,” he said, smiling at Jennifer.

Charis and Ben were quietly entertained watching the romance between
Jennifer and David blossom right before their eyes. Jennifer had to be back at
work on Wednesday, she had the fitting for her dress on Tuesday morning and the
train to catch home in the afternoon. At some point during their hour at the
pub on Monday evening, David had managed to arrange to meet her for lunch the
next day. Before Charis left for the music academy on Tuesday, Jennifer asked
if she and Ben would mind if she came to stay with them again next weekend. Charis
tried to hide her amusement.

“Of course not,” she said smiling. “You're welcome any time.”

Telling Ben about it that evening she said, “I'm so glad that we
were in Cairo while we were falling in love and didn't have an audience.”

“The kind of romance we had? It's just as well there was no
audience,” Ben reminded her, the expression in his eyes making her blush at the
memory.

She snuggled closer to him. “I wouldn't have had it any other way.
To have you come to my rescue like a knight in shining armour, my prince
Charming, was a dream come true for me.” She put her hand to his face to caress
his cheek.

He took her in his arms and kissed her. “I think it's time we went
to bed,” he whispered.

*****

Charis had all but forgotten the phone call when she received
another one. This time there was no voice, just very audible breathing. And
then a laugh. She hung up. Once again she was shaking. 
Why would he do this
to me?
She was sure it was Henry. She must find out where he was, what he
was doing.
But how?
And what did he want from her?
Money?
Was he
trying to terrify her again? If that was his plan it was working. She went
about her daily routine and tried, rather unsuccessfully, to forget.

Ben's birthday was in the middle of July. They went to dinner at his
favourite restaurant and Charis gave him a new watch. He’d talked about looking
for another one - he'd had his old one since he started University when he was
seventeen. Emily invited them down to Willow Bend for the next weekend so the
family could celebrate his birthday - even though it was a couple of days late
- and fortunately Ben was not on call that weekend. He had each weekend off,
but twice a month he was on call in case of emergencies; one weekend for the
NHS hospitals and the other for St. Anne’s and the Health Centre. So far he
hadn’t been called in to either but he couldn't go too far from home on those
weekends in case he was needed.

They actually enjoyed the quiet time at home. They could do their
shopping, potter in the garden, walk in the park or stroll by the river. A
favourite pastime for both of them was when Charis sat at her piano and played
for him. He would ask, “Do you know Schubert's Serenade?” or “Can you play some
Mozart for me?” or “I've always enjoyed Canon in D, do you know it?” And he
would sit and listen in awe of her talent and loveliness, wondering what he’d
done to deserve her and such complete happiness.

Some weekends when he was not on call they went away. They went to
Kent where they visited Chartwell - the old home of Winston Churchill, Hever
Castle - Ann Boleyn's family home, and Leeds Castle - dating back to the ninth
century, and stayed in a B&B overnight. Another time they drove up through
the Cotswolds as far as Broadway and drove to Bourton on the Water, Bibury and
the Slaughters as they wended their way home again, once more staying in a
B&B. Charis vaguely remembered some of the places they visited when she’d
been with her father, but it was such a long time ago and she’d been so very
young. It was a whole new experience going with Ben and they always had a
wonderful time. 

She always enjoyed the weekends, not only because she was with Ben
but there were never any
mysterious
phone calls. She never knew when
they would come, but when they did, they terrified her - always the breathing,
often a horrific laugh, sometimes he'd say something. “How happy are you now?”
or “I'm just waiting” or “One of these days I'll get you.” He always seemed to
know when she’d be at home alone. The phone calls never came when Ben was home and
she didn't want to tell him…to worry him, even though at times the thought that
Henry was watching their house unnerved her. She thought…hoped…prayed that they
would stop. She was relieved to know however, that they always came on her
landline phone - never on her mobile. Henry obviously didn't know her number,
so she was safe when she was away from home, assuming he wasn’t following her,
of course.

The horror of little Amanda Billings hadn't gone away either. Nor
would it for some time to come.  Ben would have to give evidence at the trial.
He’d already had to appear when the child's murderer had been remanded and it
had brought the trauma of that ghastly night back again. He and Charis had gone
to the child's funeral. The sight of the little coffin and the mother's face as
her baby was laid to rest was something that neither of them would ever forget.

Fortunately, most of his cases had happy endings. Ben would get
called out at night occasionally because of a difficult birth and then return
home with news that all was well; a beautiful baby, a happy mother and a proud
father.

Meanwhile, Jennifer's romance was progressing nicely. She’d invited
David, the weekend after Ben's birthday visit, down to meet her parents…possibly
a daunting prospect for him. David had earned a degree in criminology at
Leicester University before joining the police and had great respect for
justice, judges and QCs, so was somewhat nervous to meet Sir Giles.

Amelia's wedding was the first Saturday in August. Ben and Charis
drove down on Friday evening.  The wedding was to be at two o'clock the
following afternoon at their little village church with a reception to follow
at the family home, in the garden. A marquee had been hired and erected on
Friday, and Saturday morning was buzzing with people coming and going, setting
up tables and chairs, arranging flowers, caterers getting the food organised,
hairdressers styling the bride’s and the bridesmaids’ hair. But everyone seemed
to know what, where, when and how to do their jobs. It was organised chaos.

Ben watched the frenzy for a few minutes, turned to Charis and said,
“I don't think I ever expressed to you my eternal gratitude for the beauty and
simplicity of our wedding, did I? I’m so glad God gave me you.”

The wedding went off without a hitch. Amelia looked radiant. She was
a lot like Jennifer – there was no doubt at all that they were sisters – but
her dark hair was longer and curlier, and she was just a little taller but not
quite so slim. She arrived at the church in a horse dawn, open carriage, Sir
Giles sitting beside her looking very self-conscious in his morning suit and
carrying his top hat.  He'd had to endure a lot of ribbing from Adrian and
Simon who both insisted he should have worn his QC outfit of breeches, wig and
gown. But at least his seat would be taken by Charles on the ride back to the
house for the reception. He looked every bit the proud father, however, as he
escorted Amelia down the aisle.

Later at the reception, Emily looked around at her family and
friends gathered to celebrate her daughter's wedding and felt as if her joy was
full to overflowing. She had a beautiful home, a wonderful husband and children
she adored. First Elizabeth and Ben. She’d made a terrible mistake in marrying
her Arab prince, but from their union had come these two beautiful children. 

Elizabeth had given her three precious grandsons; Stephen, Trevor
and Rodney, seven, five, and two years old now, and with her little
granddaughters, Jessica and Lucy, they were the light of her life.  Adrian and Simon
were her stepsons but as dear to her as her own children. Adrian and Felicity were
now expecting their third child in a few months and Simon's wife Lorraine
expecting their first baby. Emily’s family was growing by leaps and bounds. And
now with Ben and Amelia both married, there was only Jennifer to go and all her
little chicks would have flown the nest. They’d met Jennifer's new beau the
previous weekend and been very impressed with him. He was polite, intelligent,
kind, thoughtful and seemingly smitten with her daughter. Time would tell if it
would lead to anything.

Finally her gaze fell on Charis. She was sitting and talking to
Jennifer while Ben sat on her other side, his arm draped casually over Charis'
shoulder, gently caressing her arm and watching her face so attentively, his
love for his new wife obvious in his eyes. Emily could see that Charis was very
aware of his touch from the way she leaned closer to him, constantly looking up
at him and smiling.  Emily had realised from the time that Charis was a child that
she'd had a crush on Ben and hero worshipped him. But as she got older her
feelings for him had matured too and she was constant in her love for him.
Emily was glad that at last he had realised his love for her. She thought they
were made for each other. At that moment Emily watched as Ben pulled Charis a
little closer to him. Charis turned her face to her husband and looked into his
eyes. He kissed her lightly on her forehead and Charis leant her head on his
shoulder. Emily felt her eyes prick with tears.

Oh my
, she thought to herself, and then,
Oh God, thank you for this wonderful day.