Father & Son: Book two of the Jensen Family Series (21 page)

Over the last few weeks, he had noticed
that Paul no longer wore the suit he had bought for him and unless he was
sorely mistaken, the ones that his son virtually modelled around the office
these days were handmade and perfectly fitted to his form. It had also been
brought to his attention that Paul had requested a parking permit for the
underground garage and on leaving his own car there, he had checked out the
space now occupied by a brand new, showroom clean, white Audi Quattro and he
had to wonder where the money was coming from.

For Paul’s part, he had seen more of his
Father in the last few weeks than he had in a lifetime and that made the hair
on the back of his neck stand up. Michael was being uber observant of late and
had developed a habit of appearing in the office he shared when he and Norman
put their heads together while working on the finer points of a deal making the
pair even more cautious with the consequence of making them appear devious.

Norman had also noticed his employers
increased presence in his office and he didn’t like it one little bit. Although
what he was doing with the youngest Jensen technically wasn’t illegal, it would
be construed as taking business away from Jensen Incorporated. Even though the
clients businesses and money they were utilising had already been rejected as
unworthy by Michael. Bearing in mind, being five minutes late back from lunch
break was viewed as stealing company time, the deals that were making Paul and
Norman very wealthy men would be a case for instant dismissal and possible
blacklisting. It was with this in mind that the pair decided to conduct their
insolvency activities outside of the Jensen Incorporated offices.

“Have you seen Paul’s new car?” Michael
raised the subject of the albatross which was their youngest son over
breakfast.

Looking up from buttering her toast,
Monica answered, “Of course, he took me to lunch in it last week. It’s very
nice.”

“It’s completely unnecessary. He’s managed
sharing a car with Matthew all this time.”

Sighing, Monica regarded her husband as he
perused the morning paper, “In case you hadn’t noticed, Paul no longer lives
here, he has needed the car several times but it seems that Matthew had other
plans for it resulting in Paul not being able to easily get to and from work
and as he has various jobs he needs to get to as opposed to Matthew’s one, he
felt the need to purchase his own car so that they could have one each.” She
explained, and now that she had his full attention, “I was under the impression
that you were going to try to make amends with Paul.”

It was Michael’s turn to sigh. Laying down
the paper, he addressed his wife, “It is extremely difficult to do that when I
hardly see the boy and when I do have reason to talk to him, he is surly and
aggressive towards me and his attitude is yet to change.”

“It’s hardly surprising seeing as you shut
his hand in the bonnet of his car.” She bit out.

“Are you never going to forgive me for
that?”

Leaving the table and reaching for the
kettle, she looked back at him, “Probably not and I wouldn’t expect it from
Paul anytime soon either.”

Closing up the club in the wee hours of
Sunday morning, Paul jumped in his car and instead of heading home, turned in
the opposite direction. He had a birthday party to get to. He’d not only missed
the birth of his son but also his first two birthdays due to work commitments,
all of which were bones of contention to Carmen and were raised repeatedly when
they argued.

His biggest regret was missing his son’s
first steps and his first words and he knew he was missing out on all aspects
of his life but he reasoned with himself that if he was going to give Gavin
every opportunity available to him during his life, then sacrifices had to be
made, sacrifices that he would explain when he was old enough to understand.
Paul knew he could afford to take a bit of a back seat with his gardening
company which, in spite of increasing the staff, still took up the majority of
his time. But he wasn’t willing to let it go just yet, that time would come
soon enough when he had complete control of the club.

He arrived in Gloucester just as the two
boys were eating breakfast. Seeing his father, Gavin clambered out of his
booster seat and made his way over to the man he knew as Daddy. Paul cherished
these moments and didn’t hesitate to reach down and lift his son into his arms
for a much missed hug. He planned to stay for most of the week not returning to
London until just before the club opened on Friday, not only for the party but
also to catch up with the staff of his splinter company and scout for a
possible yard but more than anything, he wanted to be able to take Gavin to
nursery school and pick him up and just do all the things that full time Dad’s
did with their kids.

As he cuddled his son and dragged the bowl
containing the cereal he had been eating across the table, he couldn’t help but
notice that Luke was somewhat sullen and was only playing with his food rather
than shovelling it enthusiastically into his mouth as was normal. It was also
painfully obvious that Carmen was not in a particularly sunny mood which didn’t
bode well for him in the long run as she had a talent for turning whatever had
caused the mood around to something he had or had not done.

Just as he took a breath and opened his
mouth to ask what was wrong with both her and Luke, Helen, with Art in tow,
bowled into the kitchen. He quickly covered his smile at Helen’s dishevelled
appearance and turned his attention back to holding the bowl while Gavin chased
cereal around it with his spoon.

The arrival of his mother caused Luke to
stop eating altogether and bang his spoon loudly on the table while pushing the
half full bowl onto the floor. His big brown eyes never left Art’s face, almost
as if he was challenging him to admonish him for his behaviour but Art merely
grabbed a cloth and began to clean up the mess as Helen berated her son for his
blatant bad behaviour.

Carmen offered to get Luke dressed and
along with Gavin, Paul followed the trio silently from the room under the guise
of lending a hand. But in reality, even though he got on famously with Art,
being his employer and seeing him quite clearly getting in deep with Helen was
not something he needed to see nor was he entirely comfortable with it.

“How long has that been going on?” Sitting
on Gavin’s bedroom floor, he helped his son into his clothes as he addressed
Carmen.

“Since you introduced them over climbing
frame catalogues.” She answered.

Somehow he knew it’d be his fault, “Ah,
they seem to get on well.” He hedged.

Carmen sighed and gave Luke a quick hug as
he dressed in record time, “Helen’s really happy and I’m so pleased for her but
Luke doesn’t like it. He’s had six years of having her to himself and he really
does not like having to share her with Art. That little display this morning
was nothing.” She patted Luke’s bottom and sent him to play in his room. “He’s
taken to drawing on the walls and throwing plates of food, he spits at Art and
had even managed to get his hands on a pair of scissors with disastrous results
for Arts clothes. Helen’s at her wits end, I mean Luke’s always been wilful but
this is getting ridiculous.”

“Does Art do anything to garner this sort
of behaviour from Luke?”

“No. I have to give him credit, he’s great
with both of them and on the rare occasions that Luke lets his guard down, they
seem to get on. I’m not sure if a six year old should be feeling resentment but
that’s what it is and he plays up every time Art is here.”

Paul observed the interactions between Luke
and Art for the next few days. It was painfully obvious that Art was indeed the
cause of Luke’s bad behaviour for the youngster went back to being his placid,
loving self when Art wasn’t around. After dropping Gavin off at nursery school,
Paul made his way to the café that his Gloucester work crew occupied when the
weather was bad.

Feeling responsible for the initial
introduction, it was clear to Paul that Luke’s relationship with his mother was
suffering and although he’d give anything to see Helen happy, he wouldn’t let
Luke’s well being pay the price for it. As he sat, he caught Art’s eye and held
his gaze.

“I know what you’re going to say.” Art
opened.

“I wonder if you do.” Paul replied, “Do
you want to do this here?

Art shrugged and looked around his co-
workers. “They know so it’s as good a place as any.”

“Fine.” Paul took a large gulp of tea from
the mug that had appeared in front of him. “I’m not saying you should end the
relationship but perhaps you shouldn’t stay the night or be there so often.” He
was surprised when Art nodded his agreement.

“I know but Helen says she feels safer
when I am there and that Luke will learn to deal with it.”

“You’re a father Art, did your boy react
like that when he met the new man in his mum’s life?” Paul asked.

Shaking his head, Art scrubbed his hands
over his face and let forth a weary sigh, “No, there was a little period of
adjustment but overall he was fine. I’ve tried everything to ease Luke into
this but he just won’t accept me being near his mother and I’m not prepared to
come between them.”

“So what happens now?” Paul pushed; he
wanted an answer before he left.

“Helen and I will have to go back to
dating. Carmen has said now that she’s working through the day again, she’s
more than happy to babysit on the night’s Helen stays with me as she doesn’t
have a social life when you aren’t here.”

He took on board the dig about Carmen’s
social life and moved his mug out of the way to make room for his second
breakfast of the day. “I appreciate that Art and I’m sorry it had to come to
that.”

“Fair do’s Paul but just for the record,
it isn’t really any of your business, I work for you. What goes on between
Helen and I is personal and not for you to be involved in.”

Well, didn’t that just get his back up?
Sitting up straighter and pushing his fingers roughly through his hair, he
addressed the older man, his brows drawn down, his voice low, “Actually, as I
have a vested interest in Luke’s future and you have been staying in my house,
I’d say it has quite a lot to do with me. If you don’t like me running
interference for a six year old who can’t do it for himself then make sure you
conduct your relationship with his mother off of my turf.”

“Your house?” Art asked, “I was under the
impression that Helen and Carmen owned it between them.”

“They do but they were a little short on
funds and I stepped in. I wanted Gavin to be raised in a family environment and
with a sibling and as it isn’t my intention to have any more children, it was
an ideal situation and meant that Luke and Gavin would grow up together. The
majority stake in the house is mine and I would appreciate it if you would
respect that.”

Art downed his tea and pushed his plate
away. “Fair enough.” He answered before leaving.

Paul’s day took a sharp downward plunge
when he was asked to step into the office upon arriving at the nursery school
to collect his son. After explaining that holding another child to the floor
and grinding play-doh into his face and hair and not showing any regret or
remorse when reprimanded, the school had come to the decision of excluding
Gavin from it and to this end, Paul was asked not to bring him back again.

He spent the time between picking up Gavin
and leaving once again to collect Luke, trying to get his son to talk to him
about what had happened at school. But came to the conclusion that either Gavin
didn’t understand and couldn’t verbalise to him or, which he suspected was more
the case, the three year old understood perfectly what he had done and was
simply refusing to talk about it, remaining sullen until his older, more
communicative friend was safely home with them.

Carmen and Helen arrived home within
moments of each other. Carmen was still stripping off her coat as Helen came
through the front door. Both women took a moment to savour the delightful smell
of cooking before Carmen headed to the kitchen, Helen having been waylaid by
the telephone.

Fully expecting Carmen to blow up over
their son’s expulsion and also intending to tackle Helen over her involvement
with Art and the subsequent conversation between them, Paul had thought it best
to ease both women into their respective conversations by cooking them a lovely
meal which he had achieved largely by being talked through it over the phone
with his mother. If it tasted as good as it smelt, he was on a winner. With a
nice bottle of wine gracing the table and both boys happily digging in, at
least the scene was set.

Credit where it was due, Carmen didn’t
explode at the news and actually told him that it wasn’t the first time their
little boy had been in trouble and that she hoped he wasn’t setting a precedent
for the years to come. She had a back up school all picked out who were more
than prepared to deal with Gavin’s shenanigans and she actually apologised to
Paul for having been confronted with today’s minor catastrophe. Once dinner was
over, she whisked Gavin away for a bath and a very stern chat.

Helen was a whole different kettle of
fish. She was usually the calm collected one of the two women but once Art had
told her of Paul’s intervention via the phone call she had taken when she
arrived home, she saw red and laid into Paul with a ferocity he hadn’t thought
her capable of and he found himself apologising profusely.

Once she had calmed down, Helen did relent
enough to let him know that she appreciated his concern over Luke and
understood why he had felt the need to say something. Luke’s usual calm
demeanour evaporated each and every time Art was present and he became unruly
and surly and in retrospect perhaps she should conduct her relationship away
from her son until he was old enough to understand that she didn’t love him any
less just because she had Art. Even with this admission, it was a very quiet
evening with only the bare minimum of stilted conversation between them.

Things slowly put themselves back on an
even keel over the next few days and were almost completely normal by the time
he readied himself to leave early Friday evening. It surprised him when Gavin
cried and clung to him as he set his bag down in the hall and went to say his
goodbyes. It was the first time the boy had shown any true emotional attachment
to him and he knew he would have to make a more concerted effort to spend more
time with him. To this end, he asked Carmen to think about letting him take
Gavin and possibly Luke back to London with him the next time he had some free
time. He explained that Monica would like to connect with her grandson and as
he was now living with John, that could happen outside the tension filled
atmosphere of the family home.

The following week was another busy one
with several deliveries having to be taken at the yard due to inclement
weather, not helped at all by a stroppy driver who simply dumped his load of
topsoil in front of the steps of the office. Paul allocated home improvement
jobs to his men, thankful that side of the business was at last picking up to
allow them to be able to work over the winter months. The interior work was
currently prolific with home owners wanting their decorating and improvements
done in time for Christmas which meant his team were working flat out, he’d
even sent Phil out on a job, something he tended to avoid in the winter months
as the older man was beginning to complain of aches and pains associated with a
lifetime of working outside. With his three capable secretaries ensconced in
the mess room, no doubt adding their feminine touch while they waited for
access to the office, Paul set about removing the topsoil from the steps and
surrounding area.