The House on the Shore (41 page)

“I received it.
It burned very nicely in the Aga.”

“
Let me say my piece,
t
hen I’ll leave if you want me to.”

“Oh, I’ll insist.
That’s guaranteed.
Speak if you must, bu
t make it quick
.”

Mark offered her a nervous smile.
“Anna, darling.
Ou
r
time apart
has
changed me.
I was hoping it might have changed you
,
too.”

She set her
chin in a stubborn line.
S
he pulled a kitchen chair away from the table and plunked into it.
“You have five minutes, which is more than you deser
ve.
Then I want you to leave.”

Mark thrust his hands into his pockets and looked out of the window
.

“I’m waiting, Mark.”

He turned to face her again.
He leaned
back against the draining board
and spread his hands in front of him.
“I’ll admit it
.
I was wrong to give your promotion to Stella, but she is…was better…”

“You drove all the way out here to tell me
that
?”

“
O
f course not.
That didn’t come out right.
Let me try again.
I was under a lot of pressure at the time
,
and
I made a serious mistake.”

“Please, Mark, don’t insult my intelligence by offering another excuse.
We both know why you gave her the job, and it wasn’t because she was better qualified.
You made a fool of me, and that’s something I can’t forgive.”

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Both.
Time’s up, n
ow go.”

“Anna, please.
I was shocked when you handed in your notice.”

“You were shocked?”
She jumped to her feet
and glared at him with reproachful eyes.
“My God, Mark!
What did you expect me to do, shake
Stella’s
hand and offer her a welcoming smile?”

“Well, no.
I thought you woul
d
realize
it was for the best.
I was naïve.
I was a fool.
I thought you wanted
hands-on experience rather than mountains of paperwork.
Besides, we’d been together for nearly two years.
I was hoping—”

“
Hoping what?
That we woul
d enjoy a threesome?
You slept with her, for God’s sake!
How do you think that made me feel?”

“It was only once—” he replied, not meeting her gaze.

“Liar
!”

“O
kay
, so it was more than once
, b
ut I swear it meant nothing.
It’s you I care about.
S
he’s out of my life now.
She went back to London to marry her Australian boyfriend
.
I
t’s over.”

“So, that’s really why you’re here.
You’re pathetic.”

“You have every right to be upset.
I don’t know how many times you want me to say I’m sorry.
You didn’t have to resign, a
nd when you left Edinburgh so quickly, I—”

“You
what
?
Felt sorry for me?” she shouted
finally giving in to her anger.

“I felt guilty.
You didn’t give me a cha
nce to explain.
Not properly.”

“You had ample opportunity.
In fact, I distinctly recall us having a similar conversation.
Nothing has changed.
I don’t need you.”

“But Anna, I want
to make things right between us.
Is that wrong of me?”

“Absolutely.
I don’t want you in my life.”

“Really?”
He held up a stack of pages.
“
I
f this manuscript is anything to go by I suggest you go back to teaching.
No publisher will touch it.”

“You had no right to read my work.
You son-of-a-bitch!
You break in and go through my personal papers.
Out!”

“I’m sorry I said that.
I’m just angry.
I’m sorry.
I didn’t come here to argue.”

“If you didn’t come here to argue and you didn’t come here because your girlfriend went back to someone better than you
, what did you come for, Mark?”

“I’ve told you
,
to apologi
z
e for being stupid.
I thought…
I hoped
that onc
e you knew how sorry I was, you woul
d take me back.
I miss you.”
He grabbed her.
His fingers dug into the soft flesh of her arms, making her wince, as he tried to kiss her.

Anna twisted her face away
and screamed.
“Let-me-go!” she shouted, pushing him away, but he tightened his hold on her waist.
She beat her hands on his chest, but he refused to release her.
Finally she stamped on his foot.

“Ow!
What did you do that for?”

“Because I don’t want to be mauled by you!”

“Anna, please
take me back.
I’ll make it up to you, I promise.
We were so good together.”

She tore free from his grasp and slapped him with a force she didn’t know she possessed.
He put a hand over h
is red cheek and stared at her.

“Anna
…
I didn’t mean
…
I didn’t intend
…
I love you.”

“There
is
no us, Mark.
Not anymore.
The only person you love is
you
rself
.
Now get out.”

Before she could say anything more the dogs burst into the ki
tchen followed closely by Luke.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Luke said, bending down and kissing her hungrily.
“Who’s our visitor
,
and why does he look like you slapped the shit out of him?”

Anna gritted her teeth.
“Luke, this is Professor Mark Jackson.
Mark, this is Luke Tallantyre, a
—
”

“
A
very close
friend,” Luke interrupted, studying Mark with the eyes of a man who was used to meeting his adversaries face on.
For the second time in as many days, he felt a stab of jealousy.
He draped
an arm around Anna’s shoulders
and pulled her close.
“Honey, you got any more friends I should know about?”

Anna turned pink.
“Mark is head of the English Department at the University where I worked.
He was passing and decided to drop in to say ‘he
llo
.
’
Isn’t that right
?”

Mark nodded and offere
d his hand
.
Luke ignored it
.

“Just passing through?” Luke replied.
“Weird.
The road doesn’t even come this far.
I hope the trip was worth it.
Anna doesn’t make the best coffee in the world.
W
hat happened to your face, dude?
Run into a tree?
Or a hand?”

Mark bristled.
“I came here to discuss something with Anna
,
in private.
Not that it’s any of your business.”

“Anything th
at concerns
Anna
is my business
.”

“Anna and I are…were good friends as well as work colleagues.”

“Good friends, huh?
Your definition of the term is just a little bit different than mine.
Where I come
from loyalty means something.”

“Stay out of this, Mr
.
Tallantyre.”

“Not a chance, jackass.”

“Now, look here,” Mark eyes narrowed in response to Luke’s icy stare.
“I don’t have to take insults from you.”

“I agree.
So do as the lady said and get out
.”

“Luke,” Anna
said,
squeez
ing
his arm.
“Perhaps you’ll feed the dogs
.
”

Luke turned his face to hers, his expression softening.
“No, honey,
you
feed the dogs.
I’ll escort Jackson back to his car.”

“Actually,” Mark interrupted.
“I was hoping to talk to Anna over dinner.
I’ve reserved
a table at the Monymusk Arms.”

Luke crossed his arms.
His biceps bulged.
“Not gonna happen, schoolboy.”

“I suppose not,” Mark hesitated.
“Anna,
please reconsider and come back to work.
You’ll get the promotion and a raise in salary.
I’ll confirm it in writing.
The new term starts on the
eighth
of
September.
What do you say?”

Anna was stunned.
It was what she wanted,
or had
wanted
.
But pride took over.
She answered in a rush of words.
“That’s very kind of you, but no.
I couldn’t work with you again.
It’s a question of trust, you see.
And I don’t think I could trust you under any circumstances.”

“
Okay
,” Luke said, taking the other man by the elbow.
“Time to go, old buddy.”

“I’ve had enough of your interference.
Get-your-hands-off-me!”
Mark’s fist shot out and hit Luke squarely on the jaw.
Luke staggered back.
Blood tric
kled from the side of his mouth
and his head hit the frame of the ki
tchen door, adding to the pain.

Mark stared at Anna, his eyes full of contempt.
“I suggest you keep your tame ape under control and in his
—
” before he
could
finish the sentence, Luke’s fist connected with Jackson’s no
se in a bone-shattering crunch.

Anna watched aghast.
“Stop it!
Both of you
.
S
top it now!”

The two men ignored her.
Mark aimed a kick at Luke’s groin, which Luke deftly avoided.
The kitchen table toppled, sending Anna’s manuscript fluttering in all directions
.
L
uke landed another punch, this time on Mark’s cheek.
The professor stumbled, but regained his balance in time to return the blow, but it lacked force.
He grabbed a saucepan off the draining board, held it in front of him, and waited for
the opportunity to strike Luke.

Luke’s left foot shot out, and the heavy pan flew from the other man’s hand.

“You’ll have to do better than that, Jackson
!”

Anna screamed.
T
ears stream
ed
down her face.
She tried to get between the two men to intervene, but Luke pushed her safely out of the way.
She stood in the doorway
and
watch
ed
in silence, as the two men circled each other in the confined space.
Luke dodged another blow
and s
he gasped in relief.

Never taking his eyes off his opponent, Luke feinted left and whacked Mark in the gut.
Mark bent in half, cradling his crushed midsection.
The air whooshed out of his lungs as h
e slowly sank to his knees
.

Anna rushed to Luke’s side and smacked him on the a
rm.
“Did you have to do that?”

“Hey!
Hey!
He started it.
Besides, I wasn’t the one who called him a bastard.
Although that’s something we agree on.”