Broken (Broken #1) (50 page)

“
It didn’t go
well then,” Jeanine says as I step into her house. She’s stood near
the window by the door so I’m assuming she was watching. I take
Dillan from her arms and hold him at arm’s length.

“
Did you miss
me, baby? Did you miss me?” I coo in a baby voice. I look to
Jeanine and shrug, “Unfortunately it didn’t.”

“
He’ll come
around,” she reassures me but I don’t need the reassurance. Right
now I’m too angry with Nathan to even consider fighting for his
friendship. “What did he say?”

“
Not much,
did you know he was going to move all of my things out?”

She shakes her head, “He told
me he had some family business to deal with and needed the house
free. So I told him I’d invite you round for the morning.”

I want to be mad at her
betrayal but I can’t be, she was just looking out for someone she’s
known since they were a child. I can’t blame her for her loyalty
with him and not with me.

“
If I’d known
that he would do this, I would have told you,” her eyes hold
sincerity and I believe her words. This brings me a small amount of
relief. “What are you going to do now?”

I blow out a breath which
accidentally catches Dillan in the face and makes him jerk around
with fluttering eyelids. Giggling I take him into the room and lay
him on the play mat. He stares up at the flashing lights that hover
over his head and kicks his chunky little legs. “I’ll call my mum
or Sasha and see if one of them can pick me up.”

“
Well, if
they can’t, I will take you.”

I shake my head, “I know how
much you hate driving for long periods of time. We’ll be fine.”

“
Where’s your
necklace?” She asks and I wince in response. “Oh dear.”

“
I had a
moment of anger,” I whisper, feeling ashamed of myself. My fingers
seek out the necklace which is no longer there. “I’ll be back. I’m
going to make a few calls.”

Unfortunately Sasha can’t get
me until tomorrow and my mum’s car is in for repair. That leaves me
with no options. Maybe I should just accept that ride from
Nathan.

It would give us a chance to
talk.

Burying my pride I pick up my
phone, having to lean over the couch as the cord for my charger
isn’t long enough to reach and if I unplug it it’ll just die on me
again.

Nathan answers after a few
rings, “Forget something?” Yes. You.

“
No… umm…
Nobody can collect me until tomorrow,” I admit and chew on the
inside of my cheek. “I’d go tomorrow, Jeanine has offered for me to
stay but I only have enough nappies to last me until tonight.” I’m
still breastfeeding so food isn’t a problem. “And he doesn’t have
any pyjamas or even a place to sleep.”

He doesn’t speak for a long
moment, “I’ll take you but it won’t be until later. I’m actually on
my way to deal with a few things.”

“
I also still
have your house keys,” I tell him and pat my pocket for
confirmation.

“
I’ll pick
them up when I pick you up.” He pauses for a moment. “I am sorry it
has come to this, Guinevere.”

What do I say to that? “Me
too.”

The longer I sit and think
about my actions from earlier today, the more shamed I become. My
neck feels bare and I want more than anything to have my necklace
back and erase the pain that flitted through Nathan’s eyes when I
ripped it from my neck.

I acted unreasonably. He’s
going through something. I’m not sure whether he’s trying to
protect me or himself.

Indecision clouds my brain. I
want to fight for him, more than anything. I can’t bear the thought
of losing him but I also can’t stand to be the brunt end of his
anger whenever something gets tough.

Also is this person, who is
clearly holding something over him, dangerous? This concerns me. I
don’t just have myself to think about, I have Dillan now. Maybe I
just have to put my faith in Nathan and trust that he’s dealt with
it.

Or maybe I should panic and
call the police. But what would I tell them?

I finally make a decision, it’s
not a huge one and it won’t change much but it will help my
conscience ease a little. “Can you watch Dillan for me again?” I
ask Jeanine, hoping I’m not pushing my luck.

She throws me her car keys and
waves me away. Great.

Chapter
Twenty Four

The house is dark and empty
when I arrive. The only car in the driveway is my beast of a BMW. I
slide out from Jeanine’s car and pull out my keys.

All I want is my necklace back.
I should never have ripped it off and the niggling in my mind is
driving me crazy. Once I have it, I’ll repair it and send it back
to him. Or I’ll keep it. I haven’t decided yet.

I tiptoe up the stairs, feeling
like a criminal and praying that Nathan didn’t think to lock his
bedroom door.

He didn’t. Thank god.

I don’t flick on the light, the
room is dim but I can see where I’m going.

Using the camera flash as a
torch, I drop down onto my knees in his closet and seek out the
gold pendent.

Almost immediately, in the far
corner, the tiny red jewel sparkles at me. I smile and shuffle
forward before grasping it with one hand. I pick it up but the
chain gets stuck on something, causing me to drop it. Must be a
loose nail it has snagged on. There are clothes above making it
pitch black, I feel for the end of the chain with difficulty.

I use my phone again and purse
my lips when I see the chain is stuck between the skirting board
and the floor. What are the odds?

I give it another tug but don’t
get anywhere. Plus, I’m worried I’ll break the chain further.

Sliding onto my belly, I pray
that there are no spiders and lean my phone against a shoe so it
shines directly where the chain is stuck. I give it another tug.
Nothing.

Damn it.

It is really stuck in there. I
think the clasp has slid through and has twisted.

I head back into Nathan’s room
and pull open the top drawer of the desk by the bed. I’ve seen him
grab pens and things from in here, I’m hoping there’ll be something
I can use.

What the hell? When…? Oh my
god.

I grab the photo and blink in
astonishment. It’s of me and Nathan on the Ferris wheel, I’m
pregnant, my head is resting against his shoulder and his chin is
on top of my head.

The memory surfaces and it
suddenly dawns on me that this is what he must have been buying
when I went to the toilet that night at the fair. My mouth
stretches into a soft smile, I touch the picture with the tip of my
finger affectionately and place it back in the drawer.

I think Nathan feels more for
me than I realised. How else do I explain this secret photo? He
clearly doesn’t want me to know that he has it or it would be on
display. Either that or he would have at least shown me.

So how long has he felt this
way? I thought he disliked me back then.

My mind goes back to my
necklace, I grab a ruler (why the hell he has a ruler upstairs I
have no idea) and get back to work on loosening the necklace from
the skirting board.

The corner of the plastic
measuring device slips between the floor and board at the corner. I
slide it along the crack until I’m a few centimetres away from my
jewellery.

Click. Uh-oh. The skirting
board just fell away from the wall. That’s not good.

My attention is on the small
dark space, I’m sure I can see something. Like a box of sorts.
Using the light from my phone I shine it into the hole, scared I’ll
find any number of creatures. Instead I find a very small and clean
space filled with DVD cases perfectly lined up.

What are these?

Nathan’s porn stash? I can’t
help it, my curiosity won’t let me leave them behind. If it’s porn
or possibly even Nathan doing naughty things I’ll just put them
back.

I’m so lucky. Caleb always said
I was lucky and he was right. It feels like I was meant to find
this. What are the odds that this would happen because I threw my
necklace?

I run my finger over the plain
black cases with labels along the narrow edge. My eyes instantly
zoom on one that seems separate from all of the others. It’s the
only one that’s labelled,

First Time

(Inc---Stephan)

Isn’t that Mr Weston’s name?
I’m sure it is.

I pull out three of the
unlabelled DVD’s and the labelled one and walk back into Nathan’s
room. I should have taken better note as to where everything was,
he’ll most likely notice that I’ve moved them being the
perfectionist that he is.

I wish I had my own TV in my
room, less chance of getting caught but I know he won’t be back for
a while. It still makes your hands shake at the thought though.

When I open the DVD the title
baffles me.

I don’t hesitate to place the
disk into the attached DVD player behind the TV and turn it on.

He Knew

What kind of title is that for
a homemade porno? That’s assuming it is a porno.

I pop the DVD in the player and
sit back on my knees. The screen is fuzzy for a few minutes with
white noise. The quality isn’t great either. Huh, seems to be some
kind of… oh my god. That’s here, I’d recognize that front door
anywhere.

“
Where is
he?” A man I don’t recognize speaks from behind the camera.
“Where’s my big boy today?”

Oh, it’s some kind of home
video.

“
Here,
Grandpa here!” I let out a startled laugh as a dark haired boy who
can’t be older than six comes rushing through the archway and
vanishes from sight as he no doubt hugs his grandpa. Wait… I’ve
seen this boy before. The picture I found. It’s Caleb!

My heart soars.

“
Look what
Grandpa has, Nathan.”

Wow. It’s Nathan? Is he sure?
He must be, he’s their grandfather. The resemblance is uncanny.

“
Cool.” The
video wobbles a lot and crackles as the boy’s grandfather shows him
the camera.

Nathan is now back in view, his
face only seeming to be a few inches away from the camera. Oh my
god. I know those eyes and those lips and those freckles. That’s
Nathan. It is Nathan! Now that I’m getting a closer look I can tell
that it’s him.

“
And how old
you are now?” Grandpa asks as he takes the camera back from the
happy little boy. So carefree, so happy. It’s odd seeing Nathan
this way.

The boy smiles and the smile is
so easy, it reminds me so much of Caleb, “I turned six
yesterday!”

“
I’m guessing
you’ll be wanting a present?”

The little boy bounces on the
spot, his tight white shirt and cute little blue bow tie the only
thing in view as he goes up. He can jump pretty high for a kid of
his age. “Pwease, pwease, pwease.” Aww, he said pwease. He’s so
adorable.

“
Come on
then,” Grandpa leads him outside. “To the barn.”

“
Yes!” Nathan
hollers, his little fist pumping the air. “To the barn!” He says
this like a superhero and flies forward through the long grass. I
can’t stifle my smile at his playful behaviour.

Ah, I get to see the barn which
has been burned to the ground.

My suspicions are soon
confirmed when they manage to make it to the huge white barn,
almost as big as the house. I see Grandpa’s slightly aged hand
unlatch a door around the side and push it open. This camera
movement is making me feel a little bit nauseous.

“
Where is it?
Where is it?” Nathan bounces up and down excitedly on the spot just
inside of the doorway. The light flicks on, showing how terrible
the quality of the video camera from eighteen years ago really was.
And this video camera is probably one of the best of its time.
Whoever made these videos must have gone to a lot of trouble to
convert them onto a DVD.

“
You’ll see,
but first,” I hear the door shut and lock. “I need to tell you a
secret. Can you keep a secret?” The camera focuses on the boy’s
face, which suddenly gets serious as he nods eagerly. Why am I
suddenly feeling uneasy? Where are the animals in this barn? “Good.
You’re very special to me Nathan. You’re my eldest Grandson. That
means when I die, all of this will be yours.”

“
All of
what?” Nathan asks, his cute nose crinkling.

“
My house,
this barn, my cars.” Cars? I haven’t seen any cars. Maybe Nathan
sold them.

“
Cool! Can I
have my present now?”

They enter another room, I
don’t know much about barns, but I know they’re supposed to have
more space than this. This room is a bit bigger than the last and
I’m wondering why there’s a bed in the corner. Maybe it’s where the
farm hands would rest or stay. There’s a sink too but it doesn’t
look to be in very good condition.

Grandpa switches on another
light but it’s not very good. I can barely make out Nathan’s face
but I can see his white suit perfectly. He looks like a little
sailor.

Grandpa moves around and stands
by the bed, the camera still pointing at a curious Nathan.

“
Ready for
your present?” Grandpa asks Nathan who beams. “You’ll get it on one
condition.”

“
What?”

Oh my god.

My hand flies to my mouth and
tears burn my eyes. I watch but I don’t. I scream but I don’t. I
sob but I don’t. I can’t look away and before it’s even over I race
to the toilet and vomit.

“
Why is your
pee pee out Grandpa?”

Oh my god. My body won’t stop
shaking.

“
Well, to get
your present you have to be a very good boy. We’re going to play a
very fun game
.”