Page 47 of Wounded Hearts

Chapter 22

As Drew drovethrough the light drizzle towards his old home with Mara beside him, a feeling of unease crawled up his spine. He glanced at her and saw the almost serene look on her face as she sat beside him, her hands in her lap as she hummed to a song that was playing on the radio. The recovery and adjustment she’d made after her ordeal with Brayden Wells was remarkable, and it showed her strength of character.

Drew wasn’t sure if the unease he felt was because they had no idea where Rhea Winslow was or what Brayden Wells was up to and had little in the way of leads, or if it was the idea of Mara seeing his childhood home. A place where he felt exposed and vulnerable in a way that made his chest hurt.

Parking, Drew checked the area before getting out and opening the door for Mara. She ducked her head as the rain came down harder, blinking the drops away as they hit her eyes. Drew hated the way the rain-affected his line of sight. With his arm around her, he rushed them to the door and used his key to enter.

The musty smell from a few days ago lingered in the air and he looked around the dark space before flicking the light on, hitting the switch from memory. He alarmed the door behind him and locked them inside. Mara was looking around the hallway and he tried to imagine how it looked to someone seeing it for the first time.

The wallpaper was aged, and the carpet dated, but the overall repair of the house was good, and the furniture gave it a homely feel.

“I think the safe is in my mum’s bedroom, at least that’s where I think we should start.” Drew moved towards the stairs and felt Mara behind him, her feet light on the steps as they moved to the second level.

“Is this your room?” she asked as they passed his old bedroom door.

Drew stopped and nodded when she placed her hand on the doorknob in question. Mara opened it and smiled as she entered, her gaze moving over the space. He felt his heart beat harder, having her here in a place where he’d grown up created mixed feelings. Part of him wanted to share it with her, for her to know him as nobody else did, but the other part didn’t want her to see the weak boy who’d begged for scraps of affection from the people who’d made him.

“This suits you,” she said as she ran her hand over the gold certificates from the science exam board then touched her hand to the black belt he’d so diligently worked towards as he tried to gain his father’s favour.

“I spent hours trying to please a man who had no capacity for real love.” He hadn’t meant to say those words, but they’d flown out of his mouth before he realised.

Mara looked at him with sadness in her eyes but no pity. “Some people don’t know what love is.”

“We should get moving.”

He wanted out of this room and the memories it held. Drew took a breath before he opened his mother’s bedroom door and stepped into a time warp. Her lamp was on her bedside table, a magazine beside it waiting to be read. All these years later and it was like she’d stepped out for a time and was coming back. He couldn’t fathom why Marcus had done this, it was out of character and confusing.

“Wow, it’s like she’s coming home,” Mara said echoing his thoughts as he flicked on the light.

Drew scanned the room trying not to let any emotion inside as he looked for the end goal—the safe and the diaries. Increasingly, he felt they held answers to unasked questions.

Crossing to the oak wardrobes, he pulled them open relieved her clothes were no longer hanging inside. He patted the back and found the safe with ease. Kneeling, he saw Mara beside him shining the light on her phone into the dark space so he could see better.

He glanced up appreciatively. “Thanks.”

“My pleasure.”

Inserting the key, he turned it and pulling down the heavy handle, opened the door to see a pile of about ten diaries stacked inside. Carefully he took them out and moved to the space in front of the bed closest to the window and laid them on the floor. Mara sat beside him, cross-legged, and waited for him to begin. Drew was frozen, desperately to look but knowing this could change everything he’d ever thought he knew. Or it could change nothing at all, and he was overthinking things.

Picking up the books he checked the dates and knowing he could go back to the older ones later, opened the one from the year she died.

“Would you like me to go through these?”

Drew looked up at the question and tipped his head before dropping his chin. “Yes.”

January 1st

Marcus was busy with business last night. He said he will be over in the week to see us. I wonder if we will ever be any kind of priority in his life. Drew is growing so big now I have to look up to him. But then I’ve always looked up to my boy with the biggest heart. He is studying hard.

January 10th

I asked Marcus about getting a job today to get me out of the house and he got angry. He says I don’t think he can support us, and things got heated. But later he was tender and sweet but still adamant I won’t work.

I feel lonely.

Feb 18th

I’ve joined a book club that meets at the Koffie Pot down the road. The people seem nice and I met a nice lady who seems to have the same interests as me. She asked if I could meet for coffee. I want to but I know Marcus will be angry.