Page 56 of Vengeance is Mine

I smiled. I felt warm inside, despite being frozen on the outside.

I rang the bell and stepped back. I turned to Mum and grinned. She rolled her eyes.

Anthony opened the door.

‘Dawn, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon.’

‘No. I’ve a few things I want to discuss with you. Anthony, this is my mum. Mum, this is Anthony. My grandfather.’

I watched as they looked at each other, and neither of them said anything for what seemed like hours but was probably a few seconds.

‘It’s lovely to meet you,’ Anthony said. There was genuine warmth in his voice and a twinkle in his eye. He held out his hand for Mum to shake.

‘And you,’ she replied, accepting his hand.

‘Would you both like to come in? The kettle’s not long since boiled.’

‘I can’t stay long,’ Mum said quickly.

‘Long enough for a cup of tea, though,’ I added just as quickly.

We followed him into the dimly lit hallway. I closed the front door behind us and showed Mum into the living room while Anthony went into the kitchen.

Mum stood in the doorway, looking around the room. Her eyes fell on the photo frames on the cabinet.

‘That’s his wife,’ I said, following my mother’s gaze.

‘I’m aware of who she is, Dawn,’ she said, an edge to her voice.

‘She was very pretty in her younger days, wasn’t she?’

‘I suppose. Difficult to tell how pretty someone is when they’re screaming at you and calling you every name under the sun.’

‘I was very ashamed about that,’ Anthony said.

We both turned quickly, not realising he’d come into the room. He was holding a fully laden tray in his hands that looked too heavy for him. I went over and took it from him, placing it carefully on the coffee table.

‘I had no idea she’d been round to see you until much later,’ Anthony continued. ‘I came round to apologise.’

‘Did you?’ Mum asked.

‘Yes. It took me a while to work up the courage. You weren’t there, but I spoke to your parents. They were a lovely couple.’

‘Yes,’ she smiled.

‘They really wanted to protect you. I told them all about Carole and Dominic, and we decided it was probably best if he wasn’t involved in Dawn’s upbringing.’

‘That wasn’t really your decision to make, was it? It was my baby. It was up to me who should have an input in her life.’

Anthony smiled. ‘Your mum said exactly that. However, it wasn’t long before… well, what happened, happened.’

‘Shall we sit down?’ I asked.

Anthony took his usual place in his armchair, while Mum and I made ourselves comfortable on the matching sofa. I took it upon myself to pour the tea. I felt comfortable here.

‘You’ve raised a wonderful daughter, Mrs Shepherd.’

‘Thank you.’ She smiled. ‘And it’s Rita, please. She has her moments, but I’m very proud of her.’

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