Page 77 of Endgame

‘Dahlia.’ Hugh says it so softly, his love wraps around her. ‘Please can I have some time alone with Caleb?’

With that Hugh Mason walks to their sliding door, pulls it open and invites me outside. Dahlia just nods, rubs my back and encourages me to follow him.

When Hugh Mason plants his feet apart and digs his hands into his pockets, I mirror him, ready to hear what he has to say.

‘Remember what happened to the last man that did this?’

‘With all due respect, sir, I’m not the last man.’

‘I know that, but I gave my blessing and look at how that turned out.’ The regret oozes thickly from him. ‘I don’t think I can do that to her again.’

‘Jasper wasn’t a bad?—’

‘Jasper didn’t know how to love her. He had the duty and responsibility perfected, but he didn’t know how to make her shine. He provided anything she could possibly want, then protected her by hiding her from the world, but he only did that because that’s what he saw me do all her life. My worry isthat my daughter is so vibrant and bright around you that the pendulum may have swung too far the other way.’

Hugh Mason finally admitting that he sees how happy I make Ariella is such a shock that I forget that he’s telling me that I can’t marry his daughter.

‘I didn’t do that, MrMason. That’s all her. I’m blinded by it too. I mostly stand back and watch.’

‘And that’s my point. You can’t just spectate. Do you have any idea what it takes to love a black woman? There are fights you didn’t even know existed that you will have to jump into. There will be conversations that you won’t understand, but because you love her you will have to stand beside her, feeling absolutely useless, letting her just do her thing. Then you have to go, educate yourself and be ready for the next one. You will feel like you literally have to defend her from the entire world because so much is set up to accelerate her failure. That’s why she has to be tougher than most – and she is. It’s just not in the way people expect her to be.

‘I’ve seen the social media. Both of yours. The micro- and macro-aggressions. People are falling over themselves when you post your half-naked and partying pictures. Meanwhile, she’s out there actually doing good work with the business and this new charity app, but she mostly gets neutral comments or straight-up abuse. At least your company is good at cleaning those up. And that American boy’s brother calling her a gold-digging house Negro. Did you see how silently she moved on from that? She didn’t even complain. It’s gut-wrenching to know that we live in a world where she chooses to deal with that level of disgust quietly, because society often demands that those harmed by this behaviour forgive their perpetrator.

‘The one thing that helps your case is you’ve experienced it too, but from a financial and societal perspective. So you understand it a little. Hypocritically, that’s the pressure I’mputting on you. You need to be stable, Caleb. It’s easy to have a wedding but do you have what it takes to sustain a marriage? What is your future like? Do you have a plan? If Ariella decides she never wants to work again, to look after your kids, can you live with that? Can you help her raise children, keep them safe, love them even when they are behaving like little psychopaths? Can you give them a better life than you and Ariella had? Can you teach them integrity, honour, truth and kindness? Can you get over those battles that you say that you’ve spent your entire life fighting and show them softness?’

This is not the conversation that I expected to have with Hugh Mason. It’s sobering because he’s right. I haven’t even thought of half of those things.

‘You’re not ready, Caleb, but that doesn’t mean you won’t be. I know I’ve held you at a distance and in some cases been positively hostile, but you’re about to assume responsibility for the most important thing in my life. I made a big mistake once already, so you can understand my caution. And just in case you aren’t aware, Dahlia and I want nothing more than for you to be ready. Ariella comes alive around you, and you most certainly have something to do with it.’

Hugh Mason steps forward, pats me on the back and pulls me into a rough side hug.

‘Stay for dinner.’

With that we walk together back into Dahlia’s kitchen, where she is waiting with open arms and a warm smile.

SEVENTEEN

ARIELLA

None of us really truly believed Melissa was missing until we heard that the police were conducting interviews and arranging to speak to everyone at the wedding. In order to sail through the interviews without implicating ourselves in Melissa’s other crimes, Dominic sent over an advocate and a solicitor the very next Tuesday to prepare us for what questions may be asked and to help us frame our answers as tightly as possible.

Who we weren’t prepared for was the private investigator Kevin hired. He camped at our office for the whole day on Thursday, calling us in one by one, asking us all accusatory questions, while expressing what seemed like worrying excitement to meet Caleb on his return. Samir eventually threw him out, when Lydia pulled a record of complaints about him off the internet. It has been a long hard week, so I am delighted to see Lara at mine when I return home.

‘Thank goodness you’re back. MsPat is refusing to feed me.’

‘Because you eat everything in the house, Miss Lara,’ MsPat responds, not bothering to hide the judgement in her voice.

‘I’m a growing girl!’

‘Yes, I see,’ MsPat claps back.

‘Did she just call me fat?’

Even if I knew how to respond to that, I really don’t want to.

‘You want something to eat, Miss Ariella?’ MsPat asks lovingly.

‘So I didn’t eat everything in the house.’ Lara narrows her eyes at MsPat.

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