The Secrets We Keep

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Olivia woke to bright sunlight streaming into her room and she stretched, a few small aches reminding her of the night and early hours she and Hunter spent making love. It was just before dawn when he kissed her and went back to his own room and she traced the indentation of his head on the pillow before easing out of bed. Hunter had been insatiable, and he had the recovery time of a guy half his age. She checked the time and saw it had only just gone seven o’clock and she groaned, unsure how she would survive on five hours sleep. She took advantage of the shower, wrapping herself in a big fluffy bath towel before dressing. She placed her clothes from the previous day in her bag and stripped the bed, carrying the sheets and pillow slips to the laundry and setting the machine, headed to the kitchen.

Gathering the ingredients needed for pancakes, Olivia made a double quantity of batter because Leo could eat a dozen on his own. Hunter’s pantry was well stocked, although that was most likely his mother’s doing rather than his and it was easy to locate everything she needed. The fridge was also well stocked with all the usual breakfast items such as bacon and eggs along with a container of blueberries which could go in the pancake batter, she decided. She was so busy working away she didn’t hear Mason come in and when she turned and saw him there she gasped.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, “I ought to have said something, just not used to finding someone in the kitchen at this time. Are you making breakfast?”

His rumpled hair had him looking so like his father as did the serious expression he wore. Olivia smiled at him, uncertain of what sort of reception she might receive because Mason was still an unknown quantity to her.

“Good morning!” she welcomed, relieved to see the faint hint of a smile at his mouth. “Yes, I am making breakfast. Any requests?”

Mason plonked himself on a chair at the breakfast bar and leaning on his folded arms. Defensive, she thought and knew she needed to proceed with caution here.

“Can you do pancakes? I haven’t had them in forever, Gran makes them sometimes but other than that, I live in a pancake free zone.”

“Well,” she replied brightly, “We can’t have that, and FYI you can always come down to our place and have pancakes. I make them most weekends, unless Leo decides he wants something else. Now, what does Izzy usually have?”

“Toast, sometimes scrambled eggs,” he shrugged.

“And your dad?”

He wore a puzzled expression,

“Don’t you know what he likes?”

“Mason, I have never made breakfast for your father.”

“Wow, okay. I thought – well you know, I thought -,” he stopped, an apologetic expression on his face.

“It’s fine. Really.”

“Yeah, well Dad has a big breakfast, so the works.”

“This?” she held up the bacon, eggs, mushrooms, and a tin of baked beans.

Mason smiled, “Gran stocked up yesterday, we’d probably starve if she didn’t do that for us.”

“What did you do when she and your Pop was away?”

“Izzy usually made a list and phoned the order through, Dad picked it up. I guess he’s busy and to be honest, he’s kind of hopeless in the kitchen.”

“Maybe we need to give him some cooking lessons?”

“Maybe,” he paused, and she sensed he had something he wanted to get off his chest, “Say, um, Olivia? If I show you something, will you promise not to say anything to Izzy, or to Dad for that matter?”

Olivia swallowed hard. How could she promise something like that?”

“I’m not keen on keeping secrets, Mason. But, if this is important to you, then I’m happy for you to share it with me.”

He sat motionless at the breakfast bar for a few moments then disappeared in the direction of his room, returning moments later with an envelope.

“A courier came to the front gate and asked for Izzy. I said she wasn’t here, and he asked if I could sign for this envelope, which I did.” He tentatively pushed it across the surface of the bench top toward her and Olivia was almost too afraid to open it.

“Have you read it?” she asked him and received a very solemn nod of the head in reply.

She opened the flap and pulled out the single sheet of paper and gasped, a series of letters cut out from magazines or the newspaper had been assembled to read:

HE’S NOT YOUR DAD!

With tears blurring her vision, Olivia inserted the letter back into the envelope,

“Do you want to keep it or would you rather I take it?”

“Can you take it, please? Izzy would just die if she read that!”

Olivia folded the envelope in half and slipped it into her back pocket.

“You’re a good brother, Mason. When did this happen?” she asked, pulling out a chair to sit opposite him.

“A couple of days ago. Izzy was with Allegra and Dad was in the cellar. He said not to let anyone in at the bottom gate, but this courier guy was persistent, threatening to climb over the gate. I could see Dad was with one of the guys who works here, so I went down and took the envelope.”

“You believe what’s in this note, Mason?”

He nodded, “I overheard Gran and Pop talking about it a couple of years ago when they visited us in Spain. Gran said that Dad had gone through enough trouble because of Nina. I’m glad I never got to know my mother; she sounds like a total bitch.”

Olivia remained silent; this wasn’t the time to become involved in a conversation regarding the woman Mason thought was Nina Larsen.

“Has Dad always known?” Mason asked.

“Mason, this is a conversation we need to have with your dad.”

“And what conversation would that be?” Hunter stood at the entrance to the kitchen, his hair damp from the shower although he hadn’t shaved. She was being eaten alive by the gaze he settled on her, creating a wave of heat through her.

“What time does Izzy usually get up?” she asked Hunter?”

“She’s always the last, isn’t she Mason?”

“Yeah.”

“Hunter, someone attempted to give Izzy some information regarding her paternity.”

“What? How?”

“There was a courier, Dad. He came to the bottom gate and you were busy, so I went down, he asked for Izzy, but I said she wasn’t here. “

“Bud, I thought I said not to go to the gate?”

“Yeah, you did but the guy was getting shitty, threatening to come over the gate.”

“Hunter,” Olivia warned, “He was only doing what he thought was best.”

“Sorry. Is there any coffee?”

“There is. Sit down, I’ll show you the note and get you a coffee.”

She fixed him a cup of coffee and pulled the envelope from her back pocket,

“I’m making breakfast, please don’t leave that lying around. I was going to take it home with me, out of harms’ way,” she advised sternly.

“Is that your high school principal voice?” he asked.

“Possibly, or it could be the mum voice, which goes with the mum death stare.”

“I’ll try and avoid all of those, then.”

He picked up the envelope and Olivia turned her back on father and son to begin making breakfast, pancakes for Mason and a big breakfast for Hunter.

“Do want blueberries or choc chip?” she asked Mason.

“Can I have some of each?”

“Bud, this isn’t a hotel, you know?”

“It isn’t a problem, and I did offer.” Olivia quickly assured Hunter. Mason needed a lot of TLC as well as someone he could unload to. While Hunter was a great father, he wasn’t in a good enough place himself to give his son the level of emotional support necessary. He was getting there, and she could see Hunter was connecting with Mason and Izzy more effortlessly than a few short months ago.

The pancakes were quick and easy and when she placed a stack of pancakes in front of Mason, he mouthed a silent “thank you” to her. Hunter handed her the envelope and turned to Mason,

“You already knew?”

“Yeah, for a while. I overheard Gran and Pop. Am I yours?”

“You are.”

“But not Izzy?”

“No but it doesn’t mean I don’t love her, Mason.”

Olivia wanted to pull Mason into her arms and hug him, such was the sadness on his face, and when she saw a tear roll down his cheek, she couldn’t help herself, she reached over and squeezed his hand,

“Mason? You and Izzy are so lucky to have this amazing father who has battled so many demons to give you a stable home life. You and Izzy are his proudest achievements, you know that don’t you?”

Mason nodded slowly, looking at his father,

“You’re proud of Leo as well, aren’t you?”

“Of course!”

“How come you didn’t know about him?”

“Because I was stupid. Because I hurt his mother so badly and like a coward I ran away. I’m not proud of what I did, Mason. It’s not what a good man would have done.”

“Why didn’t you marry Olivia?”

“Like I said, I was stupid, Mason.”

“Are you going to tell Izzy?” he asked.

Hunter nodded, “I have to. It’s going to be tough; she might not talk to me for the next ten years, but I need to do it because there have been too many secrets.”

Olivia released Mason’s hand and watched him smother his pancakes in maple syrup.

“You got enough syrup there?” Leo asked, pulling out a chair. Olivia smiled at him, he looked as though he’d had a hard night, compared to Mason’s rumpled hair, Leo’s was completely dishevelled.

“What time did you get to sleep last night, Leo?” she asked.

“Ouch! That’s the mum voice,” he knowledgeably advised both his brother and father. He gave her a nonchalant lift of the shoulders, “Late and I couldn’t sleep because I remembered something I saw that happened the other day.”

“What sort of something?” she asked him.

“Can I eat first? I’ll have choc chip pancakes, and could I also have some bacon?”

Hunter laughed, “I was here first, and your mother hasn’t even asked me what I want to eat.”

“Sorry, Dad. I’m jumping the queue, you go on and order, my order is already in.”

“You have the big breakfast don’t you?” she asked Hunter who looked surprised.

“I do. How did you know?”

“Your son knew exactly what you have. Said your mum restocked everything the other day. So, its bacon, egg, mushrooms, baked beans? Anything else?”

“Liv, this is your Saturday, we could have all gone down to Oneroa for breakfast rather than you having to slave away in the kitchen.”

“Mum likes cooking, don’t you Mum?”

“I do. Although on Mother’s Day, Leo spoils me and I get breakfast in bed.”

“This year we can all -,” Mason cut himself off and Olivia knew exactly what he’d been about to say.

“Mason, I’m sharing your Dad, I can share Mum, I’m sure she won’t mind. She once told me she wanted six kids when she was little.”

“Six!” Hunter roared, “Tell me that isn’t so?”

“It’s true. I wanted six kids, I doubt you remember because you always ran a mile when I played with my dolls, but the names of my dolls were the names I wanted to call my children.”

Mason and Leo laughed, and Olivia was happy that the previously sombre mood had lifted. Granted the problem was still there, but at least Mason had relaxed.

“What were the dolls called?” Mason wanted to know, finishing his last pancake, and pushing his plate hopefully toward her for a refill.

“There was Penny, Joe, Helen, Margaret, Fay and George. They were all girl dolls because the only boy dolls around were Barbie’s Ken as well as a doll dressed as a groom for the bride doll.”

“Did you have a bride doll?” Leo wanted to know, “Although I can’t believe Mason and I are talking about dolls. That information remains classified. Got it?”

“Got it. No, I wasn’t interested in the bride doll. Marron had one and then Alex got a groom doll so we could play weddings.”

“So, Joe and George were transgender people?” Mason probed thoughtfully.

“They didn’t have any hair, so it was easy to make them boys and Mum made clothes for them.”

“Six kids, though,” Hunter said quietly, “You never told me that.”

“Dad said I should keep it to myself otherwise every boy I knew would run for the hills.”

That brought another burst of laughter from the boys and when Olivia saw movement in the doorway, Izzy was watching Mason and Leo with interest.

“Good morning, Izzy!” she said, “Breakfast?”

“I only have toast usually.”

“Come on Iz, be wild. Mason had a stack of pancakes, Dad’s getting the works and I’ve ordered choc chip pancakes and bacon.”

Izzy pulled a face,

“You eat choc chip pancakes with bacon?”

“Don’t worry Izzy,” Olivia assured her, “Boys have been known to eat all sorts of odd combinations when it comes to food. Now, while you think about something more interesting than toast, I’ll get on.”

Hunter needed to step up in the kitchen, that much was obvious as he joined Olivia and, following her instructions, he managed to make two stacks of pancakes while she attended to his breakfast.

“Okay Iz. Hit me with your breakfast order.”

She giggled and that made him smile. He loved that giggle, he loved this sweet, gentle girl who thankfully seemed devoid of her mother’s viciousness.

“Can I have the same as you?”

“The monster breakfast?”

Beside him Olivia groaned, “It was just the big breakfast before, now it has grown to the monster breakfast.”

Izzy giggled again.

“Tell you what,” Olivia said, “We’ll make everything, put it on a big plate and we’ll tuck in.”

Olivia was amazing although that wasn’t a news flash was it? His first glimpse of her this morning had taken his breath away. He’d seen the way Mason craved more of her attention and he especially enjoyed seeing her interact with hid don. But there was the letter and that was going to dampen everyone’s mood. Wasn’t it? The enormity of Nina/Lana’s betrayal and unconscionable behaviour would have the greatest impact on an innocent child because Izzy was still a child even if her fifteenth birthday was only a matter of months away.

“You okay?” Olivia asked him, her voice soft and he wanted to wrap her in his arms and kiss her senseless. Last night had been incredible and he doubted he would ever be the same.

“I’m good. Thank you for last night, Liv. It was the wildest night since we -,”

“Don’t regret our past, Hunter. It was special for both of us, and it came to an end. We’re not unique in that regard because that’s what teen relationships do, but it’s not right to regret what we had. And you know what? We might have gotten married and maybe it wouldn’t have worked out.”

“It would have. We would still be together with our six children.”

She swatted him on the arm, “Come on, get cooking and thank your lucky stars there are only three of them sitting behind you.”

Would he have liked six kids? With Olivia it would have been a breeze because she took everything in her stride. Nothing was too much trouble nor were problems insurmountable. The sight of her with Mason in the kitchen would stay with him forever, and Tom Gordon’s words echoed in his head; Have you considered you might be in love, Hunter? He sighed, his gaze shifting to Izzy.

“Are you cooking or daydreaming?” Olivia poked him on the arm.

“Bossy, much?”

“I am. Hunter?” she became serious, her voice dropping to a low murmur, “We will get through this, you don’t need to do it alone.”

“My mistake, Liv. I ought to have done something sooner.”

“It’s not a mistake. I doubt anyone in your situation would do things differently. Right now, we’re going to eat, I’m starving, and I need coffee. Then, you’re going to release the gate so your staff can get to work and we’re going to sit out on the deck with photos of Izzy as a baby with you and we’ll take it from there.”

“Liv!” he rasped, “You’re so f*****g amazing. I’m never going to be able to make this up to you.”

“You don’t have to.”

Surprisingly, he did eat because, like Olivia, he was starving. Even Izzy dug in with enthusiasm, her infectious giggle bouncing around the table. Mason and Leo were like two marauding dinosaurs at the table, but he made them wait because they’d already demolished a mountain of pancakes and two l****s of orange juice.

“Any chance of a barbecue tonight?” Mason asked.

If anyone were still talking to him there would be, instead he told Mason to wait and see.

“That was delicious!” Izzy announced, “It’s really good of you to cook for us, I mean we ought to cook for you.”

“I enjoyed it Izzy. Perhaps you and I can cook a meal together one weekend?”

Izzy lit up like a Christmas tree, “Oh yes! I’m up for that.”

“I might like to learn to cook,” Mason said quietly, “I mean there are no guarantees that I’ll find the perfect girl who can cook and like rugby.”

Hunter laughed, “No guarantees at all, bud. Leo what about you?”

“I guess I could sign up for a couple of lessons, like how to boil water and stuff like that.”

Everyone laughed but for Hunter the moment was as though a switch was flicked because without a doubt he loved Leo as much as he loved Mason and Izzy. There was room in his rusty old heart for three and maybe one more? Olivia? Hunter pushed back his chair realising it was time to release the gate but was reminded of Leo’s comment regarding something he saw the other day. Something disturbing? Something dangerous? His phone buzzed, showing some of the staff had arrived, he messaged them back then released the gate.

“Okay,” he said, returning to his seat, “Leo, before we began our discussion about dolls and babies, you mentioned you couldn’t sleep because you remembered something that happened recently. Want to tell me about it?”

“No problem. I was on my bike and a car cut in front of me, like the driver was trying to run me off the road. The car stopped and a lady got out, said she was sorry and asked if I was okay. She offered to drive me home, but I said I was okay to keep riding. But she didn’t want to let me move, she kept blocking my way. Then she asked again if she could drive me home and I said no, I was kind of rude then, called her weird and told her to piss off,” he shook his head, “She laughed, so creepy, it reminded me of Cruella De Ville.”

“Leo, where did this happen?” Olivia asked, concern etched all over her beautiful features.

“On the causeway, I know there isn’t much room, but nobody has ever driven that close to me. I was going to drop my bike and run because she gave me a really bad vibe.”

Hunter had a bad vibe as well, “Did you drop the bike and run?”

“Nah. I like my bike too much.”

“What did she look like, Leo?”

“About Mum’s height, with really black hair. She had a mean mouth and eyes. And when I got on my bike she said I could regret talking to her like that.”

Nina didn’t have black hair, but she could have coloured it or worn a wig. However, the mean eyes and mouth, that summed up Nina perfectly.

“You’ve never seen her before?” Olivia asked.

“No.”

“And she didn’t follow you home?” Hunter asked.

“No. At least I don’t think so,” he turned to face Olivia, “Mum, it was the same day Gran and Pop came for dinner and they followed me down the driveway so if she were there, they would have noticed.”

Hunter’s eyes met Olivia’s across the table, there was more than Izzy’s paternity to talk about today because Leo’s confrontation with a motorist could well have been Nina.

“Okay, you guys can clean up and no, you cannot expect Izzy to do everything. Liv, I need to discuss a couple of things with you.” He nodded his head in the direction of his office and made his way there to call his parents.