Note: Since John's daughter is also called Clare, to avoid confusion his daughter is spelt without an 'i':
e.g. Clare,
throughout the remainder of this story.
Chapter 05
Tuesday 4th May
John Pollard had long forgotten the visit of his old flame. His life had settled into something of a routine long before she had arrived, and after her visit it was regained. He visited his children; he visited his friends, and they visited him. The parish kept him busy visiting the sick and housebound. One day a week he helped at a shelter and hostel for the homeless, or more often if they were short staffed.
He had no time to wonder why Claire had decided to visit after so long. He had assumed it was compassion for his loss and gave it no further thought. So it had come as a surprise when his phone had rung and the voice at the other end had identified himself as Peter Klinsman. John waited.
"I don't know if you've heard, but Claire's mother died some weeks ago. I'm back in the Netherlands now but she's staying on to sort out the estate. She wants to come and see you. You've both suffered bereavement and she was very close to her mother. She thinks you'll be able to help her. So if you can organise a hotel for her I'm sure she'd be grateful."
John was non-plussed. He remembered how angry Claire had been about the letter, but here Peter Klinsman was phoning him and hadn't mentioned it. He was obviously someone who manipulated events to suit himself, John thought. Why was he asking this? John decided to let it go. If Claire got in touch, she would tell him what she wanted, but he would look up some hotels locally in any case.
"I can do that," he responded. "I'll make enquiries and she can choose one if she decides to come here."
The conversation was stilted but Peter seemed satisfied with his response and rang off, whereupon John immediately forgot the conversation.
Then the next call came from Claire three weeks later. "John, I wonder if I could come and stay with you while I sort out my mother's estate. Are you free?"
"Claire! Of course you can stay!" John exclaimed. "Oh bother, I forgot all about the hotel!"
"Hotel?" she asked.
"When Peter rang me, I promised him to look out some hotels for you to choose where to stay while you're over here, and I clean forgot about it."
Claire's voice betrayed her anger. "He
phoned
you? I knew nothing of that. John, we need to talk when I get there. If you can put me up, I'd like to stay with you."
"Of course you can," he said. "I assumed you'd be staying with me when Peter mentioned the hotel."
"Don't worry about the hotel," said Claire. "There's a story attached to that. I'll enlighten you when I get there."
She arrived with two suitcases the next afternoon and John stood back to let her in. She put them down in the hallway and turned to him, and they naturally hugged as they always had, he remembered, body to body.
"You're very welcome, Claire," said John as they parted, a little out of breath, "but are you sure you wouldn't rather stay in a hotel?"
"What I was actually hoping for, was that I could stay here with you, and that's what I told Peter before he went back to the Netherlands. The hotel was all his idea and I know why."
"Come through to the kitchen," he invited, and she made straight for the kitchen and sat down at the table. John did not need to ask if she wanted tea. It was obvious.
John spoke as he busied himself with tea-making. "Of course you can stay here, Claire. I would have expected to put you up here until Peter made his request. When he rang I thought you wanted to keep him happy - you said he was jealous."
He excused himself while he set the washing machine in motion in the utility room and then returned to sit opposite her at the table. He smiled a broad smile and immediately the angry look left her face and she smiled back. He then poured the tea.
"Later we will talk," John said. "First we need to be practical. You will have my bedroom. I have moved out because it has its own en-suite bathroom; that will allow you to relax more. I'll use the second largest bedroom. It's already got my stuff in it ready for you arriving in case you stayed."
Claire started to object.
"Listen," John said. "We never held back what we were thinking, and I'm not going to start now. You're married to Peter. You're a very attractive woman. I remember vividly our time together - the sex I mean. I need to keep you at arm's length in a way. You understand?"
Claire looked startled for a second, but then nodded with a smile.
"John, as usual you see to the heart of things. I know now why I came to you. It's a mixture of your integrity, love and respect."
John looked embarrassed, and tried to cover it by finishing his tea. "Let's get to it."
They took her bags to his erstwhile bedroom and then settled back in the living room. There was a silence, and then John spoke.
"Claire, I'm very happy to have you for as long as you need to be here. I want you to feel you can be alone when you need to be, and to come and talk when you want. I don't want to get in your way. Just treat the place as your home."
"Dear John," Claire smiled warmly. "I'm so glad I came. I already feel as if I'm at home. Can I try to tell you why I'm here?"
John nodded and Claire began her story. She outlined her problem with Peter's jealousy and lack of trust in her faithfulness, and how it had culminated in his reading and answering John's letter to her.
She explained how she felt at the end of her tether, and the feeling she had that this was a turning point in her life. She did not know if she could live with Peter much longer unless he was cured of his jealousy and lack of trust. Their relationship had to become more equal.
"I told him that he would have to learn to trust the hard way by putting up with my living here with you. I told him I would be living here and if he wanted our marriage to continue he'd have to accept it. He would have to trust me to be faithful and I gave him my solemn promise that I would be. That was the whole point of me being here with you. Now I find he tried to get you to hive me off to a hotel. It hasn't helped.
"I'll bet he hasn't made an appointment with a psychiatrist either. That was the second string to his treatment."
"So it's clear you've not come just to teach Peter a lesson; you really want him to get over his lack of trust and his jealousy. You want to save your marriage. But there's more, I think?"
"Yes, you're quite right. On one level I have to finish off sorting the estate out. Not easy; the family tell me they want to keep the house as a holiday home so there's a lot of legal to-ing and fro-ing between me, Ellen and Simon, and George. The size of the house and its valuation is going to incur a lot of inheritance tax.
"According to the will it was to be sold and the proceeds split three ways after tax, but if we want to keep it, we'll have to sign legal affidavits that we will keep the house in equal joint ownership, and agree on what happens if and when one of us dies or wants out. That's nearly sorted out. Then there's probate and carrying out the stipulations in the will."
"And?"
She smiled. He was so perceptive! He smiled warmly back and she felt heat. It shocked her.
