Reality (Linstead AU)

Chapter 35

The drive from the airport in New York to the Voight house in Connecticut seemed to be taking forever to Jay. It was probably because he was dreading arriving there and having to see Hank. That was a real shame because he greatly respected the boss, and had liked him until the relationship with Erin had started and Hank had reacted badly to it. Jay wanted to get back on good terms with Hank. The problem was he couldn't see it happening. His anxiety was insisting that things were about t blow up big time tonight, and possibly wreck his relationship with Erin.

The satnav in his rental car told him he had reached his destination. He was in an obviously wealthy area of rural Connecticut, not dissimilar to where Erin was about to move to. He stopped at a large gateway in the wall that lined what was apparently the Voight property. The gates stood open, but Jay wanted to take a moment to summon what little courage he could find.

"Get on with it already," he snapped at himself. Dithering was only making things worse. He drove up the driveway, approaching a massive colonial house with four dormer windows in the roof. That meant it was a three storey house, and there was also a single storey extension on the left side, including a quadruple garage. Even with four spaces in the garage, two sports cars sat parked near the house. Neither of them was Erin's Ford GT. Hank really did have money to burn.

Jay parked up somewhere he thought would be out of the way and killed the engine. He got out and looked at the hired Chrysler. It wasn't a bad car at all, but it looked out of place and pathetic in this setting. His anxiety told him that was exactly how he would look inside the house. Or mansion. That was probably the right word to describe it, he thought.

Feeling like his stomach was tying itself in a knot, he walked over to the front door and knocked loudly. He expected Hank to open it and a confrontation to begin immediately. But instead an attractive blonde woman who was maybe pushing fifty was standing there when the door opened. She smiled and greeted him. "Mr Halstead? I'm Trish. Please, come in."

A housekeeper, he thought. Of course they had a house keeper. Why wouldn't they? He came from a childhood where he and Will had been lucky if they were given a bath once a week. Erin came from a childhood where she'd had a nanny and a housekeeper. Now that he thought about it, he could remember her telling him about that in the early days of their relationship.

"Thank you," he said to Trish as he stepped into a grand entrance hallway. Grand was the word for sure. The massive wooden central staircase was grand. The stone floor was grand. The furniture was grand. The decoration and paintings were grand. The place even smelled grand. Jay disliked everything about it, not that he was going to say so.

"This way," Trish said, leading him towards a door on the left side of the hallway. She was dressed quite stylishly for a housekeeper, he thought, and she was pretty for her age. Although she wore glasses, they really suited her.

The room he was taken to was an expansive living room with a chairs in front of a large fireplace, he discovered. There was a real fire burning in the fireplace, which had the room very pleasantly warm. To Jay's horror, Hank was seated in one of the chairs and there was no sign of Erin. Having to talk to the old man with her around had made his anxiety bad enough. Now he was going to have to do it without her. That was so much worse.

"Jay. Come and have a seat," Hank said. His tone was neither welcoming nor hostile. "Get him a drink would you, Trish?"

"Of course. Whisky?" Trish asked Jay.

Noticing that Hank had a whisky in hand, Jay figured the right thing to do would be to join him. "Yes, thank you," he said.

"Ice?"

"Please."

"Coming up. I'll let Erin know you're here too," Trish said, and she left the room.

Hiding his reluctance, Jay walked over and sat in a leather chair. The warmth coming from the fire was nice. There wasn't much warmth coming from Hank.