Through the Glass (33 page)

Norah opened the door and peeped her head in. “Mrs. Johnston-Hart? I’m sorry but it’s time to go.”

“Okay, thank you, Norah dear…and please call me Penny.” Norah smiled, nodded and left the room.

Felicity smiled. “Penny, eh?” She raised her eyebrows. “That’s what Jim and Dad always called you.”

Penny looked thoughtful for a moment. “Yes…I like the sound of it.” She kissed her daughter and left the room.

~~~~~

The following morning when Jim and Penny arrived at the hospital, there was a buzz of activity outside Flick’s room. Detective Rand spotted them and came rushing over.

“Jim, Penny, would you come with me please?”

“Why? What’s happened? Is she okay?” Jim’s heart rate had increased, and Penny’s face had paled.

“Sorry, yes Felicity is fine. We have news and need to update you on what’s happened.”

The three of them walked into the family room and closed the door. They sat, and Jim and Penny waited expectantly.

“Okay, we have arrested a young woman by the name of…” He glanced down at his notepad. “Lia Cole. She gave herself up late last night. She was in quite a state. It appears she was the one who added the drug to Felicity’s drink.”

“But why? Who the hell
is
she? Did she know Felicity?” Jim frowned at the detective, trying to understand.

“She was Felicity’s personal assistant at the New York gallery. It appears there was some art forgery going on at the gallery, and Felicity uncovered it.”

“Shit…art forgery? But…but…to try to
kill
her? Isn’t that a bit extreme?”

“It certainly is. But there was a lot of money at stake…millions… Apparently, the former gallery Manager, Chester Withers, was in a relationship with Miss Cole. He had gotten her involved. She insists that she didn’t want to do it and that she thought a lot of Ms Johnston-Hart, but her life was threatened if she didn’t cooperate. I guess it was a difficult situation for her…if what she says is true…but she should’ve come to the police before taking such drastic action. Obviously, a warrant is out for Withers’ arrest, and we’ll find out if what she says is true. It appears he may have fled, but my team are good at what they do, and I have no doubt they’ll find him. Miss Cole insists that the drugs were those belonging to Withers. He had a nervous break-down on account of all the stress of what he’d gotten himself into but had also been having other problems.”

With widened eyes, Jim exhaled noisily and ran his hands through his hair, resting them on his head. This was a real blow.

Penny sat, open mouthed at the news. “But…what if Felicity is still in danger?” she asked, her hands shaking in her lap.

“Mrs. Johnston-Hart, I can assure you we have posted a guard on Felicity’s door, and we are investigating every single lead provided by Miss Cole. To say she was distraught is an understatement. She knows she will do time for this, yet she’s determined to squeal on those involved, which is very helpful indeed. We’ve interviewed Felicity and have all the details from her that she can remember.”

“Is Felicity implicated in all of this? You know with the art forgeries?” Jim wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.

“No. We have no reason to suspect her involvement. She was trying to compile evidence about the forgeries and was going to inform the gallery’s partner, Mr Nilsson, while she was in the UK. What she says is corroborated by Miss Cole. Felicity just needs to get well and go home.”

Both Penny and Jim sighed with relief.

“I’ll update you again once we have more.”

“Great, thanks. Can we go see Felicity now?”

Detective Rand nodded and gestured toward the door. Penny and Jim hurriedly made their way to Felicity’s room.

She was sitting up, still pale but looking much improved. A smile spread across her face when her visitors walked past the burly looking guard on the door.

“Hey, Felicity you’re looking great.” Jim’s grin felt a mile wide on his face. He wanted to rush over and kiss her but held back and allowed Penny to step forward. Felicity, however, didn’t move her gaze from Jim’s. Penny looked from her daughter to Jim and kissed her daughter’s head.

“Darling, I’m going to go and get a coffee. I sense that there are things that you two need to discuss.” She patted Felicity’s arm and turned to Jim. “Hear her out, Jim dear,” she whispered.

He pulled up the chair up to Felicity’s side and sat. His hands itched to hold hers, but now that she was fully conscious he felt awkward and had no clue what the limits were. As if she read his mind, she reached for his hand.

“Jim…I need to… I want to…erm…” Her eyes dropped to her lap. “I think we need to talk.”

“Felicity…I know all about the art forgeries. Don’t worry. They’re on the case. It’ll be fine. You’re not implicated and no one will get to you. I won’t let them.”

“Jim, that’s not what I meant. I think we should talk about…about
us
.” She squeezed his hand. “There are things I need to say to you.”

Jim sat up straight, suddenly realising he was about to find out where the limits were and whether or not there was a future for them. “Yes…yes, I suppose you’re right.”

“I know this involves dragging up the past, but I want to apologise, Jim. I put you through a lot of awful stuff because I thought I was lacking in my life. It turns out I was only lacking in
myself
. It was nothing
you
did.” She took a deep breath. “You were wonderful and supportive and stood by whilst I tried to achieve this amazing career that I was
so sure
I wanted. I lost you because I was trying to aspire to a lifestyle that my mother, at the time, convinced me was right, and I was stupid enough to listen. She admits it now. It doesn’t excuse my behaviour, I know.”

Her words came out in a rush, and her chest moved up and down quickly. “Jim…the truth is…I…I never stopped loving you. I just
convinced
myself that I didn’t, but…seeing you in January was
so hard
. And then we made love, and I thought that maybe you felt the same.” She lowered her gaze, and Jim saw the tears that glistened in her eyes. “I realise now that you are over me
and
our relationship and that you care deeply for me as a friend, otherwise you wouldn’t have come all this way. And I’m so grateful for that,” her voice trembled. “And I
will
learn to get over the rest. Having you as a friend is so much better than not having you in my life at all. You
were
my best friend, Jim, and I miss that.” A sob escaped the confines of her throat. “I miss that so much. But I needed to say sorry and to tell you…I love you…that I’m still
in love
with you. I just…needed to say it and… I thought you should know.” More tears escaped the corners of her eyes. She pulled her hand away from Jim and wiped them away. Her lip quivered.

His heart ached to see her like this and his own eyes stung. “I know Felicity. I’ve known since you left Scotland. That manuscript your dad sent me...there was a letter. Ed told me everything.”

She nodded but avoided eye contact. “Oh…I see. Well, now you’ve heard it from the horse’s mouth, eh?” She smiled and laughed once but sadness clouded her eyes. “I’m still glad I said it. I think it was important that you heard it from me. And…well, now I can try to move on.” Her voice wavered as she spoke.

Jim grasped her hand again. “Flick…what if I don’t
want
you to move on?” He rubbed his thumb back and forth over her knuckles.

She smiled wider. “You called me Flick.”

“Aye, I did.” It was Jim’s turn to take a deep breath. “Flick…I’ve never stopped loving you either. I let you go because…I thought that I didn’t make you happy. That was all I ever wanted…for you to be happy. So I figured I loved you enough to let you go.” He leaned toward her and cupped her cheek with his free hand.

Her mouth fell open at his words. She was silent and her brow furrowed as she seemed to be allowing the news to sink in. “Oh, Jim…what did I do?”

“Hey, stop that. It’s over…forgotten.” He waved his hand dismissively and then returned it to her cheek. “It’s what we do from now that matters.”

She nodded slowly. “So…what
should
we do?” Her tears were relentless now, and she covered his hand with hers, leaning into his touch.

“Flick, I don’t know if you remember but you said…when you woke from your coma…that you wanted me to take you home… My home is Scotland… I don’t know whether that changes things.”

Another sob escaped her throat. “Oh, Jim…you want to take me home to Scotland?”

“Sweetheart…there’s nothing I would like more. Is…is that what you want, too?” He blinked as his tears finally overflowed and he swallowed hard. She couldn’t speak. She simply nodded.

He stood and bent toward her. Tilting her chin up, he kissed her gently. Her hands snaked up around his neck, and she deepened the kiss. “I love you so much, Jim.”

He wiped away the tears from her cheeks. “I love you too…no more tears, eh?”

Chapter 30

June 2012

The cab pulled up outside the restaurant where Jim had secured a table in a quiet area at the back. Glasgow city centre on a Saturday night wasn’t known for its serenity or composure, and Flick was still panicky in crowded places. Since her release from hospital a week ago and the flight back to Scotland, she had recovered well and was only now on minimal medication. They had spent the first few days down in Hampshire with Penny and had travelled home on the insistence of Jim who had a surprise to share.

Investigations into the attempted murder of Flick had resulted in Lia Cole and Chester Withers being arrested, awaiting trial for this and several counts of forgery. The surprising thing, and the thing that had hurt Felicity more than anything, was that Vitale DeLuca had been arrested for illegally supplying the drug that had almost killed her. He, too, had been involved in the forgeries and had known both Lia and Chester. Initially, he was supposed to coerce Felicity by way of his masculine charms into becoming involved in order to implicate her, blackmail her, or keep her quiet about the whole thing. Flick turning him away had clearly scuppered their plans, and she felt glad that she hadn’t fallen for his apparent sensuality. He had seemed so sincere when they almost spent the night together, and she had thought he genuinely liked her. Discovering it had all been a ruse to acquire her coercion made her feel ashamed and
incredibly
foolish.

It was now the middle of June, and Julian had been in touch again to ask her to view the exhibition of the artist he had discovered. She had explained that she had resigned from her job, and had no interest in this anymore. But had eventually agreed to go and look as a last favour to Nilsson-Perkins—who had been roped into things following an explanation from Julian.

Jim and Flick met Julian at the restaurant with hugs and handshakes. “Wow, you really look amazing, Felicity, considering what you’ve been through.” Julian held her at arm’s length.

“That’s sweet, thanks Jules. I feel much better. I just want to get this evening over with and get home to Shieldaig with Jim.” She gazed lovingly up at him standing beside her with his arm tight around her waist.

They chatted over dinner about Julian’s latest work and enjoyed a wonderful meal together, and even though she had been a little reluctant to go to the exhibition as the time drew closer, she felt the excitement building. They climbed into the waiting cab that took them to the gallery. Julian had arranged to show Felicity the exhibition when the gallery was closed so that she would feel safer.

They walked through the large wooden doors and followed Julian to the exhibition hall. “So do I get to know the artist’s name yet?” she asked.

“You will soon enough, don’t worry. The exhibition is called
Through the Glass.
That will suffice for now.” He stopped at the double doors. “Now I want you to close your eyes.”

“Julian, I’m not five. This is about
art
, remember?”

“Oh shut up moaning, woman, and humour me.” Jules laughed.

With an eye roll and a sigh, she did as he requested and allowed him to lead her through the doors and into the stunning wood panelled room that she was already familiar with. It was a room in which she had viewed exhibitions in years past. Jim hung back and watched her walk in. Julian walked her to the beginning of the exhibition.

With his hands on her shoulders he whispered, “Okay…open your eyes.” He released her and she heard him step away.

Felicity fluttered her eyes open as instructed and gazed up at the first painting. Waves of confusion and recognition washed over her simultaneously. She spotted the stand, which showed the exhibition title and the artists name ‘Flick MacDuff’. She gasped and her hands shot to her face. She looked over to Julian who stood with one arm across his middle and the other resting on it, his finger on his lips, watching her reaction. He grinned widely. Her eyes shot back to the painting.

Slowly, she walked toward the next piece, took her time viewing it, and then moved on. Scenes she had encountered on countless journeys with Jim, with friends, and with her parents all hung before her. Scenes she had looked at through the glass and had recreated first in pencil and then in paints. What an unexpected situation to find herself in.

The colours, the brush strokes…all her own. Every mark remembered. Every memory so special. She walked on until she had viewed all but the last painting. Standing before this final piece overwhelmed her, and a sob escaped as she looked into the scene that had plagued her memory for years until she was taken there by Jim. Only then had the memory of looking back through Jim’s family holiday snaps as they finished university come flooding back into her mind. The place was somewhere she had thought she had imagined. She had so desperately wanted it to be real, and discovering that it
was
had filled her heart with such joy.

She couldn’t quite take it all in.

As she walked around again, a wide smile spread across her face.
Through the Glass…this is me…this is what
I
see through the glass…I understand now. All this time, I’ve been living a life that wasn’t mine. The high-flying career, the status symbols…it all means nothing. It’s like I’ve been watching
myself
through the glass. But I need to step back into
my
life…this life…the life I was meant to have. With Jim.