Page 19 (1/2)

Part III

ACCEPTANCE

19

SundayI drove across town to see Clare It was Penny&039;s birthday and I had a card and present for her

In stark contrast to the sue now appeared al armies of tourists and journalists had all but disappeared as the holiday season had finally ended and also as the aliens had begun to travel outwards and the phenoer been restricted to

I found Penny and Clare together at their home I had expected to see other people there as it was Penny&039;s birthday but the house was strangely quiet As I stood at the door all that I could hear was the distant crash of rolling waves hitting the rocky shore The srey air

Much as she tried to hide it from Penny, it was obvious as soon as I was inside that Clare was upset Selfishly I thought about truncating ot the better of me I could sense that my friend needed to talk She stood there in silence at first, just watching her daughter happily playing with her birthday presents Whatever it was that was troubling Clare, she had obviously done all that she could to keep her feelings hidden from Penny

&039;So what&039;s up?&039; I asked as I sat down on the sofa next to her

She shrugged her shoulders and looked away

&039;Nothing, why?&039;

Here we go again, sahed &039;You do this to me every tioing to talk to me about it or should I just piss off back hoo atto help, that&039;s all&039;

&039;But there&039;s nothing you can do&039;

&039;Try &039;

&039;Try ain

&039;It&039;s impossible You can&039;t be a dad for Penny, can you?&039;

I had guessed that whatever rong would have been connected to Bill, Clare&039;s estranged husband That man (in the loosest possible sense of the word) deserved nothing more than to have seven shades of shit beaten out of hi what he did to Clare and Penny No ive him I had never seen anyone suffer asthose first few days, weeks and months since the bastard had walked out on her

&039;So what&039;s he done now,&039; I asked dutifully

&039;It&039;s what he hasn&039;t done,&039; she replied, her voice beginning to waver with emotion

&039;What d&039;you mean?&039;

&039;You&039;ve made the effort to come and see Penny on her birthday, haven&039;t you?&039;

&039;Yes&039;

&039;You&039;ve brought a present and a card&039;

&039;Yes,&039; I said again

&039;Well that&039;s more than that fucker has&039;

&039;You can&039;t be serious,&039; I said, genuinely appalled &039;For Christ&039;s sake, she&039;s his only child You&039;d have thought he&039;d&039;

I didn&039;t bother to finish my sentence The desperate, empty look on Clare&039;s face said it all

&039;I know&039; she sighed She took a deep, unsteady breath and I watched as her tired eyes filled with heavy tears She tried to nonchalantly and discreetly brush the from him?&039;

&039;I phoned hi to come over and see her&039;

&039;And?&039;