Affinity House Read online

  She thought of it as her private apartment. The bedroom and bathroom were small and set against the back wall but the view of the garden through the glass folding windows more than made up for that.

  Her dingy old apartment downtown could never compete with the stone patio leading to the expanse of Mavis’s raised garden beds and sculptured pathways. The floral extravaganza was ever changing with the seasons and Honor never had to lift a hand to maintain it all. It was Mavis’s domain.

  As for her own domain, that consisted of a generous space for her desk and computers with storage for files and her own little coffee station and small fridge kept out of sight in the washroom. Everything was on wheels so, if she needed, the entire business section could be wheeled to the side leaving a large open space for other activities such as yoga. The area had once been used for Faith’s surprise fifteenth birthday party but that event had been almost a disaster and she did not dwell on it.

  Her relationship with her niece had progressed by leaps and bounds since those early difficult days. And now, not only did they have a better understanding between them, but also, they had acquired new family members of a sort since Faith Jeffries used the internet to track down the man who had given her a name and saved her mother from public disgrace.

  For Honor, every little thing Faith remembered from those early years was like a knife in her aunt’s heart. Honor was guilty of taking the easy road away from their controlling parents but her twin sister, Felicity, had been left behind to deal with a pregnancy and its consequences.

  It was not the best start to any kind of useful relationship and the first few months had been extremely challenging for both aunt and niece. It was thanks to a smart young boy named Melvin, that Faith had found the Mason Jeffries who was the only father she had ever known.

  Meeting that man and his family last fall in Kingston, was the beginning of a new era in the lives of Honor and Faith. The girl had settled down remarkably now that she had family links like most other people took for granted. The fact that Mason Jeffries was her father in name only, was not as important in the end as the knowledge that he had worried about deserting Felicity and her little girl over the years. This guilt became even more poignant when he had a wife and family of his own.

  Their reunion had given Faith a new outlook and hope for a better future. Since then, she worked harder in school and took on more responsibilities at home. Honor was proud of her progress and Faith knew she had someone who would always stand by her. In time, the dire images of her desperate youth would fade. Faith claimed it got easier every time she spoke up in public about the dangers she had experienced as a child of a drugged mother who existed below the poverty line and exposed both of them to a multitude of dangerous situations. Knowing she was warning others of the importance of good life choices was giving Faith self-confidence and a respected kind of visibility in school that she never thought possible.

  Honor knew the girl still needed help, especially with her studies. Once again the benefits of living communally with such a group of wonderful women was the answer. Hilary, as a former school principal had set the standards and Honor was able to supply technology to back up her good work. Together they had succeeded time and again. Faith was beginning to develop aspirations for her own future success and that was the best predictor of an excellent life.

  Honor sipped her first of the day’s coffees and realized she had been dreaming instead of working.

  She had clients waiting online and the stock market results to check on. She put down the cup, stretched out her arms way above her head and promised herself an extra yoga session to make up for her slow start. Lately Mavis had shown interest in joining her for yoga. She liked the idea of sharing her expertise with Mavis. Perhaps Eve and Jannice could join in?

  She automatically excluded Vilma. With Andy on the scene, Vilma was likely getting sufficient exercise these days and good luck to her.

  Jannice O’Connor was running late. She had heard Vilma leaving with the dogs and presumed Andy would also be gone. She had lost sleep in the night after an interesting conversation by phone with Mitchell Delaney. Remembering it, brought a blush to her cheeks and she was glad there was no one around to notice. Praise of the kind the author doled out so generously, was not something she was used to. It was a real pleasure for her to sit in comfort and think back to the days when her Ma and Da were hale and hearty and the stories they knew from their childhoods came fast and easy. That Mitchell found these stories interesting, and admired the natural way in which she told them, was a surprise to her. The stories were woven into her very being and the chance to retell them to an attentive listener was a complete delight.

  Every time she thought back to those days in Quebec City, she was amazed all over again at how graciously she had been received. The hotel was luxurious, the meetings with Mitchell were held in the spacious dining room or the glassed sun room. He insisted on escorting her around the old city and it was a wonder to her how much of past history had been lovingly preserved there.

  It was history that enthused Mitchell. Although he was charmed by her old Irish tales it was the more recent adventure involving Jannice, the Harris family, and Eldon House in London, that produced the most excitement.

  Indeed, it was a fantastic story and since she had provided the photographs of herself decked out in the splendour of the trousseau hidden in the attic of her old East London home, it was a topic of hours of discussion.

  Lately, he had been talking on the phone about his publisher’s interest in the finished book. He was planning to invite her to join him in Toronto for the book launch. A local documentary company had shown some interest in a film to be made of the locations and Jannice had made enquiries of Kathleen and Patrick O’Connor to see if they were willing to be a part of this plan.

  Luckily, on her Christmas visit, she had asked if the wardrobe that had held the precious clothes was still in its place in the attic and received assurances that it was much too heavy to be moved and they were happy to let it stay where it had been for so long.

  There was also additional video material made shortly after the discovery of the garments and permission to use that would need to be obtained. None of this phased Mitchell Delaney in any way. He was a man who liked to get things done.

  As she walked through the snow and over to the garage where her small car was parked, it was a happy Jannice O’Connor who took stock of her life and realized what a difference there was today from the shy, reserved and uncertain person she was before Harmony House. All these exciting developments, including her work as a Home Care Provider had come into being through the influences of the women among whom she now lived. She spared a special thought for Vilma as she started the car and drove along the snowy streets, toward the city and her first patient. She was the guardian angel who had somehow seen possibilities in her protégé and fostered all this change.

  She fervently hoped and prayed that Vilma Smith could know the happiness in her own life that she had brought to one formerly quiet Irish woman.

  The clients who pre-paid for winter snow removal determined Andy Patterson’s daily routine but he was occasionally asked to do extra jobs when the snowfall was extreme. These requests he would fit in, as and when he could, but his main clients got priority.

  It was comfortable in the cab of his truck with the heater going and a local radio station giving him weather updates every fifteen minutes. He had a warm glow in his heart that owed nothing to the truck’s heating system. Vilma had added so much to his life that it was difficult to remember why he chose to live like a hermit for so long. She was the bright spark in every day and the warm loving arms every night when he was with her.

  Staying overnight at Harmony House was not something he took for granted. He was conscious of the fact he did not contribute financially to the co-housing project. He was there in spite of this. He was never challenged by the other women, but he was not happy to be a freeloader.

  If only he
had the money to build a new home for Vilma. She insisted on contributing half of the costs but he was a long way from accumulating sufficient money to begin the build. There were still months before ground could be broken and he intended to make use of the time to earn as much as he could. That, added to the hoped-for insurance claim, might make it possible to provide a decent home for Vilma but he knew her standards were high and she was not about to accept anything similar to the Spartan accommodations he had tolerated in the old farmhouse.

  One night when they were together, she had said he was punishing himself by living like a hermit. At the time he denied it, but from the different perspective she had given him, he could see there was truth in what she claimed.

  For now, his priority had to be the dog training business. Vilma had a comfortable place to live at Harmony House. The sooner he could get the proper facility for dogs in place, the sooner he could start to earn the good money he would need for a decent house for the two of them.

  Over the Christmas holidays, he had laboured to recover the stones that had formed the foundations of the old farmhouse. They were the only things worth saving and he planned to use them for building drystone walls to the side of the present barn. Vilma gave him the idea of expanding into kennels for dogs while their owners were on vacation and he could see how perfectly that would work. Canadians were travellers as well as dog lovers. It would be a profitable sideline. The resident dogs would need comfortable, separate quarters with light, heat and exercise areas. He would include a small kitchen and, a bedroom above the kennels for himself and, hopefully, for a future employee. If the training facility took off as he expected it should do, more hands would be needed to help him.

  He could see all this in his head. In one way he was reproducing his minimal accommodations again, but it was the only way to ensure enough money for an eventual home Vilma would approve. She loved her two dogs. Living close to kennels where other dogs barked incessantly, would not be her idea of suitable living conditions.

  He was certain he wanted Vilma as a partner in all this.

  He was just as certain that these delays would need to be explained very carefully to the woman who was used to making things happen by opening her bank account and simply spreading her money around.

  Andrew Patterson was not a man who accepted that kind of one-sided help, no matter how hard this interim period would be for both of them.

  Toward the end of the morning, he was approaching a client’s house, high on a hilly area in a Byron subdivision. This visit was not an early priority as the family were in Florida for the winter months and they required occasional driveway clearing so it was less obvious their large home was left empty.

  He lowered the shovel and quickly pushed the accumulated snow to the side of the double driveway. He checked that the nearest homes had similar-sized piles of snow and was about to leave for the long drive back to the barn when something unusual caught his eye. There was a blind rattling against a side door and the inside curtain was trapped in the window.

  There should not be an open window or door in the home.

  Something was wrong.

  He jumped down from the cab and walked over to the side entrance, automatically checking the ground for any footprints in the snow as he drew near to the covered porch. There was no sign of prints but there was definitely a broken pane of glass.

  His police training kicked in and he proceeded with caution. There was a slim chance the intruder was still inside the house. He had no weapon to hand and immediately his mind went to the days when King was by his side. They worked as a pair and he always trusted his canine partner’s instincts on these occasions.

  All he could do now, was stand and listen for sounds inside. He knew not to contaminate the possible crime scene by touching the door knob but he also knew it was his responsibility to inform the police.

  A wave of emotion swept through him at the thought.

  He had kept all his pain about his lost career firmly contained behind a solid barrier. He even drove around a corner if he saw a police vehicle on the streets. He had separated himself from his former life as a way to keep the guilt and regret at bay. If this current incident had happened several months ago, his impulse would be to drive away quickly and forget any responsibility he might have.

  But this was now. This was the new start with Vilma. He had trusted her with his grim story. She had seen his leg burns and she had not flinched. It was time.

  He went back to the truck and called London Police to report a possible break-in. He felt relief after he gave the address but he was asked a number of additional questions and began to realize he was a witness and he might also be a possible suspect. There was nothing else for it. He had to stay until an officer arrived. If he went on his way now, the matter would not be easily concluded. A visit by uniformed officers to Harmony House was a possibility he did not wish to risk.

  The minutes ticked by. He drank from the coffee flask and kept the engine running for warmth. It was a freezing day and the street was empty of cars or dog walkers. He listened to the radio and tried to distract himself.

  More snow expected within the hour.

  Traffic accidents in the city, and on the 401 outside London, were demanding increased police presence.

  He began to wonder if this situation would permit an officer to come out to investigate a standard break-in report. He could be waiting for hours. Perhaps he should call in and say he was heading for home. He could postpone this difficult business and calm himself down. It might be days before the police got around to checking up on him.

  He was taking comfort from this reasonable assumption when he heard a car plowing through the snow at the other end of the street.

  It was a police vehicle. Too late to flee.

  The officer parked right behind his truck, an old trick to prevent escape. Andy stepped down from the cab and went to meet the officer, breathing deeply of the cold air and summoning his strength for the encounter.

  The meeting did not go as expected.

  The officer took a good look at him as soon as he came out of the car and a smile crept over his face.

  “Good God! I thought I recognized your voice Andy Patterson. Where the hell have you been hiding yourself? No one in the Canine Unit knew where you got to after the accident. It was like you disappeared off the face of the earth. Old Jonesy heard about your divorce but even then we couldn’t track you down. The gossip was you had left the area completely. You were missed, Andy. It’s good to see you! The boys will be so glad we finally ran you to ground.”

  Andy was struck dumb.

  He accepted a hearty handshake from the sergeant he had known only briefly, but he could not summon a reply. He had been sitting here dreading this moment and instead of feeling painful memories suddenly awaken, he was greeted as a long-lost comrade in arms. The relief flooded through him and changed him on the spot as nothing else could have done.

  The sergeant did not seem to notice. He chattered on about the necessity for snow-clearing activity until Andy finally found his voice.

  “Look, Mike! How did you get assigned to a simple break-in enquiry on a day when all hell is let loose because of the weather?”

  “Ah! First of all, I am off shift and heading home. I live in this area, although not on this street. This house belongs to a retired city councillor and the station’s been asked to keep an eye on it while he’s away. I volunteered to check it out.

  I take it you saw no further signs to indicate there’s someone inside?

  Do me a favour, Andy, and wait here until I check it out. I’ll call if I need help.”

  Andy watched while the officer inserted a gloved hand inside the broken pane and unlocked the door.

  He felt a return surge of his police training and thought he should follow, but he knew he was not employed as an officer any more. Nevertheless, he could not resist moving closer to the house in case there was an emergency. He wished with all his heart that King was
by his side.

  It seemed like an hour before the sergeant returned.

  “Yeah! It’s a break-in all right. The security panel is smashed to bits and there are other signs of damage. Thieves searching for anything they could sell fast, is my guess. Nothing unusual. Insurance should cover it.

  I’ll call it in and we’ll contact the councillor for how to proceed.

  Thanks for waiting. We’ve got your number now Andy, so don’t expect to drift back into whatever hole you have been hiding in. The guys in Canine will want to see you.

  Take care. Good to see you again.”

  The police car reversed out of the driveway and struggled down the street.

  Andy climbed back into his truck and sat for a few moments trying to absorb how effectively this one incident was jump-starting new feelings about himself.

  He was not abandoned by the colleagues he respected. He had not been forgotten all those months when he suffered in a dark silence.

  One thought came to the fore with full force. He was not going back to the freezing barn. He was going back to Harmony House to tell Vilma what happened. He knew she would be pleased for him.

  Chapter 3

  Mavis got an excellent reception from Honor.

  “Of course you can join in, Mavis. I’m no expert but you can go at your own pace with yoga. Don’t measure your progress against mine. In fact, don’t even look at me. I’ll push the computers aside and we’ll start right away with easy stretches.

  No, don’t you worry. We’ll do five or ten minutes at the most.

  I am glad of the break from work, believe me. I need to quit now in any case. I want to be at the bus stop when Faith arrives, to walk her back home. That backpack she carries these days is far too heavy for her.

  Yes, your old loose pants are fine. We work on special mats. Just slip off your shoes. I’ll cue up the very first program in the Yoga series and we’ll do it together from the computer screen.”