to her uncle she was just about “perfect.” So much for appearances, Carrie thought trying but not succeeding in looking honoured.
“Carrie, sweetheart!” Her uncle himself opened the door, handsome, genial, charming, fifty and looking nothing like it, four years older than her late mother but very much like her in appearance which was to say like herself, ushering her into an office as big as Central station but cosy as a den. It had a great view over the river; the walls were mahogany-panelled, lined with deep antique bookcases holding leather-bound legal tomes, a series of excellent quite valuable architectural drawings took up the rest of the wall space along with a few striking oil paintings, seascapes in gilt frames. James Halliday was a well-known yachtsman.
A magnificent Persian rug, all wonderful dark blues and rich rubies adorned the discreetly carpeted floor. Glass display cabinets set off a few choice pieces of James Halliday’s collection of Ming dynasty Chinese porcelain, heralding the fact James Halliday was a collector, as well. An enormous partner’s desk held centre court with a splendid high-backed chair ranged behind it. It was abundantly clear her uncle was doing very well. But not as well as her father who owned a large city electrical firm.
The two men did not get on. Different personalities; different interests; different callings. Carrie loved both of them but from her mother’s side of the family she had inherited a great love of the “arts,” a sphere that held little interest for her father, her stepmother Glenda and her stepsister, Melissa, three years her junior.
“Like some coffee, darling?” James Halliday asked, looking at his niece searchingly but with great affection. She had suffered a devastating blow and in many ways it showed. Her characteristic sparkle had banked down but he knew in his heart she had the inner resources to pull through this major setback to her life’s plans.
Carrie sank into a plush, leather-upholstered armchair, sighing gently. “I’d love it. No one drinks coffee at home anymore,” she added after James put through his request. “Glenda has convinced Dad it’s bad for him. Bad for everyone. She doesn’t like my buying it, either. I’ll have to move out. It was always going to happen. Now I’m not going to New York, the sooner the better. Dad won’t be happy but he’s not around much to know just how things are between us.”
“It’s the greatest pity you and Melissa aren’t close,” James mourned.
“Isn’t it? Glenda’s fault, I’m sure. Mel would never have felt the way she does if Glenda hadn’t stirred up such feelings of jealousy.”
“I know your stepmother has made life difficult for you.” James confined himself to a single remark when he wanted to say lots more.
“She never wanted me, Jamie. She didn’t want a ready-made child who just happened to be the image of her husband’s first wife. I swear to this day she’s jealous of my mother.”
James nodded his agreement. He’d seen too many upsetting signs of it. “She can’t help it. It’s her nature. We both know, too, she’s deeply resented your talent. All the attention you got because of it, prizes and awards. It singled you out.”
“And not Mel. Still, she doesn’t have to worry now,” Carrie said wryly.
“You’re still a highly accomplished pianist,” her uncle reminded her, himself devastated by the crushing results of her accident.
“It doesn’t seem like much of a compensation. To think I had to be involved in a car crash the very day I got news I’d been accepted into the Julliard. Fate taking a nasty turn.”
“It was a tragedy, sweetheart, but you can’t let it ruin your life,” James warned. “You need time to recover, then you have to pick up the pieces. It could have been very much worse than broken ribs and a crushed little finger.”
“That won’t stand up to the rigours of a career. I know. I’m trying, Jamie. Really I am, but it’s hard. The funny part is, Dad is sad for me but he’s relieved, too. He didn’t want me going off overseas. He wants me at home. Safely married. He wants grandchildren in time.”
He wants. He wants, James thought. He’d wanted my beautiful sister but never made her happy. Trying to confine her fine spirit as he had never succeeded with his daughter.
“Your father has many good qualities but he isn’t musical.”
“You mean he hasn’t got a musical bone in his body.” Carrie gave a broken laugh. “Dad has always been proud of me but he can’t come close to the music I play. Played. I haven’t touched the piano since the accident.”
“Nearly a year ago.”
“No time at all.”
“I agree.” James couldn’t meet her glistening topaz eyes. “Not for your heartache and bitter disappointment, to heal.”
“I don’t enjoy teaching, Jamie. I suppose I was too much of a performer.”
“And you’re so young,” James returned. “Twenty-two is no age at all.”
“Old enough to move out,” Carrie retorted. “I’d have done it before today only I didn’t want to hurt Dad. Glenda is never going to like me. We can’t be friends.”
James snorted in disgust. “I don’t want to be unkind but Melissa is very much like her mother or she’s rapidly becoming that way. I think a shift might be best for all. Where would you like to go? You know you can come to Liz and me. We’d love to have you. Not blessed with children of our own, you’ve been everything to us.”
“And you’ve been wonderful to me. Liz has been far more of a mother figure than Glenda could ever have hoped to be, but it’s time I struck out on my own, Jamie. You know I’m right.”
“Your father would buy you an apartment, surely? He’s a wealthy man.”
“I’m not going to ask him, Jamie. Glenda would bitterly resent that. I bought my own car. I’ll rent my own flat.”
Protective James didn’t like the sound of that at all. “What about if I bought you one? I can afford it. Of course I wouldn’t like to go against your father. Add to the…” He almost said, chip on his shoulder.
“List of resentments,” Carrie supplied. “Bless you for everything, Jamie, but I’m ready and able to stand on my own two feet. Lord knows I spent long enough as a student. I suppose I should undertake a doctorate. I may not be able to make the grade as a concert artist but music has been my life. I worked so hard. All those years of practice! I guess I’m stuck with a teaching career so I’ll need all the qualifications I can get.”
“Agreed. But how can you support yourself if you won’t allow help?” There was worry in Jamie’s voice. “Part-time work won’t be enough. Lessons here and there.”
“I still have Grandma’s money.” Carrie referred to her inheritance from her maternal grandmother who had pined away from grief at the loss of Carrie’s mother, her only daughter. “It’ll see me through. The thing is, Jamie, I want to get away. I need to find a bolthole. At least for a while. I have to get away from the whole music scene until I can come to terms with what has happened to me.”
There was deep feeling in her uncle’s answering tone. “I can understand that, darling. The funny thing is I have a client, our most valuable client I should add, who’s looking for a governess for his little
