“The spike of pain short-circuited his brain. Before he could stop himself he slammed his fist into the wall. The wallboard crumpled leaving an impression twice the size of his hand.”

 

Excerpt: Part 1, Chapter 4 - Burying the Evidence

 

JAYCE awoke with the fragile renewal of faith that comes with the first waking breath of morning. His arms were wound around Kat drawing her into the shadow of his body. She seemed small and vulnerable in this pose as if she depended upon him for shelter from the dream storms that come in the deep valleys of sleep. But then again, he recalled, her dreams were seldom threatening. He was the one whose dreams came like thunder in the night.

            The telephone rang scattering his thoughts. Early morning calls were always bad news, he reasoned, as Kat pulled away from his embrace and reached for the phone.

            “Who the bloody hell is calling at 6:30 in the morning?”

            “How would I know? Let me answer and find out.”

            “Hello… Oh hi, Alexandra. No, it’s not too early… You’ve confirmed a date? Wonderful. Let me get a pen… September 9^th. Okay. Now, what do you need from me?… A name and a theme. Okay, I’ll get working on it. Thanks so much for calling. Have a safe trip home.”

            “What was that all about? A date for what?”

            “It was Alexandra Hewson from the Macfarlane Gallery. She’s in England on a buying trip. It’s 11:30 in the morning there.”

            “Wait, back up.  The Macfarlane Gallery? Am I missing something here?”

            “It’s an art gallery, Jayce. They’re going to do an exhibition of my photography. My agent arranged it.”

            “Your agent? You have an agent? Since when?”

            “About six months now.”

            “When exactly were you going to tell me about it? Or is it some big secret I’m not supposed to know?”

            Jayce propped himself up on his elbow to look at her.

            “I haven’t told anyone, Jayce.  I didn’t want to make it public knowledge until I saw if anything was going to come of it. Haven’t you ever done that? Kept a lid on something until you were sure?”

            There was a defensive tone in her voice like someone caught with their fingers in the cookie jar.

            “I suppose I have. But this is awesome news, Kat. I’m so proud of you.”

            “It’s just a one-day show. I’m not going to be famous overnight. It’s really just testing the waters to see if my work has any commercial appeal.”

            “You mean they might actually sell some of your work?”

            “You say that like it’s hard to believe.”

            “I didn’t mean it that way. It just hadn’t occurred to me.”

            So it was not just a show, Jayce realized. It was a stake in new ground. Was that why she had kept it a secret from him?

            “So what kind of price tag are we talking about?”

            “I don’t know. I didn’t want to even ask that question until the show was a sure thing. But while we’re on the subject of getting paid, you need to know that this is part of what we were talking about at the cottage. Being a stay-at-home mom is wearing thin on me. This just makes me want even more to go back to work.”

            “Uh huh. So that’s how it is.” Jayce’s enthusiasm for the subject took a hard right turn. “I told you where I stand on that, Kat. I don’t think I’m being unreasonable.”

            “And I am?”

            “I didn’t say that.”

            “But you implied it.”

            “How am I supposed to feel? I turned my life upside down for you. Now you’re changing the rules.”

            “Jayce, I know I sprung this on you out of left field. But be honest. You must know that I haven’t been myself for awhile now. I need a change. I admit it’s not fair to you. But would it really be that bad if – ”

            “I can’t talk about this now. I have to get ready for work.”

            “Wait. Listen to me. There must be a way for us to – ”

            “We’ll talk about it later.”

            Jayce swung himself out of bed and walked out of the bedroom leaving her unfinished question hanging in the air between them. There was nothing she could say at this moment that he wanted to hear, he decided. It had all the earmarks of an ambush. The early morning call. Springing the agent and the show on him. All designed to back him into a corner he could not get out of. Why? Why was she doing this?

            As he turned toward the staircase, Jayce struck his shin on the corner of the wall.

            “Goddamn it!”

            The spike of pain short-circuited his brain. Before he could stop himself he slammed his fist into the wall. The wallboard crumpled leaving an impression twice the size of his hand.

            “Jayce? What was that?”

            “Nothing. I just stumbled.”

            Kat emerged from the bedroom. The damage to the wall caught her eye immediately.

            “What did you do?”

            “I cracked my shin on the corner. It knocked me off balance and I stumbled into the wall. It’s no big deal. I can fix it.”

            “Jayce, your hand is bleeding. Let me see.”

            She reached out for his hand but he pulled it away.

            “It’s nothing. Just… Just give me some space, alright? You dropped a couple of bombs on me this morning. I need time to sort things out. We’ll talk about it tonight.”

            “But your hand – ”

            “Don’t. Just don’t.”

            Jayce waved her off and fled down the stairs. There was nothing more he could say that would make any sense to her. Anything else she might say would just be fuel on the fire and he could not let that happen. One hole in the wall was enough for today.