Daniel was glad that she had drawn his friend out. She had that way about her that made people surrender under the onslaught of her sweet determination. Like a fragrant, linen-clad steamroller, Madeline just kept on coming until she flattened your barriers. She was the perfect foil to Luke’s mother—Aaron’s wicked stepmother. Daniel had met her a few times when he’d accompanied Aaron on trips home during half-terms and holidays. They had ventured north to his own parents more frequently and Daniel understood why. The no-nonsense, unconditional love he’d had waiting for him was so unlike the brittle cold war that was waged daily at the Spenser home.
It was an age-old story of love that never quite lived up to expectations. Cathy had wanted Brian Spenser since the first moment he had sat down at the table that she and her best friend Trisha had been sharing in the Student Union bar at university. Brian had only had eyes for Trisha, and she had fallen for his easy charms hook, line and sinker. As soon as they had graduated, he’d whisked Trisha away to a life of wedded bliss in Somerset and there they had stayed.
Their perfect life had only been further enhanced by their perfect baby boy and Cathy had smiled and seethed her way through the christening, godmother to a baby that in the darkest reaches of her bitter heart should have been her own. It had been tragic when just a few years later, Trisha had been diagnosed with breast cancer. An evil disease that had eaten away her body, but not her bright, beautiful spirit. Cathy had put everything aside to help her friend in her last few weeks.
It was only natural that Brian should turn in his grief to the friend who had supported them both, who knew them both so well. Cathy had offered him the comfort of her body. She did everything to show Brian how perfect a replacement she could be for Trisha, taking such great care of Aaron, giving him all the love that he needed as the poor little boy tried to understand why Mummy wasn’t there any more.
It had been for Aaron more than himself that Brian had finally submitted and married Cathy. He’d tried to hide it, tried to love Cathy as she deserved but too much of his heart had died with Trisha. Aaron was the blessing in his life, the picture of his mother, and the more that Brian doted on him, the more resentful Cathy became.
She fell pregnant, determined to provide a better child for Brian, one who would draw his love away from Aaron and towards them, towards her. She had never understood that Brian had an infinite well of love when it came to his boys and he had adored them both in equal measure.
Thwarted again, the dreams of perfection that she had built in her mind were in tatters and Cathy blamed Aaron for everything. If he had just not been there, reminding Brian of Trisha every day, then Cathy knew Brian would love her the way he was supposed to. The way the hero did in books, the way Brian always had in her twisted fantasy life.
She’d only ever seen the superficial veneer of Brian and Trisha’s life together. The brave face that all couples show to the world. Married life was hard. They’d had their ups and downs like all relationships, but they had worked together to find their common ground and built a strong foundation upon it. Cathy had never seen the tears, the silences, the misunderstandings that are a part of all family life, so she compared her small disappointments to a false idol of perfection that had no basis in reality.
Aaron had been too young to understand at first. He only knew that Mummy was in heaven, an abstract idea that seemed to him like a special holiday place that only grown-ups got to visit. He loved Cathy because she had been so warm and comforting, holding him when the dreams were bad and letting him cry on her shoulder. Daddy let him cry too, but he tried not to do it too often in front of him as he didn’t like to make Daddy even more upset.
He tried to be a good boy for Cathy, to clean his teeth and tidy his room. He painted her pictures and made her cards to say thank you and at first she had delighted in his efforts. That had started to change about a year after Daddy had married Cathy and Aaron had turned five.
Slowly, but surely, Aaron started to be a bad boy, to get things wrong and make Cathy angry; although he never understood quite what it was that he did that was so bad. Cathy said he had been bad, told Daddy he had been bad, and Aaron had to try harder to be good.
When Luke came along, Aaron had been pleased because Cathy didn’t have time to tell him off and find fault so much. She was too wrapped up in the new baby and Aaron loved Luke for lots of reasons, not least because he made Daddy smile more.
The pattern had continued throughout his childhood, Aaron could do no right, Luke could do no wrong and Brian just loved both his boys. Luke had followed Aaron around from the moment he was first aware of him, initially with his big brown eyes and then on his belly as soon as he could crawl. Like a magnet, his first hesitant steps had been towards his big brother and Cathy had yet another reason to hate him.
It was a testament to their father that his determination to treat both boys as equals had helped to negate the poisonous games that Cathy played. Aaron had realised by the time he was around nine that there was nothing he could do to please her, but he never stopped trying. He stayed out of her way as much as possible and focused on his dad and his baby brother.
He was not a natural rebel. That eagerness to please had stayed with him so he diligently made Cathy Mother’s Day cards and picked pretty flowers that he thought would make her smile. The cards would be hidden on the mantelpiece behind a vase; the flowers went unwatered and soon graced the compost heap. The report cards he bought home full of praise and high marks were glanced at without comment, unless there was a chance for Cathy to point out a weakness, some small failing that she would latch on to and raise for weeks on end.
Aaron was gifted at sports and his dad had urged him towards team games where he could make friends and shine. Rugby was a firm favourite and Dad and Luke had bounced around on many a muddy touchline, cheering him on. Luke had of course wanted to follow him, and had happily laughed down the fact that although good, he was never quite in his brother’s class.
The escape to university had been a relief. Aaron was too old by then to sit quietly whilst Cathy twisted another one of her barbs into his psyche. Luke had started to notice and jumped to Aaron’s defence, making things worse as Cathy saw this as more evidence of wrongdoing on Aaron’s part.
Luke had always submitted peaceably to his mother’s smothering attentions. He had been cosseted and spoiled by her from day one and yet somehow he had remained a stoic, happy child. He loved his Mum and Dad, but Aaron was his number one and he’d never let him down. Always been there to offer a steadying hand, fend off the bullies and teach Luke everything from how to tie his shoelaces to how to talk to girls.
When Aaron went away to university, Luke had been lost for a while, not quite sure which direction to turn in now that his lodestone was absent. His father had stepped in and provided the guidance that he needed to steer a straight path and Aaron had made sure to keep in contact every day until Luke had settled down again.
Luke had latched on to Daniel as a natural extension of his brother and had followed them to London, to the same university that they had graduated from. His frequent trips into London to visit Aaron had triggered his love of buildings and architecture. Luke had roamed the streets for hours, seeking out the old and the new: the graceful airy charms of the Georgian town houses and the concrete monstrosities of the experimental sixties and seventies. He had explored them all and loved them all for the stories that they whispered in his ear.
Daniel stayed by the kitchen door, his attention on Aaron who was seemingly lost in the scrolling world of his internet connection, but Daniel knew better. Like a hound on point, Aaron was focused intently on the interaction between Madeline and Luke, alert for any hint of spite or unpleasantness.
Daniel wondered if Aaron himself understood just how wary of women his upbringing had made him. There had been some mild flirtation with Mia, but only because Aaron knew that she was taken and therefore no threat to his heart. Unlike Madeline. She could bust Aaron’s shell right open and give him the kind of maternal affection the man was aching for but would never admit to wanting.
Daniel wondered how long the scars of the past would stand against the tide of love that carried Madeline through life and he decided that Aaron didn’t stand a chance. He was glad that he had