Part 8
The Hart Remembers – Part Eight
Jennifer decided that if things were going to get better between her and Max then she needed to make the first move. She figured that Max was probably confused by her attitude so she would make a start by trying to connect with him on some level.
She finished up the dishes and headed on upstairs. She hesitated for a few minutes outside of Max’s bedroom door. She could hear him playing quietly inside. It sounded like he was playing the new video game system they had bought for him the other day when they went shopping.
Jennifer took a deep breath and then knocked on the door softly. The noise from the game stopped and Max said in a quiet voice “Come in”
Jennifer opened the door slowly and entered. She took another deep breath and said “Hi Max, what’re you up to”
“Oh, hi Jennifer, I am just playing with these video games we bought the other day. It’s a lot of fun.”
“Great, I’m glad you like them.” Jennifer smiled at him and then took another deep breath. “Um, Max, I was wondering if we could have a little talk…”
“Oh no what did I do wrong. I have tried to be good…. I knew it… I knew you were mad at me for something….” Max was getting upset, and looked as though he was going to start crying.
“No, no Max, calm down. You haven’t done anything wrong. It’s me that has done something wrong.” Jennifer said to him soothingly as she put a hand on his arm to quiet him. Max settled and looked at her apprehensively, obviously not quite believing that he hadn’t done anything wrong.
“Let me see if I can explain this to you so you will understand” Jennifer paused and took another deep breath “You see Max I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do. I’ve never had a lot to do with children before. I know I’m not doing too well with you at the moment. That’s not because I don’t love you it’s just because I am new to this. I’ve never been anybody’s mother before, even temporarily.”
Max smiled at this. “That is ok Jennifer. You see I have never been anybody’s son before either. Not properly anyway, I was only with Peter and Simone a really short time before she got sick and I don’t remember my real parents at all.”
Jennifer laughed at this. “Yes, you’re right. We’re both learning here. What do you say to us helping each other out with this? I figure we will both make mistakes along the way. Perhaps we can tell each other when we don’t like something the other does or when we think they are wrong. What do you think?”
“I think that is a great idea Jennifer. You know I was really worried that I had done something wrong and you were angry with me.”
“Oh, Max, I’m so sorry I made you feel that way. I didn’t mean to. I can’t promise that I won’t make you feel that way again but I will try very hard not to, ok?”
“Ok” Max replied with a genuine smile at her.
“Well, perhaps we can try getting to know each other better, what do you think? Are you up for that?”
Max smiled again and said “Yes, I think that sounds like a good idea”
“Ok. Well I know a little bit about you. I know you were a member of the Rocket Club and you love anything to do with space, right? What else do you like to do?”
“Well, I like to read. I am always in the orphanage library reading. I love books, especially books on space” Max said with great enthusiasm.
“Great Max that’s one thing we have in common. I love books and reading too. I also love to write. You know I am a journalist don’t you?”
“Oh yeah I do. I love to write too. I used to write a lot of short stories for class. I did pretty good with them too, or so the teacher used to say.”
“We have a little library here in the house. You are welcome to read any of the books we have, you know?”
“Yes, Jonathan showed me your library; I think I will probably spend a lot of time there”
“That’s great Max but you probably won’t find a lot of books in there on your favourite subject.” Jennifer looked thoughtful for a moment “Hey Max, I have an idea, what do you say about another little shopping trip right now?”
Max frowned and then Jennifer said quickly “This is on me Max. I have somewhere I want to show you and you won’t want to come home empty handed from this place, I promise”
Max smiled then and said “Ok, just this time then, I can’t keep letting you and Jonathan buy me things. It isn’t right. Peter will get annoyed with me.”
The look on his face tugged at Jennifer’s heart. He was so serious and she could feel herself melting towards him. Oh, no this is not good Jennifer she told herself. You don’t want to get too attached to this boy; it will hurt too much when he has to leave.
She didn’t say anything to him though she just gave him a kind of sad smile and Max wondered what it was all about. He thought she was the nicest person, apart from Jonathan and Peter and Simone of course, that he’d ever met. He hadn’t forgotten that it was Jennifer that had saved him from certain death from the illness he had last year.
“Jennifer, can I tell you something? You said that we can tell each other anything”
“Yes, of course” Jennifer replied wondering what he wanted to say.
“Well…” Max paused, unsure of how to continue “I don’t want to offend you Jennifer but…”
“Go on, you won’t offend me”
“Well, it’s your, um… it’s your cooking. It’s not very good and I don’t really enjoy eating it” he said apprehensively.
Jennifer burst out laughing, she couldn’t help it. She knew she was a terrible cook. It was an ongoing joke between her and Jonathan, although admittedly she was better now than she had been earlier in their marriage.
Max watched Jennifer break up into laughter. Then he started to laugh as well and soon they were both rolling around on the floor.
After some time when they had calmed down a bit Jennifer grabbed Max’s hand and pulled him up off the floor.
“Come on let’s go. This is going to be fun, I promise.”
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Jonathan had been distracted at work all day. He couldn’t keep his mind on his work. He wondered how things were going at home with Max and Jennifer. He was really worried about her. She seemed to be struggling with this latest change in their lives. Maybe she wasn’t completely over her so called accident and memory loss.
He didn’t know what they would do if she couldn’t overcome this. He didn’t want to have to send Max back to the orphanage. All he could really do is give them some time to adjust to each other. It shouldn’t be that hard, should it?
Max was a great kid and it wasn’t as if he was going to be staying with them forever. Surely Jennifer could find some way of coping. She was such a strong woman; it was hard for him to see her struggling with this.
“Mr. Hart, your 3 o’clock appointment is here” the voice of his secretary came loud and clear over the intercom.
“Ok, Liz. Give me a couple of minutes and then send him in.”
“Sure, Mr. Hart”
Jonathan pushed thoughts of Jennifer and Max out of his mind as he prepared for his meeting.
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Max was in heaven. Jennifer had taken him to the biggest book store he had ever seen. While most kids would be salivating at the thought of a candy store or toy store, Max was happiest when he was amongst books.
He charged from one shelf to another. There were books on every conceivable subject. Finally he found the section on space and his eyes bugged out. Literally hundreds of books on his favourite topic were right before him. He looked around at Jennifer to find her beaming back at him. His smile grew wider.
“Come on, let’s see what they have here” she said to him.
After they had spent several hours in the book shop they prepared to head home. As they were heading towards the checkout area of the store with their haul, Max tugged on Jennifer’s arm. She looked down at him to see what he wanted.
“Maybe we should get you a how to cook book before we leave” he said with a cheeky grin.
Jennifer grinned back at him and grabbed his hand. “You know you sound just like Jonathan”
Max burst out laughing at that.
“Come on, let’s go and pay for all this loot and get on home. Actually what do you say to us getting some take out for dinner tonight?”
“I say YES!” Max jumped up and down enthusiastically and Jennifer laughed at him.
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Jonathan was feeling a bit apprehensive as he was driving home that evening. He wasn’t sure what he was going to find when he got there. So it was a big surprise when he opened the door and found Jennifer and Max curled up on the sofa together totally engrossed in a book.
They didn’t even hear him come in. The only greeting he got was from Freeway. As he got closer to them he could hear Max explaining to Jennifer about something in the book. Jonathan just stopped at the entrance of the living room to take it in. A smile broke out across his face to see the two of them bonding over a book.
Jennifer looked up then surprised to see Jonathan standing in the doorway. She got up carefully so that she didn’t upturn the book they were reading and walked over to him.
“Hello darling. It’s good to have you home” she said as she pulled his head down to meet hers in a soft kiss. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed. He was really happy to see that things had improved from that morning.
Just then Max noticed him and jumped up excitedly and ran over to them.
“Jonathan, guess what?”
“What Max?”
“Jennifer and I had an adventure today. We went to this big book store. It was huge and had millions of books. We even bought some home with us. Come and look” He grabbed Jonathan’s hand and dragged him over to the couch to show him the books they bought.
“This is great Max” Jonathan said as he sat down next to the little boy. Max proceeded to show Jonathan every book they had bought.
Jennifer sat on the couch opposite them and watched them interact with interest. She watched as Jonathan patiently asked the little boy lots of questions about the day they had. He was so great with him and it didn’t seem to be any effort for him. It just made her love him that much more.
Jonathan looked up suddenly and caught her looking at him. He couldn’t quite work out the look she had in her eyes. There was love but there was also something else. He grinned at her and she smiled back. She was so beautiful and she took his breath away.
Jonathan felt tugging on his sleeve and looked down to see Max looking back at him with a perplexed look.
“Jonathan aren’t you listening to me?” he asked.
“Sorry Max, what did you say?”
“I said we even bought Jennifer a how to cook book so that she can start cooking food that is nice to eat” the little boy said seriously.
Jonathan looked over at Jennifer with raised eyebrows.
“Max tells me that he doesn’t like my cooking. He finds it very hard to eat, so we got a book today that will help with that. We hope”
Jonathan just shook his head and looked back at Max. The little boy grinned at him and then started laughing. Then Jennifer joined in. Jonathan looked from one to the other and couldn’t believe the difference he was seeing in them tonight. Soon he was laughing right along with them.
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That night as he was about to get into bed, Jonathan paused to watch Jennifer reading her book. She looked completely relaxed tonight.
“Darling” he said softly as he slipped into bed next to her.
“Yes” she replied looking up at him with a smile.
“So everything is really alright with you and Max now?”
“Yes, I think so. We had a really long talk this morning. I told him how I have been feeling. The poor little fellow thought that he had done something wrong and I was mad with him”
“Oh did he? Poor little guy. This whole situation has been really hard on him.”
“Yeah it has.” Jennifer looked thoughtful for a moment then her eyes lit up and sparkled as she said “But Jonathan it was an amazing feeling to be able to bond with him over those books. Such a simple thing has made all the difference to my relationship with him.”
“I am really pleased that you seem to be working it out. So you’re really ok now?”
“Yes darling, I’m really ok now.”
“Are you sure? I’ve been very worried about you, you know. Is there anything that you would like me to do for you?”
“Oh you are sweet Jonathan but I am ok, really. I just needed some time to adjust.” She smiled at him then, a truly radiant smile that warmed him all the way through. Then her eyes darkened and her smile turned a bit feral “As to what you can do for me, well I can think of a couple of things that might help” she said as she threw her book down and wound her arms around his neck while bringing his head down to meet her lips in a fiery kiss.
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The next morning, at breakfast the atmosphere was much happier. Max and Jonathan were joking around and Jennifer was watching them feeling contented. Everything felt right once again. And she was feeling very relaxed after last night in bed. She and Jonathan had enjoyed a very passionate and vigorous love making session. They hadn’t had one like that for a little while and it was very welcome.
Jennifer was off in a little world of her own thinking about this and she didn’t hear Max ask her a question.
“Jennifer, are you listening to me” he asked her.
Finally realizing she was being spoken to she looked at Max and said “Sorry Max I was thinking about something else” She looked at Jonathan and he was looking highly amused about something. She frowned wondering what it was that she had missed.
“I asked you why you were screaming last night. Did you have a bad dream or something?” the little boy asked her. Jennifer’s face turned a lovely shade of red and Jonathan looked even more amused.
Jennifer didn’t know what to say “I, uh, I….. I need some more coffee” she said and got up from the table in a hurry. She turned her back to the others and took her time pouring a fresh cup. She tried to get the heat to leave her face. She turned and looked at Jonathan who was grinning widely back at her. She frowned at him.
“Um, yes Max, Jennifer had a nightmare. She does sometimes so you don’t have to worry if you hear her screaming in the night” Jonathan said trying not to smile too much.
Jennifer looked at him still frowning and mouthed “I’ll get you for this you rat” at him. He just smiled that cheeky endearing smile of his.
Some time later, Max was in his room reading and Jonathan had left for work, there was a knock on the front door. Strange, thought Jennifer, how could anyone get through the gate without her knowing? She opened the door cautiously and was surprised to see who it was standing there.
“Maria!”
“Hello Mrs. Hart. I bet you’re surprised to see me, hey?”
“Well, yes I am. What are you doing here?”
“Well, I think you need me, don’t you?” Maria said.
“Need you? Um, you’d better come in.” Jennifer said puzzled.
Maria came through the door and Jennifer closed it. To say she was shocked to see Maria was an understatement. She thought Maria had gone to live with her daughter two years ago when the Hart’s neighbours, the Sawyers, retired and closed up their house to travel around the world.
“Let’s go into the living room” Jennifer said.
Maria followed Jennifer into the room and stood looking nervously around. Of course, this was a different house but this room looked almost exactly like the old room. Maria looked over to her left and remembered the night they hung Max Seniors picture, the one the art forger did, up on the wall. And she remembered the wonderful dinner they had together that night. She smiled to herself as it was a lovely memory. One of many she had of Max.
“Please sit down Maria, make yourself comfortable. Would you like something to drink, some coffee or tea perhaps?” Jennifer asked always the attentive hostess.
“Oh, no, nothing for me thanks” Maria replied.
“Well, Maria, are you going to tell me what this is all about?”
“Of course, Mrs Hart” she paused for a moment “you see I received a letter from Max just before he died. In it he asked me to keep an eye on you and Mr. Hart and that if either of you should ever need help could I please make sure you got it. He was very worried about leaving you both. He loved you so much, you were his family. He would always talk about the things you would get up to.”
Jennifer felt tears pricking at her eyes at the thought of Max senior. She nodded and indicated for Maria to continue.
“Well, it is so strange. I had put this letter away carefully for safe keeping. I didn’t want to lose it as it was the last communication I had with Max before he passed away. It is very special to me.”
“Yes, I can understand that it would be” Jennifer said “but what does that have to do with why you are here?”
Maria smiled at her and said “I am getting to that. Yesterday morning I went out to do some shopping. When I got back the letter was out and opened on my dinning room table. I thought it was strange as I knew that I hadn’t got it out and I live alone now in a small cottage on my daughters property so I knew that it couldn’t have been anyone else.
It frightened me a bit I can tell you. Anyway I sat down and re-read the letter and as I was reading it I was overcome with the most powerful urge to come here and see you. So I booked the first flight out and here I am.”
Jennifer couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Maria’s arrival couldn’t have come at a better time. She really did need help now that little Max was here.
“So how do you think it got out onto your dining room table, Maria?”
“I’m not sure but I think maybe Max may have had something to do with it. I think he is the reason I am here. Do you think I am crazy?” she said “Do you have a situation here that you need my help with?”
“No, I don’t think you’re crazy Maria, and yes there is a situation here that I could use your help with. You see, we have just become temporary guardians to a little boy and… well, I am a little out of my depth here. You know that I am not much of a cook and, well, little boys need decent meals to eat don’t they?”
Maria smiled at her then and said “Say no more Mrs Hart. I am all yours as long as you need me”
“Oh, thank you Maria and please call me Jennifer”
“Actually I would really like to call you Mrs. H if I may. It just feels right and I’m sure Max would approve”
“Oh yes I think he definitely would” Jennifer agreed “where is your luggage, I will help you get settled.”
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Jennifer, Max and Maria spent the rest of the day getting to know each other. Maria had only been there for a few hours but she had already made such a difference. After she had gotten settled in, in what would have been Max seniors old room in the original house, she took charge of the kitchen. Since then she had been baking up a storm.
Jonathan could smell all the wonderful aromas as soon as he entered the house that evening. He wondered what was going on because he knew that Jennifer could never produce such an array of mouth watering smells. Maybe the new cook book had done the job after all, he thought.
But as he entered the kitchen he stopped short as he was really surprised to see Maria at the helm. She was busy instructing Max and Jennifer in the mechanics of icing a cake. Jonathan had no clue what was going on. It felt like he had entered an alternate world. Why hadn’t Jennifer told him Maria was coming? What was going on?
Just then Jennifer saw him and could tell he was dumbfounded. She walked over to him smiling; she said “Darling, something wonderful happened today. We were sent Maria by our Guardian Angel”
Jonathan just looked more confused than ever, so Jennifer went on to explain how Maria came to be there. Jonathan was stunned by the story. Was Max senior really looking out for them from the great beyond? It would seem so, as all of their experiences from the last year tended to indicate.
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With the arrival of Maria things in the Hart household settled down into a nice routine. Maria was very efficient in the running of a house and took over most of the household chores, including looking after quite a lot of Max’s needs, which left Jennifer with some free time.
On Friday it was decided that Maria would take Max shopping for his school clothes and supplies. While they were out Jennifer took the opportunity to organize the office, which had been added when the house was re-built. Jonathan thought it would be better to have a room dedicated to office space instead of having the desk out in the living room like they used to have in the old house.
As Jennifer went through the boxes she came across the file on Senator Blake. She hadn’t seen this file since before her so called accident and amnesia. She just looked at it in her hand for several minutes. Oh boy, she hadn’t given this story a thought in a long time.
She sat down at the desk and carefully opened the file. As she started to read through her notes she got a really strong feeling that there was something in there that was very important.
Something was tugging at her memory, which, even now, still wasn’t really very clear on the details of the time of her so called accident and the time just before. She still couldn’t remember seeing the Senator killed or being pushed off the train. She shuddered and thought that perhaps that was a good thing.
As she flipped over the pages and read what she had written the feeling got stronger. There was something in this file that was important she was sure of it, but what was it? She wracked her brain but still came up empty.
As she kept reading she came to something she had written about Senator Blake and a reference to Fairchild. Something flashed into her mind but it was only fleeting and she couldn’t hold on to it. She kept reading only faster now. She knew she was onto something. The reporter in her smelt a story.
As she read further into the file she found the there were several references to this Fairchild, whatever it was, in her notes. She knew that this was an important piece of information. She just couldn’t say how. There were no notes at all in the file to tell her what Fairchild meant.
Then in a blinding flash of realization she knew that she had the clues in this file to follow up with and eventually work out who ordered the hit on Senator Blake. In doing so she would also find out why she had nearly died for being in the wrong place at the wrong time.