The Blake Adventures: On the Up and Up
February 1960
Jean was busy in the kitchen when the front door of the house opened.
"Look who I found outside!" Mattie shouted.
And around the corner came Danny Parks, back to Ballarat for a visit. Jean gasped in excitement. "Danny! I was going to pick you up from the bus station!" She pulled him into a big hug.
Danny laughed happily in her embrace. "My bus arrived early, so I decided to walk. How are you, Auntie Jean?"
"Happy to see you, Danny," Jean replied. "Oh let me get a good look at you." She frowned. "Danny, is that a mustache?"
"Is that a wedding ring?" he countered, nodding to her left hand.
"A yes on both counts, I see. We were sorry you weren't able to come to the wedding. It was just a small thing at the Register's Office and a little party here," she explained.
"Yeah, Mum told me it was lovely." Danny's smile faltered for a fraction of a second. He turned around to mask it, but Jean surely noticed. "Is Dr. Blake around? I'd like to say hello to the bridegroom."
"He's at an autopsy. Everyone's sure it's natural causes, but you know Lucien, he likes to make certain." Jean regarded her nephew with slight concern.
Mattie noticed a shift in the mood between them. She decided to make herself scarce. "I'm going to head to the library to study for a while and let you both catch up. Danny, you and I can catch up at dinner," she insisted.
Danny smiled at her. "I'll hold you to that."
"I'd hope so," Mattie replied cheekily before going out.
Danny watched her go with a wistful expression. Jean snapped him out of it. "Danny, what's bothering you?" she asked, not bothering to beat around the bush.
"Good old Ballarat. Nothing's changed but everything is different," he commented casually.
"Out with it," she demanded.
"I'm happy if you're happy, obviously, but I just…I suppose I'm surprised you got married, is all. You've never been one to need a husband. You've had plenty of chances to get remarried since the war but you turned them all down."
"I didn't love those others," Jean pointed out.
"But Dr. Blake? I mean, he's brilliant and all, but we both know he's bloody difficult." Danny sighed. "I guess it just all seems a little sudden. I left Ballarat eight months ago. And now you two are married?"
Jean remembered that Danny had left for Melbourne while Lucien was visiting his daughter in China. That seemed a lifetime ago. So much had changed. But Danny was right. It was only eight months earlier. "When we knew we wanted to get married, we didn't bother wasting any time. At our age, there didn't seem to be a point."
Danny shrugged. "I suppose so. But last time I was here, wasn't he fancying that journalist? Joy McDonald?"
"She died," Jean replied flatly.
Jean was involuntarily transported back all those months ago when Mrs. McDonald had been killed. Everything about that time had hurt her, and remembering it was still incredibly painful for Jean. Seeing Lucien enjoy the company of that woman made her positively green with envy. It was not something she was particularly proud of. In fact, at the time, she'd been downright ashamed at herself. She had no claim to Lucien Blake, and if Joy McDonald made him happy, she would be happy for them.
But why did it have to be that woman? That was probably the thing that had hurt the most. If Lucien wanted another woman, fine. But it had been difficult to ignore the similarities. Dark hair and light eyes. Widow with a job to support herself. If Jean had been braver after Christopher passed, more industrious, she might have become a reporter for a newspaper. She could have worn nice clothes and expensive makeup and turned the head of Lucien Blake. But instead, she'd settled into an easy position as a housekeeper. It was safe, after all. And Dr. Blake had been so kind to her, opening his home to her and treating her as family until the day he died. And it was that position that kept Jean Beazley as just the housekeeper, contented by the ability to help Lucien keep his life in order and solve his mysteries. She'd been happy enough as his friend until this woman, similar to Jean in look and manner, had caught his romantic attention. It wasn't even something she'd realized she wanted from him until she had to watch him give it to someone else.
"Auntie Jean?" Danny interjected quietly, interrupting her painful memories.
"I'm going to explain this to you, Danny, and I'm only going to do it once and then we shan't speak of it again, alright?"
Danny nodded.
"You weren't here when Mrs. McDonald died. It was…very hard on Lucien. I think she may have been the first person who reminded him that he still had the capacity for love. Romantic love, I mean. And when she died, he blamed himself. Not even when his father passed did I see him so upset, so thoroughly broken."
"So what did you do?"
"I told him that he isn't responsible for all the hurt in the world. He does his best and that's all anyone can do. Pity gets us nowhere." Jean let out a deep breath, remembering standing beside Lucien at the lake, hearing him lament the fate of everyone who had ever loved him whom he couldn't protect. How she had longed to take him in her arms, but that would have been more of a comfort to herself than to him. She had nearly told him that loving him was a well worth any risk, but that wouldn't have been proper.
Danny was still confused. "How did he go from that to wanting to marry you?"
Jean gave a small smile. "I allowed him to depend on me. No matter what he needed, I would be there for him. Until I wasn't. I was going to move to Adelaide to help Christopher and Ruby with baby Amelia. And Lucien came with me. He sat next to me on the bus and held me in his arms the whole way there, and when we arrived, he told me he loved me."
"And that was it?"
"Danny, you're not understanding. For a self-involved person like Lucien Blake, that was everything. He showed me that I'd always be able to depend on him the way he'd come to depend on me. No one's ever made me feel important and worthy like this before. And I love him very much." Jean felt her face grow hot. She shouldn't be saying such personal things out loud.
With a shrug, Danny simply said, "If he makes you happy, that's all that matters, I suppose."
"We're very happy," Jean insisted. "And when Lucien comes home, I don't want you to badger him with any of this. Christopher already interrogated him in Adelaide, and if my son is satisfied with the man I married, you should be, too. Lucien gets rather protective and defensive at times, and I don't want you two to be cross at each other. We've only got you here for a few days, after all."
And that was that. It wouldn't be spoken of again.
Dinner was a very happy affair. Lucien and Mattie had arrived home shortly before Charlie did. After the initial awkwardness of Charlie meeting the man he'd effectively replaced, not only at the police station but in the Blake home, they all got on rather well. Mattie and Danny teased each other relentlessly, as though no time had passed.
Lucien sat at the head of the table in his customary place with Jean seated on his left. He looked around to Mattie on his right, Charlie next to her, and Danny on the other side of Jean. The strangest sense of calm washed over him. All his life, he'd searched for meaning and purpose, and after fifty years, he'd found it. He had a wife he loved more than the world, and a kitchen filled with three people he cared for like his own children. He had a family.
He inconspicuously reached over to take Jean's hand in his at the table. She looked at him with slight surprise, but she smiled lovingly and gave his hand a small squeeze.
Danny caught a glimpse at the small exchange and he finally understood. Despite all that Jean had told him, he hadn't fully believed her. Not even when Dr. Blake returned home and kissed her on the cheek. No, it was this innocent moment that finally convinced Danny that these were two people who should definitely be married. They radiated happiness and love. It wasn't the starry-eyed excited passion of young people seen so often by those who couldn't recognize mere hormonal lust, nor was it the comfortable partnership of an older married couple who had settled into a rhythm of companionship. This was the stuff of fairytale cinema love stories. This was a kind gesture that spoke volumes of respect and passion and true love. And to see it between Jean and Lucien Blake seemed the most natural thing in the world.
After dinner, Charlie helped Jean with the dishes while Lucien poured some drinks for everyone in the sitting room. They put on the radio and chatted all about Mattie's studies, Danny's promotion to sergeant in Melbourne, and interesting cases Lucien had worked on recently.
"Oh, by the way, Danny, I thought I'd let you know that Ricky Arnott got released last week," Lucien informed him.
"Ricky Arnott, why do I know that name?" Mattie asked.
Danny scowled. "I went to school with Ricky Arnott and then I arrested him for selling bennies on the street. That was the first conviction I got that was more than just an infraction. I can't believe it's been a year already."
"Oh I remember him. Blonde fellow. Used to stand around with his mates in front of the picture theater," Mattie recalled.
"That's the one. Bloody dickhead," Charlie grumbled.
Charlie came out from the kitchen. "I'm off to bed. I've got a shift first thing in the morning. Danny, I'm sure I'll see you tomorrow if you're going to be visiting the station."
"I will, yeah. Thanks. See you, Charlie," Danny said.
Lucien and Mattie wished him goodnight. Jean came out to join them all for a small glass of sherry. Lucien had already poured it for her and handed her the glass when she came to sit beside him on the sofa. She took a sip as his arm went around her shoulders. Early on in their romantic relationship, they'd barely touched in the company of others. But since their wedding, they'd been very comfortable to be close to one another in their own house. It always made Mattie smile to see them together, which often made Lucien more embarrassed than Jean. He enjoyed being very flirtatious with her when they were alone, but anytime Mattie or Charlie were nearby, he'd suddenly get very flustered by anything more than putting his arm around his wife or holding her hand.
When Jean had finished her drink, she patted Lucien on the knee. "You have patients early in the morning. We should get to bed," she suggested. She wished everyone a goodnight and went up to their bedroom.
Lucien thought he detected a tone in her voice that made him smile ever so slightly. "Danny, you've got all your things in your old room, right?"
"Yeah, I'm all set, Doc."
"Wonderful. You know where everything is, but if you need anything, I'm sure Mattie can help you. Goodnight you all," Lucien said, standing up and following Jean upstairs to their bedroom.
Jean had begun changing into her pyjamas when he came in. She had her blouse halfway unbuttoned as she carefully hung up her skirt. Lucien watched her in her half-dressed state with a big smile.
"We have shared this bedroom for three weeks now. Do I really need to change my clothes in the bathroom?" she scolded.
"I really wish you wouldn't. I quite like watching you do this, or anything else," he replied.
She had to resist rolling her eyes. "A man of your age, Lucien, honestly! I never imagined before we got married that you'd be as randy as a teenager!"
He had to laugh. "I can't help that I've got the most alluring wife."
Jean had to smile at that. She still wasn't used to being called his wife. And she did quite like it. She sat down on the chair by her vanity table, secretly enjoying the way Lucien's eyes immediately honed in on her garter belt, visible when she crossed her legs. "I don't want you to get worked up over it, but Charlie was rather worried when he got here today. He couldn't understand why we'd gotten married so quickly."
"Things were very different when he left. But once I'd figured out that I love you, I didn't want to waste a moment without having you as my wife. I'm so very lucky to be loved by you," he said sweetly.
"He hadn't seen us together yet when we spoke, so I don't think he could even imagine how you've changed."
"All thanks to your patience and understanding."
Jean felt a warmth bubble up in her chest. The way Lucien looked at her…how could anyone ever doubt that they were meant to be married? She stood up and crossed over to where he sat on the edge of the bed. "Would you like to help me get undressed?" she asked him seductively, gently ghosting her fingers over his beard.
"Oh, I very much would." He made quick work of the buttons on her blouse, throwing it off her. He grasped the bottom of her slip and pulled it over her head before turning her around so he could undo all the tiny hook-and-eye fastenings of her undergarments. When he could finally put his hands on her bare waist, he pulled her down into her lap and kissed her soundly.
Downstairs, Mattie and Danny had another drink together.
"So tell me about this Charlie Davis. You sweet on him?" Danny asked teasingly.
Mattie laughed. "No, not at all. He's like family now. We get on well, but he's like a brother to me. Just like you were when you were here."
Danny cocked his head slightly to the side. "I don't think you ever really thought of me as your brother. I've certainly never felt like you're my sister."
She pursed her lips to keep from smiling. Yes, this was the Danny Parks she'd missed. "No, I don't suppose you ever did," she replied. It had been a long time since they'd done this flirtatious dance.
"I've missed you, Mattie," he said quietly.
"Really? Because you never wrote me. And you promised you would."
He frowned. "Well you've been coming to Melbourne for classes and you never told me. We could have met up for a drink or something."
"Well, you never wrote me," she pouted. When Danny didn't respond fast enough, she huffed, "This was always your problem, Danny. You expect me to just fawn over you, which is not something I'll ever do. And you make no effort with me at all!"
"I made no effort?! Mattie, you never gave me the time of day!"
"Keep your voice down," she hissed. "And clearly you weren't paying attention."
"What?"
"I'm sorry if my affection for you was lost amidst your constant teasing and ridicule of every single thing I do or say."
Danny was torn between shouting at her and kissing her. And in the back of his mind, he knew neither was a good idea. "Whatever you say, Mattie. You always know best, don't you?" He stood up and left the room. "I'm going for a walk," he called behind him. "I'll see you in the morning."
He walked quickly, desperate to blow off some steam. It was dark and quiet, and even though he'd been gone for quite a while, Danny still knew the streets of Ballarat. He slowed when he reached the center of town, taking the time to look at all the familiar establishments, wandering amidst the alleys of his memories.
"Well well, if it isn't the dickhead copper, back to patrol the streets."
The threatening voice made Danny turn quickly. "Ricky Arnott. I heard you'd gotten out. What's it been, a year?"
"You know damn well it's been a year," Ricky replied angrily. "I told you I'd get you, Parks, and here you are, all alone in the dark. No uniform to protect you this time." Ricky had realized the power he had in that moment and smiled menacingly.
"You're a nothing, Ricky. Always have been and always will be. I dare you to come at me," Danny taunted.
Ricky didn't wait for another invitation. He swiftly punched Danny in the nose, knocking him backward onto the ground. Ricky laughed as the blood streamed down Danny's face. "You're not worth any more effort," he spat. "Let that be a lesson to you, copper."
Danny held his face in his hands, feeling blood and shame wash over him. He'd been stupid to engage with Ricky at all. But Mattie had put him in such an awful mood.
When he felt stable enough, he stood up and slowly made his way back to the Blake house. His nose was probably broken, but he didn't want to bother Dr. Blake or Nurse O'Brien about it. He just wanted to be left alone.