Chapter Thirty-Seven

"Unbelievable...even for him" Rodney insisted. Leading Henrietta to a stool in the pub, he has already ordered her a drink.

"Well he's going through a tough time...I left David and Leyla in the house for a bit, don't know how that will play out"

"Worth a shot though; Eric will be pleased...Excuse me for a second, I'm going to the bathroom"

She just gave a nod as she watched him leave, she felt Cain sit in his place when he was gone. Making her look towards him with a slight smile, she seemed more interested in him then she did Rodney. Liking younger men over appropriately aged men seemed to be something that ran in the family. Cain though wasn't exactly a spring chicken (however he was younger then her by about two decades).

"Is old Rodders boring you yet? The only thing that man has is money" Cain insisted.

"Don't be cruel...he's being really nice"

Bear gave a slight laugh in the background at the remark, Rodney was only being nice as an attempt to get his leg-over. Though he kept his mouth shut this time, he was already in trouble with Faith and Eric, didn't want to get into Rodney's bad books too. So he just kept chuckling in the background.

"I'm nice too!" Bear yelled over with a smirk.

"We're all nice here Henrietta" Cain simply remarked.

Making her roll her eyes simply, taking another sip from her drink. She just told Cain to shoo before Rodney gets back. Her curly hair getting in the way of her face once again, Cain pushing it away from her face.

"You need to get your hair cut...it's alright if you're young like your daughter was but you're past it, love" Cain then rather cheekily told her.

"Are you still here?" Henrietta hissed.

Rodney had returned by this point, he gave Cain a slight glance. Cain just standing up as he allowed Rodney to sit back down next to her. Bear looking away himself now as he pretended he had made no comment. He gave Henrietta's hand a small squeeze before giving a slight wink.

"We should go to mine you know. I think we have known each other longer enough" Rodney suggested.

"No! This was a bad idea...you're only after one thing aren't you? I'm not doing this, I don't even find you attractive, Rodney! I don't even like you! You're just an old man past his sell-by-date!"

This rather cruel public rejection made Cain and Bear give a slight scoff. She was her daughter's mother after all. Nobody really could see where Maya got some of her mean streak from (until now). It came from the generation above her, Rodney looked generally surprised for he has never heard her speak like that before.

"Wow" Bear muttered under his breath.

"You could have told me that at the start but you chose to take the long way, that's really something, thanks Henrietta" Rodney finally managed to speak.

"You didn't really give me a choice...crawling around me like the black death" Henrietta insisted.

"Once again...thanks" Rodney replied with a sad look.

Feeling hurt and humiliated, Rodney just made his way past her. She didn't say sorry or anything, she just let him go without further comment. He thought that he may had had something with her but it wasn't to be. She was only speaking to him out of sympathy, nothing else. The whole pub did hear that exchange, Amy and Victoria just giving her a brief glance.

"Way to let a man down gently" Cain muttered to her.

"I'm going back home...Jacob will be expecting me" Henrietta simply spoke.

Making people give her more stares, she just finished her drink and went to get up. Cain quickly following her outside. He offered to give her a lift back home and she agreed, he gave a slight look around before opening up his car door. She simply got in and just glanced out the window. Cain giving one pause before starting up the car and planning on driving her back to her home (for the second time).

...

"You're not in a good mood tonight are ya?" Cain asked her.

Pulling into some empty junction, he was the only person in the village she felt she could talk to openly. Despite their first meeting being not the most orthodox, the old woman was just past caring. She gave a slight sigh, Cain giving her a tissue; she having to wipe away incoming tears.

"I just feel so empty...I got nothing to show for my life have I? My daughter was a pervert, my grandchildren didn't make it past infant-hood and my ex-husband hates me; my job was the only thing I had before I retired" Henrietta began.

"Life hasn't gone your way has it?"

"No...I use to have it all too...a daughter I could be proud of, a decent job and a loving husband; now I got nothing, do you know how it feels to loose a child and not being allowed to grieve for that child?"

"No I don't...thank God"

"I thought letting Jacob stay with me would put my mind at rest but he's a constant reminder of my past, you know? I can't kick him out though, he's too fragile right now; I should help him"

"I would kick him out if I were in your shoes" Cain confessed to her.

"Good job you're not then"

"Nobody expects you to look after him...he's nothing to you, the only thing you done is make people suspicious...I know Maya was your responsibility but you don't owe him a thing, we can't make choices for people"

"It's not just that...I couldn't help Maya when she was alive and I don't want to do it again"

"Maya was your flesh and blood...Jacob is not; besides, she's dead and I know it's harsh to say but Jacob is just dead weight to you, he's a daily reminder and you can't get over something or get through something with dead weight next to ya"

"I wish I didn't agree to it"

"Then kick him out...David and Leyla would thank ya because he would just go back to them wouldn't he?"

"No...I know he wouldn't because Maya never came back to me when she was that age"

"Whether he does or not...it's not your problem is it?"

"You're lovely aren't you?" Henrietta asked with a sad laugh.

Wiping away more tears, Cain giving a slight sigh as he looked at her. He just began to drive on again, he didn't want to do something he regretted. He loved Moira and didn't want to jeopardize it because he found a woman interesting. Henrietta just wrote down her number for him and put it in his glove box.

"Thanks for that...Moira will love it" Cain teased.

"Bye, Cain"

Henrietta got out the car as he stopped outside her house. He gave her a slight glance, speeding of quickly.

...

"You're back" David remarked.

Henrietta had unlocked her front door and came into her living room. David and Leyla were sitting in her living-room still. Jacob had pretty much kicked Leyla out after their little chat, they got somewhere though at least.

"I am back...I don't want to speak about it though, do you want anything?" Henrietta asked them.

"No...in fact, we should get going; we just didn't want to leave Jacob in the house alone" Leyla replied.

"Okay...well I will go up in a moment; see if he wants anything"

"Right...look Henrietta, if he does anything else abnormal, tell us straight away because we want to know"

"Of cause"

...

TBC