This is my first Father Brown story. I hope everyone enjoys it! Thanks to KatelynnBB for her help with this story. I only own Katie and her family, all other characters belong to BBC and the author G.K Chesterton. Happy reading!
The One That Got Away: A Father Brown Story
There were a lot of things that Kathleen Hargrave wanted to do on a Saturday night, the least of which attending an engagement party for her younger brother and his soon to be wife. While she was okay with her little brother getting married before her, she was less okay with having to see her ex boyfriend.
She knew that Sidney Carter would be attending the party, he was Lady Felicia's chauffeur, and that he was often allowed to attend the parties that she threw as long as he didn't drink when he had to drive.
Kathleen put her finishing touches on her makeup and turned to check her appearance in the mirror. The blue dress that she was wearing was skin tight and hit her just below her knees. While she often preferred to wear more flowy or less restricting clothing, she had decided to let her sister talk her into something else for the party. With her long hair down and her makeup more bold than she was used to, she hardly recognised herself as she looked in the mirror. She only had one goal for the evening,to make Sid see what he'd given up five years ago.
Sidney or Sid, as he was better known, Carter had been Kathleen's first real love. She had been friends with Lady Felicia's niece, Bunty Windimire, and because of this, spent a lot of time at Montague Manor during the summers when Bunty would visit Kembleford when they were girls. She'd been three years younger than him, and was surprised when he noticed her as someone other than Bunty's childhood friend.
"Katie? Are you ready to go? The car is here," her sister Audrey asked as she knocked on Katie's bedroom door.
"I'm ready, tell Gran I will be down in a moment." Katie answered softly.
She took one last calming breath before grabbing her bag and making her way downstairs.
"Kathleen, you look beautiful." Katie's aunt, Helen, said as she grabbed her own bag.
"She looks like a tart, she might upstage the bride to be if she's not careful," her brother Andrew laughed, his fiance, Jane smacked him on the shoulder.
"Nonsense, we both know that Lady Felicia is going to make sure that you both are the center of attention, I might as well not even be there." Katie retorted.
"Oh please, we all know that you only want to skip the party because a certain chauffeur will be there. If he's any kind of man, you will knock his socks off." Audrey said.
"Let's not stand around here all evening, A Hargrave is never late, fashionably or otherwise." Cassandra Hargrave, Kathleen's grandmother, ordered as she ushered her family out the door.
"Well as I live and breathe, Katie Hargrave, you are a sight for sore eyes." Father Brown said as he watched the young woman enter the house.
"Hello Father, you're looking well." Katie smiled at the kindly priest.
"Katie Hargrave? Is that you? I scarcely recognised you." Mrs. McCarthy, the church secretary, and the Father's most trusted friend gasped out.
Father Brown and Mrs. McCarthy had known Katie and her family since she was a small child, and had been two of the few people who had known and supported her relationship with Sid.
"Hello Mrs. M. You look wonderful!" Katie exclaimed as she hugged the older woman.
"Thank you dear girl. I was hoping that we would see you here, your grandmother mentioned that you were back home. I was just not expecting to see you in something so so.. " Mrs. McCarthy tried to find the right words.
"I think she looks fantastic." A voice said from behind them.
"Bunty! I heard you were here for a bit." Katie said as she hugged her longtime friend.
"I've been staying here while my aunt and uncle have been traveling. I heard that you called off the wedding to that awful Marcus Rowley and are home for a bit." Bunty explained.
"You heard right. I'm planning on being here until Jane and Andrew's wedding at least.
"I hope this means that you will come by the presbytery for tea while you're home?" Father Brown asked.
"Of course I will Father." Katie answered with a grin.
"And we must get together to do some shopping like the old days, I'm sure that Aunt Flei would love it." Bunty insisted.
"Speaking of our marvelous hostess, where is your aunt?" Katie asked as she scanned the room.
Suddenly her eyes landed on a certain man who was standing next to her brother and his fiancee. She felt as if all of the air had been sucked out of the looked just as he had five years ago, still the same mischievous grin, and boyish good looks. His hair was longer and it looked like he'd skipped shaving, but he still looked good. He was laughing at something that her brother was telling him and Katie felt her cheeks reddening.
"Oh there she is." Bunty said as she steered her friend over to where Lady Felicia had joined the group.
"Aunt Flei, look who I found." Bunty said cheerfully.
"Oh Katie, you look absolutely stunning!" Felicia exclaimed as she hugged the young woman.
"I've been telling her for years that she needed to liven up her wardrobe, now she finally decided to listen to me." Audrey said as she handed her sister a glass of champagne.
"Thanks sis, I'm still getting used to it." Katie replied as she smoothed the back of her skirt.
"Well it definitely suits you, they do say that living well is the best revenge." Bunty replied.
"Ah yes, I heard about you calling off the wedding. Good riddance to bad rubbish." Lady Felicia grinned.
Katie rolled her eyes and noticed that Sid was staring at her,and he almost looked surprised by what Lady F had said.
"He was a jerk, I told Katie that she deserved better, maybe she'll listen to me next time." Andrew teased his sister.
"Well, now we can set about finding you a good christian man, right Miss. Katie?" Mrs. McCarthy.
"I'm sure Katie has no shortage of admirers, she doesn't need any help from us Mrs. McCarthy." Father Brown offered Katie a sympathetic smile.
After a few drinks, wonderful food, including Mrs. McCarthy's famous Strawberry scones, Katie was more than ready to call it a night. She told her sister to tell the rest of their family that she was going to go home, much to her older sister's disappointment.
"Come on Katie, just a little longer?" Audrey begged.
"No really, I've had enough. I'll go relieve the nanny and check on the twins for you." Katie offered.
"Okay, but how are you going to get home?" her sister asked.
"I'll have Sid drive her home." Lady Felicia pipped up.
"That's not necessary, I can walk." Katie started.
"Nonsense, you wouldn't make it a mile in those shoes. Besides, I'm sure Sid would be more than happy to take you home, wouldn't you, Sid?" Bunty added.
"Bunty!" Katie exclaimed as Sid raised an eyebrow.
"It's no problem, I can take you." Sid said softly.
Katie could tell that he wanted to say more, but stopped himself. She grabbed her bag and forced a smile as she said her goodbyes. Once she was in the back seat of the car, she kicked off her shoes with a sigh.
'Bunty was right.' Katie thought, 'you wouldn't have made it far if you'd walked.'
Katie was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Sid clear his throat.
"You look good Lena," he said.
"Please don't call me that, you lost the right to call me that some time ago," she replied softly, closing her eyes as if to block out the memory of the name that only he'd called her.
"Right, sorry. I deserved that." Sid replied as he started the car.
"I could use a cigarette right now." Katie said, rolling her eyes when she noticed his silence.
"Oh come on, I know you have some," she mused, smirking when he lit one and handed it to her.
"Lady F told me that you called it quits with Rowley." Sid started.
"Yeah, he thought lying to me was a good idea. You know I'm not a big fan of that." Katie answered.
"Ah, I take it the final straw was something big?" he asked.
"Yea, I had to actually explain that he couldn't be married to me and still see his little blond floosie. I told him that I wouldn't stand for it, especially after I found out that he lied about you." she admitted softly watching Sid tense.
"About me?" he asked curiously.
Sid had never had much use for the likes of Marcus Rowley and it still pissed him off that the other man had swooped in and stolen Katie from him so soon after she'd ended things with him.
"Yeah, he lied when he said that he saw you with that girl from the Red Lion that night. I found out that he paid her to say that you took her back to your caravan. Said that you deserved it and that I was better off without you" Katie answered knowing that he needed to know.
"Katie, I would've never done that to you. I've done a lot of questionable things, but I was telling the truth that night. She approached me at the Red Lion, but I told her I wasn't interested." he said.
"I know, I'm sorry I didn't believe you back then. He said that he saw you leaving with her and that you were drunk. I was so hurt and I guess it was easier to believe him, especially once the woman said that you were with her." Katie sighed.
"I was helping out there that night, tending bar, I couldn't drink while I was working." Sid explained, something that he'd failed to do five years before.
"I know that now, I guess I didn't want to hear your side of things back then." Katie replied.
They rode in silence for a few moments before Sid spoke up, knowing that he might never have the chance to tell her something that he'd wanted to say in the last five years.
"For what it's worth, I know why you ran away with Rowley, I deserved it. I didn't try very hard to fight for you or for us. I'm sorry for that." He said finally.
"Thank you, I never thought I'd hear you say that." Katie said softly.
"Doing a year in prison gave me a lot of time to think." Sid replied.
"Andrew told me, I never believed that you hurt that woman. You didn't deserve to lose a year of your life for something that you didn't do." Katie said as the car pulled into the winding driveway of her family home.
Katie waited until the car came to a stop and Sid opened the door for her.
"Thanks for driving me." She said softly.
"I meant what I said earlier, you look good." Sid replied.
"You look good too. Goodnight Sid." Katie smiled as she walked towards the door.
"Goodnight Lena." he said, noticing that she didn't reply this time.
Katie fought back tears as she walked into the house and shut the door. She took a moment to compose herself before walking upstairs to the nursery where her twin nieces slept. She smiled as she peaked in and noticed that the Nanny, Ingrid, was still up.
"Miss. Katie, how was the party?" She asked.
"It was lovely, it's still going, I told Audrey I would peak in on the girls. How were they tonight?" Katie asked referring to the four year olds that were peacefully sleeping.
"Good as gold, Grace has a loose tooth, and Judith has a slight cough. They went down like a dream though." the nanny smiled.
"Good, you can go to your room if you like, I'll be going to bed myself shortly." Katie smiled back as she turned to leave.
"Very well, goodnight Miss." Ingrid replied.
"Goodnight."
Sid sighed as he walked to his caravan. It was just after midnight and all he wanted to do was see his bed. Lady Fleicia had told him that she didn't need him to drive her anywhere until later the following morning so he would at least get the chance to sleep. His mind kept wandering back to his conversation with Katie.
When he'd agreed to attend the party, he'd known that there was a chance that Katie would be there, he just hadn't expected her to look as beautiful as she had. She'd always been beautiful to him, long dark hair and green eyes that stared into his soul. In all his life, she was one of the very few women that he'd ever been emotionally attached to.
He walked into his caravan and closed the door. After he stripped off his uniform, he crawled into bed. As hard as he tried, sleep eluded him. He still remembered the night that she ended things with him. The sadness in her eyes, the pain in her voice wasn't something he could forget.
5 years earlier:
Sid walked out of Red Lion and began to make his way back to his caravan. When he got closer, he noticed that Lena was sitting on the front step. He could see that she'd been crying.
"Lena? Are you alright?" he asked as he approached her.
Katie flinched at the use of Sid's nickname for her. Everyone called her Katie or Kathleen, but Sid was the only one that called her Lena.
"No, I'm not alright. A woman came up to me while I was out with Bunty tonight. She said that you invited her back to your place the other night. She claimed that you were awake till the early hours of the morning." She answered softly.
"Lena, I haven't been with anyone but you for months. I thought I was perfectly clear about my feelings for you." Sid started.
"Don't lie to me Sidney Carter! Someone saw you leaving the pub with her." Katie exclaimed.
"Who? I want to know who's been putting lies in your head, Lena." Sid wondered.
"Marcus Rowley, he said that he saw you and you were drunk." Katie answered coldly.
"Lena, you have to believe me. I love you, I haven't looked at another woman since we started dating. Rowley and the girl are lying! I swear to you!" Sid insisted.
"Both of them can't be lying, Sid. I can't do this anymore. I love you, but I can't be with someone who…" She couldn't find the words.
"Lena, please! Don't do this, I swear on my life, I didn't cheat. I wouldn't.." Sid begged as he grabbed her wrist.
"I'm sorry Sid, I..I have to go. Goodbye." Katie said as she pulled her hand away and walked into the night.
Sid stared at the ceiling as he thought about that night. Five years later, and he still remembered how shattered his heart had been when she'd walked away from him.
He still missed her, his Lena. He remembered her laugh, her smile, and the way that she looked in his bed. He groaned as he thought about her, tangled in the sheets after one of their nights together. Despite the unlikely pair they made, he couldn't imagine another woman making him feel the way she did. She'd never been far from his thoughts in the last five years, not even when he was in prison, in fact, the thoughts of her were what kept him going.
It was then that he realized that he still loved her and wanted her in his life, if it was still what she wanted too.
"I'll do whatever I can to make things right. I swear on my life." He said softly before he drifted off to sleep.