The mood was sadder and greyer than the London's sky at the dinner table that night. Neither Jessica, nor her brother Thomas had eaten much and Harry had forced herself to swallow each mouthful not wanting to show her children how worried she was. Barely a word was spoken.
Around 8, Jess couldn't stand the silence anymore. "I'm tired, I'm going to my room." she declared and went upstairs.
Thomas looked at his mother, not sure of what he should be doing. "Don't leave her alone." She confirmed and he stood up immediately to follow his sister.
Once she was alone, Harry let her face fall backwards and closed her eyes. What a day! What an awful day! She collected the plates and the cutlery and went to the sink.
Doing the washing-up didn't keep her mind as busy as she had hoped and after closing the cupboard, she poured herself a glass of wine. She was about to sit on the sofa when she heard knocking at the door. Heaving a deep sigh she put her glass on the table and opened the door wearily.
A fresh grin and mischievous eyes met her and she barely had the time to register the flowers in the man's hand before he said with a heavy American accent. "Heya honey! I'm home."
The appearance of the American had taken her aback as she wasn't expecting to see him today. She frowned and articulated "James? You… you're not supposed to be here."
"Okay…" he said slowly. "Maybe I should try next door for a warmer welcome!" he joked. Having no reaction from Harry apart from a bigger frown he went on. "Come on Harry, where's your sense of humour? Lost it?" and he pushed her aside to enter, threw his travelling bag in a corner and stretched himself.
"God I didn't miss the weather, it's raining cats and dogs outside!" he complained with a smile, oblivious to the despair Harry was feeling. He hung his wet jacket and put the flowers on a little table in the hall; then he turned to face her, grinning "So, did you miss me?"
"Miss you?" Harry's sadness suddenly transformed into cold rage. How dared he come here and joke around like nothing ever happened. All the stress of the day, her fears, her pain, everything was boiling inside her and wanted to rage at him. "Miss you? Do you know… Do you know how many times I tried to call you? Did you ever bother to wonder what was happening here?" she incensed.
"Yeah well… you know time flies when you're having a good time and..." Dempsey tried to make it sound trivial, but Harry was in no mood for joke today. "My battery was dead, sorry!"
"Your battery!" Harry mocked comprehension. "Of course, and you couldn't use another phone."
Dempsey flung his arms up. "Don't you think you're over reacting a bit Harry! I come back and first thing I know you're biting my head off so please explain me what I did wrong because I don't have a clue!"
She shook her head wearily and turned away, hiding her face in her hands. In two strides, James was behind her. He gently slipped his arms around her body and hugged her. He could feel her body tremble.
"I missed you, you know" he whispered in her ear and kissed her neck. He grabbed her hands in his and played with her wedding ring between two fingers. "I missed my beautiful wife." She turned between his arms to face him. With one finger, he pushed away some hair hiding her eyes. She really seemed upset, even distressed, it had to be more than this stupid battery bothering her. "What's wrong honey?"
Harry swallowed hard. "Something happened." Dempsey looked concerned and worried. The malicious grin lighting his face when he had arrived five minutes ago had slipped off his face. "Tell me" he demanded nervously.
She knew it would hit him as hard as everyone else in the family no matter how she would say it. Maggie had been hanging around here since she was a little kid, therefore she was a bit part of the family. And knowing James, he would also blame himself for not having been here for his daughter. But now he was here, and in a way she felt it was a relief of its own. As she was about to tell him about Maggie's kidnapping, a boy's voice echoed from upstairs.
"Mum? What's going on downstairs? We heard you … talking." He didn't seem sure whether he should say talking or yelling.
"It's ok Tommy. Your father's back." she called back in a casual voice.
"Yeah? I thought he wasn't coming home before Sunday"
There was a little pause and then a low rumble told them that the children were both running down the stairs. Harry slipped out of her husband's arms so that he could kiss his kids. Tom was first and shared a manly clasp with his father. Then came Jessica who stopped a few steps away from him before flinging herself into his arms.
James barely had the time to see her, but he didn't fail to notice the big bruise covering most of her right eye. He shot a glance at his wife who smiled weakly, before gently pushing back his daughter's face to look at the bruise again. Her eye and her cheekbone were swollen and her skin all around had a blue-yellowish colour. As he was observing her, he saw tears forming in her eyes. "My little princess…" he murmured and held her tight in his arms. He looked up at Harry and asked in rather harsh voice "Who did that?"