August 2027: The Second Husband.

When Ethan woke up two hours later, he was momentarily panicked when he discovered that Drew was not in the bed beside him. He glanced over at the alarm clock, wondering just how long his best friend had been absent; he tentatively stretched out his hands to feel the bedsheets to see if they were still warm, and the fact that they were not was an indication that Drew had been up for some time… It was only then that he smelt the sweet scent of baking and that was very unusual in their home. He climbed out of bed and slipped on his robe; he then headed in the direction of the kitchen, the low sound of two voices in conversation audible as he approached the door…

The first thing he saw when he opened it was the cupcakes that were sitting on a cooling rack, but then he noticed a Victoria Sandwich cake on a plate, filled with jam and buttercream. He turned and saw Drew next, and smiled to see he had a huge grin on his face, and a little flour in his hair; he was sat at the table next to Ethel, and they were in the process of making the icing for the cupcakes. He realised that the worries that he had placed upon his friend's shoulders the previous night had been taken away, and he knew that must be down to the actions of their visitor; he guessed that she would have been the one to suggest that they should bake.

He knew that Nick did much the same when he was worried, his stress baking sessions in which he produced huge volumes of cookies, tarts and cakes a legend amongst the Warblers. It seemed that Drew had found the whole process of producing the baked goods before him every bit as rewarding. All Ethan could think was that if it all tasted as good as it looked, then the day was of to a very good start all round. He had not been noticed by the two people at the table, and so he slipped back to the bedroom, to get himself dressed and ready for his day at the office…

When he returned to the kitchen for the second time, he made much more noise, and strolled straight in, and managed to feign a look of shock and surprise at what he saw before him. "Wow, someone has been busy! How long have the two of you been awake to have created all of this?"

"I woke up at about four," replied Drew, which Ethan knew at once was a tiny lie, but he let it slide. "I got up to make myself a cup of tea, as I knew I wouldn't get back to sleep, and even though I thought I was being so quiet, I managed to wake Ethel…"

"Actually, I am a very light sleeper, and I was early to bed last night, so it was actually a relief to be able to get up and join you," Ethel interrupted.

"It wouldn't have been a problem for you to get up and make yourself a cup of tea at any time," replied Drew. "Whilst you are here with us, we want you to treat this place as your home. To cut a long story short, we got talking over the tea, about the nightmares we both occasionally suffer about our former spouses, and Ethel confided in me that she found baking quite therapeutic on those nights. Well, we all like cake, so I decided to give it a try…"

"Well, it looks as if it was a success," laughed Ethan. "Evie will wake up and think we are having some sort of celebration."

"It is in a way, as whilst I have been creating all of this, I have come to a few decisions," answered Drew. "First off, you need to know that I have told Ethel everything that your mother feared might happen at Lucy's trial; she knows her granddaughter, and she agrees with your mom that it is something that she might well try to do, as she always tries to blame others for her mistakes. What she then pointed out to me was the fact that the only true way to fight fire, is with fire itself. To that end, I will be getting myself a lawyer, and will get onto that today. I will ask them to prepare a document for me that will be a rebuttal of anything that Lucy's lawyer might try to use to get me to go and testify…"

Drew paused, and took a breath, then closed his eyes. Opening them again, he went on. "In that document I will ask the lawyer to state that should Lucy try and force me to travel to the Middle East to testify in her defence, I will bring my own case against her; I will have her charged for everything she did to me both mentally and physically during the cruelty that was my marriage to her. What she doesn't need to know is that we have very little in the way of physical evidence that it took place. I am also going to try and get in touch with the poor man that was my successor in the role of her husband, and see if he will join me in the possibility of charges against her; after all, he is as likely to be called by her defence as me…"

Ethan nodded, glad that his friend was thinking of charging Lucy for all the harm that she had done to him, and only too happy to offer to assist… "If you want, I could try and trace her second husband using the contacts I have already; moreover, I would be only too pleased to talk to him on your behalf and convince him to join you in opposing her…"

"I told him that you would offer to help without being asked," said Ethel. "The bond that the two of you have is one of the strongest that I have ever witnessed between two school friends; in fact, it is stronger than that between many brothers…"

Ethan would make the call to the detective in London that he had used to find out what Lucy was up to before as he made his way to the office that morning. He got straight to the point, telling him exactly what he needed to find out, and was a little surprised when the detective just chuckled in response.

"I have all of that information already; I took the liberty of checking his name out when I was investigating the rest of the family as part of my checks on Ms Prescott. Now, prepare yourself for a surprise. The doctor left England not long after he and Lucy were divorced, to take up a position at a teaching hospital in the west of Ireland. He stayed there for three years before he accepted his current position, which is at the St Michael's Medical Center, Newark…"

Ethan wondered why he had stopped, and then it hit him. "Wait, as in Newark, New Jersey?"

The detective laughed again, and said, "Yes, he is literally less than ten miles away from where you are right now. It seems that everyone sees the United States as the best refuge from the terrible doctor…"

Armed with the details of the hospital, Ethan thanked the detective and headed into work. He had a full morning, busy from the moment he stepped through the door, and it wasn't until lunch that he was finally able to make a call to the hospital on the other side of the Hudson and ask to speak to the man that Lucy had embarked on a relationship with whilst she was still married to Drew…

When he came to the phone, Ethan went in gently, which was a good move; the man's reaction to the word Lucy was to start hyperventilating, and it took all his power of persuasion to not have him slam the phone down on him. He calmed down though when Ethan explained exactly who he was and sighed with relief when he heard where Lucy was at that precise moment. He was thus calmer when Ethan dropped the bombshell that he might be called to her trial and was only too happy to agree that they needed to meet to discuss the best course of action. It transpired that he was free that evening, and so Ethan acted on a whim and invited him to come to the West Village for dinner. He did not mention that he actually lived with Drew, nor that Ethel was in town; the doctor had said she was an ally of his as well…

Ethan proceeded to send a message to Drew to inform him that there would be a guest joining them for dinner that evening, but did not specify who it was, knowing that his friend would just assume that it was Ethan's mother; that would stress him a lot less than thinking it was the man that had been married to Lucy after him. His friend responded that Ethel had offered to cook for them that night, and that he wasn't about to decline her kind offer, as he didn't wish to upset her, and it would save him a lot of worry particularly with the extra guest now coming. Ethan smiled, knowing that Drew was mostly relieved that he would not need to cook for his mother. His cooking was good, but he always felt that it wasn't quite up to the standard that he thought Mrs Mackenzie was used to…

Ethan proceeded to work through his lunch break, eating a sandwich as he waded through all the latest reports, as that would allow him to leave the office a little earlier than was the norm. He arranged to meet Dr Fergus MacAndrew outside the PATH station at Christopher Street, from where it was a short walk back to his home in the West Village. The doctor also sent him a photograph so that he would be able to recognise him, and Ethan returned the favour to make things as simple as possible…

He was outside the station bang on schedule, and as the PATH train was on time, he was joined by the doctor only a few minutes later; he noticed immediately that despite the fact that the doctor was only a year or so older than he was, the man was walking with a cane and a pronounced limp. It was possible that the injury that had necessitated it was recent, but Ethan was almost certain that it wasn't. No, Lucy was behind it, of that he was positive. He did not ask him straight out, merely greeting the man warmly, and then proceeding to walk with him slowly in the direction of the apartment he shared with Drew and his daughter. In the end however, the doctor volunteered the information himself…

"I know what you are thinking, and yes, you are correct; she did leave me like this. She was driving us both to a medical conference; I'd managed to annoy her more than once that day already, and when I did it again, some little trivial comment, she proceeded to drive the car at full speed into a large concrete bollard. She aimed it so that her side of the vehicle was undamaged, but the body of the car on the passenger side was crumpled right in onto me; my hip was broken in two places, and I had multiple fractures in my femur, tibia and fibula of my left leg. She walked away with bruises. As I sat there howling in agony, she whispered in my ear that if I did not go along with her story that another car came straight at us and she had to swerve to avoid it, I would die in my hospital bed… I filed for divorce whilst I was still on the ward, much to the relief of my family and oldest friends. That she is now in court having killed someone comes as no great shock at all…"

When they reached the West Village house, Ethan opened the front door and found himself being immediately confronted by Evie, who looked a trifle disappointed that he was not accompanied by his mother. He put a finger to his lips, and she understood that she was not to say anything. She walked in front of him towards the kitchen door, from which the most delicious smells were emanating. The doctor understood he needed to wait without being told, and he stayed in the hall whilst Ethan walked in to speak to Drew and Ethel…

"I am afraid that I allowed you both to make an assumption about who would be joining us for dinner this evening and did not correct it for a number of reasons. You both need to prepare yourself for a slight shock…" Drew and Ethel looked at each other in bemusement for a moment, and then at the doorway, where Ethan was now ushering in their visitor. "It turns out that Dr MacAndrew also decided to leave the United Kingdom after his experience with the lovely Lucy and is currently working in one of the best hospitals in New Jersey, less than ten miles away as the crow flies in Newark. We needed to discuss with him what is happening right now, and well, I have always found that face to face meetings are the best sort in these circumstances…"

Drew just stood in silence, facing the man that his wife had run to the moment that he had been rescued from her clutches by Ethan for the first time since then. Ethel meanwhile recovered quickly, and said, "It is nice to see you again, Fergus. I hope that your leg isn't giving you quite as much pain these days; what Lucy did to you in that crash was despicable…"

"I have my bad days, Ethel, especially when the weather is particularly cold, but I am just glad to be alive, and that she doesn't know where I am. I had started to receive strange letters in the mail when I was in Ireland, and then one came directly from her, stating that she was going to come to Cork as we had unfinished business… The job here had come up and the main reason I accepted it was to get clear of her; I know how she feels about the United States…"

Drew had been in ignorance about what Lucy had done to the doctor, and as he had spoken to Ethel, Ethan had whispered what had happened in his ear. Now he was aware of the facts, he felt a warmth towards his fellow survivor, and his voice returned. "We are safer from her here just now, but there could be a threat to that. I don't know how much Ethan has told you, but we need to stick together on this one and present a united front against her."

"I agree, although I must admit that when Ethan told me where she was right now and why, I felt a sense of satisfaction and maybe even pleasure at it…"

Drew resisted the urge to chuckle and agree; instead, he went on, "We are afraid that there is a very real risk she will try to have us summoned as witnesses for her defence…" He said no more as the way all the colour had drained from the doctor's cheeks told him that he dreaded the prospect as much as he did…

Dinner was ready, so they ate first, which allowed Evie to ask all the questions she wished to of the doctor. Fergus also smiled as she referred to Lucy as the wicked witch, and told him how Prince Ethan had come riding to their rescue…

"I must apologise for that, as I suspect she was even less inclined to be the loving partner that she should have been after that turn of events," remarked Drew; Fergus just nodded, and that was all Drew needed to know that he had been attacked on the night that he had left London with Ethan. He did not go into detail then, as Evie was at the table, and he didn't want to distress the girl; once she was in her bath, he was only too happy to open up…

"I took her in that night, feeling sorry for her as she was effectively homeless; for my pains she punched me so hard in the face that she fractured my cheekbone. It seems mad to me now that I didn't throw her out there and then; report her to the police and the General Medical Council… Given what she had done at Gatwick airport earlier that day, the bodily harm to me combined with the criminal damage would have seen her given a harsh sentence by both the authorities and maybe even struck off as a doctor… However, she had a way about her of making you believe her when she said she was so sorry, and pointed out that she had only done it because you had provoked her into it…"

"Her grandfather was exactly the same," admitted Ethel as Drew nodded. "The fact that he used me as a punching bag was entirely my own fault because I was a poor wife to him…"

Ethan sighed, and added, "Of course, there is also the fact that so many people in our society think that spousal abuse is carried out in every instance by a man on his partner, and that the woman is always the victim… At least we are trying to change that attitude through our work at the Mackenzie Trust, and building up a network of Men's Refuges…"

Dr MacAndrew looked at Ethan curiously for a moment after his statement, and then it dawned on him. "Ethan Mackenzie… you are part of the family that operates the Mackenzie Trust?"

Drew chuckled at that, and said, "Oh, it is much better than that; he is the only son, and his mother gave him full control of the Trust in her stead a while back, so he is the one that makes all the decisions along with the board of trustees. The Men's refuges were his own idea, although they were inspired by what happened to me…"

"I think that they are a game changer in the current climate; they are something that has actually been needed for decades, but the macho culture that so many men subscribe to made it impossible until now. There have been abusive wives just as long as there have been abusive husbands, of that I am certain," stated Fergus. "I know that there is one slated to open here in Manhattan in the near future, and I have already asked for my name to be placed on the volunteer list."

"To bring us back to the topic on hand, we need to present a united front when it comes to Lucy. We need to prepare a joint declaration about her, which we can supply to the prosecution should she try and get her lawyers to rope us into defending her. We need to catalogue all of the instances of violence, especially all of those that saw us ending up in hospital; ideally, we need to collate our records to show the patterns…," said Drew.

"I will be more than willing to add my voice to that document," said Ethel, which left Fergus looking a little bit surprised. "She might be my granddaughter, but she needs to pay for what she has done. If she did kill that man, then she needs to face the consequences of her acts. I also have no time for the idea of non-custodial sentences…"

"I believe that they still have the death penalty there," cautioned Ethan.

"I know, but I can't see it coming to that, thanks to her nationality. The British media will no doubt be full of the cruelty that the nation is showing towards an 'English Rose' and the 'talented doctor' and that will get the government to intervene. I doubt that they will change their stance once the entire world knows exactly what she did…"

"One thing is certain; the General Medical Council will probably rescind her licence to practice medicine in the United Kingdom, and that would carry an impact around the globe. Even if she appeals that and is successful, she would be placed under such scrutiny and monitoring that she will give it up… I think that her recent actions in Berlin would also add a great deal of fuel to the fire…"

Ethan and Drew stared at each other in shock at Fergus' words. "Wait, you know about what happened there?" asked Ethan.

"Yeah, I actually have a first cousin that lives there; she never met Lucy, but she had seen photos of her. One day a few months ago, when she was out near the children's hospital, she thought that she saw her, but she dismissed the idea, as she knew that she had gone to the Middle East for the money. Then the whole sorry saga with that poor young man hit the media, and she didn't waste any time in calling me up to tell me everything that Lucy had done. I was horrified that she had prayed on a boy of that age, because he was still a boy in so many respects, not even 21…"

"He is lucky in one respect and that is she is highly unlikely to involve him in all of this; the reaction from the press across Europe would be highly negative, even in the United Kingdom, if she did. I can understand why it would be too. She is like a Black Widow in so many ways, catching men in her web and then punishing them for it," said Fergus. Then he blushed, as he remembered that her grandmother was in the room. "I am sorry to be so blunt, Ms Prescott, but she ruined my life for a while, and I still bear the emotional and physical scars…"

"Oh, there is no need to apologise to me, my dear. She is just the latest in a long line of vicious people in my husband's family, and I am happy to say that I have managed to break free from them now," she replied. Then she glanced at the clock, and said, "I think I will just go and check on Evie, leave you young men to carry on with your discussions…"

She left, but the three men were all agreed that they had reached a point where there was no point in further discussions, and in any case, time was marching on. Dr MacAndrew had a shift in the morning and a train to catch back to New Jersey. Ethan offered to walk back to the station with him, and he agreed; before that, he and Drew swapped cellphone numbers, and as Fergus went to leave, Drew instinctively hugged him, a gesture of solidarity between them. They both already knew that this would not be the last time that they met, and that they would meet after the case was over too. They were members of the survivor's club after all; they had to stick together. Secretly, they both also knew that it would be good to be able to talk to someone that had first hand experience of the worst that Lucy could mete out…

Drew would be much calmer when he joined Ethan in the bed that night; his worst fears had been allayed to some extent by all that had happened that day. The fact that he would now be able to present a united front with Dr Fergus MacAndrew if their mutual ex-wife's lawyers tried to force them over to the Middle East was reassuring.

"I am sorry that I kind of sprung Fergus like that on you tonight, but at the time it seemed to be the best way to handle it," began Ethan, but then Drew shushed him.

"It was. If you had told me that he was coming then I would probably have told you no, I wasn't prepared to meet him, not today. The truth is that I would not have known then how I would react to seeing him again; he was, after all, the man that Lucy was having an affair with, and not exactly a clandestine one at that. I knew that something was happening between them the moment I met him, when Lucy had dragged me to a big hospital dinner. I could see all of the danger signs then too, the way he looked at her like she was the most wonderful woman in the world; it was like looking at my younger self in a mirror. Having met him again tonight, I have nothing but sympathy for him. She left me with mental scars, she left him with a permanent disability."

"Well, he need only be in our lives until we have dealt with her threat," replied Ethan.

"Actually, I disagree; I think that I would like to befriend him properly. He left all of his family back in England, and then had to come here and leave his new life in Ireland too. He must be lonely. Let's face it, he was able to join us on a Friday night with no notice for dinner, so I am thinking his life must be work and home right now. He needs to build a circle of friends, and we can be the foundation stone of that circle," Drew said firmly.

Ethan nodded, but he wasn't so sure of the wisdom of such a move, at least until he had ensured that all the background checks had been done on the man…

Ethan had to admit that he had been dreading the following day; his mother could be a trial at the best of times, and the fact that she was meeting Ethel for the first time that day just added to the potential for drama. He did not let it show in front of anyone though, as Evie seemed so excited at the prospect of having both of the older women for company at the same time. Ethan had arranged that they should meet his mother at the Natural History Museum, as he knew that she did not like to travel on public transportation; it was not down to snobbishness, or her wealth and stature, but to the simple fact that she did not like the hard seats, and felt claustrophobic when the trains were crowded, as they usually were on a Saturday. She had offered to come and collect them all in the town car that she usually hired, but Ethan declined, as the journey uptown through the crowded streets of Midtown would be painfully slow, and the atmosphere in the vehicle would quickly become tense, as the two women tried to avoid asking the questions they would want to in front of Evie…

The subway journey was uneventful, but as they walked towards the museum Ethan felt his body become more tense, and it went into overdrive when he saw that his mother was already there and waiting for them outside. Evie spotted her too and looked for permission to run and greet her; Drew nodded, and she ran ahead, and he indicated to Ethel that she should follow her. The older woman nodded, and went on, allowing Drew to speak quietly to his best friend. "You know, it will all be fine; they have one thing in common already and that is their unconditional love for Evie." Ethan nodded in reply, but he had to admit he did not share Drew's optimism as they joined the ladies…

It fell to Drew to make the introductions formally, Ethan too tense to speak properly and calmly; fortunately, the two women seemed to warm to each other quickly, kind words flowing in both directions. They headed into the museum, and as they walked around the exhibits, Evie kept the two ladies company, Drew and Ethan following on behind. As they walked, the two ladies talked, and the slight ice that had existed thawed, as they shared their mutual passions. That ballet was one of them came as a surprise to Ethan at first, but then he realised that he should have known a long time ago. Now that he thought about it, his mother had always gone to see a ballet performance when she was in New York when she could. He wondered then why they had never discussed such things between themselves before, and he decided that it was time that he sat down and had a proper chat with his mother about the arts and what they both loved…

When Evie was satisfied, they left the museum and headed over to Central Park for lunch, which had been organised by Mrs Mackenzie. It came as no surprise therefore to Ethan, or indeed Drew, to discover that they would be eating at the Loeb Boathouse; it was a legendary venue, and close to the museum. Ethan suspected that she might have favoured the Tavern on the Green, but it was back down several blocks so less practical. As they waited for their food to arrive, the two ladies had started to discuss charities, and it seemed that they also had a philanthropic nature in common…

"I had of course heard of the work of the Mackenzie Trust," Ethel said with a smile, "and when I discovered that Ethan was a part of that, I knew that Drew had much better choice in friends than most people I know. He is such a kind-hearted young man, and they are so rare, so to have two of them together is wonderful." She paused, and went on, "Making friends with Ethan was the best thing he ever did in his life, because he did not gain a friend so much as a brother. I know that Drew now admits that marrying my granddaughter was the biggest mistake he made in his life, and I agree with that fully; I would go so far as to say that if I wasn't here now because they had never met, I would be extremely happy."

Mrs Mackenzie nodded in sympathy, and said, "Marrying her was certainly an event that altered his life and its trajectory, but we cannot change history; we need to concentrate on what is here in the present. Look at Drew now; he is happy and that makes my son happy. Let us also not forget the good thing to come out of all of this, and that is Evie, who is the apple of my eye…"

"She is fast becoming mine too," admitted Ethel with a smile.

"She has grown into a lovely young lady, and knowing that Ethan is officially her co-parent, her guardian should anything happen to Drew, makes me very content," added Mrs Mackenzie. "I don't know if you are aware that Ethan is my only child, and that my husband and I are both only children too. Ethan is unlikely to ever have children of his own, and therefore, Evie is the future of Mackenzie Inc…"

Ethel gasped, as she was unaware of that fact. She had known that Ethan had no siblings, but she had thought there must be cousins somewhere. To find out now that the little girl that Drew had brought into the world was the heir to the wealth of the Mackenzie family was a little overwhelming.

Mrs Mackenzie had anticipated that reaction, so she took Ethel's hand and spoke quietly but firmly to her. "I would do anything for that little girl, but I want her to be raised to know right from wrong, to know the value of money, and how vitally important it is to care for those that are less fortunate around us. Drew is doing an excellent job in raising her, and I know that you will support him in that in whatever way you can. You make her happy, and I want you to be part of her life; I know that will make you happy too…"

"That goes without saying," replied Ethel. "She may not be my biological great-grandchild, but she is the only one that I am ever likely to have. Lucy is the only grandchild that I have any contact with. She actually has an older brother, but he was put up for adoption by my daughter; she was much too young at the time to be a mother, and as much as I would have been willing to raise the boy as my own, my husband would never have allowed it… In fact, he would have punished me for his daughter's mistake. However, the fact that he has had no contact with those two members of the family allows me to hope that he is nothing like his sister…"

Mrs Mackenzie nodded, seeing the sadness in the older woman's eyes; then Ethel turned her attention back to Evie. She in turn turned her attention back to her son, and said quietly, "Were you aware that Lucy has a brother?"

Ethan nodded, then motioned to his mother to get up and follow him across the room for a moment. She did so, and as soon as they were out of earshot, he told her all that they already knew, ending with the fact that they knew exactly where the man in question was, and much closer than she could imagine…

Mrs Mackenzie smiled, and said, "Well, she got one of her wishes then; he is definitely unlike his sister. You are correct of course to not have them meet in the knowledge that they are related to each other. They are both content in their lives, and her appearance now might end up upsetting the good Brother. It is a tragic situation, because she is a lovely woman. We must do everything in our power to keep her safe from that awful family of her, and have her remain a part of Evie's life…