Word Count: 72,035
Summary of Events:
Axel gratefully watched Jordyn's departure, as spending the week with her had made him feel guilty, but as he walked to the barn for the morning meeting he realised that he'd not had any direct contact with Amalie in four years and chastised himself for his foolishness. Madeleine was overwhelmed by distress that Erik was intent to pay more attention to Kaira, and doubly upset when he told her he saw nothing in Kaira to give credence to her suspicions. Axel was scrolling through his social media, considering contacting Amalie again, when he was called by his surprisingly angry uncle, who raged without telling him what was wrong until Cheryl came outside and got him to reveal he'd been called by Murray Rowland, who'd threatened to make their lives miserable if the charges weren't dropped . . .
Excerpt of the Day:
“Did you record the call?” Cheryl asked.
“No,” Uncle Morten replied. “I don’t have a tape recorder.”
“Most people don’t have those,” Cheryl said.
“But they do have cellphones,” Axel said.
“I was talking on it!” Uncle Morten exclaimed.
“You can still record calls while talking on it, I think,” Axel replied.
“I barely know how to run the thing,” Uncle Morten swore.
“Darling, please, do you need to be so angry at Axel?” Cheryl asked softly. “It’s not his fault.”
“He was yelling at me!” Uncle Morten snapped.
Axel put his hands over his face and groaned with frustration. He’d never seen Uncle Morten this petty before either. It was ridiculous.
“You are very upset,” Cheryl said. “Maybe he was afraid you were mad at him and was just trying to defend himself. When people are unexpectedly approached by other people who are aggressive they often become aggressive themselves as a protection mechanism.”
“But I’m not mad at him!” Uncle Morten shouted.
“Shh,” Cheryl hushed. “You certainly seem very angry about this, what can we do to help you settle down?”
“Shoot Murray Rowland,” Uncle Morten replied profanely.
“Well, that’s illegal dear,” Cheryl said. “He’ll have a case to bring against us in court if we do that. Is there something more legal we can do that will help you settle down?”
“No,” Uncle Morten snapped.
“I’m sure there’s got to be something,” Cheryl said.
“You could get him drunk,” Axel suggested.
“You’re not helping!” Uncle Morten shouted.
“Morty, come, let’s go home, I think you need to destress,” Cheryl said calmly.
“Anything to get away from him,” Uncle Morten snapped, glaring at Axel.
So much for his initial claims of not being mad at Axel.
“Come, come, let’s go,” Cheryl urged.
Uncle Morten got to his feet at Cheryl’s prodding and followed her toward the house while Axel shook his head. He didn’t know what to think.
Part of him was shocked at Uncle Morten’s behaviour; it quite flew in the face of all his prior experiences with Uncle Morten; obviously these threats of Murray’s were more disturbing than anything else Uncle Morten had faced in the last four years.
Yet, there was the threats too, they were serious. Axel was sure that someone like Murray Rowland wouldn’t exactly speak a threat idly — and especially not to someone he held in high contempt like Uncle Morten.
Axel got to his feet and found Uncle Morten’s lighter — mostly thanks to its being red, which was a direct contrast to the green of the grass — he flicked it and the flame immediately sprang up, wavering subtly.
He released it and the flame disappeared as fast as it’d come. Although Uncle Morten didn’t want to think about what Murray might do to them, Axel certainly had his fears, and he hoped that the crops weren’t dry enough for the one to succeed that the little flame had caused him to think of.
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