Her words instantly recalled other words Kathryn had heard spoken, Mitch talking on the telephone to Ric at Gundamurra, speaking in a very gentle, sympathetic tone—Patrick said…this is your Lara…from the old days.
'Would you mind explaining that to me, Jenny?' she pleaded, feeling left out of something she should know.
Jenny took a deep breath and spilled out, 'I'm a coward, Kathryn.
That's why Mitch hasn't told you. Always protecting me. I never faced up to it, you see.'
'I'm sorry. I don't see.'
She grimaced. 'When I was eighteen I was brutally raped, and I couldn't bear to testify about it in court…couldn't bear to face the man again.'
'I can understand that. I'm sure Mitch did, too.'
'Yes, but…Mitch couldn't let it go. Couldn't bear that the man should get away with what he'd done. He went after him and delivered…rough justice. He was charged with assault and I didn't…couldn't bring myself to stand up in court and testify why he'd done it. Not then. And Mitch wouldn't say. Wouldn't bring my name into it. For my sake. So he was convicted and given the choice of spending a year in a detention centre or working six months on an outback sheep station.'
'Gundamurra.'
She nodded. 'The man who owns it, Patrick Maguire, had some special program going, wanting to help boys who'd run off the rails. Ric Donato and Johnny Ellis made the same choice at the same time. They were all sixteen. Ric had stolen a car, wanting to impress his girlfriend, Lara. Johnny had been caught dealing in marijuana.'
She paused, again anxiously searching Kathryn's eyes. 'You will keep this confidential, won't you? I don't think any of them would want this background to be public knowledge. Johnny's famous now. And Ric's very respectable. As for Mitch…'
'I promise you this information is safe with me, Jenny,' she returned earnestly.
'I made Mitch tell me everything about Gundamurra. I felt so guilty about him being sent there. He swore it was a good experience, that Patrick Maguire had been like a father to them, and there'd been nothing bad about being with Ric and Johnny, either. Ric was a dyed-in-the-wool romantic who mooned a lot about some girl called Lara, and Johnny was fantastic at making up songs, playing guitar.'
'Well, that must have been true because they've been friends ever since,' Kathryn pointed out.
'Yes. And eventually, years later, when Mitch wanted to study law, I did go to a court hearing to testify on his behalf and his conviction was overturned. I could put it all behind me then. I felt it wouldn't come back to haunt me anymore.'
'Nor should it, Jenny. All these recent happenings have nothing to do with you.'
'But they do, Kathryn.' The haunted look in her eyes poignantly underlined her feelings, however misplaced they were. 'I might have saved Ric's Lara a lot of grief,' she added, clearly unloading the burden of guilt that weighed so heavily on her, yet it made no sense to Kathryn.
'I'm sorry. I don't understand how you could have done that. You didn't know…'
'It was Gary Chappel who raped me,' she cried. Kathryn felt her heart recoil in shock.
This was the connection. The ramifications bounced around her mind as Jenny poured out her grief.
'He sucked me in with his good looks and charm. And he drove a Lamborghini. I was dazzled by him. But by the time he finished with me I knew what he was really like. The things he did to me…' She shook her head, distressed by the memories even now. 'I never told. And I should have done. A man like that…of course, he'd do it to others. He should have been charged. Put away. Mitch would have stood up and done it, but I…I let my brother be put away instead.' Tears welled and spilled down her cheeks. 'And Gary Chappel went on to hurt Ric's Lara.'
'Jenny—' Kathryn reached out and took her hand, squeezing it to impart some comfort '—it's not as black and white as that.'
Perhaps it was to Mitch—possibly why he and his sister never talked about this. But there were many greys in the way the world operated. Too many times there was one law for the rich who could buy the best defence, and one for the poor who had to trust they'd be believed.
'The Chappel family is mega-wealthy, Jenny. Victor Chappel would have done everything possible to get his son and heir off a rape charge, including tearing you to shreds on the witness stand. I'm sure Mitch is well aware of that. The way he handled Lara's situation…he knew what he was dealing with and how to bring pressure to bear on their response to it. But that's now. He couldn't have done that eighteen years ago. As you said, he was only sixteen, and I'm sure whatever justice he took into his own hands, he was willing to pay for. You know that, don't you? And Gundamurra wasn't bad for him. You know that, too. You shouldn't feel guilty about any of this.'
'But what about Lara? And there were probably other women…'
'I think for men like Gary Chappel, with great wealth behind them, only death is going to stop them from following their own bent. And he is dead, Jenny. It's over. Over for Lara, too. She's got Ric now and Ric is a really good person. Believe me, I know. I'm sure his love will make up for anything Lara suffered at her husband's hands. And maybe they would never have come together again if he hadn't seen that photograph. So it's really okay. You don't have to worry or feel guilty. Lara's fine.'
Jenny dragged in deep breaths and dashed the tears from her cheeks with her hand, blinked hard to clear her eyes. 'I've always felt wrong about it. Wrong about what I didn't do,' she choked out.
Kathryn knew only too well the shame she'd felt over her huge error of judgement in accepting Jeremy as the man she would marry. Jenny's shame was rooted in a much more dreadful trauma and stirred her deepest compassion.
'Don't feel wrong any more,' she urged. 'You were the victim of what was done to you, Jenny. It wasn't your fault. And it wasn't cowardly not to take on Gary Chappel yourself. I met him very briefly when he came to the office, chasing Ric and Lara. I would have been very frightened if I'd been his target.'
'He had no heart…no pity… I couldn't bear to be anywhere near him again.'
'Mitch wouldn't have wanted you to be. The moment I gave him Gary Chappel's name he had security guards sent to the office to protect me and accompany me to his chambers.'
The bleak memories in Jenny's eyes gave way to a spark of interest. 'You didn't tell me about that.'
'It's how we met.'
Kathryn ran on at considerable length, explaining how Mitch had taken her home with him that night to ensure her safety, adding that he considered Gary Chappel a dangerous psychopath with the resources to get his own way, whatever it took.
'So you see, Jenny, your brother doesn't blame you for anything because he knows the kind of man Gary Chappel was. And you shouldn't blame yourself, either,' she finished with conviction.
Jenny gave her a bemused look. 'So you two met because of him.'
And re-met because of his death, Kathryn thought, but she'd said enough to put the whole set of circumstances into reasonable perspective and Mitch's sister seemed to be considerably less stressed now. She smiled as she answered, 'Yes, we did. And I've got to say, Jenny, your brother is one hell of an impressive guy.'
It drew a smile from her. 'I think he's very impressed with you, Kathryn. In fact, you're the only woman he's ever brought to meet me. I thought it meant…' She gave an awkward shrug. 'I guess he's still protecting me…not telling you about Gary Chappel and Gundamurra.
Thank you for…for setting my mind at rest.'
'Put it behind you now, Jenny,' she quickly advised. 'You have a great husband, two beautiful children, Lara is with Ric…'
'And Mitch is with you,' she cut in, sounding very satisfied with that outcome.
But he wouldn't have been with her this weekend if he hadn't pushed for it—all because she hadn't put Jeremy behind her. Taking the diamond ring off wasn't enough. She'd made Mitch feel he was fighting ghosts at every turn and that wasn't right, wasn't fair.
Ghosts!
The realization suddenly struck how very personal those ghosts were to Mitch. Hugely personal!
She'd told him Jeremy—the man she'd committed herself to marrying
—had sided with Gary Chappel—the man who'd raped his sister, who'd subjected Ric's Lara to untold abuse…
Then on the night of the very same day she'd told him it was over, he'd seen Jeremy entering her apartment building. What must have been going through his mind when he followed…then found her ex-fiancé forcing himself on her…remembering Jenny's rape, hitting Jeremy as he had surely hit Gary Chappel, feeling intense violence toward both men?
Ghosts…and the long link to Gundamurra where Ric had taken Lara, bringing the past very much to the fore, memories he didn't talk about.
And she had thrown Jeremy in his face again because of feeling vulnerable about the meeting between Mitch and her parents. Jeremy, whom Mitch would judge to be in the same class as Gary Chappel! Black and white!
Am I the same package to you? he'd asked. Dear God! The offence was horrific.
She remembered his tension in the car, the sense of violent emotion being barely contained, his white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel.
Yet despite all that, he'd asked her to forgive him for not being good at greys, then followed up by completely charming her parents. And today… well, Jenny certainly believed Mitch thought she was special—the only woman he'd ever brought to meet her.
'I'm glad he met you, Kathryn.' Jenny was looking at her as though she answered more than she had already answered. 'Mitch has walked alone for too long. And he has such a big heart…so much love to give. You'll never find a more caring man.' She smiled her own love for her brother. 'Mitch cares with a passion.'
'I know,' Kathryn murmured. And she did know.
It summed up all her experience of Mitch Tyler.
Yet she had to hear it from his sister to recognize its absolute truth.
It made her feel small, unworthy of him, but she silently vowed he wouldn't feel alone ever again.
He had rescued her from so much.
Tonight she would rescue him from all he'd kept to himself.