Michael Robert Dyet's Page

Excerpt - Part 1, Chapter 4
BURYING THE EVIDENCE

JAYCE awoke with the fragile renewal of faith that comes with the first waking breath of morning. His arms were wound around Kat drawing her into the shadow of his body. She seemed small and vulnerable in this pose as if she depended upon him for shelter from the dream storms that come in the deep valleys of sleep. But then again, he recalled, her dreams were seldom threatening. He was the one whose dreams came like thunder in the night.
The telephone rang scattering his thoughts. Early morning calls were always bad news, he reasoned, as Kat pulled away from his embrace and reached for the phone.
“Who the bloody hell is calling at 6:30 in the morning?”
“How would I know? Let me answer and find out.”
“Hello… Oh hi, Alexandra. No, it’s not too early… You’ve confirmed a date? Wonderful. Let me get a pen… September 9th. Okay. Now, what do you need from me?... A name and a theme. Okay, I’ll get working on it. Thanks so much for calling. Have a safe trip home.”
“What was that all about? A date for what?”
“It was Alexandra Hewson from the Macfarlane Gallery. She’s in England on a buying trip. It’s 11:30 in the morning there.”
“Wait, back up. The Macfarlane Gallery? Am I missing something here?”
“It’s an art gallery, Jayce. They’re going to do an exhibition of my photography. My agent arranged it.”
“Your agent? You have an agent? Since when?”
“About six months now.”
“When exactly were you going to tell me about it? Or is it some big secret I’m not supposed to know?”
Jayce propped himself up on his elbow to look at her.
“I haven’t told anyone, Jayce. I didn’t want to make it public knowledge until I saw if anything was going to come of it. Haven’t you ever done that? Kept a lid on something until you were sure?”
There was a defensive tone in her voice like someone caught with their fingers in the cookie jar.
“I suppose I have. But this is awesome news, Kat. I’m so proud of you.”
“It’s just a one-day show. I’m not going to be famous overnight. It’s really just testing the waters to see if my work has any commercial appeal.”
“You mean they might actually sell some of your work?”
“You say that like it’s hard to believe.”
“I didn’t mean it that way. It just hadn’t occurred to me.”
So it was not just a show, Jayce realized. It was a stake in new ground. Was that why she had kept it a secret from him?
“So what kind of price tag are we talking about?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t want to even ask that question until the show was a sure thing. But while we’re on the subject of getting paid, you need to know that this is part of what we were talking about at the cottage. Being a stay-at-home mom is wearing thin on me. This just makes me want even more to go back to work.”
“Uh huh. So that’s how it is.” Jayce’s enthusiasm for the subject took a hard right turn. “I told you where I stand on that, Kat. I don’t think I’m being unreasonable.”
“And I am?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“But you implied it.”
“How am I supposed to feel? I turned my life upside down for you. Now you’re changing the rules.”
“Jayce, I know I sprung this on you out of left field. But be honest. You must know that I haven’t been myself for awhile now. I need a change. I admit it’s not fair to you. But would it really be that bad if – ”
“I can’t talk about this now. I have to get ready for work.”
“Wait. Listen to me. There must be a way for us to – ”
“We’ll talk about it later.”
Jayce swung himself out of bed and walked out of the bedroom leaving her unfinished question hanging in the air between them. There was nothing she could say at this moment that he wanted to hear, he decided. It had all the earmarks of an ambush. The early morning call. Springing the agent and the show on him. All designed to back him into a corner he could not get out of. Why? Why was she doing this?
As he turned toward the staircase, Jayce struck his shin on the corner of the wall.
“Goddamn it!”
The spike of pain short-circuited his brain. Before he could stop himself he slammed his fist into the wall. The wallboard crumpled leaving an impression twice the size of his hand.
“Jayce? What was that?”
“Nothing. I just stumbled.”
Kat emerged from the bedroom. The damage to the wall caught her eye immediately.
“What did you do?”
“I cracked my shin on the corner. It knocked me off balance and I stumbled into the wall. It’s no big deal. I can fix it.”
“Jayce, your hand is bleeding. Let me see.”
She reached out for his hand but he pulled it away.
“It’s nothing. Just… Just give me some space, alright? You dropped a couple of bombs on me this morning. I need time to sort things out. We’ll talk about it tonight.”
“But your hand – ”
“Don’t. Just don’t.”
Jayce waved her off and fled down the stairs. There was nothing more he could say that would make any sense to her. Anything else she might say would just be fuel on the fire and he could not let that happen. One hole in the wall was enough for today.

Corresponding Entry on the Companion Website
(Posted in text format and as an audio recording)

PART 1, CHAPTER 4
Jayce’s Diary:
SECRETS

It just figures that I would have the dream again last night. Winding me up for what was going to happen today. Pretty much the same as all the other times except that this time I didn’t wake up when the guy turned away.

I grabbed him by the collar, spun him around and looked him dead in the eyes to let him know I meant business. I said: Who the hell are you and why should I believe you know anything about me? My guess is you’re some crackpot who’s off his meds.

He squared off with me and stared me down. If looks could kill I would have been road kill at that moment. But he was calm when he spoke. You think you can control it but you can’t. If there’s one person who would know that, it would be me, wouldn’t you think?

The damn telephone woke me up before I could get anymore out of him. It bloody well has to be someone I know. My mind couldn’t manufacture a dream that cuts so close to the truth unless it had something real to work with. I just can’t place the face.

I wasn’t in the mood to find out that Kat was keeping me out of the loop. But I wasn’t all that surprised. I knew she was hiding something from me sure as God made little green apples. I’ll bet my right arm this is just the tip of the iceberg. You don’t have that guilty-as-sin look on your face unless there’s something even bigger you’re sitting on.

The last thing I needed today was Lane getting in my face. There was a moment when we locked eyes where I thought: This is it. I’m going to unload on this guy. All hell is going to break loose. Thank God he backed down when he did.


The kicker was finding that photograph of Kat. I never thought I would see that kind of expression on her face. A year ago, six months ago even, it wouldn’t have been there. How can it have changed that much so fast without me knowing? If she’s learned to hide her feelings that well, what other secrets is she sitting on?

The worst thing is that I lost it for a minute this morning which just shows how little it takes. I can keep a lid on it as long as I see what’s coming. But when she ambushes me like that all bet’s are off.

What is it that I keep missing? The big secret about life – how you make it bend to your will – that everybody but me seems to know. I’m tired of being the only one who doesn’t get it.