Laura was about to make a cutting reply when she thought of Claire’s words – ‘You only know how to choke them off – and she said instead, ‘No, I’m not.’
‘Then could we meet in town and do a film or could I ring you?’ he asked urgently.
‘All right. I’ll meet you in town,’ Laura said and it was quickly arranged.
She told Mary about the date as they left the club and Mary was pleased. ‘Dave says Nick’s all right. Very straight. He says he’s not usually so quiet. He says what he thinks,’ she laughed, ‘so you two should get on well.’
‘I can’t make him out. I don’t know whether he’s shy or moody or what but if I don’t like him I don’t have to see him again. That’s why I said I’d meet him in town.’
‘And if you go to the pictures, he won’t have to talk,’ Mary said with a chuckle.
‘Don’t tell anyone about this, Mary, will you? I’m not saying anything at home,’ and Mary agreed.
Chapter Twenty
Laura was determined to say nothing about Nick to her mother, dreading to see her look overjoyed because she had at last made a date, and when Gerry asked whether she had enjoyed the night she said only that the show was good.
‘Did Pete’s group go down well?’ Gerry asked.
‘Oh yes. They were fantastic,’ said Laura. ‘That girlfriend of Peter’s is a pain though, isn’t she?’
‘Yeah, I don’t know why she acts the way she does,’ Gerry said. ‘It’s not as if he ever gave her any cause for jealousy. He can’t help the groupies following them round and squealing at him.’
‘He’s such a nice lad too,’ Anne said. ‘I always liked Peter. He deserves to be happy.’
‘Gail’s all right, except for the jealousy. It’s like a disease with her.’
‘Do you know Rilla’s been writing to him at his mother’s?’ Laura said. ‘Good job Gail doesn’t know about that.’
Gerry laughed. ‘And it’s a good job she’s safe in Canada if Gail ever finds out. Gail’s got a temper to match her red hair.’
‘That reminds me, Laura. Have you seen Rosa lately?’ Anne asked. ‘Aunt Sarah’s worried because they haven’t heard from her for a while. She always keeps in touch.’
‘I saw her a couple of weeks ago,’ Laura said. ‘But we only waved. We were in the Moonstone, the crowd from the office, because someone was leaving.’
‘Who was Rosa with?’
Laura shrugged. ‘I didn’t know him. She’s left the squat, you know, and moved into a flat.’
‘It wasn’t that Ricky Hewlett?’ Anne asked. ‘Uncle Joe heard from that policeman friend of his that Hewlett was seen in Liverpool.’
‘Good Lord, no,’ Laura said. ‘He was only a young fellow, quite dishy. Way-out gear but then Rosa looked like Earth Mother too.’
Laura kept to her resolve not to mention Nick or her date to the family and only told her mother on Monday night that she would go to the cinema straight from work the next day and would have something to eat in town.
‘That’ll be a nice change,’ Anne said and Laura felt a pang of guilt. Her mother was so unselfish, never complaining about her own life and only anxious for her children to be happy. At least she worries about me now, as well as Julie, she thought.
She wore a suede mini skirt and a skinny rib jumper to work on Tuesday and carried a fringed suede waistcoat in a bag which she concealed in her desk drawer. She worked until six thirty, then in the deserted washroom she was able to wash and make up her face at her leisure. Her short hair needed little styling and she had just donned the waistcoat when a cleaner came in.
‘Jeez, you don’t half look smart, queen,’ she exclaimed. ‘Gorra date?’
‘Yes. We’re going to the Odeon,’ said Laura.
‘Back row, eh?’ the woman said, winking at Laura. ‘Enjoy yourself, girl, but don’t do nothing I wouldn’t do.’ She cackled with laughter and Laura went out smiling and for the first time enjoying the feeling that she was out on a date.
I don’t know why I’ve been so secretive about it, she thought. I think everyone’s been watching me and pitying me but I suppose the truth is they couldn’t care less. They’re only thinking about what concerns themselves.
Nick was waiting on the corner of London Road outside the Legs of Man pub where they had arranged to meet and Laura felt proud to claim him and walk up to the cinema with him. He was so tall and dark and although not strictly handsome she decided that he looked a real man.
There was little time for conversation before the film began but at the intermission Nick was almost the first to be served at the bar and carried the drinks to where Laura sat at a small table in the corner.
She found that it was easy to talk to him and told him that she had come on from work as she lived in Crosby and worked in town. He asked about her family and she told him that she lived at home with her parents and brother and sister and he told her that his family lived in Ormskirk in Lancashire and he shared a flat with two other men near Christ’s College.
‘I’m in my last year now,’ he said. ‘I’m going to like teaching. I did some teaching practice in a Kirkby school and I enjoyed it.’
‘Kirkby!’ Laura said. ‘Thrown in at the deep end, weren’t you?’
‘No. I took fourteen-year-olds and they were no different to fourteen-year-old boys anywhere,’ Nick said forcefully. ‘It’s a case of give a dog a bad name.’
‘No, it’s not,’ Laura said, annoyed by his tone. ‘Not with me anyway. I know someone who did supply teaching there. He said on his first morning the kids asked whether he supported Everton or Liverpool and he thought whichever he said half of the class would tear him limb from limb so he said he played rugby. They decided he was a divi and he got nowhere with them.’
Nick laughed heartily. ‘Like a religion in this city, isn’t it? I was all right. I qualified as an FA coach last year so I coached the school teams and I was home and dry with the kids. Anyway, forget that. I want to talk about you.’
‘But I don’t,’ Laura said curtly. She was still annoyed by his response to her innocent remark about Kirkby. I didn’t come here to be preached at, she thought, but the bell for the end of the intermission stopped any further conversation.
‘Blast,’ Nick muttered and they joined the crowds returning to their seats. After the film was over they walked to Exchange Station and Laura decided to say goodbye to Nick there as they lived in opposite directions but he refused.
‘I’m not letting you travel home alone,’ he said masterfully.
‘But I live a few minutes’ walk from the station,’ Laura protested. ‘And you live as far as Crosby the other way from here,’ but much to her own surprise she was overruled.
There were few people on the train and they talked amicably all the way home, mostly about the people at the Cabaret Club and about Mary. Laura told Nick where she worked and that she met Mary for lunch every day and he told her that he knew Phil Casey fairly well because he often met him in the Elephant on Sundays and had met Peter and Gail there occasionally.
‘It’s a pity Gail’s so jealous and without any reason,’ Laura said. ‘Must spoil things for them.’
Nick shrugged. ‘I can understand her.’ He glanced at Laura. ‘I’m a bit that way myself. What’s mine is mine, you know.’
‘You’ve put your finger on it,’ Laura said triumphantly. ‘“What’s mine is mine.” Nobody owns another person. Jealousy is an insult because it means you don’t trust the other person.’
‘Of course it doesn’t. It means you love them and don’t want anyone else butting in.’
‘I don’t agree,’ said Laura. ‘I wonder why Peter Taylor puts up with it. I wouldn’t.’ They sat in silence for a moment then Nick said he had not been in the north end of the city before.
‘Quite near the river, aren’t you?’ he said, obviously changing the subject, and Laura answered in the same tone.
As she and Nick stepped off the train, Sean passed with another m
an.
‘Hi,’ he said casually.
And Laura as casually said, ‘Hi.’
‘Who’s that?’ Nick asked.
Laura said briefly, ‘An old friend. I see him occasionally on the train.’
She was annoyed with herself for explaining and smiled brightly at the young ticket collector to show her independence.
‘Hello there,’ he said. ‘Thought you’d be deserting us now you’ve got wheels. Smashing little cars, those Minis, aren’t they?’
‘Yes, I’m made up with mine,’ Laura said. ‘But I still need the train.’ She looked at Nick, daring him to comment, but he said nothing.
When they reached the corner of her road, she stopped in the shade of a horse chestnut tree in a nearby garden. ‘I’ll say goodbye here,’ she said. ‘There should be a train due in a few minutes.’
‘When can I see you again?’ he asked.
Laura hesitated. She had enjoyed the evening and liked Nick’s company, except when he was airing his views, she thought, but perhaps I can cure him of that so she smiled at him and suggested meeting on Saturday night.
She had been undecided whether to say anything to her mother about her date but the matter was decided for her when Mrs Barret from next door passed with her dog and said good evening. No way, Laura thought, would she let her mother be told by anyone else.
She stood stiffly within Nick’s arms at first as he kissed her, then relaxed and responded but when his kisses became too urgent, she drew away. Nick released her immediately. ‘I’m just an old-fashioned girl,’ she said, laughing breathlessly.
Nick held her hands and smiled into her eyes. ‘I like old-fashioned girls.’
‘Do you know many?’ she asked flippantly.
‘There’s only one I want to know.’
Laura was smiling when they parted. I do like him, she thought, and I admire him for sticking up for the kids from Kirkby, too. He might have only been joking about jealousy and I took it too seriously.
She was looking forward to telling her mother about Nick but when she went into the living room her father and Gerry were sitting with her mother and all looked serious. ‘Julie?’ Laura said in alarm.
Her mother said quickly, ‘No, she’s out with Peter. Nobody’s ill. But Mr and Mrs Taylor have been here.’
‘Why?’ exclaimed Laura.
Gerry said grimly, ‘That nut job. That Rilla is expecting a baby and says it’s Peter’s.’
‘Peter’s?’ gasped Laura. ‘No way. He couldn’t stand her. At least he was polite to her for our sake but no way could that have happened. He only saw her the night we went round the clubs and then at his parents’ house.’
‘And he left there soon after we arrived, after he’d introduced us to his parents,’ Gerry said.
‘That’s when she says he made a date with her,’ Anne said. ‘Can you remember what happened the next night? She says she went out with him. I’ve been racking my brains trying to remember.’
‘I don’t remember, Mum,’ Laura said. ‘I only know I wasn’t with her because I avoided her after that night at the clubs.’
‘Why did you say Peter couldn’t stand her, Laura?’ her father asked suddenly. ‘He seems to have scarcely seen her.’
‘It was that night we went round the clubs with them,’ Laura said. ‘We went to a cafe in Dale Street and met Peter there. When we were coming away she flung her arms round his neck and kissed him and he had to pull her arms away. He said to Phil Casey he thought he’d been attacked by an octopus, then he saw me there and said he was sorry. I told him I couldn’t stand her either.’
‘Doesn’t sound as though he fancied her, does it?’ John said to Anne and her eyes filled with tears.
‘I feel so ashamed,’ she said. ‘Poor Mr and Mrs Taylor. What a return for their kindness.’
‘Does Peter know?’ Laura asked.
Her father said grimly, ‘Yes. Stephen wrote to them and said Peter wasn’t answering Rilla’s letters. Mr Taylor told us Peter asked them to burn them when they came. Mr Taylor rang Peter to tell him and apparently Peter just kept saying, “No way, Dad”, over and over. Mr Taylor thinks Peter’s girlfriend was in the room with him and he couldn’t speak freely but he’s coming to see them tomorrow.’
‘We’ve had a letter from Stephen and Margaret too,’ Anne said. ‘They’re terribly upset. They say Rilla wouldn’t admit she was pregnant at first, then she wouldn’t say who the father was, but then she suddenly broke down and told them it was Peter but he wouldn’t answer her letters.’
‘That’s what worries me,’ John said. ‘Why did he ask his mother to burn them unread?’
‘You sound as though you doubt him,’ Laura said hotly. ‘It was because his girlfriend’s so jealous, that’s all.’
‘Can’t they do tests or something?’ Gerry asked. ‘Anyone could say something like this, couldn’t they?’
‘Not until the baby’s born,’ Anne said. ‘Margaret says she’s about six months so the dates fit. I wanted to phone them but we thought we’d see if you or Gerry could remember anything that would help. I don’t believe it for a minute. I think that girl’s just making it up about Peter.’
‘I think she’s cracked,’ Gerry said bluntly. ‘Mrs Taylor says Peter gets fan mail sometimes at their house but she just passes them on to someone at the group who deals with them. He only said about the Canadian ones to burn them because the first one was so crazy and she was a relation of mine so he didn’t want anyone else to see them. And this is his thanks.’
‘Well, there’s nothing we can do tonight,’ John said. ‘We might as well go to bed. Perhaps you two could think back to that time and try to remember what happened the night after you went to the Taylors’ house.’
‘I’ll wait for Julie,’ Anne said. ‘Does anyone want tea?’
All declined and went up to bed. Julie arrived a few minutes later and she and her mother soon followed the rest of the family. Anne said nothing to Julie about the events of the evening, she felt unable to go through the whole sorry tale again.
Laura had planned a peaceful, happy time before she slept, going over the evening in her mind and thinking about Nick, but she found it impossible to think of anything but her cousin Rilla and Peter.
I know she’s making it all up, she thought indignantly. Perhaps she’s not even really pregnant, just having one of those phantom pregnancies. Certainly there was nothing between her and Peter Taylor, except that she had a stupid crush on him. But how to prove it?
Even if it could be proved that Peter was not the father after the baby was born so much harm could be done before that, not only in his private life with Gail but also to his career. Laura tried desperately to remember those few days after Rilla had met Peter but her mind was still blank when she fell asleep.
The next morning her mother looked at her hopefully. ‘Did you remember anything, love?’ she asked but Laura could only shake her head.
‘Gerry couldn’t either,’ Anne said with a sigh. ‘He feels terrible about it. Wishes he had never let that faggot talk him into taking her round the clubs and particularly to the Taylors’.’
‘Nothing we can do about that now, Mum,’ Laura said, hugging her mother. ‘Don’t worry. We know it’s a lie and truth will out, as Grandma used to say.’
‘I hope you’re right,’ her mother said as Laura bolted some toast and drank a cup of tea. ‘I’m going to ring round the family and see if anyone can remember anything useful. I’m so upset about the Taylors.’
Laura was halfway to the station before she remembered that she had said nothing to her mother about Nick and hoped that she heard nothing from Mrs Barret.
As soon as she walked in the office, Brenda called to her. ‘All right, dark horse. Who was the tall, dark, handsome man you were in the Odeon bar with last night? And don’t say he was your brother or your cousin.’
‘I wasn’t going to,’ Laura protested.
Brenda said laughing, ‘Good job. No brother or c
ousin should be looking at you the way he was. What’s his name?’
‘Nick. Nick Clegg,’ Laura said, blushing. ‘I didn’t see you there, Brenda.’
‘No wonder.’ Brenda grinned and began to sing, ‘I only have eyes for youhoo.’
‘Come on, tell us more,’ Olive demanded and Laura told them that he was a friend of a man she knew and that she was seeing him again on Saturday night.
‘Where did you meet him?’ Olive asked and when Laura told her that it was the Cabaret Club she said indignantly, ‘And you never let on yesterday?’
‘I was undecided whether to keep the date,’ Laura said and was thankful that the chief clerk walked through the office at that moment and they all dispersed to their desks.
Laura tried at intervals during the day to cast her mind back to the days when her Canadian cousins were in Liverpool, particularly the time immediately after Rilla’s meeting with Peter Taylor, but she was unable to remember the evenings in detail.
When she reached home, her mother told her that she had telephoned her brother Stephen in Canada. ‘Your dad said he was going to so I did it now. Dad’s so annoyed he might say too much to Stephen.’
‘What did Stephen say? Do they still believe Rilla?’ Laura added eagerly.
‘Yes. Stephen got quite ratty with me. I told him it was completely out of character for Peter and told him what you said about the octopus and he was really huffy. He said, “My little girl’s highly strung but she’s not a liar. If she says it’s him, it’s him.” I asked him what Terry said about it but he said he’s in Ottawa on business and then he put the phone down on me. I was upset at first but now I don’t care if they do fall out with us.’
‘I don’t think they’ve told Terry anything about it,’ Laura said. ‘He’s never mentioned it in his letters to me.’
Anne’s eyes had filled with tears but she wiped them away. ‘I went round to Sarah’s this afternoon and told her about it and she was furious. You know she and Joe never say anything nasty about anyone but I think they’d had more than enough of those girls when they stayed there. The things she told me about what went on with them! She said Margaret and Stephen had no control over them at all and they did what they liked. The were absolutely spoiled and unprincipled.’
Honour Thy Father Page 29