by Anna Jacobs
‘Yes. It isn’t heavy.’
If he was right, there should be a drawing pad and some of the coloured pencils that could be moistened and act almost as paints in that bag, as well as other arty things.
When he opened the box of books, Gabby fell on them like someone starving to death, oohing and aahing over old favourites and pretty covers.
Claire smiled sleepily from the sofa as she watched her daughter choose a book and lie on her stomach on the rug in front of the gas fire to read it. The cool winter sunlight shone through the window and brightened the room.
He put the drawing materials on the small table next to the sofa. ‘You and Gabby may both enjoy these, Claire. Dee was drawing mad for a while, then she fell in love with computers and forgot about drawing. Her mother refused to throw these away because they might come in useful one day. Angie was a real pack rat, could never bear to throw anything out. That used to drive me mad. I still haven’t gone through all the things she dumped here along with Dee.’
‘Thank you. You’re very thoughtful.’ But Claire made no attempt to pick up the pencils and when he peeped into the room a few minutes later, she was asleep again.
Gabby smiled and put one finger to her lips.
Which only reinforced his view that Claire was in no fit state to go home tomorrow to a dangerous area. How on earth would she manage to look after a child and dog in her condition? She ought not to drive a car with that shoulder. Determination could overcome many things, but not this.
If it were up to him, she wouldn’t leave here till she was truly better. He’d wait till later to try to persuade her, but the trouble was, if she insisted on going home, he had no power to stop her.
He racked his brain to work out how to help her, but the only thing he could come up with was to fit a better lock on the door of that bungalow. He went out into his workshop and found a heavy-duty bolt in his ‘might come in useful one day’ box and put it in his car, together with the necessary tools. Just in case. It seemed pitifully little.
Why hadn’t their house sold after nearly two years on the market? Something fishy there.
Perhaps he’d see if he could find out. He knew several estate agents around this and the nearby counties from when he’d been building conservatories for people. They might have contacts who could get the information for him.
That made him realise she hadn’t told him where exactly they used to live before. To say she was sparing with information was putting it mildly.
Well, his time was now his own and if he chose to use it to help Claire and her daughter, that was no one else’s business. He hated to see decent people in trouble.
On top of everything else, it would soon be Christmas. Goodwill to all men – and to women and children too.
Who was he kidding? This was nothing to do with Christmas, unless he could use the festive season as a lever to get her to accept help. He was interested in Claire as a woman, very attracted in fact. It was as if he was coming suddenly to life again in that way.
She wouldn’t have told him so much about herself if she’d felt uncomfortable with him, would she? If he stayed in touch, maybe they could get to know one another and … who knew?
He was out of practice with women, would have to tread carefully, but maybe if they became friends, they could see what came of it.
He’d been lonely for a long time.
Chapter Seven
Tom Douglas watched his wife sigh over the happy family gathering that signalled the end of the movie she’d been watching on television. She wiped a few tears away and turned as he went to sit next to her on the sofa.
‘That took my mind off my worries for a while.’
He put an arm round her. ‘Which worries?’
‘Which do you think? Oh, Tom, it’ll soon be Christmas and Martin is hedging about whether he’ll be coming to us this year.’
‘To be frank, I’d rather he didn’t.’
She looked at him in surprise. ‘But he’s our son, the only close family we have left these days. Who else would we spend Christmas with.’
‘He might be our son but we don’t see him all that often, do we? Last time he visited was in the summer and the way he went on and on about poor Claire and couldn’t say a good word about her – well, frankly it sickened me. I was glad to see the back of him. I like her, always have. She’s a really nice person.’
‘Yes, but she did take his child away.’
‘Because he’d started hitting her.’
‘I don’t believe that. Gabby was mistaken.’
‘I do. We’ve seen him take against people before, and for no real reason. He was being so unfair to the poor woman. It’s only a short step from that to hitting someone.’
Hilary looked even more tearful. ‘I used to like her too. But if she’s not bringing up that child properly, you can’t blame him for worrying.’
‘Claire has always been a good mother and well you know it. I don’t believe that can possibly have changed. Look, we need to talk about our son, Hilary. I don’t believe he’s thinking straight and we should—’
He wasn’t surprised when she cut him short. She hated to hear any criticism of her precious Martin. It was the only thing they quarrelled about.
She made a dismissive gesture with one hand. ‘Let it drop. What is there to say that we haven’t said before?’
‘Things have changed. Martin’s been avoiding us for months, except for a few quick phone calls to keep in touch with you. Admit it. We’re not really included in his life these days.’
‘He’s been busy.’
‘He’s always been busy. He’s a hard worker, I’ll grant him that. What’s brought this on today? Has he done something else to upset you?’
‘It was seeing the family in that movie, especially the grandchildren. We’ve completely lost touch with our granddaughter and Martin says he doesn’t have any recent photos of Gabby, even. We don’t know what she looks like now. You know how quickly they change at that age. One of my friends has a granddaughter of the same age and she keeps showing me photos. You know what people are like with their mobile phones – always taking photos. And when she asks about Gabby, I’ve nothing to share.’
She gulped audibly and added, ‘He says to leave it be and he’ll sort it out soon.’
Watching her try to hold back tears made Tom say bluntly, ‘I think we’re going to have to go to the courts to get access to that child.’
‘What? No! We can’t do that, Tom. It’ll upset Martin even more.’
‘It might be the only way we get a chance to see Gabby.’
‘Martin said last time that he didn’t know where they were living now, so what difference would a court order make? He’s so angry at Claire. And yet once he loved her so much.’
Tom wasn’t sure that Martin was capable of that sort of deep love, but he didn’t want to further upset Hilary.
‘I keep hoping he’ll meet someone else and move on, but I don’t think he’s dated anyone since they broke up. Has he mentioned anyone to you, Tom?’
‘No. And he’s not likely to get interested in another woman while he’s obsessing about finding Gabby. To tell the truth, I’d feel more like warning any other woman away from him at the moment.’
There was silence, then she said softly, ‘I don’t know how to help him.’
‘I don’t think we can. What he needs is expert counselling.’
‘He doesn’t believe in it. And I’m not sure I do, either. I could never tell my thoughts to a stranger.’
He opened his mouth then closed it again. No, he’d better not tell her what he’d been thinking about doing lately. He should just do it. He wasn’t going to lose touch with his grandchild if he could help it. Whoever he upset by his actions.
After all, Claire had never been unreasonable with them. He didn’t think she would be now, either. If he could find her he’d tell her he wasn’t on Martin’s side in this.
‘It’s best not to interfere between
husband and wife, Tom.’
‘Only she isn’t his wife now, is she?’
‘He was talking about them trying to get together again last time I spoke to him.’
‘They’re divorced, Hilary. He’s deluding himself – or trying to fool you.’
‘But if they don’t get back together, Gabby could grow up without us seeing her at all.’ She burst into loud, noisy tears.
‘Ah, come here, love.’ He held her in his arms while she wept. But her anguish was the final straw. He was definitely going to do something about the situation. Nearly two years without Gabby in their lives was too long.
They sat there together for a while, then Tom looked at the clock. ‘Come on. Time for bed. Leave it to me, love. I’ll look into what can be done. I’m better at this sort of research than you are.’
‘You won’t do anything that’ll drive Martin away?’
‘Of course not.’ And may he be forgiven for lying to her. Because he’d just about given up on Martin and what he was planning was definitely going to upset his son.
Finding a private investigator who had time to take on their case was more difficult than Tom had expected. He only found one who was available straight away, but he didn’t take to the fellow and didn’t want to place his family’s happiness in such a man’s hands. Not to mention the fact that this guy was charging twice as much as the others.
In the end he went to ask advice from a colleague whose son was a detective in the local police force. That led him to a semi-retired former policeman turned private investigator, who apparently only took on cases he thought were worthwhile these days. Tom liked the sound of this, so made an appointment to see him.
Surely it couldn’t be all that hard to find a missing person in this digital age? Everyone was supposed to be only a few connections away from everyone else, weren’t they?
When they met he liked Eric Bancroft at once. The PI seemed not only intelligent, but sensitive to the difficulties of their situation.
As the two of them faced each other across an untidy desk, Tom was just about to offer him the job when Eric said, ‘One more thing. I have to warn you, Mr Douglas: if I think what I find out will harm your daughter-in-law and granddaughter, I’ll stop my investigation and I won’t necessarily pass on what I’ve found. Though in that case I will, of course, return your money. I’ve seen enough children destroyed by their parents’ quarrels to tread carefully into people’s lives.’
After his initial surprise at this, Tom had to take a few moments to think it through, then he nodded slowly. ‘I can accept that, though I hope you won’t give up on us. My wife will worry herself into a breakdown if this situation continues.’
‘Better your wife be upset than a child of eight, don’t you think? Anyway, if that’s settled, I’ve got enough information to make a start.’
He offered his hand and Tom shook it.
‘I’ve not given you all that much information. I don’t want to try to get more from my son, though. It might make him suspicious.’
‘No. He does sound … a bit chancy psychologically at the moment. But you’ve given me enough to make a start and I know where to look better than most. I’ll get back to you in a day or two.’
After that Tom could only wait.
He didn’t usually keep secrets from Hilary. It made him feel uncomfortable, but sometimes you had to grasp the nettle if you wanted something important sorting out. He’d learnt that when running a business.
Chapter Eight
As the afternoon moved towards evening, Luke kept a careful eye on Claire, relieved to see that she seemed more alert. He offered some information about himself, telling her of his regret that he’d not been allowed to be a real part of Dee’s upbringing for the past few years. But it brought nothing more in return.
While it was still light, he took Gabby and the dog outside to throw a ball around. They had trouble getting it back if Helly managed to intercept it, but the child’s cheeks grew rosy and her laughter pealed out several times as they played.
When Dee got back from school, she didn’t vanish into her room, for once, but came outside to join them, throwing the ball a few times. She stayed around even after they came inside, which pleased him. She chatted mostly to Gabby, and the younger child hung on her every word. Dee also petted the dog occasionally and she too stayed near her.
When Claire asked about her day at school, to Luke’s amazement, Dee told their guest all sorts of details, including which subjects she liked most and the fact that she was thinking of going to university if she could get a place on a science course.
Why hadn’t she told him about that?
And why had she shot a quick glance at him as she said it, as if expecting him to protest or disagree about what to study?
He joined in. ‘I always liked science at school myself, so it’s good to see you do too.’
‘But they didn’t encourage girls to study science in your day, so you’re bound to feel differently about it.’
‘I expect a lot of it’s changed since my day, but you’re wrong. I always thought people should study what interests them, whether they’re girls or boys. There were plenty of girls doing science in my day. I’m not that old, for heaven’s sake.’
When she frowned at him as if she didn’t know whether to believe this, he asked outright, ‘Why did you think I wouldn’t approve of you studying science?’
‘Mum said—’ She broke off.
He had always vowed not to say anything bad about Angie, but he nearly broke that vow then. There was an awkward silence till Claire intervened.
‘You’re not that old, Luke, roughly my generation, and we weren’t all sexist in those days, Dee, I promise you. Even my father’s generation weren’t all that sexist about what we studied at school.’
Luke held his breath. Would his daughter take offence at that? She seemed to get into a huff so easily.
‘What did you study?’ Dee asked Claire.
‘Computing, IT stuff generally with a couple of subsidiaries in art. I was torn between the two areas, but my father thought IT would be much more likely to lead to jobs, so he urged me to concentrate on that. He was a good father and he was probably right, but one day, when I have more time, I’ll take up art again as a hobby.’
‘Why isn’t your father helping you and Gabby now?’
Claire stared into space for a moment or two, then said quietly, ‘He died about ten years ago. Hit and run accident.’
‘Oh, that’s terrible. What about your mother?’
‘She’s married again and gone to live in Newcastle with her second husband. We’ve drifted apart. She’s got three stepchildren and several step-grandchildren now, whom she loves dearly. She does a lot for them. Martin always made it difficult for me and Gabby to have much to do with her, pushed us apart. When things settle down again I’ll try to rebuild bridges with her. She knows I’m hiding from Martin.’
Luke said it before he could stop himself. ‘Can you not go to take refuge with her now?’
‘That’d play into my ex’s hands. He keeps an eye on her, in case I go there. Before I blocked him completely, he used to send me photos of her that he’d taken sneakily when he was travelling round there for his job, and taunt me about him seeing her and me not. She’s mentioned seeing him in the distance at shopping centres sometimes but said he’s never come across to speak to her.’
‘He sounds like a weirdo,’ Dee said bluntly.
He saw Gabby take a quick look at the older girl, obviously struck by that succinct summary – which Luke agreed with too, actually.
‘Let’s play with those board games,’ Dee suggested and took Gabby off to set one up on the kitchen table.
When they were alone again, Luke asked, ‘Is your ex a weirdo?’
‘Yes. And he seems to be growing weirder as each year passes.’
‘That’s hard on you.’
‘Yes. He started making threats last time he found us and, well, I don’t wa
nt to put Mum in danger. I email her sometimes and thank goodness I can do that without leaving a trace for him to pick up on.’
‘You must miss being with your family at Christmas.’
She sighed and blinked her eyes furiously. ‘Yes. Last year was – very quiet.’
‘What about the other grandparents, the ones on Martin’s side? What are they like?’
‘Martin’s mother is besotted with him, thinks he hung the moon in the sky and everything is my fault. I’m never quite sure what his father is thinking. Tom’s pleasant enough but he’s rather reserved. I daren’t risk contacting them, even though they used to be very fond of Gabby, because I’m sure Hilary would tell Martin where we are.’
Luke didn’t think he’d ever met someone so completely on her own in the world. And yet Claire was a kind woman, the sort who should have a lot of friends. Dee had taken to her at once.
He really wanted to help her. If only she would let him!
She looked at him now as if she knew what he was thinking and for a moment it felt as if they were connected, meant to be friends, more than friends, perhaps. Then she changed the subject abruptly.
‘That’s enough about my problems. It doesn’t do to dwell on them.’ She raised her voice again. ‘It’s getting late, Gabby. Finish that game then get ready for bed. You can take a book up with you and read for a while, if you like.’
When they’d put the game away, and Claire had gone up to settle Gabby, Dee came to get a glass of water. ‘I think I’ll pick up my emails.’
She disappeared into the small room at the back of the house before she could be left alone with her father, shutting the door firmly behind her.
That upset him.
What had he done wrong? Or, as he was beginning to wonder, what had his ex been saying about him?
The trouble was, he couldn’t discuss it with Dee because in spite of being suddenly abandoned by her mother, she still fired up in defence of Angie at the slightest criticism.