'Til I Kissed You

by Pam Howes

  ‘Just what Sammy told us. He asked Livvy to spend the night with him. Sam called him this morning at an awkward moment, as she’d suspected, and then she turned up at the hotel shortly afterwards. I told him Sammy doesn’t want him back. He said he realises he’s well and truly blown it this time. Livvy’s staying with him today and he’ll catch up with us later. Obviously he wants to see Pat and Tim, if they want to see him of course.’

  ‘Pat won’t.’ Jane folded her arms. ‘I can tell you that now. You and Tim can meet up with him later but don’t bring him here coz I’ll bloody kill him!’

  Jon finished his breakfast and stood up. ‘Right, I’m off.’

  ‘Bye, Jon. Oh, will you and Jess look after the kids tonight while we spend some time with Tim and Pat?’ Jane called as he opened the back door.

  ‘Yeah, no problem. See you later.’

  ***

  Jon unlocked his car and could feel the grin splitting his face. Fantastic, a night alone with Jess. Get Katie and Dom to bed as early as possible, crack open a bottle of Dad’s wine, relax together and see what happens.

  ***

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  Sammy, Tom and Molly were standing in arrivals as Jane and Eddie arrived.

  Sammy waved them over and pointed to the flight arrivals board. ‘There, it’s landed, just.’

  ‘Thank God for that.’ Jane let out a huge sigh and flung her arms around Sammy. ‘I can relax a bit now.’

  ‘They’ll be ages in baggage reclaim and customs. Shall we get a coffee while we wait?’ Eddie suggested.

  ‘Good idea, black for me,’ Sammy replied. ‘I’m off to the ladies. Coming with me, Jane?’

  ***

  Molly stared after Sammy and Jane then turned to Eddie who’d found them a table.

  ‘So, where is he?’ she demanded as Tom went off to order drinks.

  ‘What’s Sammy told you?’ Eddie replied cagily.

  Molly frowned. ‘Nothing, other than that he can’t make it. What’s going on? I’ve bitten my tongue for long enough over the mess those two are in. Something’s very wrong. Roy’s been looking forward to this day for ages. Sammy told me last night that she was collecting him from the hotel, now suddenly he can’t make it? He’s seeing that bloody girl again, isn’t he? Don’t bother to deny it, Ed. Just wait until I get my hands on him, he’ll wish he’d never been born.’ Her voice shook and Tom, who had returned with a tray of mugs, patted her shoulder.

  ‘Molly, love, don’t jump to conclusions. He might have been genuinely delayed.’

  ‘How could he be? Sammy was picking him up. What could possibly delay him? Roy wouldn’t miss this for the world unless there was a damn good reason.’ She narrowed her eyes and turned to Eddie. ‘Did Sammy go to the hotel for him?’

  ‘Yes,’ Eddie replied.

  ‘Well, where is he then?’

  Eddie sucked in his breath. ‘He wasn’t alone.’

  ‘What?’ You mean he had another woman with him? How many bloody affairs has he had?’

  ‘It wasn’t another woman, it was Livvy.’

  Her jaw dropped. ‘So he is seeing her again? No wonder Sammy’s upset. Well she needs to divorce him good and proper now.’

  Eddie spotted Jane and Sammy and waved them over. ‘The girls are back, change the subject.’

  ***

  Sammy smiled warily as she sat down and reached for a mug of coffee. No doubt her mum had pounced on Ed and given him the third degree as soon as her back was turned. She was gratified to see him wink reassuringly at her.

  She glanced across to the doors, where several passengers laden with luggage, were filtering through. ‘Do you think this lot is from Pat and Tim’s flight?’

  ‘I wouldn’t have thought so,’ Tom said. ‘Drink your coffee and relax for a few minutes. They’ll be here soon enough.’

  Sammy sighed as she put down her mug. Feeling calmer, she tried to blank out the caring look on Roy’s face earlier when he’d protected Livvy from her wrath. Sammy had almost felt like the other woman for a few minutes. It should have been she he was protecting, not that little bitch.

  ‘Let’s stand by the barrier,’ she said after another fifteen minutes had ticked slowly by and her thoughts were turning positively murderous.

  Standing beside the barrier, scanning every face for a familiar one, she and Jane spotted Pat simultaneously. ‘There she is,’ they shrieked, leaping up and down.

  ‘Bloody hell! Look at the length of Tim’s hair!’ Eddie exclaimed as Tim, long blonde hair swept back in a ponytail, appeared.

  ‘Oh, look at the girls.’ Molly, who hadn’t seen her blonde-haired, blue-eyed granddaughters in over two years, swept Kim and Abby into her arms. ‘How grown up you are.’

  After much hugging, kissing and backslapping, Tim looked around. ‘Well, where is he?’

  Sammy bit her lip. ‘I’ll explain when we get home.’

  Pat looked at her stepsister with concern. ‘Oh, Sam,’ she said, her eyes blue brimming.

  Sammy put on a brave smile and took Pat’s arm. ‘No tears. He’s not worth it. Come on, let’s go home and start our new lives.’

  ***

  Roy and Livvy left the hotel together. She insisted on driving back to her flat for a change of clothes before Roy took her shopping.

  ‘I’m taking my car home first,’ she said as they strolled through the car park. ‘Do you want to follow me?’

  Roy nodded. ‘You go home and wait for me. There’s something I need to do first.’

  She looked at him, eyes wide. ‘Are you going to go and see Sammy, after all?’

  ‘I wouldn’t dare. After last time she’d probably finish the job off good and proper with the scissors! I’m going to visit my folks. I need to tell them what’s happened, before Sammy does. I’ll also tell them about you and the baby. I owe them that much.’ Roy sighed and continued. ‘I don’t suppose they’ll be too pleased with me. But at least it will give them time to get used to the idea of becoming grandparents again.’

  Livvy rested her hand on his arm. ‘Roy, I do love you, I really do. I feel bad for taking so much away from you.’

  He pulled her close. ‘Livvy, I love you too, never doubt that. It’s my own fault that I’ve lost everything. Are you quite sure you want to be stuck with an old geezer like me for the rest of your life? You’re so beautiful you could have anyone you want, baby or no baby.’

  ‘Roy, it’s you that I want and only you. I always have done. Age doesn’t come into it. I don’t regret our affair, and I certainly don’t regret carrying your baby. I just want to make you happy, that’s all.’

  He stroked her cheek. ‘I’m not an easy man to live with. I can be a real bastard at times. I’m untidy and noisy. I get totally paranoid and chain smoke if things aren’t going right when I’m working on new songs.’

  ‘I think I can learn to live with that. You’re also very loving and kind and I like those qualities in a man.’

  ‘Well at least we’ve got a basis to work with. I’m willing to give us a go if you are. Sammy will throw the book at us and we’ll probably end up all over the papers. Can you cope with it?’

  ‘Why would that happen? No one knows about us other than your close friends and people at work.’

  ‘And the people at the hotel who saw us together last night, and today when we go out shopping. I’m a face that people recognise, Livvy. I try to ignore it, but it doesn’t go away. There are often reports in magazines and papers about what Ed and I are up to. When Nick died there were reporters all over the place, they don’t miss a bloody trick. I’m trying to protect you here,’ he said, seeing the panic in her eyes. ‘Just keep your head down and don’t speak to anyone you don’t know, no matter how persuasive they are.’

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ she replied reassuringly. ‘Go and see your parents now, get that out of the way first.’ She kissed him and they went their separate ways.

  ***

  Roy spotted his mother on the opposite side of
Chatsworth Road. He pulled onto the drive of the bungalow he’d bought for his parents. Monty the Third, an overweight Springer Spaniel, who’d replaced Roy’s boyhood pet and his predecessor, was dragging her along the road.

  ‘Hello, Mum,’ he called, getting out of his car. He kissed her as she reached him.

  ‘Hello, son,’ she replied, as Monty wriggled on his back with delight by Roy’s feet. He bent to tickle the dog’s tummy as his mother continued, ‘I thought you’d be at the airport.’

  ‘Err, no, there’s been a change of plan,’ he stammered. His mother always had the knack of making him feel like a naughty schoolboy and the frown crossing her chubby face now meant business.

  ‘What do you mean, change of plan? What have you been up to? You’ve got guilt oozing from every pore, I can smell it!’

  ‘There’s something I need to talk to you about,’ he replied, stomach looping as they walked towards the front door.

  She pursed her lips in time-honoured fashion and nodded. ‘Well, you’d better come in then. Your dad’s out. He’s taken some rubbish to the tip. Come through to the kitchen and I’ll put the kettle on.’

  Roy sat on a stool at the breakfast bar, Monty by his feet. His mother switched on the kettle and reached into the cupboard for mugs and a jar of coffee.

  ‘Well, come on, out with it.’

  ‘I’ve got a surprise for you, Mum.’ He stared at her back, cringing as she paused, a spoonful of coffee granules poised above a mug. ‘You’re going to be a grandma again.’

  She turned mouth agape. ‘What?’ She dropped the spoon into the mug and smiled. ‘It’s a miracle. You never let on that Sammy had had her sterilization reversed. Were you keeping it a secret in case it didn’t work? Oh, love, you must be over the moon.’ She went on and on in the same vein as Roy rolled his eyes heavenward.

  It had never crossed his mind that his mother would think it was Sammy who was pregnant. God Almighty was the woman an idiot, or was she in denial? She knew about his affair with Livvy and his estrangement from Sammy, so why wasn’t she putting two and two together like she usually did? Roy took the mug of coffee she handed him and sighed.

  ‘What is it, Roy? Aren’t you happy about the baby? It’s what you both need. It will bring you closer.’

  He braced himself. ‘Mum, you’ve got the wrong end of the stick. Sammy isn’t pregnant. It’s Livvy, my girlfriend. Me and Sam, well, it’s over.’

  She sat down heavily on a stool, the colour draining from her cheeks.

  ‘Roy - no! How could you? Sammy must be devastated.’

  ‘She doesn’t want me, Mum.’

  ‘Well can’t you talk her round? Surely you can’t be serious about Livvy? She’s only a bit of a kid. Are you quite sure it’s your baby, Roy?’

  ‘Yes, it’s mine. I am serious about her. She’s not a bit of a kid and Sammy won’t be talked round under any circumstances.’ He wasn’t prepared to tell her of the morning’s happenings. She looked shocked enough, without him making things worse.

  ‘So, where is this girl, then?’

  ‘She’s at her flat; I’m joining her later. I love her, Mum. I also love Sammy and would prefer to stay married to her, but she doesn’t want to see me again. I’m going to try and make a go of it with Livvy. She needs looking after. She has no one to turn to except me.’

  His mum sucked in her breath. ‘You’re a bloody fool, Roy, but you’re my lad at the end of the day and blood’s thicker than water. God help you when this gets out. You need to keep a low profile for a while to let the dust settle.’

  ‘That will be impossible. We’re reforming the band. We’re hoping to put out a new single as soon as we can and go on tour. I don’t know how Eddie and Tim will feel about working with me at the moment though.’

  ‘You lads always stick together; have done since you were kids,’ his mum replied. ‘They’ll stand by you; mark my words. Here’s your father, you can tell him your news while I pay a visit to the bathroom.’

  Roy smiled as his dad strolled into the kitchen.

  ‘Our Roy’s got something to tell you, Bob,’ Mum called over her shoulder.

  ‘Oh, and what’s that?’ Roberto Cantello, dark eyes twinkling, grinned at his only son and offered him a cigarette.

  ‘You’d better sit down, Dad.’ Roy held out his lighter and lit up himself.

  ‘Oh, oh - sounds serious. What have you been up to now?’

  He told his tale and Dad took the news better than Roy thought he would.

  ‘I suppose we’d better meet this young lady. Where is she from and how did you get involved with her?’

  ‘She’s from Glasgow. She was a friend of Nick and Jason’s.’ Roy took a lengthy drag on his cigarette as his father’s eyebrows shot up his forehead.

  ‘She’s younger than you?’

  ‘She’s twenty two, Dad,’ Roy replied, feeling the heat rush to his cheeks.

  ‘You lucky bugger,’ Dad said, lowering his voice. ‘The times I’ve tried to trade your mother in for a newer model, but never for one as young as that.’

  ‘I’m not lucky. Like Mum says, I’m a fool. I’ve lost the best wife in the world, my eldest boy’s dead and Jason doesn’t want to know me. I’ll also lose a fortune, because Sammy will demand half of everything.’

  ‘Well face it, Roy, you’re not short of money and Sammy’s worked very hard keeping you on the straight and narrow. You’d have lost every penny to drink and drugs in the past if she hadn’t been behind you.’

  ‘I know that, but if Ed says he doesn’t want to work with me, God knows what I’ll do for the future. I might end up having to write songs on my own.’

  ‘Ed will stand by you like you’ve always done for him.’

  ‘Let’s hope you’re right. Livvy has a brilliant voice and I’ve plans to manage her career. She can support me and the kid if needs must,’ Roy quipped as his mother reappeared.

  ‘So, when’s this baby due?’ she asked.

  ‘Beginning of March.’

  ‘She’s four months gone already and you’ve only just decided to tell us?’

  ‘I only found out myself on Wednesday night. She was keeping it from me. She knew me and Sam were having problems and didn’t want to add to them.’

  ‘What made her decide to tell you then?’ his mother persisted.

  ‘Livvy didn’t tell me, Sammy did.’

  ‘You mean she told Sammy first. Well the devious little Madam.’

  ‘Mum, the details don’t matter. I don’t want to keep going over it again and again. It’s been a painful week all round.’

  ‘It will be even more painful if Sammy uses her dressmaking shears on you,’ his dad said.

  Roy smiled weakly and stood up to leave.

  Mum put her arms around him. ‘You’ll never learn, will you, Roy?’ She shook her head wearily. ‘We’d better meet this Livvy, then. Bring her for lunch tomorrow, about two.’

  ‘Okay, Mum. Thanks for not being too angry with me,’ Roy replied.

  ‘What’s the point? You’ve made your bed.’ She patted his shoulder. ‘There’s been enough heartache this year without us turning our backs on you. Both you and Sammy need our support and you’ll get it. We won’t take sides. But, Roy, try and grow up a bit now, son, for this new baby’s sake if no one else’s.’

  ***

  ‘So, what now, Sam?’ Pat asked as she, Jane and Sammy were comfortably ensconced in the lounge at Jasmine House. Pat had learnt the full extent of the week’s happenings as well as that morning’s and was horrified by Roy’s betrayal and the news of Livvy’s pregnancy. Tim had disappeared with Eddie to Hanover’s Lodge, Abigail and Kim had been taken by their grandparents to visit relatives, leaving the threesome to catch up.

  Sammy shook her head. ‘I’ve no choice now other than to divorce him.’

  ‘Yes you do, Sammy,’ Jane said. ‘Earlier this week you said you’d fight to keep him.’

  ‘That was before today, Jane. I mean, finding out about the affai
r was one thing and the baby was a horrendous shock. But to see them together this morning in that room, the rumpled bed, their clothes on the floor and the pair of them fresh out of the shower. That’s when it hit me for real. They looked a couple. Right and comfortable with each other and suddenly I was the outsider. I’ve never seen them together before, apart from onstage at Nick’s party. It was an awful shock, even though I suspected she was with him.’ Sammy took a deep breath and continued.

  ‘She looked as horrified as I felt. When Roy defended her, well that was the worst thing. I made a lunge at her. I was going to slap her across the face and he stepped in between us. He told me to stop because she’s pregnant. He was protecting her like she’s his property, which I suppose she is. She was really shocked when I told her Roy and I had been sleeping together. It’s pathetic, but I had to have a dig at her and that was all I could come up with.’

  Pat sighed and shook her head. ‘Maybe it will put her off him. Make her realise what a bastard he is.’

  ‘I doubt it. They don’t seem able to stay away from one another. Can you just imagine how it will be when that baby arrives? There’s no way Roy will be able to resist seeing it. He loves kids. He’s a big softie at heart. He’s lost Nick; Jason doesn’t want to know him. The baby will be all he’s got. I might as well let him go now rather than face all the inevitable pain and heartache next year.’

  ‘Put like that, I suppose you’ve got a point,’ Jane reluctantly agreed.

  ‘I have to face it, it really is over.’ Sammy’s eyes filled with tears that tumbled down her cheeks.

  Pat and Jane stared helplessly at one another. Neither knew quite how to console Sammy.

  ‘I’ll make a fresh pot of coffee,’ Jane announced and escaped to the kitchen as Jason strolled into the house followed closely by Jules.

  ‘Hi, Jane. Are they here?’ Jason grinned good-naturedly.

  ‘Tim’s out with Ed. Pat’s in the lounge with your mum. Tread carefully please, Jason. There’s been an incident with your dad and Livvy this morning. I expect your mum will explain later.’

  Jason’s good looks darkened. ‘What’s the bastard done this time?’