‘Ronald tried to follow the stock market. Fat chance of someone like him making money there. You have to be a master at mathematics, don’t you?’
‘Probably. Anyway, let me know if you think of anything that might help. I think Lottie needs to get everything sorted so she can set her mind on the future.’
‘Right then, Mabel. I’ll get thinking. And next time you come remember to bring me some grapes. I’ve got a broken arm you know.’
Mabs laughed as she left, then the smile faded. She had a suspicion that Roy Roberts knew more than he had chosen to tell. She’d buy him the biggest bunch of grapes she could find if he could give her even the smallest clue to finding the lost money.
Jake, Madeleine and a nervous Rose arrived at Zena’s flat on Friday evening after an uneventual journey. Jake moved a flower pot, chuckled and picked up the key. Zena had taken back his key but hadn’t moved the spare from its hiding place. They dropped their suitcases then went straight out to find food. They didn’t want to eat inside, afraid of leaving signs of their being there. A short trip in the car took them to a smart restaurant a few miles away and Madeleine insisted on paying. They returned and went straight to their beds, Jake on the couch with spare blankets, the girls using sleeping bags on top of the bedding, but under the eiderdown for warmth.
The following morning they went out early and Jake led them by a devious route to the beach, where, on that cold day the sea looked uninviting, yet the two girls felt warmed by the inexplicable hint of excitement that summer would bring.
They spent the day driving around the area, taking in picturesque villages and small bays each bringing delighted cries from Madeleine who took many photographs and declared she had never seen anything more beautiful. They sat on a cold, rocky beach wrapped in blankets borrowed from the flat and ate chips, and drank from a shared bottle of lemonade and, like children, declared it a feast.
Sunday began early, all woken sooner than expected by thoughts of the day just gone and another to come. ‘I feel like a child mitching from school,’ Rose said with a laugh.
‘Did you do that often?’ Jake asked her.
‘More often than I should! I used to write notes explaining that my daughter had a sore throat or head lice – they never argued about my being absent for that!’ Sitting in the neat living room and making plans for their final morning, they talked for a while of their school days, Madeleine said the least, aware that the subject of her private education was best avoided.
Packing the few things they had brought and tidying away all evidence of their visit, Madeleine went back inside to check that they had left nothing behind, pausing for a moment in the bathroom. Jake put the key back in its hiding place and they set off to explore nearby beauty spots then find a pleasant place for lunch. As they drove, too fast, around the corner from where Jake had parked his car, he almost knocked Greg off his bicycle.
‘Damn!’ Jake muttered, ‘I forgot the odd hours that he works. Sorry, ladies, but you’re about to hear a long list of lies.’
Greg stared in disbelief as he recognized first Jake then Rose. ‘What are you two doing here?’
Rose turned to Jake and waited for his explanation.
‘Look, Greg, mate, I can explain this but not now, we haven’t got time, right? I’ll ring you at your mother’s house tonight, ten o’clock, OK?’ Without giving the startled Greg a chance to speak, he put his foot down and drove away. ‘Now, ladies,’ he said cheerfully, ‘we have all day to think of a good story. Who’s first?’ Madeleine began to laugh, Jake joined in, but Rose was unable to force more than a weak smile, shaken by suddenly seeing Greg
The telephone rang persistently in Lottie’s house between 10 and 10.30 but no one answered. Greg sat with Zena and they let it ring. She had gone to the flat to check that everything was clean, ready for the new tenants, and pick up the post and make sure the milk had been cancelled. She had seen at once that the place had been used, and finding a tin of Jake’s brand of toothpowder, guessed he had been there. A pair of stockings hanging in the bathroom shocked her. There was little doubt about who he had brought with him. Greg had told her what he had seen as there seemed nothing to gain by covering for Jake.
The phone went on ringing spasmodically for another hour but neither of them made a move to answer it.
It had been very late when Jake and the two girls arrived back at Madeleine’s flat and she insisted they both stayed with her. ‘You both need a good night’s sleep and your places will be cold and there won’t be anything to eat. You’ll be comfortable here. There are plenty of tins in the cupboard and the bread will still be eatable if we toast it.’ Both were too tired to argue. Jake guessed that Zena had been told what Greg had seen and he decided he had to own up to the visit. If he told her it was because Madeleine had never seen the sea and Rose needed a little holiday, she would understand. He would promise her there would be no more lies.
Zena didn’t try to telephone the office and neither did she write. She simply didn’t know what to say. She had a letter from Jake on Tuesday morning explaining that he hadn’t the money to come home as he’d so desperately wanted to, and Madeleine offered to pay for petrol if she could come too. Rose came as well as she rarely went anywhere and Madeleine thought she would enjoy it. Zena showed the letter to Greg, who shrugged. ‘Madeleine and Rose coming, using your flat, meant he couldn’t see you, which defeated the object, didn’t it?’
‘There’s a P.S.’
Greg turned the page and read, ‘The reason I couldn’t say no, was that Madeleine had never seen the sea.’ He laughed. ‘He never misses a trick, does he!’
When she went to clean at Mr Roberts’s house, Zena was not her usual, chatty self but when asked if there was a problem, she insisted that everything was fine, perfect, just lovely.
She finished her chores and made a cup of coffee for them both and unwrapped a couple of cakes she had brought. Mr Roberts was outside, talking to his neighbour, Doris. She was about to call him in, insisting it was too cold for him to be standing out there, when she heard her name and, unable to resist, she listened.
‘Sorry for the girl, I am,’ Doris was saying. ‘If she only half believes the fanciful dreams of Jake Williams she’s got nothing but trouble ahead of her. He thinks he’s a sort of all year round Father Christmas, taking from wherever he can to give favours to people who think he’s a cross between a saint and a fool. She’s the fool if she can’t see that it’s vanity and nothing else. Just vanity.’
She felt that now familiar ache of disappointment. Vanity, the word she could no longer deny. Vanity, wanting to be admired and flattered, giving things that half the time didn’t belong to him, soaking up the praise.
‘It’s sad, I know,’ Mr Roberts replied, ‘and she’s such a lovely girl, but she wouldn’t thank us for pointing out the man’s a fool. She’ll have to work it out for herself. The rumour that her mother has been left almost penniless is certainly true and that’s enough for them to deal with, but the gossips will have a wonderful time if Zena doesn’t wake up to the fact that Jake is living in a fantasy world. He’ll spend her money faster than she earns it.’
Zena went back into the kitchen and called, calmly. ‘Coffee’s here, Mr Roberts, I have to go now. See you next time.’ She couldn’t ride her bicycle. Her legs wobbled and seemed incapable of holding her upright as she walked down the drive and onto the road. Leaving the vehicle against a hedge she slipped through a gap and sat on the icy grass of a field and stared into space. She was soon shivering with the cold as well as the humiliation of what she had heard. However kindly the words were spoken, people were laughing at her.
A tractor was approaching and she heard it stop, then someone opening the gate. She forced herself to stand, and, still shivering went to recover her bicycle.
‘That you, Zena?’ a voice called. Uncle Sam was standing just inside the gate. He approached her with a frown. ‘Are you all right?’
‘I’m just feeling a bit sic
k. Perhaps I’m getting a cold. I’ll be all right when I get home in the warm.’
‘I’m just delivering some food for the horse. Wait for me and I’ll drive you home. Ten minutes at the most. Go and sit in the tractor, it’s a bit warmer than sitting under a hedge. What were you thinking of?’
With the cycle on the trailer he took her home, went in and coaxed the fire into a blaze, made tea and found her a blanket. ‘Make sure you eat something hot, and ring the farm if you need anything and Dad or I will come.’
A new brain is what I need, she thought, after thanking him.
‘Jake isn’t the only one to be guilty of vanity,’ she admitted to Nelda later in the day. ‘That’s largely the reason I can’t walk away, admit to my friends and family that I was wrong. It’s failure to end all my long dreamed of plans, to be no longer one of a couple.’
‘So despite knowing you’re behaving like an idiot, you’re going to listen to Jake and try to understand him, and make him see how he’s letting you down? Will this take two minutes or will you need three? Come on, you need more respect for yourself than this.’
‘He might accept that together we could do a lot to help others, but as a partnership, not pulling in different directions.’
Nelda raised an arm imitating a gun aimed overhead. ‘Bang! I just shot a pig!’
Zena immediately felt more relaxed, having made a decision even though she knew it was not the sensible one, and she smiled at Nelda and thanked her for listening.
‘It isn’t me who needs to listen, silly girl, it’s you!’
The following evening Nelda knocked at the door of Llyn Hir and walked in, the girls could be heard calling from the car. ‘Zena, you didn’t say Jake was home at the weekend. I wouldn’t have asked you to work on Sunday if I’d known. Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Because I didn’t know,’ Zena admitted with a wry smile. ‘He brought Rose Conelly and that secretary and used my flat to give them a weekend break. He didn’t tell me because then I couldn’t say no. They needed a break and Madeleine had never seen the sea! How stupid am I?’
‘Very!’ Nelda said succinctly.
‘I do understand, in a way.’
‘Then you really are stupid! He’s laughing at you, arranging secret surprises for strangers and treating you like a big bad bully who would ruin his kindnesses.’
‘It isn’t like that. Not really.’
‘No?’ She took Zena by the arm. ‘Come back to the house with us, I’ll feed my zoo animals and we can sit and talk. Or, you talk and I’ll listen.’
While the children ate cakes and bickered in whispers, Zena tried to explain to her friend about Jake’s desire to spread happiness, about his inability to keep something when there was someone who needed it more. Nelda did what she had promised and sat silently listening.
When the words of persuasion dried up, Nelda looked at her, head on one side questioningly, waiting for her friend to break the silence. Eventually she admitted defeat and asked, ‘How did that sound to you, Zena, if it had been someone else talking? Convincing? Or a load of rubbish? Or a pathetic attempt to hang on to something that should have been discarded ages ago?’
‘I’m stupid.’
‘No you are not. Just loyal and trusting, and in love with a man who doesn’t deserve your love. Jake Williams is more a fiasco than a fiancé. Another cup of tea?’ she asked without changing her tone.
Zena burst into merry laughter. ‘First I overheard Doris telling Mr Roberts that she was sorry for me, being involved with Jake Williams. I was convinced she was right and I should tell Jake goodbye. Then, on the way home, I talked myself out of it again and rehearsed a discussion in my mind. I would make Jake understand that he can’t presume I feel the same as he does, that he owes me loyalty, I have to come first with him, as he does with me.’ She glared at Nelda in mock anger. ‘Now you’ve thrown everything into the air again, thoughts and decisions floating about like seeds on a dandelion clock.’
‘Jake might always put you second, but at least you could try putting yourself first. That way decisions might come easier. Marrying “till death us do part”, it’s a very, very long time if you have any doubts.’
For Zena it was another sleepless night, her thoughts were spinning between one decision and another. At four o’clock she wrapped herself in her dressing gown and a blanket and revived the fire. Then she went to stand outside, listening to the night sounds. A swishing of the branches of the trees, different sounds from different species like a gentle symphony. An occasional call of an owl, the bark of a fox, all was familiar, soothing, comforting. The stars were clear in the chill cloudless dawn and she looked up, wishing she could name them.
As she sat there, other sounds began to disturb the peaceful scene: a car in the distance; the milkman rattling his bottles and churns. On Sam’s farm, a rooster welcomed the new day. Relieved that her attempts at sleep could be abandoned, she went inside, lit the fire and sat in its warmth with a comforting cup of cocoa, and the inevitable toast in front of the desultory fire, more in hope then expectation. She tried to avoid thinking of nothing but the happy moments she had just spent in such simple pleasure.
Light from the porch showed the glitter of frost on the branches of trees and shrubs, and on the dead neglected flowers from the last summer. The grass on the lawn was an uneven carpet of white with blue shadows. The winter chill was cleansing and she felt refreshed.
These were moments she wouldn’t be able to share with Jake. His reaction to finding her outside watching the magical dawn of a new day would be the discomfort of the cold and the need to get back in and close the door. But those things were trivial, there were so many things they would share, although at that moment, she couldn’t think of one.
The bread was curling near the coals but showing no sign of browning to a tempting snack but, as though the smell of the food had disturbed them, first her brother then her mother came down to join her. The early hour, the darkness, the cold and the welcoming fire, made them all feel like children enjoying a secret midnight feast They talked and laughed, memories of childhood enhancing the joyful mood. Today she would hold on to these peaceful, trouble-free moments and not think about Jake or his dishonesty. Problems could wait for another day.
Chapter Six
In London, Rose met Jake from time to time, usually with Madeleine, but sometimes on his own. Jake still lived in the shabby room in the poor area of London and Rose joined Madeleine in trying to persuade him to move.
‘I don’t feel secure enough in the job to risk having to pay more rent,’ he insisted. ‘If I get a promotion then, yes, I’ll look for somewhere in more salubrious surroundings.’ He looked questioningly at Madeleine. ‘Is there any chance?’
‘I asked Jerry as promised, Jake, and he said he would consider it. Since then he hasn’t mentioned it, but don’t give up. I think he really is doing just that, thinking about it. I know one of the salesmen is intending to give notice this month, so I planted the seed of the idea at just the right time.’
Jake muttered his thanks. He wanted a better job, of course he did; a chance of earning more money, of saving the money he needed for the wedding and the bed and breakfast business he and Zena had planned – but he was also disappointed. Leaving the firm would have been an excuse to return to Cold Brook Vale and Zena; a chance to start again and reaffirm their relationship. He had made new friends, and Madeleine and Rose filled many happy hours but he was lonely for Zena and her family in Llyn Hir, a family he’d known all his life. Losing a job would mean he could go home and that was what he wanted, wasn’t it? Or was he still enchanted with the London life and wished Zena would join him? He stopped worrying. His fate lay with the boss’s decision, not with his own, didn’t it?
A few days later, Jeremy Fielding sent for him. He tidied himself as well as he could, straightened his collar and tie, combed his thick blond hair, rubbed his shoes with his sleeve and hurried to the office.
He wasn’t invit
ed to sit and he stood while Jeremy Fielding thumbed through a sheaf of papers, trying to hide his nervousness, telling himself it didn’t matter whether or not he was offered a better job, that either way it would make his decision for him, go home or stay in London, it would be for the best. He watched the man’s face, trying to judge from his expression what his immediate future would be.
Jeremy finally looked up and gave a friendly smile. ‘Jake, I’ve been looking at your record for the short time you have been with us and the management has considered giving you a try as a sales representative. How d’you feel about that?’
‘That’s wonderful, sir. I like people and I’d love to meet customers and help them with their choices. Selling is something I’ve always felt I would excel at given a chance.’
‘You will start by accompanying one of our experienced men, then you’ll have an area of your own to cover. A circle around London, taking in the home counties. Then, if you do well, we’ll send you further afield.’
‘Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down.’
‘You do have a car? And a passport?’
‘Yes, sir. A passport? That sounds very exciting.’
‘It is, but it all depends on how well you do during the first few months.’
As he closed the office door, Madeleine was standing there and he raised two thumbs in a silent signal to show his success. They went into her office and hugged. He kissed her cheek then, slightly embarrassed, he moved from her and sat on a chair. ‘How can I thank you? Madeleine, you have been – and are – a wonderful friend. I am so fortunate that coming to this place, so different from everything I’d known, that I found you. Thank you, for helping, and being a friend and – oh, come here!’ He stood up from the chair and hugged her and kissed her cheek again. This time it was Madeleine who moved away, to stand behind her desk. Jake didn’t apologize.
‘Shall we meet Rose tonight and celebrate?’ she asked.
‘Yes, I need to mark this day and how better than with my two best friends?’ It was more than an hour before he thought of telling Zena.
The End of a Journey Page 14