by Susan Lewis
Olivia grinned. ‘He’s quite old-fashioned in his way, Don, isn’t he?’ she remarked fondly.
Eva smiled. ‘He’d be more likely to say that he believes in all the traditional values,’ she replied softly. She shook her head disbelievingly. ‘Looking back on those times now it’s amazing to think we all survived them, with his marriage breaking up, me trying to take care of your mum, her trying to take care of me and two small children … Your father couldn’t handle it all, I’m afraid, nor could Grandpa, and once Don realised there was no man in charge he stepped right in, in his usual masterly fashion, giving us all orders, ferrying us around, making our decisions … Well, you know how he is.’
Olivia did indeed, which was why she was mad about him too. ‘Did you fall in love with him straight away?’ she asked, in spite of knowing the answer. It was always lovely to hear Eva talk about Don.
‘I wish I could answer yes to that, but I can tell you this, I love him now in a way that’s far, far healthier than the way I ever loved Nick.’
Delighted with the answer, Olivia felt brave enough to go further as she said, ‘If Nick wanted to see you now, would you agree to it?’
The light in Eva’s eyes dimmed as she said, ‘There’s only one set of circumstances that would make me want to see him, but as they’re not likely to come about, I think we should talk about something else now. In fact, I need to go and dig up some vegetables for lunch, so would you like to come and help me? You’re welcome to stay if you don’t already have plans.’
Disappointed, but accepting she’d already gone further than she might have, Olivia said, ‘Love to, but before we go outside there’s something I need to ask you.’
Eva did a fake double take. ‘More?’ she teased.
Blushing, Olivia said, ‘Yeah, but about something else completely. Actually, it’s the reason I came over.’
Eva was all interest.
Olivia pulled a face. ‘I want you to promise to answer me honestly,’ she challenged.
Eva blinked with surprise. ‘If I can, of course I will. What is it?’
Starting to brace herself for news that wouldn’t be at all welcome if her suspicions were correct, Olivia said, ‘I need to know if Mum’s seeing Dad again. OK, I’m sure she’s sworn you to secrecy if she is,’ she added hastily, ‘but this is something Jake and I need to find out, especially Jake, because you know what Dad’s like with him.’
Eva could hardly have looked more stunned. ‘What on earth makes you think that?’ she asked.
Taking heart from the reaction, Olivia said, ‘You mean she hasn’t confided in you?’
Eva shook her head. ‘I’m sure you’ve got it wrong, Livvy. It ended so badly between them …’
‘I know, I know …’
‘… and he’s married to the dental nurse now.’
‘Yeah, but I don’t think it’s going too well and I’m worried that he’s trying to sneak his way back in with Mum and if he does, he’ll only end up hurting her all over again.’
Eva was still looking reassuringly doubtful.
‘He rang three times on Friday,’ Olivia told her, ‘and each time she took the phone outside so I couldn’t hear what she was saying.’
‘Are you sure it was Dad?’
Olivia threw out her hands. ‘I think I know my own father,’ she answered. ‘I answered the phone myself …’
Eva signalled for her to stop. ‘He still supplies the meat for her caravan park, remember, so that must be what he was calling about.’
‘Then why take the phone outside? OK, we all know he got it seriously wrong when he gave up one of the most wonderful women on the planet for that little toothpick, but if he’s regretting it now … Oh my God, Mum surely can’t have forgiven him, not after everything he did.’
Clearly finding it equally hard to believe, Eva said, ‘If something was going on she’s sure to have told me.’
‘Unless she’s embarrassed and afraid of what we might say.’
‘Have you asked her outright?’
‘Yes, as a matter of fact, and do you know what she did? She laughed. I think it might have been a touch hysterical, I’m not sure, but I ask you, what kind of an answer is that?’
‘But did she deny it?’
‘Not really. She just kind of fudged around it, so you see, I can’t help being suspicious. Jake’s beside himself. He’ll leave home if she takes him back. You know how vile Dad’s been to him ever since he came out, saying he’s no son of his, and accusing Mum of turning him “queer”, as he so grossly puts it.’
‘Which is one good reason why they wouldn’t be seeing one another again. Your mother’s not even close to forgiving any of that.’
‘That’s what I keep telling myself, but Jake’s worried sick and the way she’s behaving every time Dad rings …’
‘So why not ask Dad what’s going on?’
‘I’ve been thinking about that. Do you reckon I should?’
Coming down from the high of certainty, Eva started to frown. ‘On the one hand they’re grown-ups, so can do as they please,’ she said, ‘but on the other …’
‘Mum’s a lot lonelier than she wants to admit, and we all know how easy it is to make mistakes when we’re vulnerable.’
‘Where is she now?’
‘No idea. I’ve tried calling but she’s not answering her mobile, and Jake says she’s not at home.’
‘I’ll bet she’s at Coral’s,’ Eva muttered, picking up the phone. As she speed-dialled Patty’s number her eyes went to Livvy’s, but finding herself diverted to voicemail she hung up and was about to try Patty’s barn when her own phone started to ring.
‘Hi, Patty?’ she said.
‘No, it’s me,’ Don told her. ‘Everything OK?’
‘Fine. Livvy’s here, we’re just having a chat. Where are you?’
‘On my way to Horizon View. Apparently a couple of caravans were broken into last night, so I’m going over to find out what’s what.’
Since Horizon View was the site Patty ran, Eva said, ‘Does Patty know?’
‘Yep, she’s the one who called me so I’m meeting her there. Are we out for lunch today?’
‘No, but Elaine’s coming over for drinks at six. If you speak to Patty before I do, ask her to call me when she gets a chance.’
‘Will do.’
‘Hang on, before you go, what about Jasmine? Are you taking her with you?’
‘No, I’m dropping her at the gates on my way past so she can come in and pick up her stuff. She told me about last night, by the way, but we’ll have to talk about that later. Say hi to Livvy. Love you,’ and a moment later he was gone.
After ringing off and telling Livvy about the break-in, Eva said, ‘So at least we know where Mum is now – and Jasmine’s on her way back. I’m afraid to say I’ve had enough of her for this weekend, so shall we take Rosie and Elvis for a walk?’
‘Great idea,’ Olivia cried, leaping down from the stool.
However, by the time leads were found and titbits packed, the gates at the end of the drive were starting to swing open and as Eva watched Jasmine coming through on the CCTV she realised she didn’t quite have the heart to rush off without seeing her, especially when Jasmine would probably guess that she’d deliberately avoided her.
‘Tell you what, why don’t you deal with her?’ she suggested to Livvy.
‘Me?’ Livvy protested.
‘You’ve always got along better with her than I have.’
‘Since when? She hates me.’
‘Not as much as she hates me.’
‘Uh uh,’ Livvy said, shaking her head. ‘We’re in this together or not at all.’
A few minutes later, Eva and Olivia had the Sunday papers spread out over the bar and affected looks of pleasant surprise as Jasmine came in through the conservatory.
‘Hey,’ she cried cheerily, making them both blink. ‘Thought you were here, Livvy, saw your car. Sorry can’t stop, have to get home before the traffic bui
lds up. Great top, by the way. Did you design it yourself?’
Livvy was so dumbfounded that she only just managed to say, ‘No, it’s from the market.’
Instead of scowling, or adding some nasty little rider, Jasmine threw Eva a sweet smile and breezed on through.
‘I think I prefer it when she’s acting up,’ Eva murmured when she was sure Jasmine was out of earshot. ‘At least I’ve got some idea where I am with her then.’
‘I know what you mean,’ Livvy mumbled. ‘She’s up to something, isn’t she? I can feel it in my bones.’
‘She’s cooked up some trouble for me with her father,’ Eva decided. ‘That’ll be what it is.’
‘I don’t know what gets into you at times,’ Don shouted from the bathroom. ‘How the hell do you think calling her mother sad and bitter is going to help things between you?’
Zipping her jeans and snatching a smoky blue vest from a drawer, Eva shouted back, ‘You can’t seriously believe I said that?’
Appearing in the doorway, his face half covered with shaving foam, he said, ‘Maybe not, but you think it.’
‘As do you, my darling, and apparently Jasmine does too, or why would she say it?’
Stepping back to the mirror he carried on shaving.
Tugging the vest over her head, she went to the bathroom door. ‘Are you angry with me?’ she asked curiously.
He seemed surprised. ‘No, why?’
‘I don’t know, you just seem a bit edgy I guess. Is everything OK?’
‘As far as I know, it is. How about with you?’
‘I’m fine, except I’m missing you. I hardly saw you at all yesterday …’
‘I was sorting the problem at Horizon View, and I was back way before your stepmother arrived.’
‘Twenty minutes before, which you spent in the bathroom with the door closed. And what was that about? You never close the bathroom door.’
His razor stopped mid-air. ‘I don’t?’ he said, frowning.
‘Never.’
He turned to look at her. ‘I didn’t know that.’
A teasing light shot to her eyes. ‘So what were you trying to hide?’ she challenged playfully.
He looked down at himself. Apart from a fleck of foam that had dropped on to his chest he was completely naked. ‘Whatever it was, I think it must have gone now,’ he retorted drily.
Laughing as she turned back into the bedroom, she said, ‘We’re getting off the point. It’s not good that Jasmine lies to you about the things I say. Her mother’s having a really negative influence on her …’
‘OK, we both know my ex is not the most stable of women, so let’s leave it there.’
Under her breath Eva said, ‘You have a gift for understatement.’ Then more loudly, ‘Whether you want to hear this or not, Jasmine is being used by her mother in the most reprehensible way … If you’d insisted on her spending more time with us when we first got married she might be a very different person now.’
‘You know very well I tried.’
‘Then maybe we should have tried harder.’
‘Why, because you’re the perfect mother, I suppose?’
Eva’s face instantly paled, and realising what he’d said Don threw down his razor as he all but ran into the bedroom. ‘I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking …’
‘Go away,’ she said, as he tried to embrace her.
‘Eva, you know I didn’t mean it.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ she mumbled, starting through to the dressing room.
Following her, he said, ‘Yes it does, and you’re right, if Jasmine could have been part of our family she’d be a different girl now, because actually you’d have made a wonderful mother.’
‘Just stop,’ she snapped.
Seeming lost for what to say next, he waited in the vain hope that she might find a way to forgive his appalling gaffe, but to his dismay she said nothing. ‘Maybe if we’d had children of our own,’ he ventured tentatively.
She turned away. ‘If my son ever does come to find me,’ she said, wishing she could believe it would happen, ‘I don’t want him thinking I got on with my life as though he never mattered. And you didn’t want them anyway, because you’ve always felt the same about Jasmine.’
‘It’s true,’ he agreed, ‘and I’m not saying …’
‘Actually, shall we change the subject?’ she cut in.
Looking miserably helpless and contrite he watched her twisting her hair into a rhinestone clip, before arranging the long side sweep to help hide her scars. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said again.
‘I know you are. So am I.’
‘Eva …’
‘I really don’t want to discuss it any more. Every time we talk about Jasmine we end up like this, and frankly it’s not the way I want to start the day. Now, where are you going to be later? Is there any chance we can have lunch?’
‘I’ll have to check my diary, but I think it’s OK. Unless Vic Andrews at Dobbs Security gets in touch, and I’m hoping he will, because he should have got back to me by now.’
After pulling on a neutral linen jacket and pressing her feet into a pair of silver pumps she turned to look at him. His deep brown eyes were so full of regret and hope of forgiveness that she couldn’t help but soften. ‘How’s that going?’ she asked, knowing how much this new deal meant to him. ‘Do you think he is ready to sell?’
Clearly relieved to be back on safer ground, he returned to the bathroom. ‘Word has it his wife’s keen for him to retire,’ he answered, retrieving his razor from the sink. ‘It’ll make us the biggest outfit in the county if I can buy him out, if not the entire south-west.’
‘What happened to Eden’s offer? Is it still on the table?’
‘Not sure. That could be what’s holding things up. If that devious bastard’s outbid me and Vic’s already gone ahead and done a deal, I’m telling you, I will not be happy.’
‘And we can’t have that, can we?’ she teased, swinging round the doorway to slap him playfully on the bum.
‘Absolutely not,’ he agreed, ‘and if you do that again you won’t be leaving this room for at least the next half an hour.’
Her eyebrows rose, and as a sharp bite of desire caught her unawares, she heard herself saying, ‘Well, I could always call Olivia and ask her to open the shop.’
His eyes came to hers in the mirror. ‘Do it,’ he challenged softly.
Turning back to the bed she picked up the phone.
By the time she’d finished the call he was standing behind her, his hands covering her small breasts and his mouth pressing a trail around her long, slender neck.
Twenty minutes later, as he rolled on to his side of the bed, panting and sweating, he groaned irritably as the phone started to ring.
‘Do you think we can leave it?’ she said, still caught in the electrifying throes of an explosive climax.
‘Not really,’ he muttered, ‘it might be important,’ and reaching for the receiver he passed it to her.
‘Thanks,’ she said drily. Then, ‘Hello?’
‘Evie, it’s me,’ Patty told her. ‘Are you OK? Livvy just told me you asked her to open the shop.’
‘I’m fine,’ Eva answered with an exasperated smile. News moved at lightning speed in their family. ‘Just running a bit late. How about you? Elaine was sorry not to see you last night.’
‘I know, I spoke to her when I got back from Jake’s cricket which I thought was never going to end. Anyway, now I’m on the line, is Don still there? I tried his mobile, but I can’t get an answer and the police have changed the time they want to meet us this morning.’
‘I’ll pass you over. Call me later and we’ll catch up, OK?’
After handing the phone back to Don she got up from the bed, feeling thankful that he was distracted by the call as she walked to the bathroom, since she was still, even after all this time and the boundless intimacies they’d shared, self-conscious about the brutal scars that carved their grisly reminders across her back and but
tocks.
Stepping into the shower, she quickly hosed herself down and was just reaching for a towel when she heard Don saying, ‘All right, all right, calm down. I told you, I’m on my way. Yes, I’m leaving now, OK? I swear,’ and with a long-suffering sigh he planted the phone back on its base.
Concerned, Eva came to dry herself in the doorway. ‘What was she so worked up about?’ she asked.
Starting, as though he’d forgotten she was there, he shook his head in bemusement. ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘It’s just a meeting with the local chaps. Anyone would think it was a matter of life and death the way she’s carrying on.’
Puzzled, and worried, since Patty was usually able to deal well with stress, Eva said, ‘Livvy told me yesterday that she thinks Patty’s seeing Reece again. I wonder if that’s what’s getting to her.’
Don blinked with amazement. ‘You’ve got to be kidding,’ he retorted. ‘No way would she have anything to do with that toerag again.’
‘They’ve been on the phone to one another quite a lot lately, apparently. And she’s out all the time.’
Going past her into the shower, Don said, ‘I’ll try to have a chat with her after we’ve seen the cops, find out what’s eating her, because obviously something is – and if she is seeing that waste of space again I’m afraid I shall be telling her exactly what I think.’
Fifteen minutes later Eva was driving out of the gates ahead of Don, with so much going round in her mind that she almost forgot to wave as he turned in the opposite direction. She was worrying about Patty to an extent that she knew was probably irrational, but now the fear that Patty’s cancer might have staged a return had suddenly presented itself, there was no way she could ignore it. If she was right, and Patty was keeping it to herself … Oh dear God, Eva hardly knew what she’d do, but one thing was for certain, she couldn’t allow another minute to go by without speaking to her sister to find out if her worst nightmare was turning into a reality.