‘I should have gone to see them all after Ray came here. I’d built it into such a big thing, but I was sixteen when I left, a kid who didn’t know better. Now I do. I was such an idiot. I should have gone back …’
Gracie looked at her and shook her head in frustration. ‘You’re telling me all this, but I know there’s more to all this guilt than your nan dying. So what is it you aren’t you telling me this time?’
‘There’s nothing,’ Ruby said vehemently. ‘Just leave it alone. You keep going on and on all the time and I just want to work in peace. Our bookings are down and I have to think about getting the decorating done.’
‘I thought the decorating was going to be done early next spring?’
‘Yes, it was, but Tony said that’s too late. It needs to be started right away, then we can get the carpets down.’
‘Oh, bugger Tony and what Tony said. This is your hotel … and I bet he doesn’t know that yet, either!’
‘That’s not the point. Anyway, he’s coming over later so I want all this paperwork done first. We’re going to discuss the wedding. And he wants to schedule the engagement party. He wants a big fancy do at Garons in the High Street.’
Gracie huffed loudly. ‘Oh, come off it, Rube. You’re not still going to go through with this fiasco, are you?’
‘Of course I am. I agreed to marry him – how can I possibly call it off almost as soon as it’s happened?’ As she said the words so her face crumpled and she started to laugh and cry at the same time. ‘Oh God, I’m sorry. You’re right, this is one big mess and I don’t know what to do. Why do I get myself into these situations, eh?’
She was standing at the reception, leaning on her elbows with her head in her hands, pretending to study the columns of figures in front of her.
Gracie put her arm over her shoulders. ‘Stop feeling sorry for yourself and let’s go upstairs. I’ll just tell Edith she can be in charge for a while. That’ll please her no end. She doesn’t often get the chance to be out front and scare the guests.’
Ruby laughed. ‘She is a bit of a battleaxe, isn’t she? But she works hard.’
Making sure the door to the flat was properly locked this time, Gracie made a pot of tea, then sat quietly beside Ruby and waited. It wasn’t long before she told Gracie everything about bumping into Johnnie and what followed.
‘He said he’s coming to see me on Friday, just so that we can catch up, and then put it all behind us. A sort of Last Chance Saloon visit.’
‘Catch up, my eye. He wants more than a catch-up else he wouldn’t have been sat on the beach outside here looking like an abandoned puppy dog.’
‘He did look a bit sad, didn’t he?’ Ruby cracked a smile. ‘But that wasn’t because of me, it was because of that silly Sadie.’
‘Ruby, Ruby, listen to me. I can guess how you feel about Johnnie just by listening to you. You can’t marry Tony, you can’t. It’s not fair. Not that I care about him, of course – you’ll be well rid – but if he ever finds out … Honestly? You are playing with fire. You’ll not only get burned, you’ll be bloody torched,’ Gracie said.
‘But there’s no future for me and Johnnie. He’s married with kids, and you’ve seen the wife. And married is married in my book. Adultery isn’t for me. I just feel this pull to him … OK, dammit, I want to see him just once more, then that’s it: he can have Sadie and I’ll have Tony.’
‘First love and all that shit, it never really goes away,’ Gracie said.
‘Hmm. Not quite how I’d put it … But I’d almost forgotten about him. I’d inherited a bloody hotel, I was starting to feel content with Tony, and I know Maggie’s happy even if she isn’t mine, as such. Johnnie was just a memory …’ She clenched her fists. ‘I could kill the bastard who sent those postcards and disrupted my life. Everything was fine until then.’ She stood up and walked out onto the balcony. ‘Until Leonora died.’
Gracie walked out and joined her but this time she kept an eye on the door, even though she knew it was locked. She didn’t trust Tony Alfredo one bit.
Ruby reached for the binoculars and looked out over the sea. A storm was threatening and she watched the small boats bobbing about like toys in a bath. She loved living up here, at the very top of a building that was right on the seafront; she didn’t want to move, even if it was only a few doors down. She couldn’t do it. Thamesview was hers.
‘Well, I think whoever it was who sent the cards did you a great big favour, even if that wasn’t what they meant to do,’ Gracie interrupted her thoughts. ‘It’s brought it all out into the open. You don’t love Tony and you shouldn’t even be considering marrying him. He’s got a dark side Rube, I can smell it when he’s around. I know you think I’m mean but it’s not just that I don’t like him, I don’t trust him. There’s something bad there.’
‘That’s not fair! Tony’s a nice man. It’s not his fault I’m so complicated. But the question is still, why did whoever it was send those postcards? Who knew about both Ray and Johnnie? I mean, Ray’s my brother but no one knew about me and Johnnie.’
The two of them ticked names off on their fingers, trying to narrow down the list.
‘It had to be someone who knew where they both lived and that you were here.’ Gracie frowned as she tried to think it out. ‘There can’t be that many. The family in London didn’t know you were in Southend. People in Southend thought you were from Melton. People in Melton thought you were in London. How funny that is!’ she laughed. ‘The only ones who knew it all, especially about Johnnie, are the Wheatons and me.’
‘It definitely wouldn’t be Uncle George or Aunty Babs, and it’s not you …’ Ruby screwed her eyes up and suddenly her hand flew up to her mouth. ‘I know who it was. Oh God, I bet I bloody well know who it was …’
‘Well, tell me then.’
‘Yardley the driver. It has to be him. He’d met Ray and Johnnie when they went to Melton, he drove the car and heard all the conversations that went on in there; and he hates me.’
‘But how would he know the addresses of Ray and Johnnie?’ Gracie frowned. ‘Mind you, they were both out of date. It was just chance that Ray had gone to visit your mum that day and she never got to see it.’
‘I bet Aunty Babs has everything written down somewhere. She is so efficient at things like that. He could easily find that sort of information if he wanted it. They trust him and he can do whatever he likes.’
‘But why do you think he hates you? I don’t understand.’
‘He just does. I can’t explain right now. He’s strange and I think he thought I was taking his place somehow. Oh, I don’t know,’ Ruby said, unsure if she was trying to convince Gracie or herself. ‘If it was him then I think it’s probably because he was having a stir. I don’t think it was sinister.’ She sat with her face buried in her hands. She wanted to confide in Gracie but she couldn’t. She had to talk to Babs first.
‘I wish I’d seen one of the cards. He’s semi-illiterate – I’d have recognised his weird writing anywhere. Bugger it.’
‘Do you think he’s dangerous? Do you think he knows who Maggie is?’
‘Don’t say things like that, please. I’ll talk to Aunty Babs about it. I just have to get the order of things straight before I fire everything up. Another couple of days won’t hurt.’
‘And what about Johnnie? Are you going to put him off as well? Mr Married Man.’
‘Gracie! You’re not my mother! I’ll do what I decide to do, about Johnnie, about Tony, about Yardley, about Nan’s funeral … There. That’s how much I’ve got going on, so put that in your pipe and smoke it.’
Gracie smiled. ‘Good to see you’ve still got some gumption about you, girl!’
Derek Yardley was once again maniacally polishing and buffing the Vauxhall to within an inch of its life. He saw Babs Wheaton look out of the window that overlooked the garage and was certain that he was being watched. He didn’t like it one bit. In fact, he was feeling very scared. He’d often fretted about being invisible, but now it se
emed that she was watching his every move, checking up on him, asking him questions. He was getting increasingly paranoid, wondering if Ruby had said anything to them.
Were they watching him because of Maggie? Did they think he would actually touch a child, their child? Did they believe Ruby Blakeley’s story? The questions kept whirring repetitively in his head. He’d never done anything else wrong, never, but now his life was going to end because of that one stupid incident so long ago.
He was scared, but he was also offended because it wasn’t true. Or not true in the way she saw it. Yes, he had tried to kiss her and touch her, but he hadn’t expected her to mind. He had thought she liked him as much as he liked her.
At the age of twelve Ruby had been clever and pretty, and knew far more than he. He would watch how she behaved with her friends, especially with Keith, the lad from the greengrocer’s, and he would want to be out there with her, chasing through the fields and racing bicycles.
He’d watched as the mousy ten-year-old evacuee had turned into a lively, amusing girl with a wit and wisdom way beyond her years, and it was about then that he’d stopped seeing her as a child and thought of her as something more. He had sat up in his flat fantasising about her and imagining what it would be like to have a relationship with her, to have sex with her.
He had liked her so much and had wanted her so badly, but then when she rejected him the feelings had quickly turned to a hatred that was coupled with the fear of losing everything he had with the Wheatons.
As Yardley was buffing the car and thinking, he saw Babs Wheaton look out of a different window. He couldn’t think what to do. He was scared witless and convinced it was only a matter of time before he lost his job, his home and his standing in the village as the doc’s driver. His life.
He carried on polishing and did his best to look unconcerned. After a few minutes he put the dusters away and he did what he had done so many times before when he was stressed and knew he wouldn’t be needed for a few hours. He got his beloved pushbike out of the garage, wheeled it to the end of the drive and then cycled hard and fast to the woods between Melton and the next village and then made his way to the location of his old shelter, hidden deep in the woods where no one ever ventured. He had lived there for so many years it was his security blanket and the only place where he could always clear his head of the crushing headaches that he suffered under stress and think clearly.
Although basic, his makeshift den was reasonably weatherproof, with protection from the canopy of the trees above and the well-weathered roof and walls of mud mixed with moss and layered onto crossed branches. Well hidden, miles away from any public access in the densest part of the woods, and meticulously blending into the surroundings, it was visited by no one. Whenever he went there he’d tidy up and make sure it was ready for his next visit. He’d sweep dry leaves into his makeshift mattress to refill it, gather some fallen branches for his fire, add some more mud to the walls and ceiling, and renew the covering foliage. He’d even got a couple of raggedy old blankets, an eiderdown and a pillow, which he covered in an old tarpaulin every time he left. Each time he visited he took something new with him to leave behind. This time it was a battered old saucepan that he’d bought at the church jumble sale. He never slept there any more but he had to keep it up to scratch. Just in case.
The den was his security blanket and he couldn’t imagine a life without knowing it was there waiting for him.
Once his chores were done and he was satisfied he lay back on his mattress and waited for his headache to clear. Then he started to formulate a plan.
Twenty-Eight
Tony Alfredo’s face was screwed up with anger. Ruby had never seen him like that before, and as he marched back and forth across the room with his fists clenched she could see exactly what Gracie meant. There was a darkness about him that was suddenly frightening. He barely resembled the handsome and rangy Anthony Alfredo, with his sexy Roman colouring and charming smile.
He reminded her of Ray.
‘Are you telling me that you own the Thamesview? And you never said anything?’
‘Well, yes, but I don’t see what difference that makes … You knew I worked here and I still do. Why would you mind?’ Ruby asked.
‘Why would I mind?’ he asked nastily. ‘Are you mad? You keep something like that from me and ask why I mind? We shouldn’t have secrets. I don’t have secrets from you, you know everything about me. Why didn’t you tell me?’
‘Maybe because I knew you’d be like this. Oh, I don’t know, it just wasn’t important so I never got round to it,’ Ruby said with a shrug that seemed to incense Tony even more.
‘Do you really not understand? I am your fiancé. We were planning our future together as a couple and you didn’t think something like this would be important? I don’t believe you. This has to have been a deliberate attempt to undermine me.’
‘It wasn’t, Tony, I promise.’
He stared at her in disbelief. ‘You knew I wanted you to give up working there as soon as you became my wife, and now I find out you actually own the place.’
‘I’m sorry you feel like that, Tony, but I don’t understand why it makes any difference. I’ve not got control of it, anyway. Uncle George and Aunty Babs have that for five years. What I do is just a job, like I said.’
‘That’s not legal. He can’t have control of something that’s yours. He’s not your guardian.’
‘It was Aunt Leonora’s wish. Her will was very specific about what she wanted.’
‘That doesn’t matter if it’s not enforceable in law. I need to see the will.’
From being apologetic for the situation Ruby was suddenly angry. ‘This isn’t to do with you, this is family business.’
He laughed nastily. ‘They’re not your family. Your family live in the dirty backstreets of East London, not in a bloody great house in the country like the Wheatons. You’re getting a bit too big for your boots for my liking.’
Ruby looked down at her hands. She couldn’t believe he’d thrown such a low blow.
‘I don’t care what you say, it’s still Wheaton family business.’
‘No, from now on it is my business. When we’re married I’ll be responsible for the hotel. It’ll be ours in law.’ He stopped marching about and looked out of the window. He didn’t look at her. ‘You said there’s a reserve fund – how much money is in it?’
‘I don’t know. Tony, stop it. I don’t want to talk about it. You’re making mountains out of molehills. Can we just talk about the flat and the wedding?’
‘The flat’s irrelevant now that we know you own a great big hotel. How inadequate do you think that makes me feel, my wife having more money than me?’ He held his arm out and pointed around the room. ‘I’m showing you a poky little flat owned by my parents, and you’re laughing behind your hand because you own a whole damned hotel.’
He had started to pace again, his shoes clicking rhythmically on the stiff, brown-patterned linoleum, which was laid throughout all the main areas of the flat. Ruby hated it; in fact, she hated the flat, which was dingy and old-fashioned. The only thing going for it was the view, but there was no balcony.
As he paced he puffed angrily on a cigarette, despite usually being only a social smoker.
‘Tony, I’m leaving now. I’ll talk to you when you’ve calmed down. I don’t like you being like this. You’re reminding me of Ray when he used to rant and rave.’
She picked up her handbag and scarf and started walking towards the door, but in an instant Tony was blocking the way with his body.
‘You can’t go and leave all this hanging in the air.’
‘Get out of my way, Tony. We’ll talk tomorrow.’
She tried to get past him but he was across the room in a flash with his arms out blocking the doorway. ‘You’re not going anywhere. We have to talk this through.’
‘Yes I am, I’m going home. I don’t want a scene. We can talk tomorrow.’
His hand shot out
reactively and gripped her around the neck, but just as quickly he let go.
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to do that. I love you, Ruby. You can’t do this to me …’
‘I don’t think you do love me, not really. I’m sorry, Tony, I can’t marry you now, not after this.’ She looked him straight in the eye. ‘The engagement is off.’
She pulled the diamond ring from her finger, but rather than give it to him she laid it gently on the utility sideboard his parents had left in the flat. Her heart was thumping with fear but she tried to keep her voice calm. Anything to get out of there and away. The fear was rising in her, just as it had when Ray was attacking and trying to control her. Suddenly she saw the handsome and eligible Tony Alfredo as a threat and she was horrified.
‘I’m really sorry but if you don’t let me go I’ll call the police,’ she said as calmly as she could as she ducked under his outstretched arm and out of the room, trying to pull the door shut behind her, but she pulled it onto his fingers, which were gripping the edge of the doorframe, making him yelp with pain.
Ruby had known Tony Alfredo and his parents for over five years, most of the time she’d lived at the Thamesview, and although she knew he could often be overly self-assured and occasionally bumptious, she saw that as a trait he had to have to get on in the legal profession. He could also be loud and intimidating when he was crossed, but it had never once occurred to her that Tony would hurt her. Despite being indulged at every turn in his life, Tony had still been brought up in the God-fearing Italian way, and he continued to follow most of the rigid rules of life that came from a religious upbringing.
She was certain he was a good man at heart but his reaction to her inheritance had been out of all proportion, and she knew she could never marry someone who she could not confide in about Maggie one day.
She had just opened the door at the top of the stairs when Tony threw the sitting-room door wide open and flew at her like a madman.
‘You’re not going until this is resolved. I’m not letting you call it off. I’m not.’
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