by Susan Lewis
‘No, now is absolutely perfect,’ Neve assured her. ‘It’s like … You just don’t know … Oh my God.’
Susannah was laughing, and loving how genuinely thrilled Neve was to see her godmother. ‘We’re going out to celebrate tonight,’ she told her. ‘Lola’s coming too, so you’d better run upstairs to change out of that uniform.’
Neve was round-eyed with amazement. ‘This is like the best thing in the entire world,’ she declared, still looking at Pats. Then turning to Susannah she put her arms round her, saying, ‘I love you so much. You are the best mum in the universe so I know you’re going to let me wear your black jeans and fur gilet tonight.’
‘In which case,’ Susannah said, ‘you won’t mind if I wear your purple polo neck and pink glittery scarf.’
Neve looked stricken. ‘But I was going to wear that top with the jeans, and the scarf.’
Susannah glanced at Pats with twinkling eyes. ‘OK, I suppose Cinderella will just have to go in rags again,’ she said, ‘but at least I have a new coat to cover them up. Wait till you see it,’ she told Neve, ‘it’s to die for, but before you even think about asking, no, you cannot wear it.’
Laughing, Patsy went to the phone. ‘I’ll call a taxi to come and pick us up,’ she said. ‘Chutney Mary’s suit you?’ she asked Neve. ‘I’ve already reserved.’
‘Oh, that is only my and Lola’s absolute favourite,’ Neve gushed. ‘We went there for her birthday last year, didn’t we Mum? But it’s so expensive we could only have a starter each.’
Pinching her cheeks, which were crimson with excitement, Susannah pressed a kiss to her forehead, saying, ‘I’ve already showered, so the bathroom’s all yours. I’m going upstairs to get changed.’
Neve waited for the sound of Susannah’s floorboards creaking overhead, then closing the kitchen door she whispered to Patsy, ‘I have to talk to you. It’s really important. Oh my God, this is so amazing that you should be here, but I can’t tell you anything now. If Mum should find out she’ll go ballistic.’
Intrigued, Patsy said, ‘Do I get some kind of a clue?’
‘No! Not yet. I can’t. We have to sort out a time … I’ll give you my mobile number and we can arrange to meet without Mum being there.’ She was already jotting it down, and handing the scrap of paper to Patsy, she said, ‘Promise me you’ll call so we can set something up.’
As amused as she was intrigued, Patsy said, ‘Believe me, there’s no way I’m denying myself the satisfaction of finding out what this is about. Expect my call first thing tomorrow.’
Chapter Four
TRUE TO HER word Patsy called Neve the following day, later than she’d intended, thanks to a jet-lag oversleep, so she had to leave a message for Neve to call back.
It was ten thirty when her mobile rang. ‘I’m between lessons,’ Neve said hurriedly, ‘so my phone’s not supposed to be on. When can you make it?’
‘What about Friday evening, while Mum’s at work?’ Patsy suggested. ‘I can’t make it any sooner, I’m afraid, because I’ve got meetings and dinners I have to go to.’
‘Friday’s fine,’ Neve assured her. ‘Can you come to the house?’
‘Of course, or you can come here. I thought you might like to spend a night at the Ritz.’
Neve groaned with pleasure. ‘I’d absolutely love to,’ she told her. ‘But do you have a computer there, because we’re going to need one?’
‘Of course,’ Pats replied, her eyes shining with amusement. ‘I’ll send a taxi to pick you up at seven. You’ll be at Lola’s, yes?’
‘That’s right. Oh, Pats, this is so exciting I can hardly wait.’
After putting the phone down Patsy ordered coffee from room service, checked to make sure there were no more messages, then dragged herself into the shower, before starting on the emails that had come in overnight.
An hour later, feeling far more refreshed than a near sleepless night should have allowed, she was striding into the London office for a meeting that was scheduled to run straight through lunch and on into the afternoon. In the event, it didn’t finish until after six, which left her less than an hour to dash back to the hotel and change for a party to celebrate the launch of a new fragrance. So much for having a break before taking up her post in Paris, but it was useful catching up with everyone in London, and fun, since she knew most of the team well, and liked them a lot, particularly Anita Shayfer the MD.
‘You’re going to love it in Paris,’ Anita told her during a brief break in mingling during the party, ‘but you’ll have your work cut out trying to break through all that chauvinism. I’m especially interested to see how Frank Delacourt reacts. Everyone thought he was the hot favourite for your position.’
‘Mm, I believe he was,’ Patsy responded, ‘but Claudia tells me he turned it down.’
Anita seemed surprised. ‘So he was offered it?’ she said. ‘How interesting.’
‘Isn’t it? Do you have any idea why he’d back off?’
Anita shook her head. ‘I wouldn’t like to say. Frank’s … Well, he’s an unusual man. You’ve never met him, have you?’
Patsy shook her head. ‘So what’s he like?’
Anita’s eyes were starting to shine. ‘Let’s put it this way,’ she said, ‘he’s nothing like your archetypal Frenchman, either in looks or manner. As for the job, he’s got his own personal style which is … well, as I said before, unusual, and from what I can make out he commands the kind of loyalty the rest of us can only dream about.’
Patsy waited for her to go on. ‘You have to give me more than that,’ she protested.
Anita was close to laughing. ‘No, I don’t think I will,’ she decided, and with an airy little wave she went off to mingle again.
Over the next two days Patsy’s schedule remained hectic, making her thankful she’d gone to surprise Susannah the instant she arrived, or heaven only knew when she’d have managed to fit it in. Seeing her again, and feeling their bond reasserting itself so immediately, had been every bit as wonderful, and emotional, as she’d expected. However, the shock of finding her looking so gaunt and unhappy was still reverberating through Patsy’s conscience as though she were in some way to blame. She’d never felt good about leaving England when she had, and now, discovering what a drastic downturn Susannah’s fortunes had taken, she was determined to do whatever she could to change their direction. Helping out financially, particularly with Neve, was a good place to start, if only to prevent a repeat of the disastrous decision Susannah had taken last weekend. It made Patsy almost breathless to think of how far that might have gone had she not come back when she did, but fortunately it seemed someone up there had got his timing right for once. Not a chap generally to be relied upon, in her opinion, but then show her one who was – in fact, don’t, because unless he was gay, her father, or dead, he’d inevitably turn out to be a sex-change. For a fleeting moment she wondered if that was the unusual part of Frank Delacourt, then put it out of her mind.
It was extraordinary, she was thinking, as she waited for Neve to arrive on Friday evening, how adept both she and Susannah had proved over the years at choosing the wrong man. Though it had to be said, Duncan was in a class of his own when it came to worthless individuals. Pats had never liked him from the get-go, but Susannah, young, bedazzled and dying to slap on the greasepaint, had been swept away by his charm, which even Pats had to admit he’d had plenty of till the drugs took hold. Such a waste of a talent! Though to Patsy’s mind he’d never had as much of that as he’d tried to make out. She was more inclined to consider him a fake, a blagueur, in fact a pretty pathetic sort of specimen, particularly when it came to taking care of his family.
Still, it was behind them now, and though she continued to despise the man, she had little fear of him inflicting his loathsome self on them again should he actually manage to get out. He had neither the decency nor the courage it took to try, he only had the barefaced audacity to instruct his slimeball of a brother to put Susannah’s house on the
market. Well, he’d never stood a hope in hell of getting away with that, which he presumably knew by now, and if he didn’t Patsy would have no problem finding a very good lawyer to hammer the message home in ways he wouldn’t be able to misunderstand.
However, all that was for another time, should it prove necessary. What mattered this evening – and always – was his daughter, who had just arrived at the hotel and was on her way up.
Pats was standing at the door as Neve stepped out of the lift, looking overawed and rapt, and so like Susannah that it gave Pats a bit of jolt. ‘Darling,’ she said, opening her arms, ‘you should have let the porter bring up your bag.’
‘It’s fine,’ Neve replied, coming to embrace her. ‘This place is amazing, isn’t it? I mean, a bit OTT on all the gilt and curly-wurly antique stuff, but hey, am I complaining?’
Laughing, Pats caught hold of her hand and led her into the sitting room of her suite, where the sumptuous draperies, curly-wurly antique furniture, silk walls and Persian carpets made it a haven of luxury and prestige. ‘There’s an extra bedroom and bathroom, just for you,’ she told her, ‘but if you’re nervous about staying on your own I’ll get them to put an extra bed in my room. Now, what would you like to drink? There’s Coke, orange juice, lemonade … You name it. If it’s not here, we’ll have it sent up.’
Still seeming slightly overwhelmed, Neve began unbuttoning the coat Pats had given Susannah. ‘Can I have wine?’ she asked. ‘Mum lets me sometimes, half a glass with soda.’
‘Coming right up,’ Pats replied, her voice wavering on a surge of affection. She’d always adored Neve and seeing how fast she was growing up was making her feel quite emotional, and anxious that she might never have any children of her own. ‘Tell you what,’ she said, ‘tomorrow, instead of me taking you home, why don’t we get Mum to come here and the three of us can spend the weekend together?’
Neve’s eyes lit up. ‘Oh, she’d so love that,’ she answered warmly. ‘She hardly ever goes out, so coming somewhere like this would be a mega treat.’
Patsy’s eyes softened as she cupped Neve’s face in one hand. ‘You really love her, don’t you?’ she said tenderly.
Neve’s eyebrows rose in surprise. ‘Well, yeah, she’s my mum, so it kind of follows.’ Then, seeming to realise more was required, ‘Actually, yeah, she’s really cool. At least, I think so, apart from when she’s on my case about something, or in the bathroom when I want to go in there.’
With a smile, Pats pressed a kiss to her forehead and went to fix their drinks. ‘Here’s to you and Mum, and all of us being back together,’ she said, when they were both holding spritzers.
‘Cool,’ Neve said with a grin, and clinking her glass she took a tiny sip and put it down on the glass-topped table. ‘So I expect you want to know what I need to talk to you about,’ she said, dropping to her knees on a fur rug in front of the fireplace. ‘Where’s your computer, by the way? Is it here?’
‘It’s on the desk next door.’
‘And you can access the Internet?’
‘Of course.’
‘Great, because we’ll need to.’
Patsy sat down on one of the Louis Quinze chairs. ‘OK, I’m all ears,’ she informed her, ‘please don’t keep me in suspense a moment longer.’
Neve took a gulp of wine, as though to jump-start her courage, then said, ‘OK, here goes. I’ve done something that you might think is really crazy, or you might not. I don’t know, but the thing is … Well, I’ve been really worried about Mum for ages now. She never has any fun, or anything, and she’s always broke, even though she works really hard. I know it’s my fault, because she wants to keep me at the same school, so I thought if I could do something for her that might help make things easier … This is going to seem seriously random now, I know, but you’ve got to see it this way … Mum’s really sad inside. She tries to hide it, but I can tell …’ She swallowed as tears suddenly filled her eyes. ‘She’s afraid that things might never get better, and that she’ll keep letting me down all the time, and I don’t help because I get all angry and uptight when I can’t have the things I want. So anyway, I thought if she could meet someone with loads of money … Well, not just money, obviously, because he’d have to be kind and good-looking and really love her, which is the most important, but you know her, what’s not to love?’
Realising she was supposed to give an answer, Patsy said, ‘Absolutely nothing. It would be a good idea if she loved him too though, wouldn’t it?’
‘That’s exactly what I thought, and then I remembered there used to be someone, before she met Dad. She’s told me about him a few times, and you must know him because you all went to school together. Alan Cunningham?’
Patsy’s eyes grew wide.
‘You remember him?’
‘Of course.’
‘He was Mum’s first love, right?’
‘Right, but it was a long time ago. We haven’t heard from him in years.’
‘I know, but I’ve been asking Lola about him, well, about all of you actually, so’s not to make her suspicious, and she showed me pictures … She said really nice things about him, and when I saw his photo … Pats, he was seriously fit.’
Patsy looked puzzled. ‘He was in the football team,’ she agreed.
‘No, I mean fit as in drop-dead gorgeous.’
‘Oh yes, he was definitely that. All the girls fancied him, including yours truly, but he only ever had eyes for Mum.’ A certain understanding was starting to creep up on her. ‘What have you done?’ she asked, carefully. ‘Don’t tell me you’ve found him, after all this time?’
Neve’s eyes were shining as she nodded. ‘Yes, I have,’ she answered. ‘I went on to Friends Reunited a couple of weeks ago and on Tuesday he got in touch.’
Patsy shook her head in wonder and affection. ‘Ordinarily I might have a bit of a problem with dredging up people from the past,’ she said, ‘but in Alan’s case … Where is he? What’s he doing? The last I heard he was in Manchester, or was it Liverpool, but that was way back. He must be married, surely.’
‘I don’t know, I haven’t asked. I just went on the website, pretending to be Mum, to find out if he might be out there somewhere and still interested, and I got this message back. That’s why we need the computer, so I can go online and show you.’
‘Take me to it,’ Patsy commanded, getting to her feet. ‘My God, you’re amazing, Neve Cates. Remind me, if I ever have a daughter, she has to learn the ropes from you.’
Minutes later they were connected to Neve’s private mail on Friends Reunited and reading Alan Cunningham’s message.
Susannah, what a wonderful surprise. To be honest, I’m not quite sure what to make of it, because the last person I expected to find when I made an idle browse of the FR website was you. It was my first visit, and I only went on because my life changed rather dramatic ally a few months ago (if we meet, and I hope we do, I’ll tell you all about it) but it meant that I decided to leave Manchester, where I’ve been since university, to return to London. Finding myself alone in a place I’d once known so well, I thought I’d go online to see if I could contact any of the old crowd from school. I didn’t even dare to hope to find a message from you, but there it was, and so many memories came flooding back …
You won’t know this, but sixteen years ago, when I finished my studies, I came to find you hoping to restart our relationship. How arrogant was that, when I just took off after we’d finished our A levels, promising to keep in touch, and only managing it for a few months before university life suckered me into its specious web? Anyway, I got my comeuppance when I discovered that you’d met a very glamorous director and were madly in love. So, with my tail between my legs, I took the job I’d been offered in Manchester, and moved into the flat I’d imagined sharing with you.
My God, that was all such a long time ago. It seems really odd talking about it now, as if it happened yesterday. So much water has gone under the bridge for both of us. I’ve no idea if y
ou’re still with the director chap, but I guess not, or you wouldn’t have left a message for me on FR.
Patsy sighed, and realising where she was in the text, Neve said, ‘He sounds really cool, doesn’t he?’
Nodding, Patsy read on.
I’d love to meet up, if only to have a drink and a laugh about old times. I’m going to put my mobile number below, so you can ring any time. In case you didn’t know, I got my psychology degree, so that’s my profession these days. I mention it because if you don’t get an answer straight away, it could be because I’m mid-session. Whatever, I’ll definitely call back, so please leave a message.
Love Alan
PS, if you’re still in touch with Pats, please send her my love. And if dear Lola and Fred are still with us, please send to them too.
Patsy sat back so abruptly that she banged into Neve. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, putting a hand to her mouth. ‘It’s just so … It’s really getting to me. Straight down memory lane without passing go.’
Laughing, Neve put her hands on Patsy’s shoulders. ‘He’s a really nice guy, isn’t he?’ she said. ‘You can tell, by the way he writes.’
Sniffing, Patsy said, ‘It’s making me wonder about my old flame, Jamie Stone, and what he might be up to these days. On second thoughts, I’d rather have a drink. Bring me wine, and lots of it.’
Obediently Neve ran into the sitting room, topped up Patsy’s glass, and took it back to the study. By the time she returned Patsy had read the message again.
‘OK,’ she said, having herself under better control now, ‘what we need to decide is how to proceed from here. Evidently he thinks you’re your mother, so the question is, do we come clean to him that it’s us, or do we tell Mum and let her take over from here?’
‘Oh Pats, I knew you’d have the answer,’ Neve cried, throwing her arms around her.
‘That was a question,’ Patsy said, bewildered by the sudden gush of praise.
‘Yes, but you’re saying us, and getting involved, and I knew you would. So what shall we do?’