Adam was blunt and to the point. “Why did you do it? Why did you take it only to send it back?”
Chrissy’s heart sank. “Are you still angry with me? Oh, please don’t be angry with me, Adam, not today, I don’t think I could stand it.”
The sadness in her voice must have been obvious, because Adam recognised that something was wrong as soon as he heard her. His tone changed immediately. Now he sounded worried.
“What’s the matter, Chrissy?” he said quickly. “What’s happened? Tell me!”
“I’ve had some bad news, Adam. Some horrible news.” Her voice faltered as she spoke, and as Chrissy told Adam about Jo, she began to cry again.
Adam was immediately saddened, and all thought of the game, the wedding dress, everything vanished from his mind. “Oh, God…this is awful. Look, Chrissy, I want to see you. I know we were together only yesterday, but we parted in bad spirits, and I can tell how upset you are about your friend from the sound of your voice. I’m coming over.”
Chrissy wiped the tears from her eyes and sniffed. “I’m not going out, Adam,” she said. “Mum and dad want me at home, and I don’t think I’d be much company anyway.”
“That’s alright. I completely understand. I will stay with you. Your parents can meet me. It is about time. Tell them to get out the tea and cakes.”
“But, Adam!”
“I am not prepared to argue. I want to see you, Chrissy. And I want to hold you.”
His words made Chrissy wonder. “You sound like you really care about me.”
“I more than just care for you, Chrissy. I think you must be aware of that by now. Why else do you think I was so angry about the wedding dress? I will be there at eight. And I won’t be content until I hold you in my arms.”
He hung up before Chrissy could protest any further. She slowly put the phone down and went back into the lounge.
“It was Adam,” she confirmed as she sat down next to her mother again.
“I think we gathered that,” Veronica replied.
“He’s coming round.”
Veronica gave Chrissy a stern look. “If you think you’re getting out of this house again today, madam, you’re sadly mistaken!”
“We aren’t going out. He said he’s happy to stay here. He wants you to meet him. He said he’ll be here at eight and to get the tea and cakes ready.”
“Tea and cakes? I’ll give him tea and cakes! Where’s that Tabasco sauce? I’ll blow his head off!”
“Mum!”
Even before eight o’clock, Chrissy was in the front room waiting for Adam. She watched at the window, and as soon as Adam arrived, Chrissy rushed out the door to greet him.
Adam was just getting out of the car when Chrissy flew into his arms and nearly knocked him over.
“Oh, Adam! It’s awful! I feel awful! There I was with you on Saturday night, and Jo was already dead! I was enjoying myself, and now I feel awful!”
She began to cry and Adam hugged her tightly. “Calm yourself. You weren’t to know. There is no blame on you for being happy, Chrissy. I am sure Jo wouldn’t be angry with you, so don’t be angry with yourself. You will learn very quickly that life tries to kill you from the moment of your birth. It has no conscience and it gives no mercy. Jo merely lost the battle early. Now enough tears. Let’s go inside before your parents become impatient. We can talk more later.”
Chrissy looked round and saw her mother waiting for them at the door. She nodded and quickly wiped at her eyes. Adam locked the car door and they both walked up the drive.
Chrissy made the introductions. “Mum, this is Adam Campbell. Adam, meet my mum.”
Adam smiled as he greeted Veronica and said, “I can see where Chrissy gets her good looks.”
“Don’t think that fancy charm will get around me,” Veronica replied bluntly. “If I think you’re not good enough for our Chrissy, I’ll soon tell you.”
“Mum!” Chrissy protested, but Adam and her mother just ignored her.
“If you think I’m not good enough for Chrissy,” Adam was saying, “then I’ll be happy to abide by your decision.”
“That’s alright then. Come in.”
Chrissy had managed to persuade her mother to leave the Tabasco sauce where it was, and when they went inside, tea was ready to be served in the front room. Her father was waiting for them.
Adam smiled and shook hands with him. “Pleased to meet you at last,” he said.
“It’s about time,” Chrissy’s father replied. “Chrissy has spoken a lot about you. I just wish the circumstances were better.”
Adam nodded sadly. “Yes. I have to admit that I was shocked when Chrissy told me.”
“We all were. Jo used to come round here quite often.”
“Stop it, dad,” Chrissy said. “You’re going to make me cry.”
Her father nodded and they all sat down. Veronica poured the tea.
“Do tell me if it’s too hot for you,” she said to Adam as she handed him a cup, winking at her daughter.
“It will be fine, I am sure,” Adam replied. If he had noticed the wink, he didn’t say so.
At first, everyone felt a little tense, Chrissy the most. But Adam was charming and polite, and he answered all their questions without hesitation. Chrissy’s father was eager to know where Adam made his money. Adam explained about the bank and his investment company. Chrissy could see that her father was impressed, and although she did her best not to show it, even Veronica slowly began to warm to him.
“I was planning to poison you when you got here,” she finally announced.
“Mum!” Chrissy exclaimed in shock. But Adam merely laughed.
“I wondered what the wink was about. But isn’t that a harsh way of greeting your daughter’s friends. What changed your mind? Or is the poison slow acting?”
“I thought you might be a bit stuck up,” Veronica admitted. “What with your money and posh car and everything. But now that I’ve had a chance to talk to you I can see that you’re alright.”
“I’m glad to hear it.”
Chrissy was about to relax when her mother added, “But I still think you’re too old for Chrissy.”
“Oh, mum!” Chrissy exclaimed again. It was all she seemed to say since Adam had arrived. Why were parents so embarrassing?
Adam was unaffected by the remark. “You may be right,” he said, nodding. “But I think Chrissy and I will have time to discuss that problem before anything more serious develops. After all, neither of us has yet committed to a full relationship. We are as they say, just good friends.”
“Well, I should think so, too. You’ve only known each other for five minutes.”
“Exactly. A relationship needs time. And there are, as you say, problems between us. Be assured that Chrissy has already made it quite plain to me that I am on probation.”
Then Chrissy’s father said, “She always was fussy.”
“Dad!”
By the time Chrissy could get her parents to go into the back room and leave them on their own, it was nearly ten o’clock.
“Oh, I’m sorry!” she said to Adam when they were alone at last. “Mum should never have said that about your age.”
“She didn’t say anything that we both didn’t already know,” Adam pointed out. “I am too old for you.”
“No you’re not! You aren’t that old at all!” Chrissy protested.
“No, but you are young,” he pointed out. “There is twenty years between us, and because of this our relationship can at best, only be brief. Anything longer would be unfair to you, and be down to selfishness for me.”
“Be selfish!” Chrissy said to his surprise. “Be a rat! Lie to me and cheat me! I need a good old fight to take my mind off things! If not, I’m going to cry buckets and buckets tonight!”
Adam shook his head sadly. “No matter how much I take your mind off things now, you will still cry tonight.”
Chrissy sighed. “Yes, I suppose so. But it might have been a few buckets less.
” She poked him in the ribs. “You sound like you’re not interested in me anymore. Has losing the game put you off?”
Adam smiled, and quickly grabbed her hand. “Definitely not! The prize was always exquisite. And remains so. You have out-gunned me as you warned me that you would. And now I find that even though I have lost the game, my desire for the prize remains as strong as before.”
“Then what’s stopping you?”
Adam’s smile broadened. He reached out and caressed her neck. Then pulling her close, he kissed her. Chrissy didn’t resist, and when the kissing was over, she lay in his arms on the sofa.
“I feel so guilty,” she whispered.
Adam understood her meaning. “And if the taxi had killed you, would Jo have felt guilty?”
Chrissy looked up. “How could she? That wasn’t anything to do with her.”
“If I remember right, you told me it was her intention to pair you off with the brother of her boyfriend. So was it not her fault that you argued and then ran into the path of the taxi?”
“That’s not fair.”
“Neither is blaming yourself for her death. Jo was your friend, and you are deeply saddened by what happened to her. It’s only natural. But it wasn’t your fault. You feel guilty only because you are happy while your friend is dead. It’s unfair. But there’s nothing you can do about it. It’s quite alright to feel sadness, and it’s quite alright to mourn. But don’t feel guilty for still being alive.”
Chrissy stared at him for a moment before laying herself back down in his arms. She felt him hug her, and she knew that she felt more for him now than she had at any other time before. Was this how love, true love, began? She felt guilty as she remembered her arguments with Scott. She could still see his sad face. Would she still have felt the same if Adam wasn’t who he was? Was she really that mercenary? Would she be lying in Scott’s arms if he were the richer? Chrissy remembered that cold stare.
No! Never!
She looked up at him again. “I’m sorry about your mother’s wedding dress. I knew it meant a lot to you, but I didn’t realise just how much until I saw your face.”
“You said that you would take my most valuable possession, and you did.” Adam looked down at her. “Why then did you give it back? It was won fairly, and as you told me, what I wanted from you was no less valuable.”
She shrugged. “Maybe you’re not the only one that’s going soft,” she confessed.
“Maybe that was my intention.”
Chrissy sat up and stared at him. “What do you mean?”
Adam smiled brightly. “You know that I am devious and cunning. How do you know that the wedding dress and my feelings for my mother were not a trap for the gullible?”
Chrissy looked horrified. “But Charles said that you were upset! He called me heartless!”
“Charles has been with me for five years. He has seen every ploy in my game. I admit that he gave you some assistance, and it often suits me to allow this, but in the end, he still works for me.”
Chrissy stared at him, her eyes big and round. “You bugger!” she suddenly exclaimed and began smacking him. “You did it again, didn’t you? You tricked me! I won and you tricked and cheated me! You rotten bugger! You tell Charles that if he was lying to me, I’ll cut his ears off! Where is he? Why were you driving?”
“I left him at home,” Adam replied as he tried to fend off her blows. He was laughing even though Chrissy was hitting him quite hard. “It seemed churlish to ask him to wait outside in the car all night; although I’m sure he deserves it after his performance this weekend! Ow!”
Veronica suddenly burst into the front room. “Chrissy! Quick! It’s on the news!”
Chrissy looked up, startled, and hastily stopped smacking Adam. “What’s on the news?” she asked quickly, and began to blush with embarrassment. But her mother hadn’t seemed to notice what she and Adam were doing. She was much too excited.
“The murder!” she said dramatically. “Come on you two, or you’ll miss it!”
Chrissy and Adam followed her mother into the lounge and found that the newsreader was already part way through the item.
“ –identified the young woman found murdered at the weekend as Joanne Henshaw from Stretford. She was killed in the early hours of Saturday morning only a few streets away from her home.” The newsreader spoke dispassionately, and the screen was suddenly filled with a picture of Joanne smiling.
Chrissy recognised it straight away. It had been taken in this very room at her eighteenth birthday party.
The picture disappeared and the newsreader returned. “Earlier this evening, the police held a press conference to ask for anyone who saw Joanne on Friday night to come forward.”
The screen now cut to film of the press conference. It showed two men sitting at a desk with microphones being held towards them. Chrissy recognised them as the two policemen who had interviewed her, Connors and Shawcroft. Connors name came up as he spoke to the press.
“It’s important that anyone who saw Joanne late on Friday night should contact us. We are particularly anxious to interview the young man she was seen with that night.” A photofit picture came up on the screen as Connors continued. “We don’t believe he was responsible for her death, but we do believe he can supply us with important information about her movements that night. His name was Mike, and we ask for him to come forward so that his name can be cleared. We also ask that if anyone should recognise him, that they contact us immediately.”
The newsreader returned, smiled, and said, “And now the sport.”
“Well, fancy that!” Veronica exclaimed.
“It’s morbid,” Chrissy said tearfully. “We’re all morbid! Watching Jo on telly when she’s already dead!”
Her father sighed. “I feel sorry for her mum and dad. It’ll be all over the papers tomorrow. The reporters will be all around their house. They won’t be able to hide anywhere. And poor Jo’s sisters still at school.”
Chrissy burst into tears and ran back into the front room.
“Now look what you’ve done!” Veronica said to her husband. She started to follow Chrissy, but Adam held up his hand.
“It’s alright, Mrs Davis, I’ll go and sit with her. It might be best if it’s me. She can shout at me without having to say sorry afterwards.”
He quickly went back into the front room and closed the door.
Veronica stared at her husband. “Well! Of all the cheek!”
When Adam went back into the front room, Chrissy had already thrown herself on the sofa. She was crying. Adam sat next to her and took her in his arms. He pulled her onto his lap and held her there as she cried softly. He didn’t say a word. He just held her and waited patiently.
Finally, Chrissy’s tears subsided. Adam took a clean white handkerchief from his pocket and gave it to her. She wiped the tears from her eyes and face.
“I can’t help it, Adam,” she said. “Every time I see her picture it makes me cry.”
“It’s alright. It’s perfectly natural. And it will be like this for a while. Even when you stop crying about it, you’ll still feel sad. And it will always be like that. The memory might dim, but you’ll never forget her. And every so often, you’ll think of her and feel sad. It’s better if you try and remember the good things. Think of the fun you had together. Don’t think of the end. It’ll be alright, you’ll see.”
His words almost made Chrissy cry again. “Oh, Adam! You can be really nice sometimes! So why do you have to be such a devious bugger?”
Adam smiled weakly. “Because I care for you greatly,” he said seriously. “And I am not as devious as you think. What I said about the wedding dress earlier was nothing but a ruse. It did hurt me greatly, and Charles did not lie to you. I said it merely to distract you from your grief, as you asked me to.”
Now Chrissy did cry again. “Oh, Adam!” she wailed. “You sweet thing! And then mum went and ruined it all!” Chrissy remembered how she had smacked him and suddenly felt gui
lty. “Oh, I’m sorry! I hit you so hard as well! Oh forgive me, Adam! I didn’t mean it!” She smothered him in kisses.
Adam responded by grabbing the side of her head and focusing her attention on his mouth. They kissed like that for some time, and when they finally came up for air, they looked into one another’s eyes with such emotion that Chrissy could stand it no longer.
“I wish mum and dad were out,” she breathed.
“Ah! Another unattainable dream!” Adam exclaimed ruefully. “I share that dream, but fortunately for your virtue, they are both very much at home.”
“Then I’ve a good mind to turn up at your house on Saturday night wearing that red dress.”
“I would be very grateful. But how do you know that hasn’t been my intention all along?”
“Are you trying to trick me again?”
“Have I ever tricked you?”
“Have you ever stopped?”
“Then it is time we called a truce.”
Chrissy looked puzzled as Adam dislodged her from his lap and sat her next to him on the sofa. He looked very serious as he took her hands in his. She stared at him in surprise.
“Chrissy,” he began. “I did not come here just to comfort and console you. I also came here for my own needs. When Charles returned with the dress I was distraught. I had treated you badly, and as it turned out, unfairly. I want to put that right. I have brought the dress with me–”
“No, Adam! It was your mother’s!” Chrissy interrupted. “I can’t take it from you!”
“You can, and you must!”
“But, Adam–”
Adam held up his hand, cutting short her protests. “I want you to have it! You won it fairly. And, to be honest, I can think of no other person who I could wish for to have it. But in return, you must grant me one favour.”
Chrissy nodded and waited in anticipation.
“When you marry, I want you to wear it. Promise me?”
Chrissy almost slumped. “For a moment there, I thought you were going to propose!”
Adam looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry; I did not intend to mislead you. But if I had thought for just a moment that you would accept, I would have asked you.”
The Look of Love Page 24