by Susan Lewis
Everything was such a nightmare. Her whole life was falling apart and nothing she did was making it right. She hated herself for being so weak, for not standing up to the Durmites, for picking on her mother, for detesting her father, for wanting to hit Josh and the twins just to shut them up. Her grandma was the only one who really understood, but she wasn’t very easy to talk to, and anyway she had enough on her plate, taking care of everyone now that her dad had gone.
“Paige, I heard you on the phone,” Charlotte said from outside the door. “Don’t cry. It’ll be all right.”
Grabbing a handful of loo roll, Paige dried her eyes as she slid back the bolt to let her in. “Sorry I woke you up,” she said hoarsely. “My stupid mother was having a go. It’s like it’s my fault my dad has left her. How can it be my fault when it has nothing to do with me?”
“Is that what she said?” Charlotte asked worriedly.
Paige shook her head. “Not really. I mean, I don’t know what she’s saying half the time. I’m not sure she does either.” She inhaled shakily and blew her nose. “I’m dreading Auntie Hanna going back to London,” she confessed. “It’ll all be down to me then, and it’s not fair. I don’t want to be caught in the middle, sticking up for my mum, having a go at my dad…He’s the one who’s turned our lives inside out, so he’s the one who ought to be putting it right.”
“Why don’t you tell him that?” Charlotte suggested.
Paige regarded her warily.
“Ring him up—or text him—and tell him you’ve got your own life to lead, so you don’t need to be dealing with his shit. No, no, this is what you should do. You should tell him what’s going on at school and say it’s up to him to sort it out.”
Paige looked uneasy. “I don’t want to talk to him,” she said, “and definitely not about that.”
“But you have to talk to someone, Paige, because it’s totally stressing you out.”
Paige stiffened. “Wouldn’t you be the same if it was happening to you?”
“Of course, but I’m pretty sure I’d tell my mum.”
“Even if you knew it was going to make it worse, or that she might take your phone and computer away?”
Charlotte shuddered. “She’d never do that,” she responded, clearly appalled at the mere idea. “No way would I let her.”
“I wouldn’t want to let my mum either, but she’d end up finding a way.”
“So what are you going to do? Just carry on letting them get away with it? That photo was obscene, and remember Julie said it went on for about six months with her. Are you seriously going to let that happen to you?”
“No. I don’t know.” Her eyes were full of helplessness as she looked at Charlotte. “I haven’t heard anything today,” she said. “Maybe they’re fed up already and have moved on to someone else.”
Charlotte shrugged. “Let’s hope you’re right, because you can’t stay away from school forever, and my mum’s saying I probably ought to go back tomorrow.”
“It won’t be as bad if you’re there. I just didn’t want to face it on my own today, I’m scared stiff they’re going to start beating me up.”
“They haven’t done anything physical yet,” Charlotte pointed out. “I mean not seriously physical, so I don’t expect they’d dare. Look at it this way—if you had bruises and stuff, your mum and the teachers would want to know how you got them.”
Paige nodded distractedly. She was thinking of her grandpa and how easy he’d always been to talk to. She wished he were still here so she could ask him what to do.
“I know what I’m going to do,” Charlotte declared importantly. “If I see Liam at the weekend, and I reckon I will, I’m going to tell him what’s happening. At least he’ll be able to convince Oliver you’re not behind any of it.”
Paige didn’t like the idea at all. “And I’ll end up looking like a miserable victim who can’t stand up for herself,” she retorted. “Great.”
“Well someone has to stand up for you if you’re not going to.”
“I will,” Paige snapped back. “I’ll talk to someone, just not yet, OK? Let’s wait and see if they’ve stopped first, because for all we know they might have.”
—
“Mrs. Moore? It’s Richard Pryce speaking. Is this a good time?”
“Yes, yes, it’s fine,” Jenna assured him, wishing she didn’t know him, yet relieved that she did.
“A couple of things. I’ve spoken to Sean Burrows, the auditor I mentioned when you were here yesterday, and he’s happy to work with you.”
“Yes, I called him about an hour ago. We’ve arranged for him to come here at ten o’clock tomorrow.”
“That’s good. Hopefully it won’t take long, and once we have a complete picture of what’s happening in the company, we’ll have a better idea of how to proceed.”
“Of course.” Why did this man make her feel so ashamed, so pathetic, for not having realized a long time ago what her husband was up to? She was sure he didn’t mean to, but it was how she felt every time she thought of him, never mind when they spoke.
“Second thing,” he continued, “have you had time to read the letter we drafted to your husband? We attached it to an email earlier today.”
She swallowed dryly. “Yes, I’ve read it,” she replied.
“And how are you feeling about sending it?”
“I think you should.” God only knew how Jack was going to react, though it wouldn’t be well, she was sure of that. However, she couldn’t handle him on her own, not without Hanna here as backup, so he needed to know that she had support from elsewhere.
“OK, I see we’ve received the address, so it’ll go in the mail tonight. I’m very hopeful we can resolve this without going to court.”
“Thank you,” she murmured. “You’re being…” She wanted to say “very kind,” but the words became lodged in her throat.
“I’ll let you know if he contacts me,” he told her, “and perhaps you could do the same if he contacts you.”
After assuring him she would, she put the phone down and looked at Bena.
“Richard?” Bena asked.
Jenna nodded.
“He’s a good person to have on your side.”
Sure of it, but wishing there didn’t have to be sides, Jenna said, “You know I can’t go on paying you—”
“Don’t even mention it,” Bena interrupted. “I’m here for you, and that’s that. Between friends it’s not about money.”
Smiling past the lump in her throat, Jenna whispered, “Thank you.” After taking a breath she said, “Jack obviously wanted us to find out what he’s been doing, or he wouldn’t have given us the password to his computer.”
Bena didn’t disagree.
“He’s probably even wondering why we haven’t brought it up.”
“Or he thinks we haven’t bothered to look at his files yet.”
“Whichever, it clearly doesn’t seem as though he’s planning to tell me himself. He’s left me to find out on my own and made me a gift of the company into the bargain.”
Bena’s expression showed her disgust.
Getting to her feet to let Waffle into the office, Jenna said, “I know it sounds daft because Richard’s much younger than my dad, but he reminded me of him in a way.”
“I wish I’d met your dad. I can tell by the things you’ve told me that he was very special.”
Jenna had to swallow. “I’m missing him so much at the moment,” she confessed. “I think we all are, me, Mum, and Hanna. He was our rock. He always knew what to do in a crisis. It’s very hard to have to cope on your own when you’re so used to having someone like him in your life.”
“But you’re managing very well, and you’ll get through this, I promise. OK, it probably won’t be easy at times, but we’ll all be here for you, and you’re much stronger than you think.”
Jenna’s smile was faint. “I’d like to believe that, but I’m not so sure. Sunday was just awful, the way Jack laid into me. It wa
s as though he hated me and was blaming me for everything that’s happening, and now I’m even questioning myself. What did I do wrong? Why didn’t I see we were in trouble?”
“You’re not to blame,” Bena said forcefully. “This is all down to him, every last bit of it, and it’s typical of someone who knows he’s in the wrong to twist things round to make someone else the guilty party. The only good part of that is it shows he has a conscience, though it makes me sick to think of how he’s using it to hurt you even more.”
Sighing, Jenna picked up her mobile to text Paige. How are you feeling?
She wasn’t expecting a reply anytime soon. Paige would be in class, and she didn’t always turn her phone on between lessons either.
“I know all this business with Dad is upsetting you,” Jenna had said to her last night, “but I’m worried that there’s more you’re not telling me.”
“I don’t want you to worry about me, all right?” Paige had snapped. “I’m fine. I just don’t want to listen to you shouting at him on the phone, or him trying to pretend that everything’s normal when it isn’t. You should stop him from coming. It’s not helping anyone, least of all you. And just in case you didn’t know, Josh wet the bed last night.”
“Yes, I know,” Jenna had said softly. “And it’s not the first time since Dad went.”
“So stop him from coming. He’s the cause of it, and so are you because you let Josh see how upset you are.”
Those words were still resonating painfully through Jenna’s mind. She knew she had to pull herself together and get on top of what was happening or they were all going to fall apart, and she just couldn’t let that happen.
Paige’s text arrived.
Today is total shit. Hate this school. Wish we’d never come here.
Though she loved the Gower herself, Jenna knew she’d wish the same if it would mean Jack had never met Martha. Tell me what I can do to make things better, she texted back.
She waited and waited but Paige didn’t respond, and by the time Kay brought Josh and the twins in from school Jenna’s concerns for her elder daughter had slipped to the back of her mind.
“I thought Dad was picking us up,” Wills cried angrily. “He said he would today, but when we came out he wasn’t there.”
Jenna looked at her mother.
“He texted me about an hour ago to ask if I could do it,” Kay told her.
“And you didn’t tell me?”
“I assumed he had.”
“Did he give a reason for not going?”
“Not to me. Flora, you’ve left your coat in the car.”
“I don’t care,” Flora pouted. “I don’t want it.”
“Go and get it,” Jenna told her.
“No!”
“Do it now or you’re going straight to bed.”
“I hate you,” Flora cried, starting back to the car, and quickly returning with her coat.
“Josh, sweetheart,” Jenna said, “how did you get on in school today?”
He simply shrugged and trudged into the sitting room.
“Did he say anything on the way home?” she asked her mother.
“He kept telling us to shut up,” Wills answered.
“So what did you do?” Kay prompted.
Wills looked sheepish. “He was asking for it,” he protested.
“So you hit him?” Jenna queried.
“Because he was asking for it.”
“Go and apologize.”
“Oh, Mum!”
“Now!”
“Can I have something to eat first?”
“I bought some chocolate eclairs on the way back,” Kay told her. “Is Bena still in the office? I brought one for her too.”
“I’m sure she’d love one,” Jenna replied. “Pop over and get her, Wills.”
“I thought I was supposed to apologize to Josh.”
“Yes, do that, and Flora, you can go and get Bena.”
“Why wasn’t Dad there when we came out of school?” Flora demanded.
“That’s what I’m about to find out,” Jenna told her, reaching for the phone.
To her surprise Jack answered on the second ring.
“The children want to know why you didn’t pick them up,” she informed him.
“I got held up in a meeting,” he retorted.
“What kind of meeting? Do you have a new job now?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, you’re not running our company anymore, so what are you having meetings about?”
“I don’t have to answer that.”
“Maybe not, but you do have to explain to the children why you weren’t there when you said.”
“I was going to call them later.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really. I suppose you’ve already told them that it’s because I put Martha ahead of them.”
“Actually, I’ve said no such thing, but it is what you’ve done.”
With an exasperated sigh he said, “Why don’t I speak to them now?”
“Are you sure you have the time?”
“Put one of them on, will you?”
“Before I do, have you been in touch with Paige?”
“I’ve texted her, but she hasn’t texted back.”
“Well, for your information, she hates school and wishes we’d never come here. I wonder how big a part you’re playing in that.” Handing the phone to Wills, she said, “Here’s your hero, sweetheart. The daddy you love and look up to.”
It was after seven by the time she heard from Paige again. I suppose you haven’t even noticed I’m not home yet. Am at Charlotte’s and staying the night. Please bring clean underwear.
No P for Paige, or x for a kiss.
And nowhere to turn with all the panic she could feel building inside.
The following afternoon Jenna was in the kitchen when she heard Jack’s car practically skidding to a halt in the drive outside. The slam of the driver’s door and determined crunch of his footsteps on the gravel was followed by the throwing open of the utility room door and an explosive entrance into the kitchen.
“What the hell is this?” he demanded, waving Richard Pryce’s letter in her face. “What in God’s name do you think you’re doing?”
“If you’ve read it, you know what I’m doing,” she managed to say smoothly, inwardly quailing at such aggression.
“This is asking me to explain things that are no one else’s bloody business,” he shouted. “What the hell’s the matter with you? Didn’t it occur to you to talk to me before consulting a lawyer? And what’s going on in your head that you think you even need one?”
“I’d like to know what’s going on in yours that you suddenly started charging people—”
“That sister of yours is behind this.”
“—without telling me. And you can blame Hanna all you like. In fact, why don’t you blame everyone except yourself, because you’ve never done anything underhanded or wrong or duplicitous, have you, Jack?”
His expression was so murderous she almost took a step back. “Exactly what do you expect to gain from this?” he growled. “Exactly what—”
“The letter makes it perfectly clear,” she cut in angrily. “I want to know where the money is that you tricked out of the writers.”
“What do you mean, tricked?”
“What I said. You haven’t given them anything for it, so you’ve taken it under false pretenses. That’s called fraud, in case you didn’t know.”
“There are all kinds of marketing opportunities being put into place,” he shouted. “That’s what they’re paying for. I’m offering worldwide exposure.”
“Since when? And if it’s true, why have you never discussed it with me?”
“I’ve been trying to put it together.”
“How? With whom? And once again, why don’t I know about it? I haven’t found anything on your computer to back this up.”
“You won’t if you’re not looking in the right
places. And why am I standing here justifying this as if I’m some sort of criminal?”
“Because I’m very much afraid that’s what you are. As far as I can see, you’ve taken money from people and given them promises you can’t keep.”
“For Christ’s sake…”
“If it was honest, had real integrity and genuine possibility, you’d have told me about it. So where is their money, Jack? What have you done with their savings, their dreams, their trust? You know it was never our intention to charge them.”
“Correction! It was never your intention, and if it had been even remotely possible to set up a company without charging the authors, you might have had your way. But it wasn’t. So I did what I had to do to make things work.”
“Like lying about a grant from the Arts Council.”
He flushed. “I was sure it would come through.”
“And exactly how is anything going to work for the company when the money’s gone into your personal account? Is it still there?”
“Of course it’s not there. What the hell do you think we’ve been living on all this time?”
Her heart gave a horrible thump. “Are you saying…?” She didn’t want to believe this, she really didn’t. “What’s happened to our savings, your severance pay, my inheritance?” she asked quietly.
“What do you think?” he cried furiously. “It ran out months ago, so I had to think of something to keep us going.”
“And that something was to cheat other people out of money that’s probably even more hard-earned than ours? Jesus Christ, what’s the matter with you, Jack? Surely you can see how wrong that is.”
“And it would be right to stop paying our bills, feeding our children, giving them what other kids have?”
“But they never needed smart TVs, iPads, iPods, or whatever the hell else you decided they should have. Oh God, Jack, I can’t believe you’ve done this. If you’d told me we were in trouble, I could have cut back.”
“It’s a bit late to be telling me that now.”
“You never gave me the chance.”
“You didn’t want to hear it.”
“Did you even try?”
“Plenty of times, you just weren’t listening.”