It Had To Be You

by June Francis

  ‘I know. But I’m more worried about Uncle Teddy getting away. He was carrying Ma’s box with her documents in.’

  ‘How did he get into the house?’ asked Dorothy.

  ‘I can only think I must have left the back door open when I carried the ladder inside,’ groaned Jared.

  ‘But how would he know that?’

  ‘Perhaps he’s been watching the house, waiting for an opportunity like that,’ said Jared, leaning against the gatepost.

  Dorothy shivered. ‘Ooh, that’s creepy.’

  ‘Well, I’m not going to go off to the hospital and leave you alone. I’ll wait until Ma or Maggie comes home,’ he said, his mouth tight with pain.

  Dorothy put an arm round him. ‘Let’s go inside. I’ll make you some hot sweet tea. D’you think you’ll still be able to meet Emma off the train tomorrow?’

  ‘Of course I can. I might have broken my arm, not my leg,’ said Jared, realising with a sinking heart that he wouldn’t be able to sort out Emma’s back bedroom, or do his paid job, for weeks, if it was broken. Perhaps it was only jarred. Within hours he knew the latter was just wishful thinking.

  ‘You should never have gone up there,’ said Elsie, much later that evening.

  She placed a cushion on the arm of the sofa, so her son could rest his plastered arm on it if he wished to do so. ‘The bloody nerve of Teddy coming into this house without a by your leave.’ Her expression was strained.

  Jared gazed at her from beneath drooping eyelids. ‘I know. That’s how I felt. He must have been watching the house. I’m sorry he got away with your box, Ma.’ He closed weary eyes.

  His mother stiffened. ‘That’s the first time you’ve mentioned a box. You mean to say it was the one from my bedroom?’

  ‘I didn’t get a good look at it but I’d swear there was a picture on the lid.’

  Elsie swore. ‘I bet you’re right.’

  ‘But why should he have taken that?’ asked Dorothy. ‘You didn’t keep money in it, did you?’

  ‘Some, but not a lot,’ said her mother, ‘but it’s got all the insurance policies and birth, marriage and death certificates in! As well as my bank book. The bloody swine!’ She started to her feet, a hand to her chest. ‘There’s private letters in there, as well as photographs of you kids when you were young, and the little chalk drawing you did, as well as the first birthday card your dad ever sent me,’ she gasped.

  ‘What would he want them for?’ asked Dorothy.

  ‘Just to make life bloody difficult for me.’ Elsie’s hand shook as she reached for her cigarettes. ‘We’ve got to get it back.’

  ‘He’s probably burnt the lot,’ said Dorothy.

  ‘No! He wouldn’t burn everything,’ said Elsie, lighting a cigarette. ‘We need to call the police in. We’ve talked about it but haven’t done it. He can’t be far away.’

  ‘At least the deeds to the house weren’t in it,’ said Jared, glad that he’d taken them from his mother yesterday and placed them in the metal box he’d had since he was a kid. It contained shells he’d picked up off Formby beach, his champion conker, a Victorian double-headed coin and the toy car that his dad had bought him for his eighth birthday.

  ‘I’ve just remembered that there was a copy of my new will in there,’ said Elsie, paling. ‘He’ll discover that he doesn’t even get a mention in it, and Emma does.’

  ‘Emma!’ exclaimed Dorothy, staring at her. ‘Why Emma?’

  Elsie did not immediately answer because she was puffing on her cigarette as if her life depended on it. ‘You get a mention, as well. You all do − even Betty.’ She hesitated. ‘But there’s a typed letter paper-clipped to my will, explaining why Emma’s included.’

  ‘I don’t understand,’ said Dorothy, her green-blue eyes bewildered.

  ‘I owe Emma a lot. I wouldn’t have a penny if it wasn’t for her,’ muttered Elsie.

  Jared groaned and rested his head against the back of the sofa. ‘Uncle William’s money!’ he exclaimed.

  His mother stared at him. ‘What do you know? Did the solicitor say something to you or have you been prying?’

  ‘Have I hell,’ said Jared, glaring at her. ‘I worked it out for myself. You and Dad didn’t have the kind of money to buy a house this size. Especially once he took ill. Aunt Lizzie must have helped you out, and where did she get the money? Uncle William must have left it to her and his daughters.’

  ‘One daughter,’ said Elsie.

  There was a silence.

  ‘What do you mean?’ he demanded. ‘Come on, Ma, spill the beans.’

  Elsie was visibly trembling as she lit another cigarette from the one she was smoking. ‘Y-you’re to keep this to yourself, both of you,’ she said in a whisper. ‘Although, if Teddy’s been through my stuff, he’ll know everything. Having said that, he’s a poor reader, so he’ll have difficulty understanding every word of the letter.’

  ‘He could get someone else to read it to him,’ said Jared, his eyes never leaving his mother’s face. ‘Come on, Ma, what does the letter say?’

  Elsie took a deep shaky breath. ‘Betty isn’t William’s daughter. Her father was that actor our Lizzie was mad about, only, as I told you, he went and died. She told me she was pregnant and I hit the roof. She ran out the house, straight into the arms of William, who had come to tell us that Mary was dead. She told him that Johnny was dead, too. When I learnt that, I felt terrible, but I was so annoyed with her for being so stupid. I told her that she had to go away, have the baby and give it up for adoption. She refused because she wanted Johnny’s baby, so I persuaded her to make a proper friend of William and be a comfort to him.’

  There was a heavy silence.

  A couple of minutes passed before Jared asked, ‘Did Uncle William know Betty wasn’t his child?’

  ‘I’m sure he guessed,’ said Elsie. ‘Anyway, I might as well tell you about the money. William didn’t trust banks and kept his money in a safe in the house. Of course, being a soldier in wartime he had to make a will. He wrote Lizzie a letter, saying that he’d left everything to her, because he didn’t want Emma’s grandparents to get their hands on his money. No one knew about it but our Lizzie. He trusted her to do what was right by Emma. She knew the combination of the safe and removed the money and deposited most of it in Martin’s Bank after his death. I certainly didn’t suspect he had so much money. It was a good job she did do that, because you know what happened to the house.’

  ‘So she tried to get in touch with Emma, but her grandmother ignored her letters,’ said Dorothy.

  Elsie nodded. ‘So she gave Owen the money to buy this house on the condition that one day it would be sold and half given to Emma. Anyway, she and Betty came to live with us, as you know. Of course, Lizzie was entitled to some of William’s money herself because she was his wife, so after her death her share belonged to Betty.’ She paused to drag on her cigarette.

  ‘I would never have believed it of Aunt Lizzie,’ said Jared. ‘Why couldn’t she have gone up north to see Emma?’

  ‘At first it was because it was wartime,’ said Elsie.

  ‘But afterwards!’ said Jared, his face set.

  ‘I know, I know! She should have done it, and after she died I should have tried to find Emma, but I was on my own, grieving for her and your dad.’ Elsie fell silent.

  ‘So when Emma wrote to you out of the blue,’ said Jared roughly, ‘it must have given you a helluva shock.’

  ‘It did! Especially when I knew Emma wasn’t really Betty’s half-sister. Our Lizzie never told Betty about Johnny, so she believed that William Booth was her father.’

  Jared put his head in his hands and said in a muffled voice, ‘I’m going to have to mortgage this house and give Emma her share of the money.’

  ‘Don’t be daft!’ said Elsie, alarmed. ‘Why do you think I made the house over to you? When I listened to you talking about Emma, and then saw you with her, I knew you’d fallen for her, and it was obvious to me that she’d fallen for you. I cou
ld see the pair of you getting married and living here, so in a way she’ll get what’s her due.’

  ‘If you really believed that, Ma, then why is Emma in your will?’ asked Jared.

  Elsie sighed. ‘I couldn’t be certain you’d marry her. Besides, I haven’t been well lately and I don’t know when I might pop off.’

  ‘You’d be as fit as a fiddle if you gave the ciggies up,’ said Dorothy. ‘You are devious, Mum.’

  ‘Never mind that now,’ said Jared, frowning. ‘How much money are we talking about you leaving in your will, Ma?’

  Elsie hesitated before saying, ‘A substantial amount. Me and our Lizzie invested some of the money William left and it brought us in a nice little income, without us having to touch the capital.’

  Dorothy gasped. ‘When I think of the way you made me hand over most of my wages, I could walk out of here right now!’

  ‘When I pop off you’ll get it back with interest,’ snapped Elsie.

  ‘I could do with it now. Anyway, why the heck did you bother getting a part-time job when you and Aunt Lizzie were loaded?’ asked Dorothy.

  ‘I didn’t want people suspecting I had money,’ muttered Elsie. ‘Besides, if I’d come clean, I’d have had to explain where the money came from and that would mean Betty knowing the truth about her father. As it is …’ She paused, gulped and the colour drained from her face.

  ‘As it is − what?’ demanded Jared.

  Elsie put a hand to her breast and took a shaky breath. ‘Teddy might know everything now. Pass me my handbag. I need my pills.’

  ‘What pills?’ asked Dorothy, getting up and fetching the handbag.

  Elsie only said, ‘Get me them. I’ll need a drink of water.’

  Dorothy fetched water and she and Jared watched their mother open a container and remove a little blue pill and take it with the water. She leant back against the back of the sofa and was silent for several minutes. Then she looked at Dorothy. ‘You’ve got to talk to that policeman friend of yours and get him to find Teddy.’ Then she turned her gaze on her son. ‘And you’ve not to tell Emma the truth. The house is yours. She’ll get her due when I die.’

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Jared stood at the other side of the ticket barrier, watching the passengers pour out of the train from Manchester. He still hadn’t made up his mind about what he was going to say to Emma about his mother’s revelations. Suddenly he spotted Emma and his heart lifted, in spite of all that bothered him. He saw her face light up when she saw him, and then her brow knit and she came running.

  As soon as she was through the barrier, he moved towards her and stretched out a hand for her overnight bag. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked.

  ‘Never mind me,’ she said, holding on to her baggage. ‘What about you? What have you done to yourself, luv?’ Her voice was as gentle and soothing as a caress.

  In that moment he knew what he must do, even though it was going to be difficult and would upset her. ‘Let’s go to Lyons and have a cup of tea and a toasted crumpet and I’ll tell you all about it.’

  Emma linked her arm through his undamaged one and they began to walk towards the side entrance of the station. ‘Don’t keep me in suspense,’ she said. ‘Start now.’

  He told her about going in to the loft and bringing down what he had hoped were her father’s paintings. ‘What are they like?’ she asked excitedly.

  ‘I haven’t looked. I thought we could do that together,’ said Jared.

  She looked pleased and squeezed his arm. ‘I hope they are his paintings.’

  ‘So do I, because if I hadn’t gone up there, then I would have caught Uncle Teddy in the act, burgling our house, and wouldn’t have fallen down the stairs and broken my arm. As it is, he got away.’

  Emma frowned. ‘That’s awful. Does your arm hurt much?’

  ‘Not as much as it did,’ he said, smiling wryly.

  She kissed the side of his face. ‘I wish it hadn’t happened.’

  ‘So do I. You do realise I won’t be able to finish the job at the cottage now?’

  ‘That can wait. You can still come and visit me, though.’

  He paused and kissed her on the mouth, and for a moment their lips clung before parting. ‘You are understanding. I’m annoyed with myself that I left the back door open and that’s how he got into the house,’ he said crossly. ‘He stole Ma’s box with all her important papers inside.’

  ‘Oh Lor’!’ Emma’s eyes widened in dismay. ‘That’ll inconvenience her. Is there anything you can do to find him and get them back?’

  He told her what his mother had suggested and she said, ‘So what are you going to do about notifying the police? Your mother might have trouble explaining matters to a policeman who doesn’t understand the family situation. He’s still her husband, after all, so he isn’t like an ordinary burglar, is he?’

  Jared said grimly, ‘No, he isn’t. But there’s more I have to tell you and I’d rather wait until we’re sitting down to do that.’

  She stared at him. ‘What is it? You look—’

  ‘I’ll explain later,’ he said.

  Emma had to be satisfied with that, but she had started to worry.

  They walked along Lime Street until they came to Lyons café and went inside. It was busy but they managed to find a table for two and sat down. Jared waited until a waitress had taken their order before reaching out for Emma’s hand that lay on the table and clasping it.

  ‘I’m going to tell you something now that will shock and disappoint you, but I feel it would be wrong to keep it from you.’

  She moistened her lips and cleared her throat. ‘You look so serious, you’re frightening me. It’s not that you’ve got an old girlfriend tucked away somewhere and don’t want to see me any more?’

  His expression relaxed. ‘No, of course not! What kind of person do you think I am? I love you, Emma. I want to marry you. I know there are difficult choices ahead, but I’m sure we can sort them out.’

  Her eyes glowed. ‘You really love me?’

  ‘I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t.’

  ‘I love you, too, and of course I want to marry you and for us to be together for always.’

  He let out a long breath. ‘Good! I just hope you’ll still feel like that when I tell you about the bombshell Ma dropped on Dorothy and me last night.’

  She stared at him expectantly.

  There was a long pause and then he said, ‘Your father left a lot of money, Emma, with my Aunt Lizzie. Some of it was meant for you, but she lent it to my father to buy the house where we live now. I’ve decided to mortgage the house and hand over half the money to you.’

  Emma gazed at him for what felt an age and then said, ‘You don’t have to do that if we get married. The house can belong to both of us.’

  ‘That was Ma’s idea.’ He hesitated and held her hand tightly. ‘But there’s more; shall we wait until the tea comes before I tell you?’

  She raised an eyebrow. ‘Why? Do you think I’m going to need plenty of sugar in it for further shock?’

  He did not answer but glanced around for the waitress.

  ‘You’re getting me worried again, Jared,’ said Emma in a low voice.

  ‘Sorry.’ He gave her his full attention. ‘It’s to do with Betty and—’ He stopped short, thinking this was much more difficult than he thought it would be.

  ‘Go on!’ urged Emma.

  ‘She’s not your half-sister,’ he said in a low voice.

  Shock seemed to pierce Emma’s soul. ‘W-what do you mean? Of course she’s my half-sister.’

  ‘Not according to Ma she isn’t. Aunt Lizzie was in love with an actor called Johnny. They must have been lovers at some time and then he went away and died of blood poisoning. She discovered that she was pregnant and told Ma. She thought Aunt Lizzie should go away, have the baby and get it adopted. Aunt Lizzie refused because she wanted Johnny’s baby. Around the same time, your father came to tell Ma and Aunt Lizzie your mother had died. Your fat
her and Aunt Lizzie comforted each other and the next thing is they were married.’

  Emma’s face quivered. ‘H-he knew she was pregnant?’

  ‘Ma thinks that most likely he did know.’ Jared squeezed her hand. ‘I’m sorry. I can imagine how you must feel.’

  ‘How can you? You have two sisters and a mother. You can’t possibly understand what it meant to me to find someone of my own flesh and blood.’ Emma’s voice trembled and she withdrew her hand from his, snatched up her handbag and blundered away from the table.

  ‘Emma, come back!’ Jared was on his feet, not caring what people thought, and would have followed her, only the waitress carrying their order got in his way. He took some money from his pocket and threw it on the table and then went after Emma.

  ‘Hey, you’ve forgotten your overnight bag!’ called the waitress.

  Jared hesitated. ‘Look after it for me,’ he shouted. ‘I’ll be back.’

  Emma didn’t see the man who suddenly appeared in front of her and collided with him. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said, pulling back.

  ‘You want to watch where you’re going, Emma,’ he said.

  She started, wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and stared at the man. He was short and middle-aged and there was an expression in his eyes that she did not like at all. ‘Who are you?’ she asked.

  ‘That would be telling,’ he sneered.

  Suddenly, she had a feeling about him. ‘You’re Uncle Teddy!’ she exclaimed.

  ‘Clever girl!’ He seized her arm, but she wrenched it out of his grasp and turned back towards the café. She felt a shove in the small of her back and she hit the café door with such force that it knocked the breath out of her and she slid to the ground.

  The door opened cautiously and Jared appeared. ‘Emma, what happened? Are you all right?’ he asked anxiously, attempting to hoist her to her feet with his one good arm. Fortunately she was able to struggle to her feet with his help. ‘The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you, but I believed that having secrets from you wasn’t a good way to start our married life.’