by Jenny Frame
“That must have been a scary time,” Dale said.
“It was. The press vilified my father, and I don’t blame them. He and Eugene stole three hundred million pounds over the years. It was a huge scandal—there were government committees, inquiries—and all the time my mother was struggling. Her addictions had gotten a whole lot worse, and then I made a mistake that…” Becca struggled to say the words. “The mistake that killed her.”
* * *
Ash looked at her watch. He’s late.
Her informant at McGuire’s Motors had texted her to say he wanted to meet. So they decided on a pub not too far from the garage. It was Saturday night and the pub was busy, so it was hard to keep track of who was coming and going.
There are so many ways I could be spending Saturday night, but if I can find you, Vic, it’ll all be worth it.
“Ash?”
Mike had arrived at the table without her even noticing. “Mike, sit down. It’s good to see you. I got you a pint and a whisky chaser.”
“Thanks.” Mike looked nervous, and he showed it when he downed the whisky in one.
“You said you had something for me?”
Mike’s eyes darted around the room. “Are you sure this will be confidential?”
“Of course. You can trust me. I always look after my sources.”
Mike tapped his fingers on the table. “I asked the other lads in work about what was going on, and there are rumours.”
“Oh? About Dale McGuire?”
“Yeah, she’s hardly ever here these days, and that’s not like her.”
“Maybe a woman?”
Mike laughed nervously. “Dale’s women don’t last weeks at a time.”
A woman after my own heart.
“So? What are the lads saying?”
“That she’s taking care of some kid or something. It’s strange. Someone overheard her talking to Val, my boss, about a kid that she’s responsible for and this woman you were asking about.”
“A child?” Could it be Vic’s? There was clearly something strong linking McGuire to Vic, and she had to find out what it was, and quick.
“Did you get the address for me?”
Mike nodded. “You have no idea how hard it was to get this from the works system. Sammy, my manager, caught me, and I had to make up some stupid excuse. Now she thinks I was trying to buy parts for myself on the company account. I’ve been given a warning.”
Do I care?
“Can I have it?”
“Money first,” Mike said firmly.
“And here I thought we trusted each other.” Ash pulled an envelope out of her pocket and handed it over. “It’s all there, I assure you.”
Mike counted it quickly, then gave her a slip of paper.
Rebecca Harper, The Old Vicarage, Plumtun.
* * *
“What?” Dale sat up quickly, stunned at what Becca had just said. “How could anything you do cause that?”
“I trusted someone. I confided in them and they sold every intimate detail of our lives to the newspapers. The papers published stories about how we lived, holidays, luxury items that we had, paid for by my father’s victims. Not only was my father vilified, but now my mother and I were too. Carlotta couldn’t take it and she took an overdose.”
Dale watched Becca closely as she told her story. Her eyes had started to glaze over and a few tears streamed down her face, as if she was reliving the moment somehow.
“When I saw the news on TV and online, I hurried to my mum’s bedroom and found her unconscious. The paramedics came, but it was already too late.”
Dale couldn’t just sit and watch Becca’s pain, so she knelt on the floor beside her and took Becca’s hand. “I’m so sorry, Becca. I can’t imagine what that must’ve felt like.”
“I trusted someone I thought I was falling in love with, and I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
“What happened then?”
“My father’s lawyer was Trent’s father. I had seen Trent a few times over the years at functions and social gatherings. She came around to check on me, and found me on the floor in a terrible state.”
Despite the cross words she’d had with Trent today, Dale was glad Becca had had her at a time when she’d needed someone.
“Once the trial was over, Trent helped me create a new identity and switch universities. I’ve been trying to hide ever since.”
Dale took Becca’s hand and kissed the palm. “I’m truly, truly sorry about what you had to go through then, and since. It must have taken a real strength to survive.”
Becca managed the smallest of smiles. “That’s why I had Jake. I had no other family, nothing else to stay strong for. Jake’s given me a reason to get up every morning, a reason to keep going.”
“Does Jake know?”
Becca shook her head vigorously. “No, and I don’t want him to ever know.”
“You have my word I won’t tell anyone. Is your father still in jail?”
“No, he died last year. He hanged himself in his jail cell. It hit me hard, even though I had never been close to him. That’s when I got pregnant again, when I moved out here. I needed to build a new family, so I thought at the time, but really I put Jake’s future at risk. I had just taken on this huge project, and it was all bad timing.”
“Hey, you wouldn’t change having this wee yin, would you?” Dale handed her a tissue from the box on the coffee table.
Becca dabbed her eyes. “No, never. I just feel so guilty that I made things difficult for Jake. I made things so bad that he went off to find you.”
“That was the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Becca. I was drifting, trying to find a purpose outside work, and I’ve found it.”
Becca looked down at their clasped hands now. “Thank you for being here. I don’t think I’ve said that.”
“Thank you for letting me in.”
They sat together for a little while longer, until with all the emotion of the day, Becca fell asleep.
Dale lifted Becca in her arms and carried her up to bed. She settled her down to sleep and made sure she had plenty of blankets to keep her warm, and then she checked on Jake, before walking around, making sure the vicarage was secure.
Becca had given her a blanket and a pillow earlier, and so she made herself comfortable on the couch. She watched the flames dance in the fireplace and counted herself lucky that Becca had trusted her and let her into this family.
She vowed that she was going to do everything in her power to protect them, even if that meant making an alliance with her new nemesis.
Chapter Fourteen
A week later, Dale was at her office in the garage working out some of her finances.
Val popped her head in the office. “Dale? Are you finished with payroll?”
“One sec.” Dale moved from her banking website to the payroll document she had been working on and clicked send. “All done.”
“Great. Remember, you and Sammy have the premises to look at this afternoon.”
“I cancelled that,” Dale said quickly, returning to her banking site.
“You cancelled? What for?” Val came and sat at her desk.
“I’ve got another appointment I need to take, and besides, I’m not sure this is the right time to expand.” Dale kept her eyes on the computer screen.
“Dale? Look at me.”
Dale suddenly felt seventeen again, trying not to answer a difficult question, but she looked up.
“Why suddenly is it not a good time? You were excited about it. It’s because of Becca and Jake, isn’t it?”
“Maybe I just need to concentrate on them and my life just now. Expansion can come later.” Dale didn’t mention spending money on a new premises wouldn’t help her plans for this afternoon. She could see the tension on Val’s face—she was dying to say something. “If you want to say something, just say it.”
“You’re turning your life upside down for them.”
“What’s wrong with
that?” Dale said defensively. “Why shouldn’t I turn it upside down. I was unhappy the way it was anyway. Apart from the business, and you guys, my life was empty. Why is it wrong, Val?”
Val sighed and leaned on the desk. “Because you are investing in a woman who could tell you never to come back tomorrow, and you would be devastated.”
“She won’t do that. We’ve reached a point of trust, and it took hard work to get to this stage. I’m not turning back now.”
“You’re falling in love with her, aren’t you? Or are you falling in love with the idea of being a family?”
Dale rubbed her forehead as she tried to form her thoughts correctly. “Both. I can’t help the way I’m feeling. She’s just…I don’t know, like she was meant to be mine. I told her about Nora.”
Val looked very surprised. “You did?”
“It was part of getting her to trust me, but I’m glad I did. I felt better after telling her,” Dale said.
“Did she show you the same trust?”
Dale nodded. “She told me everything, and from someone as careful as she is, that’s a big leap.”
“I suppose you’re right.” Val smiled at Dale. “I can’t help thinking you’re still the same baby butch we took under our wing, all those years ago.”
Dale laughed. “I hope I’m not a baby any more, but I understand. It’s nice to know there will always be two people who’ll watch out for me.”
“Always. So how is she feeling now?”
“Much better. The new medicines are making a difference and her doctor is pleased with her. Hopefully the vicarage will be more comfortable for them this week, since the new boiler is getting fitted tomorrow.”
Val sat back and crossed her legs. “How did you get her to agree to that? I know you’ve said how independent she is.”
Dale looked down sheepishly. “Ah, well…she thinks the fitter is a mate of mine, who owes me a big favour if I just slip him a few quid. She said okay only if she takes new pictures of us and the business for the website.”
“Well it is true they need to be updated. Is she up to it?” Val asked.
“Probably not, but she’s insisting. I’d like you to meet her, and Jake. I think it would be nice for Jake to know Mia.”
“That would be lovely. How about next Saturday? You and Sammy don’t have a race that weekend.”
“Sounds good. I’ll ask.” Dale looked at her watch and hit her forehead. “Shit! I need to get going.” She grabbed her jacket from the hanger and said, “I’ll just be a few hours.”
* * *
Dale ended up parking nearly a mile away from her destination, so she had to run to try to make her appointment on time. She followed the map on her phone as she went, trying to find her way. She stopped outside the building and looked at the nameplate on the wall next to the door.
Trent, Trent, and Masters.
Trent’s offices were just as she’d imagined—old, posh, and intimidating to the public. Let’s do this.
Dale went through the door and saw a receptionist at the desk. She immediately felt underdressed when she saw the rest of the clientele in the waiting room, suited and booted. Looking down at her designer jeans and her stylish but casual army jacket, she wished she had worn her suit.
Fuck it. They can take it or leave it.
She walked up to the desk and saw the glamorous receptionist hungrily check her out. “All right, darlin’. I’ve got an appointment with Trent today. Dale McGuire.”
Dale’s charms obviously still worked, because the receptionist blushed. “Please take a seat, Ms. McGuire. I’ll let Trent know you’re here.”
“Thanks.”
She took a seat and got some funny looks from the very proper looking people around her. It was a funny thing. Probably at least one or two of these people took their cars to be serviced or repaired at McGuire’s Motors, but they would never think the owner was sitting next to them in jeans and boots, with messy hair. Dale chuckled to herself. She liked to exceed people’s expectations, just as she had all those years ago with her schoolteachers.
Dale waited patiently for about fifteen minutes before Trent called her in. They didn’t shake hands. It was clearly going to be a frosty meeting. Dale sat and Trent took her seat behind her desk and silently stared at her for a few minutes.
So Dale broke the silence. “Thanks for seeing me, mate.”
“One, I’m not your mate, and I only agreed to see you because you said it was about protecting Becca.”
“Hey, there’s no need to be hostile—as I said, this is for Becca.”
“Just talk,” Trent said sharply.
“Okay, if you want it like that, then fine. You may not like me, but we share something in common. We care for Becca.”
“I don’t just care for Becca. I’ve always loved her. I just wasn’t ready for what she wanted.”
“Well, too late. You had over ten years to work out you still loved her. Funnily enough, that happened only when I came into the picture.”
Trent looked really angry. “You would be just a bit of rough to her, not a lifelong partner. Say what you want and go.”
“Look, we both care, and we both know that Eugene Hardy needs to be paid as quickly as possible.”
Trent sat forward and clasped her hands. “On that we agree. The Hardy brothers don’t mess about.”
“We also know the bank is not going to give Becca nearly enough, if anything, on the vicarage. So I think we have to sort it out.”
“Oh, I see, you’re going to ride in like a knight in shining armour and pay it off?”
“I’m a medium-size business owner. I don’t have that sort of money hanging around in my accounts. It’s tied up in the business.”
“So what do you suggest?”
“I can take out a loan against one of my properties, pay Eugene off, and pay it back at my own pace.”
Trent looked sceptical. “And you’re willing to do all this just for the sake of a roll in the hay with Becca?”
Dale shook her head. She was really getting pissed off now. “You really don’t think much of me, do you?”
“I’ve heard about your reputation, and I don’t want that for Becca,” Trent said firmly.
“Oh, and I suppose you’ve been fucking celibate since you split up with her? My ma always used to say, people in glass houses shouldnae throw stones. Put away your personal feelings about me and think of Becca, Jake, and the baby. I’m trying to protect my kids and their mother. Whether I’m in their life or not, I don’t want this debt hanging over their heads.”
Trent sighed. “What do you want from me?”
“Becca says you have a way of contacting Eugene. Make the connection for me. Pay it and draw up any legal documents you need to prove the debt is paid.”
“She won’t accept charity, you know. I tried to offer her something to help.”
“That’s why she can’t know I paid it, and that’s where you come in.”
Dale laid out her plan, then offered Trent her hand. “Deal?”
Trent tapped her fingers on the desk for a few seconds, clearly contemplating her answer, then stood and took Dale’s hand. “You have a deal, McGuire.”
* * *
Becca was driving home from the local shop, humming along to the radio. She hadn’t felt as good for a long time. She had felt so chirpy that she’d stopped at a local beauty spot to take some pictures of the birds and scenery. Her symptoms were much reduced on the new medication, the car was running well, and Jake was happy, all because Dale had come into their life.
She started to giggle when one of Dale’s favourite Britney Spears songs came on the radio.
The one thing that had changed since Dale came into their life was laughter and light, where there had been darkness and worry. Dale was a positive, happy-go-lucky person, not the arrogant player she’d first appeared. She did like the ladies, but Becca couldn’t imagine her being cruel to anyone. It just wasn’t in her.
And Dale had
brought qualities out in her that had been long buried—a sense of humour, excitement, and a long-lost libido.
She pulled into her driveway and saw an image that nearly made her drive off into a tree. Dale was leaning against her Jaguar in a pair of jeans, a simple tight white T-shirt with the sleeve tightly gripping her Celtic tattoo, looking like the lesbian version of James Dean. And to make matters worse, she was sucking on her ever-present lollipop.
Becca felt a rush of arousal that made her ache deep inside. I wish I was that lollipop.
Just as she was chastising herself for that thought, another one floated across her mind. A thought that made her hungry for Dale.
I’m carrying her baby.
Becca wanted her badly, but that was such a bad, bad idea. Wasn’t it?
When Dale saw her car, she started to walk towards her, and Becca somehow managed to park.
Dale opened her door and said, “Hi, hen. I hope you don’t mind me turning up to see you?”
“No, it’s a nice surprise,” Becca managed to say coherently while her eyes roved over Dale’s body.
Dale took Becca’s hand and helped her out. Dale noticed that Becca didn’t let go of her hand and had a dreamy expression on her face. “How’s the wee yin today?”
“She’s good.”
She was surprised when Becca took her hand and placed it on her stomach. It was such an intimate act, it seemed only natural to kiss Becca passionately in response. The urge was so strong, but she brushed Becca’s cheek with her lips instead.
“I thought you were busy today.”
“I got finished earlier than I thought, so I popped by with dinner—and don’t worry, it’s not pizza. It a big lasagne, freshly made at my local deli.”
Becca smile and raised an eyebrow. “Sounds delicious, but not quite at the parenting healthy dinner level yet.”