‘I’m coming too.’
‘Don’t make a noise, then.’
They crept downstairs in the darkness and went into the kitchen. As he squinted through the window, Jake thought he saw something to the right, so switched on the outside lights.
Caught in their glare, Hartley froze, then turned and ran around the side of the house.
Angry, Jake went down the hallway and flung open the front door, seeing a dark figure running away down the street, feet pounding on the pavement. As he watched, Hartley tripped and fell, but was up again immediately, disappearing into the distance.
Jake didn’t attempt to pursue him. Why bother? The sod had probably got his car nearby.
As if to confirm that, they heard the sound of an engine starting, Peggy came to stand beside him.
‘It was Hartley, wasn’t it?’
‘Yes.’
‘What was he doing in your back garden?’
‘I don’t know. Let’s go and find out.’
The first row of vegetables had been deliberately stamped flat. Jake scowled down at the poor battered plants. Such a waste. And such a petty thing to do.
Peggy threaded her arm through his. ‘Oh, Jake, how awful!’
‘It’s only a few vegetables lost. Not much harm done. I can easily plant more.’
‘He knows how proud you are of your garden, how you win prizes at shows, so he was trying to hit you where it hurts most – as he did when he cut up my embroideries.’
Jake could see that the lights had come on in the next house. ‘I’ll just have to check the side. I must have left the gate unbolted. I’m not used to living in a fortress.’
But before Jake even reached the corner, Bob stared over the fence, holding a rounders bat in one hand and a torch in the other. ‘I thought you were intruders.’
‘We had one, but I chased him off,’ Jake said.
‘It was my ex-husband. He’s damaged my brother’s garden.’
Bob flashed the torch across the nearest rows. ‘Spiteful bugger. You’re better off without a fellow like that, lass.’
Jake watched her lift her head and straighten her spine.
‘Yes, I am. That’s why I’m getting a divorce.’
This time her voice didn’t wobble.
It’d be worth losing a few veggies to see Peggy gain a little confidence. Sometimes nasty tricks could misfire. If this one stiffened her resolve not to return to Hartley, it was well worth a few runner beans.
He went around the side and found the gate swinging open. He’d have to remember to close and lock it from now on. It was so alien to his nature to live like this.
He resented it, resented it deeply.
CHAPTER 30
England
‘I need to make a phone call before we get tea ready,’ Brad said when they came back from a gentle stroll along the promenade. He shut himself in the unused bedroom and pulled out his mobile.
A man’s voice said, ‘Hello?’
Oh, damn, he’d got Stu again.
‘It’s Brad. Could I speak to Rosie, please? I’d like to arrange to see her.’
The silence at the other end went on for so long he began to wonder if Stu had put the phone down.
‘I’ll fetch her. You’ll have to ask Jane about seeing her, though. I’m having nothing more to do with this.’
Brad heard a thump, as if the other man had dumped the phone somewhere, and the sound of receding footsteps. Well, at least Stu hadn’t told him to go away this time.
Someone picked up the phone. ‘Hello?’
‘Hi, Rosie.’
‘Hi, yourself.’
They chatted for a few minutes, mostly her telling him about her school day and her friend Mandy. He smiled at the way words poured out of her and encouraged her to continue by making appropriate noises and asking questions now and then.
When the torrent of words slowed down, he made his bid. ‘Would you like to come out for tea with me tomorrow evening? Your father said we’d have to ask your mother.’
‘He did? That’s great. I’ll fetch her.’
More waiting, then Jane’s voice, cool, as if he was a complete stranger. Hope fading a little, Brad repeated his invitation.
‘All right. You can pick her up about six. There’s an Indian restaurant nearby that she likes. You won’t need to book mid-week. Only I don’t want her staying out late. It’s a school day.’
‘I’ll bring her back at whatever time you say. And Jane… Can I take her out on Saturday as well? For the whole day?’
‘Probably. I’d better check with Stu first, though. I’ll confirm it when I see you tonight.’
She broke the connection and he sat for a minute, staring at the phone. He’d never taken to mobile phones until now, hated the way some people didn’t seem able to function without them, blaring out their private affairs in the street or in shops. But his mobile was a lifeline here in England, keeping him in touch with his two Australian children and their families. They didn’t seem as far away when you could phone them. He must ring them again tomorrow morning.
He wondered if he should tell Gina about Rosie but didn’t want to confess that he’d been unfaithful, not at such an early stage in a new relationship. He wasn’t proud of his affair with Jane.
He went back into the kitchen. ‘Just arranging to see one of my relatives tomorrow evening. Will you be all right if I go out?’
‘Of course.’
He knew Gina would be nervous, but he couldn’t see any way round that. He had to see Rosie. ‘I’ll make sure the lock on the door is OK. In fact, I could put a bolt on if it’d make you feel safer.’
She put up her chin, in a way he was starting to recognize. ‘I’ll manage, Brad. I can’t be clinging to other people all the time.’
But he felt guilty about leaving her – and about not saying who he was going to meet.
* * *
In Poulton Jane went into the den. ‘Thanks, Stu.’
He looked at her with no hint of a smile. He’d come home from school in a strange mood again, shrugging off her queries about his day.
‘I’m still not happy about this,’ he said at last.
‘Well, you’ll have to get used to it while Brad’s in England.’ She took a deep breath and got it over with, ‘He wants to see her on Saturday as well.’
‘What if we want to see her at the weekend. Don’t we have any access rights now?’
‘Stu, don’t start.’
‘I haven’t started anything.’
‘You’ve rarely wanted to do things with the family at term-time weekends before. You’ve always been too busy with school work.’
‘What do you think pays for this house?’
She wasn’t having that. ‘The money both of us earn. You’ve not been the sole provider since the kids were small.’
He scowled at her so blackly she spun round and walked away before she said something cutting, something which might lead them into a destructive argument. She was not only tired of him taking out his disappointment on the family but also of him giving everything to his job and putting his family second – and not even a close second.
When she went into the kitchen, she couldn’t settle to cooking and was relieved that no one else was there, because her thoughts were so bleak something must be reflected in her face.
She heard Stu go into the living room and peeped in to see him sitting morosely in front of the television news, pretending to read the newspaper but more often frowning into space. He hadn’t come to see if she needed any help. How long since he’d pulled his weight in the house?
‘Don’t you have school work to do tonight?’ she asked as she went in and out to set the table.
‘Nope. I’m doing nothing extra for them now.’
‘Right. I’m going to the meditation class.’ She couldn’t help adding, ‘Will you be OK?’
‘You won’t find me drunk when you come back, if that’s what you want to know.’
She rolled
her eyes at her daughter as she went into the kitchen to finish cooking tea.
‘Is he still angry about Brad?’ Rosie whispered.
‘He’s angry about a lot of things. I’m going out tonight. You all right with that?’
‘Yes. I’ll be up in my room doing homework. I’m not staying down here with Mr Grumpy.’
Casey came trampling down the stairs. ‘Is tea ready yet?’
‘Soon. And it’s your turn to wash up tonight, don’t forget.’
‘Aw, Mum! None of the other guys wash up. It’s girls’ stuff.’
‘Don’t start that again! We all dirty the dishes, so we all share the washing up. This is the twenty-first century, not the nineteenth.’
‘Dad doesn’t do any of it and he dirties things too.’
‘He’s usually working in the evenings.’ She listened, knowing Stu could hear them and hoping he’d volunteer to do his share for once. But he didn’t.
‘He’s not working in the evenings now. It’s not fair if he doesn’t take his turn.’
She gave Casey the look and he said nothing more.
It was a relief to get out of the house.
There were no interruptions to the class that night by angry husbands, and Peggy’s whole face brightened up when Jane went across to sit by her, which was pleasing. Jane hated seeing any woman look as downtrodden as Peggy. If a little friendliness helped the other woman build a new life, she was happy to offer it.
Heaven knows, she could do with a friend herself at the moment.
As she drove home, Jane noticed a white car with a battered front wing in her rear view mirror. It clung to her tail like a leech, even turning into her street after her, though it was a dead end.
When she parked on the drive the other car came to a halt across the road, its engine idling. She couldn’t see the number plate and was reluctant to go out on to the street to look at it.
Anyway, why would someone want to follow her? It was probably just someone who’d lost his way.
Only if so, why was the driver still sitting there? And why was he staring at her? She could see quite clearly in the light of the street lamp the paler blur of a face turned towards her house.
Even as she watched, the car started moving and drove slowly out of the street, but she couldn’t shake off her conviction that its driver had been following her.
There was only one person she could think of who might want to annoy her. Peggy’s husband had threatened her.
Oh, no! Please, not that! She didn’t need any more problems at the moment.
* * *
When Brad had left to meet his relatives, Gina hesitated, then placed a chair under the door handle. She hated being so cowardly, but at least she hadn’t tried to stop Brad going out. She looked at her watch and did a quick calculation. Too late to call home now. Her Aussie family would be in bed now. She switched on the television but there didn’t seem to be any programmes worth watching.
Every few minutes she glanced at the door to check that the chair was still in place.
‘You’re going to have to snap out of this, Gina Porter!’ she said aloud. But the sound of her own voice then the silence that followed only seemed to add to her nervousness.
In the end she left the bedroom light on and turned off the one in the living room, going to stand by the window and stare down at the people walking past. Bridie had said she spent a lot of time doing this, which had seemed sad. But it did make you feel more connected with the world when you were on your own.
After a while she drew the curtains, put the light on again and got out the papers about her father’s family, studying them one by one. Tomorrow, she vowed, she’d go and see her relatives. Lou had suggested it might be better to contact her aunt Peggy during the daytime when her husband would be at work. The grimace that had accompanied the words ‘Uncle Hartley’ spoke volumes about the girl’s feelings about him.
Just before nine thirty she heard footsteps coming up the stairs and tensed. But Brad called out before he even tried to open the door, so she had time to snatch the chair away.
She flung herself into his arms without thinking.
‘Was it bad being on your own?’ he asked, stroking her hair.
‘Not good, but I coped.’
‘Hopefully your fears will gradually subside. They should vanish completely when you return to your own home in Australia.’
She was glad her face was buried in his chest and he couldn’t see her expression. The way he’d said that seemed to make very clear the fact that she’d be going home alone. She asked how his evening had been, astonished to see a guarded expression on his face, which was so unlike him. ‘You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want,’ she added sharply.
‘I’m still trying to come to terms with it all. I’ll tell you the details later. Tonight my relative and I went out to an Indian restaurant and we just – talked. Getting to know one another. You know how it is.’
‘No, I don’t know. But I’ve decided that tomorrow I’m going to try to contact my own relatives, so maybe I’ll find out what it’s like. I’m well over the jet lag now so I hope I’ll be able to talk sense. Though what they’ll think of this, I don’t know.’ For a moment her hand went up to the bruise on her cheek.
‘Don’t you know them at all?’
‘I didn’t even know I had relatives in England until my father died. I may not get on with them, or them with me, but it’s worth a go, don’t you think?’
‘Definitely. Family is what matters most in the world.’ He went and picked up the little plastic box he’d put on the table, handing it to her with a little bow. ‘I brought you back some gulab jamun.’ He saw her puzzled look and opened the box to display the contents. ‘It’s an Indian dessert, very sweet and sticky – also very delicious.’
She looked at two balls of what looked like dark brown sticky cake, sitting in syrup, and probably containing a million calories. ‘You’ll have one with me?’
As they sat down to eat and chat, she felt pleased that he’d not forgotten her. And the dessert was delicious.
She and Tom had never tried Indian food because he’d disliked spicy food. It was only after his death that Lexie had started taking her to restaurants with more exotic cuisines.
Brad smiled at her as they cleared up their supper things. ‘It was lovely coming back to you, not to an empty room.’ After they’d finished, he drew her into his arms and said in a low voice, ‘I’m still hungry, though.’
‘Me, too.’ She was amazed at herself for falling into bed with him so quickly… falling in love, too. Oh, no! She mustn’t expect anything permanent. Things had changed since her youth.
But the worries about leaving herself vulnerable all vanished when he touched her. She felt so right with him, had done from the start.
* * *
The following morning Gina woke first and slid carefully out of the bed, going to make a mug of tea and staring down at the promenade as she drank it.
When Brad joined her a short time later, she took a deep breath and said, ‘I need to go out on my own today. It’s time I contacted my English family.’
‘Did you ring them last night?’
‘No. I want to surprise them. They don’t know I’m coming.’ She hesitated, then explained in more detail about her father’s papers and the second marriage.
Brad was frowning now. ‘Surely it’d be better to get their phone numbers and ring them first?’
‘I don’t want to give them a chance to refuse. At least this way I’ll see them, even if they refuse to have anything to do with me afterwards. But Lou doesn’t think her granddad will refuse to see me.’
‘So you’ll go and visit him first?’
‘No. I’m going to my sister’s. Surely I’ll stand more chance of being accepted by another woman? I can’t tell you how much I’ve always wished I had a sister.’
‘I could come with you. I don’t mind sitting in the car and leaving you to it.’
She shook her head. ‘Thank you, but I’d rather do this on my own.’
So after they’d cleared up the breakfast things, she got ready, staring at herself in the mirror and wondering what they’d think of her. She looked nice, at least she thought she did. This was a favourite skirt and top that reminded her of happy times. Even the weather was smiling on her, she thought, as she went down to her hire car.
She turned the key in the ignition and there was a click then absolute silence. Getting out, she went to look under the bonnet. She wasn’t very good mechanically but had learned to check battery leads, at least, and to look for leaks in the water hoses.
But she could see nothing wrong with any of those.
‘Damn!’ She got her handbag and went back up to the flat, catching Brad on the point of going out.
‘Something wrong?’
‘The car won’t start. I’ll have to ring the hire company. I’ve got the info somewhere.’
‘Why don’t you let me take you? Ring the company before you go, but tell them you won’t be home till later this afternoon.’
She hesitated, but it seemed that fate wanted him to go with her. ‘Thank you.’
‘I’ll keep out of it, stay in the car.’
‘I’d appreciate that.’
Her sister’s house wasn’t hard to find. It was on the outskirts of Poulton, a detached, red-brick residence located in a cul-de-sac of similar executive dwellings. The garden looked rigidly neat and there were two bottles of milk standing on the front doorstep in the full sunlight. Why hadn’t someone taken them in?
Gina braced herself and rang the doorbell. She didn’t know what she was going to say, would just have to play things by ear.
To her disappointment, a man opened the door, a man who hadn’t shaved for a couple of days and whose eyes were red-rimmed and angry.
‘Didn’t you see the ‘No hawkers’ sign?’
‘I’m not selling anything. I came to see Peggy Wilkes.’
‘Well, she’s not at home, so you bloody well can’t.’
‘Could you tell me when she’ll be back? I’ve come all the way from Australia to find her.’
Family Connections Page 24