The Geary Series Boxed Set (53 page)

Six months later

Jane shuffled down the narrow back streets of the town, Brighton had left behind the cold snap of winter and had begun to blossom. She loved walking along these streets full of cafes and boutiques. Brighton blossomed in the spring, you could see the men and women emerge out of the brickwork like ghosts of winter. They shook off their winter blues and shone in the sunlight. Her attire had changed from glamorous tight fitting clothing to hippy chic in a matter of weeks after arriving. Not just because she was gaining a belly but because she felt relaxed for the first time in her young life.

Gale didn’t approve of her relaxed attitude to life and told her often. Jane closed her ears to her sister’s malice, it had grown slowly over the last six months. Gale hated that their aunt didn’t think there was anything wrong with what Jane was doing. She had hoped for support and compassion but got neither. Her Aunt Maria had cocooned her in a warm blanket of love that was alien to her. Gale couldn’t cope with the change of parenting style. Jane fell in love with Brighton and her aunt. She didn’t care that her parents had disowned her or that her sister’s jealousy was slowly eating away at her soul.

Weaving in and out of the streets and roads, she had reached her destination, an empty boarded up shop. She could peek through the gap in the wooden slats that covered the misted up windows. She wanted the shop as her own.

Maria had shown her all there was to know about making candles and after a month she helped with production. She spent hours on end down in the workshop working on designs and talking to Maria’s clients to see what they wanted.

“You must be nearly due Jane, how long do you have to go?” Leslie asked while draping an arm around Jane’s shoulder. She had a cigarette hanging from her ruby red lips that danced as she spoke.

“Three weeks to go and then he or she will be born,” Jane answered still peeping through the window. “Come and look, Leslie, at this shop’s interior, it looks fantastic,” Jane said.

“You’ve made me look at this store a hundred times over the last few months. Come next door and let me make you a cup of tea, you should be off those feet of yours.” She said and tugged at her hand to drag Jane away from the derelict shop.

She followed dutifully into Leslie’s Cafe and sat in the first booth. The long narrow galley cafe had booths lining up the left and the serving counter and kitchen on the right. She came here every day to escape her sister’s increasingly foul mood.

“Here,” Leslie said and scooted into the seat opposite Jane and placed two mugs of tea on the laminate table, “What are your plans once the baby has been born?” Leslie asked.

Leslie was ten years older than Jane and ran the cafe that her father owned. Leslie’s parents had retired a few years ago and gave over the day to day running to their daughter.

“My plans are to carry on as normal, to get a job and save some money. I want the shop next door to yours but by the time I’ll save enough it will probably be gone. I’m going to stay in Brighton after the birth no matter what.” Jane said.

“Sweetheart, if there’s anything I can do, you will let me know, won’t you?” Leslie said stretching her hand out and clasping it around Jane’s pudgy hand.

“You can do one thing, ask your father if there is any interest in the empty shop and how much it would cost to rent it.” Jane pleaded.

Leslie’s father also owned the shop next door, this was the first time Jane had asked directly for Leslie’s help. Leslie had already asked her father if he would rent it to Jane the first time Jane showed an interest and he had kept from renting it until Leslie said she was ready. The shop needed a lot of renovating and wasn’t in a fit state to rent straight out, no one would take it in the shape it was in.

“Ok, I’ll ask, I’ll let you know tomorrow what he says, now tell me, Jane, what are you going to call your newborn?” Leslie asked, attempting to steer Jane away from the shop.

“I’m not thinking of any names, it will be up to the new parents to name him,” Jane said with sorrow creeping in.

“When did you make the final decision?” Leslie asked carefully.

“This morning, I’m still a child, seventeen and already pregnant. I won’t be able to raise a child, I have no idea how I would do that. Aunt Maria said she would help, but I don’t think it’s best for the baby.” Jane explained, her shoulders slumped at the thought of raising a child.

Leslie sighed at her friend’s conviction and drank down her tea before she needed to get back to work. They had discussed the idea back and forth over the last few months, Leslie listened while Jane battled with the decision she needed to make. Jane hadn’t told anyone else what she intended to do.

Jane stayed for another half an hour and then walked back home. The boutique shops were at the bottom of the hill stretching down from the train station. Aunt Maria’s house sat at the top of the hill adjacent to the train station. Walking up both hills every day kept her fit and healthy for the baby’s sake.

Searching around in her large handbag she fished out her key and as she lifted it to the lock, the door swung wide open.

“Where the hell have you been?” Gale barked at her.

“At the cafe, like I do every day, why is today an issue for you? Which heinous crime have I committed today?” Jane asked wearily and pushed passed her sister so that she could sit down, the baby was moving around wildly and she needed to rest. Walking along the corridor she turned left into the morning room and sat in the plump armchair in the window. Her aunt’s Victorian house had high ceilings and large rooms. Aunt Maria lived on her own and had never married, she loved having Jane and Gale to stay in her home.

“Oh Jane, there you are, do you want some tea?” Maria said as she entered the room. She looked at Gale’s sour face and then to Jane’s serene face soaking in the afternoon sunshine. “What are you two fighting about now?” Maria asked wearily.

“I’ve no idea why Gale is so upset, I leave the house at the same time every day and return at the same time. Today, however, Gale is grumpy about it.” Jane volunteered without opening her eyes.

Gale left the room without comment and stomped up the stairs to her room. 

“I don’t know what her issue is, I didn’t ask her to sacrifice her future for me, she did that all by herself. I don’t know why she doesn’t telephone mum and dad and tell them it was all a lie and she can go back to what she planned to do. Instead, she is making my life a misery.” Jane grumbled.

Maria sat in the chair opposite her and held her hands. Jane knew what was coming and her shame filtered through her body.

“What she did was brave, but I don’t understand why she did it,” Jane added.

“Neither do I and I suspect neither does she, she is lost and alone. She has witnessed you grow with the baby and see you’ve settled so well here in Brighton, where she feels like a fish out of the water. Try and understand that she is deeply unhappy.” Maria reasoned.

Jane thought about what she had said and still didn’t understand why she stayed, she could go back to Edinburgh.

“Have you told dad that only one of his daughters is pregnant?” Jane asked.

“Oh no, that’s not my business, that’s up to you and Gale to work out. I’m happy to give you a home as long as you need one and I can’t wait to meet the baby.” Maria said.

“Aunt Maria, I’m not going to keep it, I’m giving it up for adoption. I’m not capable of raising a child at my age.” Jane whispered.

“Oh darling, are you sure?” Maria asked and held out her arms.

Gale hugged her aunt as much as she could with an eight and a half month bump in front of her. The baby kicked her mother’s bladder and dictated what needed to happen next. She stood, raising her body by her arms and staggering a few steps until she wandered off. Maria’s look of concern escaped Jane as she disappeared from the room, but Gale caught it.

“Why are you worried, aunt?” Gale asked from the doorway, her arms were folded under her breasts. She wore a white buttoned up shirt under a grey pinafore dress. Her mouth pinched and her eyes vacant.

“I worry for you Gale, why are you here? You don’t need to be, you can go back and finish your education at home and marry Dylan.” Maria said.

“I don’t want to marry Dylan, I want to marry Michael but my slut of a sister slept with him instead and now is having his bastard child.” Gale bit out.

“Gale.” Maria scolded, “What’s done is done if you hate her so much why did you come here with her? Why did you protect her?” Maria asked, standing to come nearer to her niece, hoping the close proximity to enable her to open up.

“To be near Michael’s child, he’ll come back one day and we can raise his child instead of Jane. She’s clearly incapable.” Jane said.

“Gale, you need to go home, you are poisoned with jealousy. You don’t honestly think that you will raise the child with Michael do you?” Jane asked, her head to one side trying to gauge how deluded Gale was.

“I will, especially when I tell him he has a child, I have already told my parents that I’m pregnant so he won’t know any different. Jane doesn’t want the child so it makes perfect sense, I knew she wouldn’t be responsible enough to go through with it.”

“Gale, I’m going to speak with my brother, what you are saying is not right. How will Michael believe that you had his child if you didn’t have sex with him?”

Gale stayed quiet, not giving an answer, she was just about to open her mouth with a reply when Jane spoke behind her.

“You’re going to steal my baby?” Jane asked in a whisper.

Gale whipped around, her hand came out in her startled state and she hit her sister across the face. Jane fell to the floor and grabbed her stomach. She started to cry hysterically and yell out. Gale sank to the ground and tried to speak with her sister.

“Get away from her,” Maria spoke and crouched down to help Jane up into a sitting position. She pushed her hair out her eyes and held her face asking a silent question to see if she could stand.

Jane crawled away from the scene a few feet and sat on the floor with her back against the open slatted banister. Jane, aided by her aunt stood and stumbled into the morning room once again. She sat in the plump armchair and Maria lifted her feet onto the footstool. Maria put a blanket over her legs and bump and told her to sleep. She crept away from the room and closed the door quietly.

“What is wrong with you Gale, why did you hit your sister?” She asked.

“It was an accident, I didn’t mean to, she crept up on me and I didn’t hear that she was there.” Gale offered.

“You are unbalanced Gale, I’m not kicking you out, but you need to consider moving back to your parents. If you want me to speak to your father, I will, think about what you want.”

Maria moved away from Gale, who had remained sitting on the floor and left her there in floods of tears. Once she was left alone, she wiped the tears away roughly and stood. Defiance ran through her blood, her cards had been revealed much sooner than she had anticipated.

Pulling her shirt collar back into a place, she crept up the stairs to her room to work out a new plan for her future.

The fresh air floated into the kitchen as she sat at the kitchen table. She fiddled with the spoon in the sugar bowl, making patterns with the handle.

“Are you positive Jane, are you absolutely confident this is what you want to do?” Maria asked her one more time. She had her back to Jane as she took the mugs off the hooks and dropped a tea bag into each cup.

“Yes, I am, it is the decision I made as soon as I found out I was pregnant and it still is what I want to do,” Jane confirmed.

“Ok, I’ll let George know, he’s a good man and so is his wife. She has miscarried three times and they don’t want to risk her getting pregnant again. Your baby will have a good home Jane, I promise.” Maria said soothingly.

“Do you think I’m doing the right thing?” Jane said and worried her lip, chewing the first layer of skin off her bottom lip.

“That decision has to be yours, I’ll support whichever decision you make sweetheart,” Maria reassured her. She took the kettle off the hob and poured hot water into the two mugs. Maria had stopped making anything for her other niece Gale after the first few weeks. Nothing could please her and Maria had given up trying.

“What will happen next?” Jane asked.

Jane had already asked this question a dozen times and knew that she would be taken to a private hospital and George and his wife Hannah would pay for. Her birthing suite had already been booked for the due date. Jane had only had sex once so she knew her due date if she went the full term. According to the calendar, she had five more days to go.

Maria hadn’t answered the question, instead pushed a plate of plain digestives towards Jane. She knew they were her favourites and it was important to her that Jane remained focused on what she had decided.

“Ok, good, if you are happy with the details then so am I. I trust you, Aunt Maria, and I am so grateful that I came to stay with you,” Jane said.

Hannah was an old friend of Maria’s and she knew of her plight to have children. If anyone would take good care of a child and raise it with nothing but love it would be her. She had met George several times over the years and enjoyed his company.

Tears dripped down Jane’s face. She had written to her parents a few weeks ago and the letter had been returned to sender unopened. She had begged for forgiveness and while she knew it would take the time she had no idea they wouldn’t even consider listening to what she needed to say.

“Um, Maria, I think I’m going to have the baby,” Jane said and shook off her wet tennis shoes. She had stood to put her tea mug in the sink not being able to drink anything through her tears and misery.

Maria jumped up and ran to the phone on the wall, she quickly dialled a number that was pinned to the cork board above the handset that was hooked on the wall. A few spoken words and she dashed out the door and ran down the stairs to her workshop. The dull sound of a door being slammed shut and locked and then the pounding of feet hurtling up the wooden stairs quickly followed.

“Come on, time to go, chop chop,” Maria said and clapped her hands for encouragement. She had Jane’s baby bag over her shoulder and Jane’s coat in her hands, held up for her to slip into.

By the time they exited the house and locked the door, a black cab had pulled up outside the gate and the driver had the back door open, waiting.