The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (108 page)

  
He was lost for words and shook his head, feeling almost tearful. He
wanted to spend forever just lying here and holding her. ‘That was the most
wonderful thing that ever happened to me,’ he mumbled into her shoulder.

  
‘Aw, Jack. It was for me too.’ She stroked his cheek and they lay in one
another’s arms for a few more minutes. ‘We’d better make a move and get out of
here in case your mum comes home early,’ she
said, eventually.

  
He groaned. ‘Yeah, I suppose we had. Nathan will be back soon, too.’ He
reached over and grabbed a handful of tissues from the bedside table. He sat up
and his euphoric mood vanished instantly. ‘Oh no!’

  
‘What?’

  
‘Shit!’

  
‘What’s wrong?’

  
‘The condom’s leaking. Fuck, its split!

  
Harley stared at him, her eyes wide. ‘No! Are you sure?’

  
‘Yes.’

  
‘Oh God, Jack.’ She burst into tears. ‘What can we do?’

  
He shook his head. ‘Don’t know.’

  
‘Well think of something, quick.’

  
He chewed his lower lip for a long moment. ‘Nathan told me Faye took the
morning after pill when they took a chance.’

  
‘Where did she get it from?’

  
‘Aunt Kate got it for her.’

  
‘Call her then, see if she can help us.’
 

***

 
Jack pulled on his clothes and left the room.
He came back with his mobile phone and dialled his aunt’s number while Harley
got dressed.
  

  
‘Aunt Kate, it’s Jack. Where are you?’

  
‘
On my way home,’
Kate replied
.
 

  
‘Come straight to our house. But hurry, before Mum comes
back from shopping and don’t say anything to Pops and Uncle Roy if you see them
first. I’m not supposed to be here you see.’

  
‘
Sounds mysterious! Be with you in
five.
’

  
‘She’ll be here soon,’ he told Harley who nodded and wiped her eyes.

  
Jack hurriedly straightened the bedspread, turned off the lamp and
opened the curtains. He led Harley through to the lounge and they sat huddled
together on the sofa.
    

  
There was a tap at the back door and Kate walked in. ‘What’s wrong?’

  
Jack told her what had happened. ‘Please can you help us?’
 

  
Kate sat down next to Harley. ‘You’ll need to take the morning after
pill.’
          

  
‘I can’t go to the doctor,’ Harley wailed. ‘Can you get it for us?’

  
Kate nodded. ‘Yes, but not until tonight. Jack will have to give it to
you tomorrow. Why don’t you wait until you grow up a bit more before you do
this again?’ She looked pointedly at Jack who hung his head. ‘Uncle Roy will
annihilate you if he finds out and your mum and dad won’t be too pleased,
either. You told me that you’re not supposed to be here, Jack. So where exactly
are
you supposed to be?’

  
‘Shopping,’ Harley sniffed, ‘in town.’

  
‘Right, get in my car and we’ll go across to The Lodge together and you
can say I picked you up on the lane.’
  

***

  
‘Thanks, Ed.’ Roy took the
mug of coffee from his mate and swung his legs down off the mixing desk. He’d
been deep in thought, absentmindedly blowing smoke rings into the air.

   
‘You okay, Roy?’ Eddie
asked
.
‘Got something on your mind?’

  
‘What?
 
Not really. Well, actually
– yeah, I have.’ Roy stubbed his
half-finished cigarette out in the overflowing ashtray.
 

  
‘I’ll take a guess. Harley’s forthcoming birthday?’

  
Roy nodded. ‘Sammy was
giving me earache again this morning, saying I should tell her about Livvy.’

  
‘Sammy’s right. You’ve got to do it, and soon.’

  
‘I’m scared of her reaction, Ed. She’s a volatile little monkey at the
best of times. I tell you, when she stands in
front of me with her arms folded, giving me what for, it takes me back to that
night Livvy took exactly the same stance and refused to have an abortion. She
has the same defiant air, not to mention the guts to put
me
in my rightful place.’

  
‘Are you still worried she’ll reject you?’

  
‘Terrified, it would destroy me. I love that kid to bits.’

  
‘And
she
loves you. But the longer you leave it, the more it’ll
hurt. You made a promise to Livvy that you’d tell Harley the truth when she was
ten,’ Eddie reminded. ‘I’m surprised Livvy hasn’t made it her business to get
in touch when she’s toured Britain.
At least she’s honoured
her
part of
the deal. Can I ask you something? Tell me to fuck off if you like.’

  
‘Ask away, Ed.’
   

  
‘Do you still have feelings for Livvy? Are you frightened of re-opening
old wounds?’

  
Roy stood up and walked over
to the window. He stared as Kate’s silver Peugeot 206 hurtled up the lane.
‘Your Kate’s in a hurry!’

  
‘She always is. Stop changing the subject.’

  
Turning, Roy nodded slowly.
‘What if Harley wants to meet her? What then, for me I mean? If I clap eyes on
Livvy Grant I might do something stupid. I love Sammy; you know that. I always
have. But Livvy did things to my head that no woman’s ever done before.’

  
Eddie groaned and shook his head. ‘Roy,
you can’t get involved with Livvy again. Besides, she’s happily married to that
property magnate and she’s got another daughter. You saw the spread in Hello
magazine last year.’

  
‘Yeah, I remember, happy families! She and Danny looked the perfect
golden couple, posing on the yacht. Harley will be sure to want a slice of
their lifestyle.’

  
‘Well she’s already used to the good life. She’s not been deprived of
anything.’

  
‘I suppose you’re right.’

  
At the sound of crunching gravel, Roy
looked out the window again and smiled. ‘Here she comes,
the cause of my grey hairs! Kate must have picked her and Jack up on the lane.
Shall we call it a day, Ed? I haven’t been a very productive partner this
afternoon.’

  
‘No problem. I’ll see you at yours tonight. You’ll feel better after a
joint or two.’

  
‘All right, you two?’ Roy
greeted Harley and Jack as they strolled into the music room, clutching the
CD’s Nathan had just arrived home with. ‘Get everything you want? You look a
bit pale again, Harley. Don’t you feel well, love?’

  
‘Dad, stop fussing. I’m cold, that’s all. And don’t start moaning about
me wrapping up warm either!’

  
‘Okay. It’s only because I care about you. Where’s that bruise come from
on the back of your leg?’

  
Harley looked down and studied the large purple bruise. She shook her
head. ‘Don’t know. Wasn’t there earlier. Must have banged into something.’
  

  
‘See you tomorrow, Harley.’ Jack kissed her chastely on the cheek and
squeezed her hand. ‘Try not to worry,’ he mouthed as Roy
turned his back for a second.
 

  
‘You ready?’ Roy turned back
to Harley. ‘Let’s get you home. See if your mother’s spent all my money. Come
for lunch tomorrow, Jack. Sammy’s promised roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.’

  
‘Thank you,’ Jack mumbled, looking down at his feet.

  
‘Cheer up, mate,’ Eddie said and ruffled his grandson’s hair. ‘You look
like you’ve got the world on your shoulders.’
  

***

CHAPTER THREE

Jack polished off the last of his
Sunday lunch and leant back in the chair with a contented sigh. He was feeling
mellow from the glass of red wine he’d been allowed.

‘That was lovely, Aunt Sammy.’ He
smiled and patted his stomach.

‘Thank you, Jack. More beef?’
Sammy held out a thick slice of top rump over his plate.

‘No thanks, I’m stuffed!’ He felt
much better for eating the huge meal. His nerves, and the inner terror he’d
felt earlier, sure that Uncle Roy would see the guilt written in his eyes, had
gone.
    

Harley’s greeting had been
strained at first. But thanks to the wine she appeared to be in a more relaxed
frame of mind, laughing and joking with her brother Jason and his partner
Jules. She turned to smile at Jack and he smiled back.

‘You two go and play some records
while we old folks relax,’ Uncle Roy suggested. He poured himself a fourth
glass of red wine and gestured the bottle towards Jason and Jules.

Jack silently thanked God for
alcohol. He’d seen Uncle Roy down a couple of large single malts prior to
lunch, which had obviously helped.

‘You mean in my bedroom?’ Harley
said.

‘Well we don’t want
Greenday
on down here.’

‘Okay, c’mon, Jack.’
 

Jack scraped back his chair and
stood up quickly, before Uncle Roy changed his mind.
  

‘By the way, Dad,’ Harley called
over her shoulder. ‘We in the modern world don’t call them records anymore,
they’re compact discs! And
you
a
recording artiste, too!’

‘Cheeky little madam. Get out of
here before I make you sit in the lounge and listen to
The Raiders!’

***

Jason chose that moment to make an
announcement. ‘Dad, Mum, Jules and I have something to tell you.’

Sammy put down her glass and
touched his hand. ‘What is it, son?’

‘We’re going to be parents,’ he
announced.

Roy
spluttered into his wine goblet. Sammy removed the glass from his hand and
slapped him hard on the back, digging her fingernails warningly into his spine.

‘You’re what?’ Roy
choked, his eyes watering as he got to his feet.

‘You heard,’ Jason replied,
looking him directly in the eye.

‘Well who, err - how? Oh fuck, you
know what I mean!’

‘Roy!’
Sammy said. ‘Don’t be so bloody personal. It doesn’t matter how. Which of you
is the father?’
   

‘I am, Mum,’ Jason replied
proudly.

‘Oh, Jason!’ Her eyes filled with
tears. ‘When’s the baby due?’

‘Beginning of November. We only
found out for sure this week. I wanted to wait for the right time to tell you,
which isn’t always easy.’ Jason raised an eyebrow in his father’s direction.
‘Our surrogate’s six weeks.’

‘Who
is
the surrogate?’ Sammy asked. ‘You
have
vetted her
properly?’

‘Of course. She knows about Dad’s
band and having to keep things private and all that stuff,’ Jason replied. ‘Her
name’s Elena. She’s twenty-eight, dark-haired with brown eyes. In fact, she has
Italian blood like Dad and me, so she’s a pretty good match. We’ve known of her
for quite a while. She had a little boy for friends of ours four years ago and
a baby girl last year for friends of theirs.’
  
    

‘For fuck’s sake, what is she? A
one woman baby factory!’ Roy sat
down heavily and poured another red.
  

Jason ignored the comments.
‘She’ll live with us until the baby’s born. Her name will appear on the birth
certificate and so will mine. But then Jules and I will raise the child. Just
like you brought Harley up for
him
, Mum.’

The jibe washed over Roy
and he smiled. ‘You’ve got it all planned, haven’t you, son?
 
Well good luck. I’m very pleased for you
both. Hope it all goes smoothly.
 
Dare I
ask – did she use a turkey baster?’

‘Roy,
how could you?’ Sammy groaned.

‘It’s okay, Mum. He might as well
know and then he’ll shut up about it. Yes, she did, but don’t you
dare
embarrass her when you meet her or
I’ll never, ever forgive you.’
 

‘I won’t. I’m thrilled, honestly.
We’ll have a flesh and blood grandchild. That’s something your mother never
thought she would have. Isn’t that right, sweetheart?’
   

Sammy nodded, blinking away tears.
‘I can’t believe it. I’m so proud of you, Jason.’

‘Can I just ask how you decided
which of you was to be the father?’ Roy
asked.

‘If you must.’ Jason sighed. ‘We
took a turn each. Jules was first, but it didn’t work. This month it was my
turn. I was lucky.’

‘Bad luck, Jules old son, you must
be firing blanks! Our Jason might be gay, but he’s still got that good old
Cantello…’

‘Roy,
get in the lounge and don’t you dare open your mouth again!’ Sammy dragged him
mid-sentence from his chair and pushed him towards the door.

‘But I was only…’ he began, as
Sammy raised her fist. ‘I’m joking, Sam, honestly.’ He ran from the room as she
turned to face Jason and Jules.

‘I’m sorry, boys. I know he’s a
pain in the arse. But you just wait until the baby arrives, he’ll be the
proudest grandpa in the world.’

***

Jack lay on Harley’s bed, watching
her chewing the ends of her hair as she paced up and down.
 

‘You’ll wear a hole in the carpet.
Come and lie beside me.’ He patted the bright yellow and orange patterned duvet
cover.

‘I can’t relax with you,’ she
said.

He leant up on one elbow. ‘Why
not? You’re usually
very
relaxed when
we’re together. So what’s changed?’

She shot him a meaningful look.
‘Do you really need to ask? You know what’s wrong.
 
We’re lovers now, remember.’

Jack nodded. ‘So, what difference
does it make? Apart from the mess we might be
in, of course?’

‘Well, you won’t want to settle
for a kiss and cuddle anymore. I’m not sure I can do it again after what
happened yesterday,’ she replied, tears filling her eyes.

‘Harley, no, you’re wrong
. I
don’t want to do it again either.
Not for a while anyway. I’m just as happy to kiss and cuddle like we did
before.’

She sat down beside him.
‘Honestly?’ She bent to kiss him.

‘Harley, look at that huge bruise
on your thigh!’ Jack exclaimed, as her skirt rode up.

‘I know. It’s nearly as big as my
hand. I’ve got that one on my leg as well. It’s shaped like a map of India.
I thought maybe I’d banged it on your bed yesterday, but I don’t remember doing
it.’ She studied the mottled, purple and red bruises. ‘It’s a mystery where
they’ve come from.’

‘You don’t think it’s anything to
do with the pills do you?’ Jack asked.

‘I doubt it. I only took the first
pill when you gave it to me four hours ago and I already had one bruise. I’ll
ask Faye tomorrow if she got any.’

‘Give me another kiss then and
we’ll put yesterday behind us.’ Jack held out his arms and she moved into them.

***

On Wednesday afternoon Jack was
loitering outside the girls’ changing rooms at Manor
Banks School,
hoping to see Harley, when he heard Faye Blackwell shouting. She ran out into
the corridor.

‘Jack, go get the nurse, quick.
Harley’s fainted.’
 
She dashed back
inside before Jack could reply. He hurried down the corridor, hammered on the
sick-room door and, when the nurse appeared, babbled out what had happened.

He followed on her heels, but
stayed outside the changing rooms. Boys weren’t allowed in under any
circumstances. He leant against the corridor wall, his stomach in knots. Faye
came out to find him. She told him they’d just finished playing a hockey match
and Harley had complained of feeling queasy and breathless then passed out when
they came back indoors.

‘What’s wrong with her?’ Jack
whispered. ‘Do you think it’s the pills, or could she be pregnant?’

‘I don’t know,’ Faye whispered
back. ‘
I
was okay when I took them.
Surely she wouldn’t be fainting after only five days, even if she
were
pregnant.’

‘Oh God, I feel faint myself,’
Jack muttered.

‘Stop being such a wimp, Jack.
Maybe she’s ill or something. She had another nose bleed this morning and her
legs are covered in strange bruises.’

‘I know,’ Jack said. ‘She looks
like she’s been kicked by a donkey.’

The nurse appeared behind them,
making them both jump.

‘Mr Cantello is on his way to
collect Harley. I suggest that you both get ready to go home. The dismissal
bell rang five minutes ago.’

They nodded and walked down the
long corridor.

‘I’d make myself scarce if I were
you,’ Faye said. ‘Harley’s dad might be suspicious about why she fainted.’

Jack needed no second telling. He
caught up with his brother in the playground and told him what had happened to
Harley.

‘Oh fuck, Jack!’ Nathan exclaimed.
‘Girls usually only faint and feel queasy for one reason. Maybe those pills
didn’t work.’

‘They hadn’t worked up until
lunchtime,’ Jack said. ‘Here’s Mum.’ He waved as the family Jeep drove into
view.

‘Hi, boys. Jack, you look worried.
You okay, son?’ Mum said as Roy’s
BMW screeched to a halt and he leapt out. ‘Roy,
what are
you
doing here? I thought Harley was coming home with us?’

‘I got a call. She’s been taken
ill. Talk to you later.’ He sprinted across the playground and disappeared
through the entrance door.

‘I wonder what’s wrong. Get in the
car. I won’t be a minute.’ Their mum hurried after Roy
and disappeared inside the school.

***

Jack stared out of the window as
his mum came outside, followed by an angry looking Roy, who was supporting
Harley. His mum climbed into the Jeep and looked directly at him, her face pale
and pinched. ‘I think we need to have a word, don’t you?’ She started up the
engine and headed towards home, her fingers gripping the steering wheel so
tight that her knuckles were white.

Jack sat silent and terrified.
Something must have been said. Why else would Mum look and sound so furious.
Nathan, next to him, rolled his eyes and drew his hand across his throat. She
pulled up outside their home and said, ‘Inside, both of you.’

They followed her indoors and sat
side by side on the sofa. She stood in front of them, arms folded across her
chest. ‘It would appear that Harley has taken some form of drug. Do you two
know anything about this?
 
If I find
you’ve been taking anything at all, and I mean
anything,
I’ll kill the
pair of you. Do you understand?’

They nodded meekly.
 

‘So, what did she take? Ecstasy or
something?’
 

Jack shook his head.
 

‘Well in that case, Jack, what was
it? Roy and Sammy need to know. Harley will probably have to see a
doctor.’
 

Jack tried to speak but his words
stumbled over one another.

‘What? Speak up, Jack. If you know
which drugs Harley has taken then for God’s sake tell me.’

‘The morning a-a-after pill,’ Jack
stuttered, not daring to look his mum in the eye.

She sat down heavily on the
opposite sofa. ‘The what?’

‘The morning after pill,’ Nathan
repeated for Jack who could feel himself shaking from head to toe.

‘Yes, Nathan, thank you. I heard
what he said; I just can’t believe it. How could you, Jack? When did this
happen?’

‘Saturday afternoon,’ Jack
muttered, dry-mouthed. He stared down at the scuffed toes of his school shoes.

‘I thought you went into Pickford
with Harley on Saturday afternoon?’

‘We came back here when you went
out,’ he admitted.

‘You stupid, careless boy, after
everything your father’s told you about safe sex.’
  

‘No, Mum, I wasn’t careless,’ Jack
protested.
 
‘I used a condom. It split.
Honestly. We were really scared. Aunt Kate got the pills for Harley, but they
haven’t worked yet,’ he finished, biting his lips.

His mum shook her head. ‘Bloody
hell, Jack, you’re only fifteen and a half. Christ Almighty, your father will
go mad!’

Jack nodded. ‘I know. Do you think
the pills have made Harley ill? She had a nosebleed today and her legs are full
of bruises. Could they cause all that?’
 

‘I don’t know. Maybe Harley’s
anaemic or something. Whatever, she’ll still need to see a doctor. I’m going to
have to tell Roy what you’ve told
me, I’m afraid.’

‘No, please, Mum, he’ll kill me,
he really will!’

‘He won’t, but he’ll be very angry
with you. I suggest you keep out of his way for a few days. He’ll be relieved
to know that Harley hasn’t taken any dangerous drugs.’

‘Mum, what if Harley’s pregnant,
what’ll we do?’ Jack asked. ‘She said she’d be too scared to tell her parents.’

‘God only knows. Was that the
first time?’

He nodded. ‘First and last,
probably.’

‘Oh, Jack, what will I do with
you?’ She turned to Nathan. ‘Now if it had been you!’

‘Yeah, well it wasn’t me, was it?’
Nathan leapt to his own defence.

‘If you jumped in a barrel of
manure, Nathan, you’d end up smelling of perfume. If I find out you’ve been
having sex with that Faye girl, you’ll be grounded, my lad! Now get to your
room, both of you. You’re grounded tonight so I can keep my eye on you.’

‘But I’m seeing Faye tonight,’
Nathan said. ‘It’s not fair. Why should I suffer just ’cos he’s made a
mistake?’

‘Your room, Nathan, now,’ his mum
yelled at the top of her voice. ‘Don’t you dare speak to me like that again.’