The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (129 page)

BOOK: The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series)
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He pulled up on Manor Banks car park and waved to Jess, who was parked
nearby.

  
‘Hell, I forgot about Jess collecting the boys. I though she and Jon
were in Paris.’

  
‘They only went for a few days,’ Livvy said.

  
‘Fuck, now I’ll have to rethink my excuse as to why I’ve got Courtney
with me.’

  
‘Why?’

  
‘Well Jess is bound to go home and tell Ed and Jane that you and I
turned up at school together, and Jane will be straight on the blower to
Sammy.’
 

  
Livvy nodded. ‘Well, people will have to get used to seeing us
together.’

  
Roy sighed. ‘Yeah, but not
just yet though. Oh, oh, look.’ He pointed towards the school entrance where
Courtney was emerging, Jamie Donahue steering her by the elbow and carrying her
schoolbag, Tasha following in his wake.

  
‘Oh no!’ Livvy cried. ‘I warned her this morning about keeping away from
him. I hope she didn’t leave the school premises with him at lunchtime.’

  
‘So do I,’ Roy said. ‘Or we
might not be the only ones with a little problem.’

  
‘Oh, don’t. I couldn’t cope with that. I’d lose her to Danny for good.’

  
‘I’m pulling your leg, sweetheart,’ Roy
said and patted her arm. ‘Courtney’s a good kid. She knows how to behave
herself.’

  
‘Yes, she does. But I’ve heard that Jamie doesn’t and she’s easily
flattered.’ Livvy leapt from the car as Courtney sauntered over, Jamie hot on
her heels.

  
‘Hi, Mom, hi, Roy.’ Courtney
bent to wave at Roy who stayed in the car. She pulled a disappointed face. ‘Oh,
I thought you might have Harley with you.’

  
‘No, Roy’s taking you home
with him,’ Livvy told her. ‘We had a bit of business to discuss.’

  
‘I see.’ Courtney raised her eyebrows and took her bag off Jamie as
‘Tasha linked her arm possessively through his. ‘See you tomorrow, Jamie,’ she
said, ignoring ‘Tasha as Jamie winked at her.

  
‘You bet,’ he muttered.

  
Jack yelled, ‘Bye Courtney,’ across the playground and she turned and
waved at him and Nathan.

  
‘See you tomorrow, boys. I’m going to Harley’s for tea.’

  
‘Okay, give her my love. Tell her I’ll call her tonight,’ Jack said,
climbing up into the Jeep beside his mother, who, with a puzzled expression on
her face, waved goodbye as she pulled away.

  
‘She’ll be dashing straight back to Hanover’s
Lodge to tell the tale,’ Roy
whispered to Livvy. ‘You alright, Courtney? How was the first day?’

  
‘I loved it,’ Courtney enthused. ‘You okay, Roy?’

  
‘Couldn’t be better,’ he replied, glancing at Livvy who blushed and
ordered Courtney to fasten her seatbelt.

***

‘See you later, Liv,’ Roy
called as he dropped her off at the cottage.

  
Courtney waved to her mother and then turned to Roy.
‘So, what have you and Mom been up to this afternoon?’

  
‘Up to? What do you mean?’ Roy
frowned and pulled up at the traffic lights at the end of the lane.

  
‘Well, she was wearing her shades, it’s not sunny and her eyes were all
red when she took them off just now. Did you have a fight?’

  
‘Of course not.’

  
‘She loves you,’ Courtney said in a matter of fact way. ‘And
you
love
her,
don’t you? I heard you telling her.’

  
‘Did you? When was that?’ Roy
asked, keeping his eyes on the traffic lights.
    

  
‘At the hotel. You both thought I was sleeping, but I woke up. You were
saying it to her over and over.’ Courtney fixed him with a stare that made him
feel hot under the collar.

  
‘I see,’ he said. The lights changed and he put his foot down.

  
‘I didn’t want to disturb you,’ she continued. ‘So I stayed in my room.’

  
‘That was thoughtful of you.’ Roy
looked at her serious face.

  
‘But you do love her, don’t you?’ she persisted.

  
‘I do,’ he admitted. ‘Very much.’

  
She sat back, arms folded, a satisfied expression on her face.

  
‘What about you, young lady? Do you miss your home and friends?’

  
‘No. I miss Dad a bit, but he was hardly ever around and always left me
with the housekeeper. I was lonely in LA. I’ve got everything I need right
here. Mom’s home all the time. I’ve got Harley. My granny and grandpa are only
a short journey away. I’ve got my aunts and uncles and cousins and now I’ve got
new friends like Jack and Nathan and Faye - and Jamie,’ she finished with a
smile.

  
‘Jamie Donahue is trouble with a capital T and you’re far too young to
be getting involved with the likes of
him.

  
‘I’m not getting involved with him. To be honest, Roy,
I think it’s Mom he fancies. He’s never stopped asking me questions about her
and
Juice
and why we’re living here.
He knows she’s Harley’s real mum now and I told him we’re here because Harley’s
ill.’

  
‘Good girl. The less he knows the better, for now anyway,’ Roy
said as the gates of Jasmine House swung open. ‘I’ve got to come up with a good
excuse for Sammy as to why you’re with me. I don’t want her to know that I
spent the afternoon with your mother. This really isn’t the best way to learn
about adult relationships, Courtney. All the secrets and lies and the mess
we’ve made of things. But I’m trying to protect Sammy from being hurt by the
truth.’

  
‘I think I understand,’ Courtney nodded. ‘I guess Sammy will be angry
with you, no matter what you tell her.’

  
‘I guess she will,’ Roy
agreed as he parked in front of the garage block. He patted Courtney’s shoulder.
The girl was wise beyond her years. Perhaps as well, he thought. She’d need to
grow up pretty quickly in the next few months.

  
Harley flung open the door and greeted Courtney with an air-kiss to each
cheek. She shot a wary half-smile in Roy’s
direction.

  
‘What?’

  
‘You’re in trouble!’ She slid her fingers across her throat and pointed
to the closed door of the lounge. ‘Mum’s in there with a G&T, and it’s not
her first. She’s not a happy bunny, Dad.’

  
‘Okay,’ Roy sighed. ‘You two
take yourselves upstairs and I’ll go and face the music.’

***

Roy
poured a large single malt and turned to Sammy who was sitting on the sofa,
clutching a glass, her face ashen and her eyes staring at him as though he was
a stranger. ‘Can I get you a refill?’

  
She shook her head and took a sip of her drink.

  
‘Want to talk?’ he ventured, sitting opposite her. He should go to her,
put his arms around her, but he couldn’t, and he sensed she wouldn’t want that
anyway. ‘How many of those have you had?’ He’d noticed the almost empty gin
bottle, which last night had been nearly full.

  
She shrugged. ‘Dunno! Don’t care.’

  
‘Ah, so you
are
speaking to
me?’ He knocked back his drink and put his glass on the coffee table. He could
do with another, but he had to drive Courtney home later.

  
She continued to stare at him, her eyes burning with unshed tears.
‘Why?’

  
‘Did Jess call you and blab? That didn’t take her long.’

  
‘No, Roy. Not in the way
you
mean. Jess wasn’t telling tales. She was concerned that something had happened
to Harley. That you had picked up Livvy and the pair of you were collecting
Courtney to bring her here. She said Livvy had shades on and assumed she’d been
crying as there’s no sun today.’

  
‘Well why didn’t she think to ask Livvy or me while she was parked
beside us?’

  
‘I don’t know. But that’s beside the point. You must have left the house
shortly after me and Harley, because we came back almost straight away. We’d
only got to the top of the lane and Harley felt sick with the movement of the
car. You obviously went off in the opposite direction or you would have passed
us coming back. Phil’s place is in that direction, so I put two and two
together.’
        

  
‘Why didn’t you call my mobile?’

  
‘I didn’t want you to think I was checking up on you,’ she cried. ‘I
trusted you, Roy. Hard though it’s been the last few weeks I gave you the
benefit of the doubt. I wasn’t wrong about you and Livvy being lovers again,
was I?’

  
‘No!’ Roy shook his head and
looked down at his feet. Pointless lying now. May as well get it all out in the
open and take it from there. He owed her that much at least.

 
‘Oh, Roy. When?’

  
‘It doesn’t matter. What bloody difference does it make?’

  
‘It matters to me. Today?’

  
He nodded. She didn’t need to know about the other time.

  
‘And the rest,’ she said, slamming her glass down on the coffee table
and slopping her drink over the sides. ‘Well that’s it. We’re through. I knew
this would happen. You promised it wouldn’t, but where Livvy’s concerned, you
don’t stand a chance. I won’t be made a fool of again.’
 

  
‘I’m sorry, Sam. I never meant it to happen. I don’t know what else to
say to you.’

  
‘Do you love her?’ she asked her voice barely audible.

  
‘Yes, I do,’ he replied in an agonized whisper.

  
‘More than you love me?’

  
‘It’s different, Sammy. I’ll always love you. I don’t even know if I can
live without you.’

  
‘Well you’ll find that out soon enough.’ She got up and went to the
window. She kept her back to him as she spoke. ‘I’m going to go and stay with Jason
and Jules for a few days. They don’t know that yet, but Jason told me I have a
home with him if ever I need one. He’s
my
son and my new grandchild will be here in a couple of months. They’ll need all
the help I can give them.’ She turned to face him. ‘Much as I love Harley,
she’s your flesh and blood, yours and Livvy’s. You’ll need to take great care
of her, Roy.’
    

  
Tears slid down Roy’s cheeks
as he stared at her. ‘Jason’s
my
son,
too. And that’s my grandchild you’re talking about.’

  
‘You hardly show Jason any affection and you’ve made it quite clear you
couldn’t give a toss about the baby,’ she snapped. ‘You never give him a hug or
a squeeze. It hurts him. His gayness isn’t going to rub off on you, you
know.’
  

  
Her sarcasm stung, but he wouldn’t retaliate. He realised she was right.
He’d fought shy of showing Jason any tactile affection for years and for
exactly the daft reason she stated. Well that would have to change, maybe his
new grandchild, when it arrived, would help bridge that gap.
  

  
He wanted to go to her, to hold her. She looked defeated. There were no
more angry words or recriminations, just an almighty air of sadness that seemed
to be settling on her shoulders. An acceptance, almost. ‘Sammy, I’m so sorry,’
he sobbed.

  
‘So am I. But this is the end. I want a divorce,
as soon as possible.’

  
‘What will I tell Harley,’ he cried. ‘She needs you, she loves you,
Sammy.’

  
‘She has you, her mother and her sister and all those relatives of
Livvy’s in Scotland.
Another thing I’ve had on my mind is the bone-marrow transplant. The egg
donation was a mad idea. It could take forever. Harley hasn’t got that sort of
time. While we fight and argue over it, you and Livvy could be having another
kid. It might be Harley’s only chance and I’m not going to stand in the way of
that.’

  
Roy felt broken, rung in
two. Seeing Sammy so devastated, he wanted to stay with her, but then he
thought about Livvy, waiting alone at the cottage, and knew he should be with
her, he
had
to be with her. Sammy was
being brave for both of them. He had to let go. He tried one last thing,
knowing it was pointless, but feeling he should say it anyway. ‘
We
could stay together and Livvy and I
could still have another child.’

  
‘You’re missing the point as usual, Roy.
I want to be out of your life when that happens, if it hasn’t already.’

  
He stared at her for a long moment. Could she read his mind? Was “I
might have got Livvy pregnant again” tattooed on his forehead? An overwhelming
sadness engulfed him. He went to Sammy and drew her close. She clung to him and
sobbed against his chest.

  
‘We should have done this sixteen years ago, Roy.
I could have moved on and built a new life with Stuart Green, It wouldn’t have
been too difficult to fall in love with him. You and Livvy could have been
together to bring up Harley. We’d have been so far down the line now and the
hurt and pain would have gone away. But it’s starting again and I can’t bear
it. What about Livvy’s husband and daughter? There are so many more people who
will get hurt this time.’
 

  
‘I know,’ he cried. ‘I feel torn in two, Sam.’
 

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