The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (130 page)

  
‘Well one of us has to make the decision. I’ve psyched myself up for
this each birthday since Harley was ten. I guess I’ve been lucky to have an
extra six years with you, if lucky’s the right word!’

  
Roy wiped his eyes with the
back of his hand. ‘
I’ve
been the
lucky one. You took me back and brought up my girl. The ball’s always been in
your court, Sam. You could have chucked me out ages ago and you didn’t. I don’t
want you to leave our home. Stay here, it’s yours. You chose it and designed
every inch of it. I can’t live here without you anyway.’

  
‘I don’t want it, Roy. It’s
too big without a family. I couldn’t bear to stay here alone.’

  
‘It’s too soon to make decisions,’ he said, ‘but you could sell it when
you’re ready and buy whatever you want. Wait until you come back from Jason’s
and then have a think.’

  
‘I’ll leave in the morning.’ She smiled wistfully through her tears. ‘At
least we’ll part as friends, almost.’

  
‘I’ll always be your friend,’ he whispered, stroking her hair. ‘Come
back when you feel ready. I’ll stay here for now with Harley. Try and keep
things as calm as possible for her sake.’
 

  
As if on cue, the lounge door opened and Harley peered in, a worried
frown creasing her brow. ‘Can we come in? We’re hungry. You both look upset. Are
you okay?’

  
Courtney followed Harley into the room and stood by the door, twiddling
her thumbs.

  
‘We’re fine,’ Sammy answered brightly. ‘Dad will take you for a pizza if
you feel up to it and then he’ll take Courtney home and you can pop in and see
Livvy. He needs to have a chat with you both and he can do that while you’re at
Livvy’s.’

  
‘Okay, Mum.’ Harley smiled. ‘But aren’t you coming out for tea with us?’

  
‘I’m not really hungry,’ Sammy replied. ‘I’ve got lots to do and I need
to make a few phone-calls. I can do that while you’re all out of the way.’

  
Harley nodded and crossed the room. She flung her arms around Sammy. ‘I
love you, Mum.’

  
Sammy kissed the top of her head. ‘I love you too, sweetheart.’

  
Roy saw Sammy signalling to
him with tear-filled eyes. ‘Come on, Harley.’ He took charge. ‘Let’s go. Mum
needs a bit of space. Are
you
ready,
Courtney?’ She nodded and he tossed his car keys to Harley. ‘Go and get in the
car. I won’t be a minute.’
 

  
He turned to Sammy as the girls left. ‘You sure you’ll be okay on your
own for a while?’

  
‘Yes, positive. Feed the kids and then go and put Livvy out of her
misery. I’ll call Jane and Pat, tell them what we’re doing.’

  
He nodded. ‘Okay, if you’re sure.’ He walked towards the door and
turned. ‘Sammy…’

  
‘Don’t make it harder, Roy.
I’ll see you later.’

***

Livvy lay on the bed and stared up
at the oak-beamed ceiling. Roy had
called her briefly to tell her he was taking the girls out for tea and would be
with her by seven. He’d also told her things had come to a head at home and
would explain later. She ran her hands over her flat stomach and sighed. She’d
spoken to Sheena, told her the news. Sheena said she would come down for a
visit very soon. Kate Mellor had popped in on her way to Apple Tree House.
She’d excitedly told Livvy that she and Zak had decided to get married this
Christmas.

  
‘Send the girls up to Laura’s later,’ Kate had said. ‘They can help us
look through the books of wedding dress designs.’

  
When Roy and the girls arrived home just after seven, she sent Courtney
to change out of her school uniform then told them they could go up to Laura’s
if Harley felt well enough. Harley followed Courtney after Livvy had given her
a hug and a kiss. Livvy expressed her concern to Roy
at their daughter’s pale face.

  
Roy sat down on the bed and
took her hand. ‘You look pale yourself,’ he said, and stroked a curl from her
eyes. ‘Harley felt a bit sick in the car, but it seems to have passed now.
Apparently, the same thing happened this afternoon when Sammy took her out and
I came here.’ He told her the events of the last few hours.

  
She stared at him as he finished. ‘And that’s it?’

  
‘More or less. Now
you
have to
tell Danny and ask him for a divorce.’

  
Livvy nodded slowly. ‘I’ll call him after
midnight
.
That way he’ll probably be home, rather than at the office. I was going to
check my rights with regards to custody of Courtney, but I’ve still not got
round to doing it. Jon gave me Ed’s solicitor’s number. I’ll do it
tomorrow.’
   

  
‘He’s my solicitor, too,’ Roy
said. ‘So we’ll go and set the ball rolling.’
 

  
He stretched out beside her and pulled her into his arms. ‘I feel numb,
Liv. I wasn’t expecting any of this to happen today. It’s all so quick.’

  
Livvy thought back to this morning’s OK! horoscope. For once it was
right.
  

  
‘This
is
what you want, isn’t
it?’ Roy whispered. ‘You, me, our
daughters and maybe Roy Jnr in there?’ He gently patted her stomach.

  
Her eyes filled with tears. ‘More than anything in the world, Roy.
I always have done.’

  
‘Well that’s settled then.’ He held her tight. ‘We need to tell the
girls tonight. I don’t know how Harley will take it. It’s the wrong time to be
upsetting her, but there’s never going to be a right time.’

  
Livvy nodded. ‘Please don’t mess me around like before. Back and too,
between me and Sammy for weeks on end. I couldn’t bear all that again.’

  
‘I won’t. It’s not like last time,’ he reassured her. ‘I realise my
place is with you and our girls and so does Sammy. I’ll walk up to Phil’s and
bring them back. Then we can tell them.’

***

Roy
chewed his lower lip as Harley stared ashen faced at him.

  
‘So, are we all going to live at Jasmine House,’ she asked, lips
trembling.

  
Roy knelt in front of her
and took her hand. ‘No, darling. For the time being, me and you will live
there. Livvy and Courtney will stay here, but we’ll spend lots of time
together. There are things to sort out and your mum, Sammy, needs time to
decide what she wants to do. Jasmine House is hers. I signed it over to her
years ago for tax purposes. She can sell it when she needs to. She’ll stay with
Jason and Jules for a few days and then she’ll come home and we’ll talk some
more. But we won’t be living as a husband and wife.’
 

  
Harley nodded and wiped her eyes.

  
‘Mum will still want to be involved with you, Princess and you can spend
as much time with her as you like.’

  
Roy looked at Livvy who was
seated opposite, her arm around a tearful Courtney.
 

  
‘Cheer up, Courtney,’ he said. ‘It will work out for us.’

  
‘But it’s my fault,’ Courtney sobbed. ‘I wished we could be together and
happy as a family. But we’re all sad and crying now.’

  
‘Sweetheart, we will be happy one day, I promise you,’ Roy
said. ‘But it’s a very difficult time for everyone and things are sometimes
worse before they get better.’

***

CHAPTER
EIGHTEEN

MAY 2001

Sammy swirled her drink around the
glass, leant back in the chair at Roy’s
mixing desk, and stared at the photograph in her hand. It had been taken in Mauritius
almost seventeen years earlier. Roy
was gazing lovingly into her eyes; they’d re-taken their wedding vows and
celebrated with a second honeymoon. The previous week Livvy had agreed to hand
over her expected baby, and, after the loss of Nick, they’d had a rosier future
to look forward to. Now it had all gone to rat-shit - again. No doubt Roy
was looking into Livvy’s eyes right now and swearing his undying love to
her
. ‘Bastard!’ She hurled the picture
at the wall. The glass smashed into fragments and the broken frame lay
forlornly on the carpet.

  
She finished her drink, tipped the last of the gin into her glass and
hurled the bottle at the wall, too. The shards joined the picture frame. She
got unsteadily to her feet, looked out of the window at the gardens and the far
reaching view in the evening gloom, and burst into tears. How could she bear to
give up her lovely home and all her memories? It would be so empty without Roy
and Harley. Forty-two years she’d been with him, thirty-six of them married.
How on earth would she begin to live without him?
 
She didn’t know any other life. She’d spoken
to Pat and Jane after Roy had left
with Harley and Courtney. Both urged her to go to them or they would come to
her, but she told them she wanted to be on her own for a while. Roy
would be coming back with Harley later and no doubt they would talk some more.

  
She picked up a guitar case and opened it. His pre CBS pink Fender nestled
in the faded satin lining. She felt like smashing it too, but something stopped
her. One of his first guitars, it was a prized possession and as rare as
rocking horse shit now, he’d told her. The first time she’d seen him with
The Raiders
he’d played this guitar.
Strutting his stuff on stage in tight black leathers, as sexy as Elvis. She’d
fallen in love with him that night and they’d been inseparable until Livvy came
along. She took the guitar out of the case, strummed it and smiled through her
tears. Roy had tried to teach her
to play during their first few months together, but she’d never quite got the
hang. She felt sick, her chest felt tight, her whole world was crumbling and
she didn’t know what to do. Letting Roy
go was right, because she couldn’t share him, but it had broken her heart to
say it. The phone rang. She ignored it for a while, then thinking it might be
Roy or Harley she grabbed the receiver. It was her friend Margaret Grey,
wanting a chat.

***

A week later Jane and Pat stared
at Sammy, mouths wide open.

  
‘Oh my God, that’s a bit
too
quick!’ Jane exclaimed.

  
They’d met for lunch in Number 14, the brand new chrome and glass wine
bar in Abbott’s Edge. Sammy had just told them about her visit to the
solicitor’s and how it would only take six months to get a quickie divorce.

  
‘There’s no reason to drag it out,’ Sammy said. ‘Roy’s
not contesting, obviously. He’s admitted adultery and that’s all there is to
it.’ Her eyes filled with sudden tears and she blinked them away. ‘I vowed not
to cry today, so come on, you two, cheer me up.’

  
Jane took a sip of wine and made a face. ‘There’s not much cheerful
going on,’ she began. ‘Mum’s old next door neighbour died last week, so I’ve
just dropped her and dad off at the funeral. My Uncle Jack in Ireland’s
been diagnosed with terminal bowel cancer and Jess and Jon are still at one
another’s throats over this fostering malarkey.’
  

  
‘For God’s sake, Jane, I said cheer me up!’ Sammy shook her head and Pat
went to get them a re-fill. As she came back with a bottle of Chardonnay and
the menus, Sammy continued. ‘I spoke to Margaret Grey last week and told her
about me and Roy. No point keeping it to myself. Actually, I was very pissed
and I think she got more of an earful than she was expecting, but it helped me
and she really understood. She’s invited me to join her and John at their villa
in Portugal
next month. So I’ve accepted. It’s a two week break and I could do with getting
away. I’ll think about selling the house when I get back.’

  
‘That’ll be a wrench,’ Jane said. ‘After all those years. You love
Jasmine House. I couldn’t bear to part with The Lodge.’

  
Sammy shrugged. ‘I can’t stay there on my own. It’s bad enough with Roy
and Harley still around, everybody walking on egg-shells, but without them…’
She picked up her drink and took a sip.

  
‘Will Harley be okay while you’re abroad?’ Pat asked.

  
‘She’s got Roy and Livvy and her sister to look after her. I’ll only be
a phone call away if she needs me and I can get a flight home soon enough if
there’s an emergency.’
  

  
‘Have you decided what you want to eat?’ Jane asked, studying the menu.
‘It’s getting busy in here. We’ll be ages getting served if we don’t make a
move.’ She looked up as the door swung open and a young couple, wearing
matching black leather coats and shades, strolled in. ‘Bloody hell, it’s the
Beckhams,’ she whispered.

  
Sammy nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat. She and Roy had
always worn matching leather coats in their youth. ‘Yeah, they’ve bought a
place round here. Same road as John and Margaret. They’ve heard them outside in
the garden talking to the little boy, what’s his name?’

  
‘Brooklyn,’ Pat replied.
    

  
‘That’s right,’ Jane said. ‘Strange name for a child. Apparently it’s
where he was conceived. Can you imagine if
we’d
done that? Jon would be called Pickford and Jess – Westlow!’ She laughed at
her own joke. ‘Ed saw Posh and Becks shopping in Tesco at Handforth Dean last
week. I think they’re only in residence up here when he’s playing at Old Trafford.’

  
‘She could do with a bit of meat on her bones,’ Pat whispered as the
Beckhams were shown to a table at the back of the wine bar. ‘
They
get escorted to a table and we had
to find our own. Go and tell the young girl at the bar we’re
The Raiders
wives,’ she finished with a
grin.’

 
‘Yeah, like she’ll know who
The
Raiders
are,’ Jane laughed. ‘She’ll probably think we mean Readers Wives
like in Ed’s dirty mags!’

  
‘She might have heard her mother playing their records,’ Sammy smirked.

  
‘More like her grandmother,’ Jane said. ‘Right, I’m having a Ham and
Turkey Panini with a tomato salad.’
  

  
‘Sounds good,’ Sammy nodded. ‘I’ll have the same. Pat?’

  
‘Make mine Cheese and Tuna with a green salad.’

  
Jane went to place the order and came back smiling. ‘Fifteen minutes,
they said.’ She topped up their drinks. ‘Cheers, here’s to a new start for
Sammy.’ They clinked glasses. ‘So, will Stuart Green be in Portugal?
I believe he has an apartment near the Grey’s villa.’

  
Sammy spluttered into her glass. ‘I’ve no idea. Nothing’s been said. I
haven’t seen Stu for months. I always feel really uncomfortable whenever I bump
into him.’

  
‘That’s because you’ve never stopped feeling guilty at letting him down
after your one-night stand,’ Jane said. ‘I wonder what would have happened
there if you hadn’t got back with Roy.’

  
‘I don’t know,’ Sammy said. ‘But I did, and it’s far too soon to be
thinking about match-making, Jane Mellor. I can see the way your mind’s
working.’

  
‘Stu married a girl from London
after your fling, but he’s divorced now,’ Jane said. ‘Just thought I’d mention
it,’ she added as Sammy rolled her eyes.

***

‘You sure you’ll be alright while
I’m gone, Princess?’ Roy asked
Harley who was lying on the sofa at Charlecote Cottage.
 

  
‘Dad, I’ll be fine. Livvy’s here. Stop fussing.’

  
He nodded. ‘It’s just that you’re looking really pale.’ He’d arranged to
have lunch with Jason and Jules and had brought Harley to stay with Livvy as
Sammy wouldn’t allow Livvy into Jasmine House. After Sammy’s recent accusations
that he neglected his son, he’d called and asked Jason to meet him and to bring
Jules too. Jason said they could only spare him an hour or two as they were
very busy at The Gallery. That was better than nothing and Roy
was determined to make an effort to build bridges with the pair. After all, at
thirty-four years of age, Jason was unlikely to change his sexual preferences
so Roy thought he might as well
start getting his head around it once and for all. ‘I’ll be back in time to
collect Courtney from school,’ he said to Livvy.

  
She saw him to the door and kissed him. ‘You look really smart in that
suit.’ She picked a speck of fluff off the collar of his black linen jacket.
‘Good luck.’

  
‘Thanks.
You
look a bit pale,
too, never mind Harley. You okay?’ He stroked her cheek.

  
‘I haven’t had time to put any makeup on yet,’ she said. ‘And I’m really
tired. When you come back we’ll do a pregnancy test.’

  
He frowned. ‘Isn’t it too soon?’
   

  
‘You can do a test almost immediately after conception now,’ she said.
‘And that could have been anytime this last week.’

  
‘True. But do you feel pregnant?’

  
‘Not sure, maybe,’ she replied, looking away. ‘It’s probably wishful
thinking.’

‘Okay.’ He hugged her tight. ‘If
it makes you happy, we’ll do it when I come home.’

***

Roy
ordered a single malt while he waited in The Olive Grove in Westlow. Jason had
suggested they meet there as it was close to work and the Italian food was the
best in town. Roy would have
preferred a pub lunch, a decent pint and his jeans and leather jacket, but
today wasn’t about what
he
wanted.

  
The young waiter, snake hipped, with hair as dark and shiny as his own
used to be, showed Roy to a
reserved table. Roy wondered if the
waiter was also gay. It was the way he wiggled his arse when he walked and
fluttered his hands with excitement when Roy
told him he was meeting his son, Jason Cantello. The name seemed to bring the
lad out in a nervous tremor and his cheeks flushed pink.

  
‘He designed this interior - your son,’ the waiter said, waving his arms
around. ‘He is very clever.’ He pointed to two tall bronze sculptures of
near-naked women; both of them water features, their reflections in the
mirrored walls, seemingly endless. ‘Jules made those.’

  
Roy smiled a pleasant smile
and wished the waiter would fuck off. He sat down. The waiter left and Roy
stared at the sculptures, trying to fathom out how Jules, who created such
perfect images of women, and must have had models posing naked in front of him,
could not be turned on by them, and would choose to sleep with a male. He
shuddered and knocked back his drink. He wasn’t even aware that Jason designed
commercial interiors. He’d assumed his commissions were mainly domestic. He’d
always closed his ears when Sammy brought up the subject of Jason and work. He
felt bad now that he’d taken so little interest in his career and relationship.

  
He summoned the waiter and ordered another single malt. He fiddled with
the red napkin on the table and crumpled it in his fist without realising what
he was doing then picked up a bread stick and nibbled the end. He checked his
watch. Ten minutes late. Where were they?
 
One thing Roy hated was bad
time-keeping. The door opened and four young women came in. Thirty-something,
office workers, judging by their smart clothes, he thought. In for the
lunchtime special. Pasta, side-salad and a glass of house plonk for a
fiver.
     

  
The women were shown to a table. Roy
smiled as they looked at him with almost recognition. One of them smiled back.
He winked at her and she whispered to her friend who turned and stared. Nice to
know he wasn’t losing his touch. The door opened again and Jason and Jules
strolled in wearing stylish suits. Jules in cream, accentuating his tan and his
blonde hair and Jason in chocolate brown that matched his eyes. Jason waved. Roy
held up his hand.

  
The young waiter accompanied them to the table and Roy
got to his feet and gave his son an awkward hug. Jason looking surprised, then
pleased, hugged his dad back and air- kissed both cheeks. Jules shook hands
with Roy.

  
‘Nice to see you, son, and you, too, Jules.’ He summoned the waiter and
ordered a bottle of the best red.

  
‘Good to see you too, Dad.’ Jason smiled as he and Jules took a seat.
‘You look a bit rough. Not sleeping? How’s Harls?’

  
‘She’s not too bad, son, coping well enough. I’ve left her with Livvy
while I’m here.
 
Your mother is dining
out with Jane and Pat, and no, I’m not sleeping well at all.’

  
‘Hardly surprising. You’ve a lot on your plate. Mum told me last night
that she was meeting Jane and Pat today. Bet your ears are burning.’ Jason
smiled and patted his dad’s hand. ‘Listen, Dad, I’ve heard Mum’s side of the
tale and I understand what’s going on. But please, don’t mess either of them about
this time. Make your decision and stick to it. Me and Jules will stand by you
whatever you decide and we’ll support you all.’