The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (17 page)

‘Why the hell are you laughing?’
Beth glared at him. ‘There’s nothing funny about this. You’re a bloody weirdo,
Mark Fisher! My sister said you were a sandwich short of a picnic when she met
you. I should have listened to her before I got involved.’ She took her mug
across to the sink. ‘
I’m
going
for a shower then if you’re not bothered. You can phone work and you’d better
call my boss too. Tell him I’ve got a tummy upset or something and while you’re
at it, ring that man. The number’s on top of the record player. The sooner I
get rid of this, this…thing, the better.’ Shoulders heaving, she fled the room
groaning.

Mark shook his head as he heard
her chucking up again. Another relationship down the pan, quite literally.
Three in as many months. If Vicky hadn’t found Jane’s ring he would have had
her to go crawling back to. But she wouldn’t want him now; she’d made it quite
clear. Still, he thought, leave it a couple of days then call her to apologise.
He could send her flowers, tell her Beth’s little problem was a false alarm. He
reckoned Vicky would find it in her heart to forgive him if he told her he’d
dumped Beth.

***

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

Jane dashed into the house to
find her mother standing in the kitchen in coat and headscarf. ‘You off out,
Mum? Only I need to ask you something.’

‘Can it wait until tomorrow?’ Her
mother looked at her watch and picked up her handbag. ‘I’m going to the
pictures with Molly. West Side Story’s on again and she missed it first time
round. I’m meeting her at the bus stop in a couple of minutes.’

‘Well, yeah, I suppose so.' Damn!
Eddie had called several times today,
reminding her to ask her mother if they could live together. Well, she’d tried;
it would just have to wait. She already knew the answer anyway. It would be an
emphatic NO.

Her father strolled into the
kitchen and greeted her with a broad smile and his wife a peck on the cheek.
‘Howdo, girls.’

‘Hiya, Dad.’ Jane returned his
smile.

Enid
pecked him back. ‘Hiya, love. Hope you’ve remembered I’m going out. Pete’s gone
to his mate’s, so you don’t have to worry about him for an hour or two. Your
dinners are in the oven on a low light and there’s a rhubarb pie in the larder.
Jane will make some custard. Right, I’m off.’ She hurried away as Ben swilled
his face and hands at the kitchen sink while Jane busied herself dishing up
their meal.

‘It’s not often your mother
abandons us,’ Ben said. ‘This is good,’ he added, tucking hungrily into his
lamb chops.

‘It won’t hurt us,’ Jane said.
‘Mum hardly ever takes a break.’

After dinner she dished up the
rhubarb pie and made a jug of custard. Ben smothered his pie and shovelled it
down as though still starving. He sat back, folding his hands across his
stomach.

‘Would you like more, Dad?’ Jane
asked.

‘No thanks, love. I’m stuffed.’

She ran hot water into the sink
and dropped the cutlery and plates in to soak. ‘I’ll wash if you’ll dry.’

‘I’ll do the dishes, Jane,’ he
said. ‘No doubt you’ve a date with Ed. Go and get yourself ready.’

‘I have.’ She stretched her arms
above her head and smiled. ‘He’s coming to collect me soon. Ask him to wait in
the sitting room, please.’

‘Will do,’ Ben called over his
shoulder as she left the room.

***

Eddie sat on the sofa twiddling
his thumbs. He wished he had the nerve to ask Ben, who was engrossed in the
sports pages of his paper, for permission to go up to Jane’s bedroom. He heard
the hairdryer switch off and then she was running downstairs and burst into the
living room. The wait had been worthwhile. She looked so sexy in her short
black skirt, black and white top and knee-length boots that he felt a twitch
just by looking and hoped it wasn’t obvious to her dad as he leapt up to greet
her.

‘You look fabulous,’ he mouthed,
winking as she tossed her hair back with a shake of her head.

‘Thanks,’ she said, slipping her
arms into her suede jacket. ‘Dad, we’re off out now. See you later.’

‘Enjoy yourselves.’ He lowered
his paper. ‘Make sure she’s home at a reasonable hour, lad.’

‘I will,’ Eddie said, taking her
arm. He ushered her out towards the car. ‘What did your Mum say about us living
together?’ he asked as soon as they were out of Ben’s earshot.

‘I didn’t ask. She was on her way
out as I was coming in. I’ll ask tomorrow.’

‘You promised you’d do it as soon
as we got back from Brighton. Shall I come in with you
later and we can ask her together?’

‘No, Ed, definitely not! Dad will
be up and it won’t be the right time. She’ll say no anyway. I don’t know why
we’re even bothering.’

‘She might not,’ he said,
frowning as he unlocked the passenger door. ‘Get in. The others are meeting us
at the club.’

‘Are you sulking?’ she said as he
climbed in and slammed the door.

‘No!’ But he hadn’t even kissed
her yet when normally he couldn’t keep his hands off her.

At The Roulette Club he was
silent. He banged their drinks down on the table, lit a cigarette and sat with
his back to her.

‘Excuse me!’ She poked his
shoulder. ‘What's the matter with you?’

He looked at her for a long
moment and sighed. ‘You don’t want to live with me. That’s why you haven’t
asked your mum.’

‘For crying out loud, Ed, that’s
just not true. Of course I want to live with you.’ She pulled him into her arms
and kissed him.

‘Ahem!’ A stern voice spoke
behind them. ‘Put him down, young lady. You don’t know where he’s been.’

‘Roy, you silly sod.’ Jane
giggled and looked up to see Sammy, Pat and Tim laughing behind him. ‘We were
making up a misunderstanding.’

‘So I see. The van’s round the
back if you want the keys.’ Roy
dangled them in front of her. ‘There’s more room in there than the back seat of
his car.’

‘We’ll borrow them later.’ She
smiled as a look of anticipation crossed Eddie’s face.

‘Right,’ Roy
said as Tim came back from the bar with a tray of drinks. ‘Shall we tell him
now, or later?’

‘This is as good a time as any,’
Tim said.

‘Tell me what?’ Eddie said,
taking a slurp of cider.

‘Kris has finally quit the group.
We’re offering you the position of drummer - if you want it.’

‘Honestly?’ Eddie’s mouth fell
open. ‘Oh boy, I definitely do. Where’s Kris going?’

‘London,
to join his brother’s group,’ Roy
said. ‘They’re a big name in the smoke and the drummer left recently. It’s a
chance he can’t turn down. It also saves
us
asking him to leave. You know we’ve loads of gigs lined up anyway, so we’ll
start rehearsing right away. We’ve one here this Saturday night. Can you afford
to get a set of drums this week?’

‘Yeah,’ Eddie replied. ‘I’ll get
a discount and pay for it weekly. I took delivery of a Ludwig kit today. It
sounded brilliant when I tried it and I’ve already decided it’s mine. The money
I earn from the gigs will pay for the drums
and
car, so we could still manage the rent on the flat between us, Jane.’

‘What flat?’ Roy
asked as Jane rolled her eyes.

‘The one above the new shop,’
Eddie said. ‘I’ve asked Jane to move in with me.’

Sammy looked at Jane, eyebrows
raised in amazement. ‘And your mum and dad have approved this little plan?’

‘I haven’t mentioned it yet.’

‘Well I wouldn’t even
bother
mentioning it if I was you. It’ll
cause a huge row. I know what Mum and Tom would say, and they’re a lot more
liberal than
your
mum and dad.’

Pat nodded. ‘There’d not be a cat
in hell’s chance.’

‘See, it’s not just
my
parents,’ Jane said. ‘Ask Roy and Tim
to share with you.’

‘Brilliant idea!’ Roy
exclaimed. ‘Both Tim and I have talked about flat sharing, but we haven’t done
anything about it yet.’

Tim nodded gleefully, rubbing his
hands together. ‘Freedom, here we come.’

‘Wait until Jane’s asked her
parents. If they say no, we’ll make some plans,’ Eddie promised.

***

Just as she’d predicted, her mum
refused to even listen to her pleas when Jane broached the subject of moving in
with Eddie.

‘Not until you’re married.’ She
carried on folding sheets, ignoring her daughter’s pleading expression.

‘But, Mum, we would be now if
Eddie were free. Please,’ Jane begged, close to tears

‘It’s not right. Eddie’s still a
married man. If he leaves you for someone else like he left Angie, you’d have
no wedding ring on your finger and no security.’

‘Eddie would
never
leave me, he loves me.
I’m sick of this. I’m going!’

Jane dragged her holdall from
under the wardrobe and began tossing clothes into it.

Mum appeared at the bedroom door.
‘Jane, calm down. You’re going nowhere in this state.’ She sat on the bed and
ordered Jane to join her. ‘I’m concerned for you, love. I don’t want you to
make a mistake. Think about it, only a few months ago you were engaged to Mark
and planning to marry
him.
I know you and Eddie love one another, but
slow down a bit.’ She took a deep breath and gave her girl a hug. ‘Listen, I
tell you what; a compromise. You can stay with him on Saturday nights.’

‘What about Dad? What will
he
say?’

‘You leave your father to me, as
usual.’

***

‘Did you ask?’ Eddie wanted to
know later when he and Jane were comfortably ensconced in his bedroom.

She told him of her mother’s
compromise, willing him to understand.

‘Okay, I suppose it’s a start and
it’s better than nothing,’ he said. ‘I’ll ask Roy and Tim if they’ll move in
then. It’s a brilliant flat. I don’t want to lose it, but I can’t afford to
rent it on my own.’

***

Following a few days of begging
and borrowing furniture, carpets and anything else their respective mothers and
aunts could come up with, Eddie, Roy and Tim moved into the spacious two
bed-roomed flat.

‘We should have a flat warming
party,’ Eddie suggested as he and Jane arranged the mismatched sofas and
occasional tables in the lounge. Roy and Tim had taken the van to collect more
family cast offs.

‘Good idea.’ Jane followed him
into the bedroom he’d decided was theirs. ‘What about tomorrow after the gig?’

‘Good thinking.’ He pulled her
onto the bed. ‘We’ve just time for a quickie before Roy and Tim come back!’

***

Mark stared at the poster on the
wall outside The Roulette Club, proclaiming that tonight,
The Raiders
were happy to announce the reinstatement of Eddie Mellor on drums. He watched
as Vincento pasted a sold out sign across the poster, and grinned, his fingers
closing around something in his pocket. The last four tickets for the gig were
his.

This morning he’d gone to Vicky’s
place with the biggest bunch of red roses he could find and apologised for
treating her badly. The dozy cow had actually believed him when he told her
that Beth’s pregnancy was a false alarm and the relationship was over because
he wanted to be with
her.
She’d
thrown her arms around him and said she’d give him another chance if he’d
change his ways.

He’d never be able to tell her
the truth about Beth’s illegal termination. A dirty looking man had answered
the door, sweat oozing from every pore, mingling with the faint smell of
Dettol, three day stubble on his chin and a mangy dog hanging round his legs.
He’d taken his money then told Mark to hike around the block while he dealt
with Beth.

He’d protested, told the man he
would rather stay, but Beth said to go. She just wanted it over with. When he
knocked on the door half an hour later she was seated on a chair in the
hallway, her face drained, eyes red from crying. In the taxi home she wouldn’t
tell him what the man had done, was writhing in pain and then puked in her
handbag. He had to carry her upstairs to the flat.

The man assured them that getting
rid of the pregnancy at such an early stage would be no more painful than a
heavy period. How wrong he’d been, Mark thought, as Beth cursed him to kingdom
come, digging her fingernails into his hand. At one point she was crying and
bleeding so heavily he’d panicked and called her sister, who took one look at
Beth, and slapped him soundly across the face.

They spent the night mopping
Beth’s brow, holding her hands while she bit on a rolled up towel to silence
her screams and stop her waking up the rest of the tenants in the house. When
the baby came away he stared at the transparent, but perfectly formed miniature
body and wept openly, ashamed of feeling nothing but revulsion and relief.

He’d left Beth’s flat yesterday,
after she told him she never wanted to see him again. It was a brief but
painful affair he was hoping to put behind him. The one thing keeping him going
was the thought of bumping into Jane at tonight’s gig.

***

The Roulette Club was packed and
Jane, sitting at the bar with Sammy and Pat, swallowed the lump in her throat
as
The Raiders
walked on stage
dressed identically in smart grey suits and black satin shirts. She took a deep
breath as Roy played the opening
chords of
That’ll Be the Day
and
Eddie did his familiar hair flicking with each drumbeat. The eager audience
surged towards the stage, cheering and clapping.

After only a few rehearsals Eddie
was really back into the swing of things. Roy’s
version of
Jailhouse Rock
had the
girls at the front screaming for more. Phil took centre stage and sang Arthur
Alexander’s
You Better Move On
.
He bent towards a young girl, who was
looking up at him with adoring eyes. He blew
her a kiss and reached for her hand as the song ended.

‘That’s tonight’s shag lined up!’
Sammy nudged Jane who burst out laughing.

The group finished their first
set with Eddie’s solo spot and the audience joined in with Sam Cooke’s
You Send Me.

Amidst cheers and whistling
The Raiders
took a bow and walked off
stage. Eddie whipped off his jacket and leapt down the side steps. Sweat dripping
from his brow and his satin shirt sticking to his back, he made his way over to
the bar, beaming from ear to ear. ‘What did you think, Jane?’ He pulled her
into his arms. ‘Have I still got it, or what?’

‘You were wonderful, of course.
What else would I think?’ She planted a kiss on his lips.

‘I’m gonna change out of this wet
shirt. Get me a pint in and I’ll see you in a few minutes.’

As Jane ordered the drinks a hand
fell on her shoulder, startling her. She whipped round. ‘Mark! What on earth
are
you
doing here?’

‘Come to see Eddie’s big
comeback.’ He drew an almost identical version of Jane towards him. ‘Vicky, I’d
like you to meet Jane.’

Jane could see the girl was as
embarrassed as she.

Vicky held out her hand. ‘Nice to
meet you.’

Jane forced a smile and shook her
hand as Mark excused himself and left Vicky standing awkwardly by her side.