The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (2 page)

She laughed and rolled her eyes. ‘Well you know
what Mum’s like. She says drumming’s not a proper job. But I’m sure you’ll
prove her wrong one day.’

‘I will, believe me. We’re gonna have the most
fantastic life.’

A loud bang from downstairs made them jump.

‘What if it’s your Mum and Dad come back
early.’ Jane clutched the bedspread around her. ‘They’ll go mad if they catch
us.’

‘They’re away all weekend. Maybe the door’s
blown open.’

‘But there’s no wind,’ she began as footsteps
thundered on the stairs.

A female voice called out, 'Ed, we need to
talk. You in your room?’

‘Fuck, it’s Angie,’ he said as the door flew in
and hit the wall.

He slung his arm around Jane and stared at
Angie, whose face looked pale, eyes red-rimmed from crying and her hair an
untidy mass of curls.

‘The door was unlocked,’ she said, glaring at
them. ‘I thought you’d be up here.’

He pulled Jane closer. ‘What the fuck do you
think you’re doing, barging into my room? It’s over. Jane and I are back
together. She’s just agreed to marry me.’

‘Is that a fact?’ Angie moved towards the bed.
‘Well here’s another one for you.’ She yanked up the welt of her Sloppy Joe
sweater, revealing a slightly swollen belly. ‘I’m pregnant. You’re the father.
So what you gonna do about it?’

***

CHAPTER TWO

AMBLESIDE: THE LAKE
DISTRICT: FEBRUARY 1964.

Jane gazed out of the hotel window.
Lake Windermere
sparkled in the mid-afternoon sun
and the far reaching views of snow-capped hills took her breath away. She gave
an involuntary shiver that had nothing to do with the cold, crisp weather, nor
was it one of joyful anticipation.

Mark had his back to her and was busy unpacking
his case. He’d barely spoken all morning.

‘Beautiful scenery,’ she volunteered.

He turned to stare at her, lips curling in a
smile that didn’t quite reach his cool grey eyes. ‘That all you can say?’

‘Err, well, the room is nice, too.’ She walked
across to the four-poster bed. The room was actually
very
nice, with thick pile carpet, antique furniture, and pink and
cream drapes with a matching bedspread. It was very posh and they had their own
bathroom. Not what she was used to at all. ‘I wasn’t expecting this.’ She tried
what she hoped was an enthusiastic smile and felt her stomach do a loop. ‘When
you said to take Friday off work and pack a small case, I thought we were just
having a day out in The Lakes and then staying at your mum’s house tonight, or
- well, I don’t know what I thought.’

‘It’s Valentine’s Day. I wanted us to do
something special.’ He sat down on the bed and took her hand. 'I thought a
night away somewhere nice might help. I know we haven’t been getting on well
lately. We never seem to have any fun these days.'

Not getting on well lately was an
understatement, Jane thought. She and Mark were engaged, reluctantly now on her
part. She didn’t want to be, not anymore and agreeing to marry him was the most
stupid thing she’d ever done. Mark had picked up the pieces after Eddie. It was
a rebound thing and now she wanted out. Since he’d slipped the ring on her
finger last year he’d changed, become possessive, and she feared his reaction
to her dumping him. Valentine’s Day and her heart was elsewhere. She’d rather
be home alone, staring at a photo of Eddie.

But it was too late. Eddie was married to Angie
Turner and they had a two-year old son. Things had been okay with Mark at
first. She’d met him at Mario’s a few weeks after splitting up with Eddie. He
was the bass player in
The Scorpions
,
a rival band to
The Raiders
. He also
had a respectable day-job at Lloyds bank. Her mother thought the sun shone out
of his backside because he wore smart suits and shirts and ties. She was
forever going on about how lucky Jane was to have found such a nice boy after
that Mellor lad and all his black leather.

There was a knock at the door. Mark got to his
feet. ‘Another little surprise for you.’ He crossed the room and let in Jane’s
best friend Sammy and Sammy’s boyfriend Roy, both wearing anxious expressions.

Jane could see the pair looked uncomfortable
and had no doubt they’d been coerced into joining them, probably against their
better judgement.

‘Hi, you two.’ She rushed across the room and
hugged them. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’

‘Mark invited us,’
Roy
said. ‘He thought it would be nice
for us all to spend some time together. We couldn’t share the journey. Sammy
had college this morning. We got the train to Kendal and a bus up here, but
we’ll have a lift home on Sunday.’

‘Sunday?’ Jane echoed. ‘I thought we were only
here for the night?’

‘I booked the whole weekend,’ Mark said. ‘We’ll
see how it goes. We can always go back early.’

‘Right, we’ll leave you to it and go and unpack
our bags,’
Roy
said. ‘What time’s dinner?’

‘Eight,' Mark replied.

‘Great, we’ll give you a knock,’
Roy
said, pushing Sammy towards the
door.

‘Why didn’t you tell me they were coming?’ Jane
asked as her friends left the room.

‘Didn’t want to spoil the surprise.’ Mark
shrugged. ‘Roy told me
The Raiders
weren’t playing this weekend so I thought a foursome might be good, seeing as
you can’t stand being alone with me at the moment.’

Jane ignored the jibe. ‘I’ve only brought
enough clothes for one day. You should have said something before we left.’

Mark dug in his case and handed her a large,
flat box. ‘Happy Valentine’s Day. You can wear this when we go down to dinner.’

She stared at the box with dismay. Across the
front was the legend,
Estelle Modes -
Fashions of Distinction.
Estelle Modes was the most old fashioned dress
shop in Pickford. Even her mum wouldn’t be seen dead wearing anything from
there and that was saying something. Last month Mark had bought her a black
wool skirt that came below her knee, knowing full well she favoured the
new-style mini. The black skirt now resided at the back of her wardrobe. She
was forever making excuses as to why she never wore it.

She placed the box on the bed and gingerly
lifted the lid. She removed layers of white tissue paper and lifted out a
high-necked, long-sleeved, shapeless dress in thick blue crepe. Her heart sank.
It wasn’t even her colour. Mark was watching her, smiling, head on one side.
She forced a smile back.

‘What do you think?’ he said. ‘Mum helped me
choose it.’

Jane swallowed hard. Now why didn’t that
surprise her? ‘Erm, it looks a bit big,’ she mumbled. ‘I’m only a size ten.’

‘It
is
a size ten.’ The smile left his face.

‘I’ll try it on later.’ She pecked him on the
cheek. ‘Thanks. It’s very kind of you to bother.’ She put the dress on a
hanger, hung it in the wardrobe and began to unpack her case.

***

In the bathroom, Jane pushed her finger nail
through the flimsy nylon and stared at the ladder running up her slender leg.
‘Whoops!’ She smiled as it ran over her knee. She’d have to wear her black
velvet flares and red silk shirt now instead of the new dress. Mark wouldn’t be
very pleased. He’d say she should have brought an extra pair of stockings. Well
it was too bad. He was lucky she was here at all.

She knew exactly why he’d chosen the dress. It
covered almost every inch of her. For crying out loud, he was trying to turn
her into his bloody mother. Well enough was enough. She picked up her lipstick,
slicked her lips and smiled. He’d be pacing the room now, looking at his watch
every few seconds, getting more agitated as time ticked by. She slipped on her
silk robe and walked back into the bedroom. There he was, pacing the floor,
doing his watch checking thing. He stopped pacing and his jaw tightened.

‘Why aren’t you dressed?’

‘Laddered my stockings,’ she said. ‘Only pair I
brought with me, too. I won’t be able to wear the dress now. Don’t want bare
legs this time of year. I’ll put my other outfit on.’

'For God’s sake, Jane, you’re so careless.
We’re due downstairs in ten minutes.’

‘Won’t be long,’ she said, reaching into the
wardrobe. ‘I’ve done my makeup and nails. I’ve only got to brush my hair and
get dressed. If you’re that bothered, go down and tell them we’ll be a bit
late.’

‘Well hurry up. Sammy and Roy will be knocking
any minute.’

Jane stomped back into the bathroom. She stared
at her reflection in the mirrored walls and wished she were anywhere but here.
She pulled on her trousers and buttoned her shirt, leaving the top three open.
That would annoy him. Mark hated her showing flesh when other men were around.
But it was only
Roy
for goodness sake and she’d known him since she was fourteen. Anyway,
Roy
never looked at other girls. He was
devoted to Sammy and the pair were engaged.

She couldn’t understand why Sammy hadn’t said
anything to her about this trip. She saw her every day and they usually told
each other everything.
 
She must have
been sworn to secrecy and she’d looked
very
worried when Mark let her and Roy in. Sammy knew she wanted to leave Mark
and had urged her to tell him it was over.

Mark had no idea that she’d lost her virginity
to Eddie Mellor. Although they’d been going steady for two years, Jane told him
she wanted to wait until their wedding day. It hadn’t been easy, but so far
he’d respected her wishes.

There was no doubt in her mind that tonight he
was hoping to make love to her. Why else book a room as Mr and Mrs Fisher? She
dragged the brush though her hair and sprayed herself with In Love perfume. The
very thought of going all the way with him made her want to puke.

She heard a knock at the door, and Mark letting
in Roy and Sammy. She gritted her teeth, walked into the bedroom and caught
Sammy’s raised eyebrow.

By the look of amusement on her face, Jane
guessed that her friend had also been in on the dress surprise. She gave a wry
smile.

‘Right, I’m ready,’ she said and picked up her
handbag.

‘About bloody time,’ Mark grunted. ‘Fasten your
shirt properly.’

Jane looked down and smiled sweetly. ‘It
is
fastened.’

‘You look lovely, Jane,’ Sammy said as they
left the room. ‘That red really suits your colouring.’

‘Thanks. I got it in the sale at C&A’s last
month. It’s nice to get a compliment from someone.’

Sammy grabbed her arm and let
Roy
and Mark walk on in front.

‘I’ve forgotten my lippy,’ she called. ‘You two
go ahead and we’ll nip back to get it.’

Mark turned and frowned. ‘Don’t be long. We’re
already late.’

Sammy unlocked the bedroom door and Jane
followed her inside. The room was a twin of hers and Mark’s.

‘Jane, I’m so sorry,’ Sammy began. ‘We didn’t
want to come. When Mark called
Roy
and invited us, we were going to
refuse, but I realised you’d be all alone with him up here and you’d hate it.’

‘Thank God you changed your mind.’ Jane hugged
her. ‘I guess you knew about the dress he bought me to wear tonight?’

‘Yeah! It’s hideous. How did you get out of
it?’

‘Laddered my only pair of stockings,
accidentally-on-purpose.’

‘What are you going to do about later? Mark’s
pinning everything on tonight to bring you closer.’

‘I can’t sleep with him. I just want to go
home. Why has he done this, Sam? We’ve hardly been speaking, never mind
anything else. And how the heck did he clear it with Mum? I told her I’d be
home tomorrow.’

‘He told
Roy
he's done it to try and save your
relationship. And he hasn’t cleared it with your mum. She thinks you're staying
the weekend at his place with his mother. He says you’ve been acting weird
since New Year and he doesn’t know what he’s done wrong. He’s trying to put
things right.’

‘Shit!’ Jane sighed. ‘He hasn’t done anything
wrong, well – except for being a possessive so and so, always telling me what
to wear, and his mother being a pain in the arse.’

‘Bloody hell, Jane, that’s enough to put any
girl off.’

‘It’s not just that - getting that lovely card
from Ed at Christmas really unsettled me.’ Jane sniffed, tears springing to her
eyes. ‘Now I can’t stop thinking about him.’

‘I’m not surprised,’ Sammy said softly. ‘But Ed
shouldn’t have sent it. He’s so fed up with Angie, he’s not thinking straight.’

‘He’s as unhappy as I am.’ Jane ran her hand
across her face. ‘We’re both trapped. But it’s worse for Ed because of little
Jonny.’ She thought back to the morning, just before Christmas, when Eddie’s
card was delivered to the record shop where she worked. Satin-covered, with a
picture of a robin, the words,
To Someone
Special
printed across the front. Inside, he’d written that he missed her,
still loved her and would never forget their last night together. She didn’t
respond to the card, but from that day her feelings for Mark changed. Now she
was desperate to speak to Eddie, to tell him that she still loved him, too.

‘Come on,’ Sammy said. ‘Let’s go downstairs.
Throw a couple of glasses of wine down your neck and you might relax a bit.
Roy
will moan if I leave him alone with
Mark for too long.’

Jane nodded, crossed to the mirror and dabbed
at her mascara smudges. She linked arms with Sammy as they strolled down the
thickly carpeted corridor.

‘It’s a beautiful hotel,’ Sammy said. ‘Very
generous of Mark to treat us.’

‘It
is
lovely,’
Jane agreed. ‘If you’re with the right man, that is.’

‘Ah, at last,’ Mark said as they took their
seats at the table. ‘You’ve been ages. How long does it take to find a bloody
lipstick?’

‘We were having a chat,’ Jane said. ‘You’re
always clock-watching. Why can’t you relax? What’s the hurry anyway? The
waiters look rushed off their feet.’ She glanced around the busy dining room
that was decorated with Valentine’s hearts and balloons; each table lit with
red candles in silver holders, encircled with red roses.

‘Choose something to eat,’
Roy
said, passing around menus. ‘I’m starving.’
He caught the eye of a waiter who hurried over. ‘Another bottle of House-Red,
please.’