The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (51 page)

  
Roy
helped a tipsy Sammy into the Jeep
and slid his arm around her shoulders.

  
Jane started up the
engine and pulled away. ‘I don’t know, Ed,’ she began, ‘fancy dropping the wine
like that. Oh, Sam, I remember what I was starting to tell you.'
 

  
Eddie shook his head and
pointed to the rear view mirror.

  
She glanced over her
shoulder at Roy and Sammy, who were locked in a passionate clinch.

  
‘I hope they’ve got their
seat-belts on.’

  
‘I don’t think they care
right at this moment,’ Eddie said.
 

  
‘We’ll go straight home,’
Roy
announced as they pulled up
outside
Hanover
’s Lodge. ‘I don’t think I’m much
over the limit. If I drive slowly I won’t attract police attention.’

  
‘That’s fine by us, so
long as
you’re
sure you feel okay to drive,’ Eddie said. ‘Or you can
come inside and I’ll call a taxi.’

  
Roy
shook his head and helped Sammy
into their car. Jane kissed him goodnight, said goodnight to Sammy and went
indoors. Eddie stood by the side of the car for a few minutes talking to
Roy
.
 

  
‘I’d rather not see Liv
again tonight,’
Roy
whispered. ‘Don’t forget to tell her not to call me tomorrow.’

  
‘I’ll do my best. Go on,
take Sam home. She’s probably had a bit too much to drink, so you should be
safe.’

  
Roy
raised an eyebrow. ‘You reckon?
She was more than ready and willing in the back of your car. I had to keep
reminding her where we were. Anyway, I feel raring to go again myself. God
knows how, but I do.’

  
Eddie laughed. ‘I don’t
know how you do it, Cantello, I really don’t.’

  
‘It’s the Italian blood.
It has to be. Right, I’m going before she goes off the boil. I’ll talk to you
tomorrow, sometime after Sammy’s gone to work.’

***

Eddie went indoors where Livvy was standing in the lounge with her
jacket on.
 

  
‘I’ve paid Livvy,’ Jane
told him. ‘Go up and see Katie. She’s had a bad dream about monsters and wants
daddy. Go on, I’ll see Livvy out to her car and lock up.’

  
‘Night, Livvy and thanks
very much,’ Eddie called as he ran upstairs. Katie was sitting up in bed, her
face tear-stained, her bottom lip pouting. He took her in his arms and cuddled
her. ‘That better, Katie?’

  
‘Yes thank you, Daddy. I
had a horrible dream that a monster was chasing Lennon and me down the lane. It
was awful,’ she shuddered. ‘It was just like the ones in Dom’s book.’

  
‘Shall I sing you a song
to help you to go to sleep?’ He lay her down and stroked her hair off her face.

  
‘Sing
My Special Girl
for me,’ she said, wiping her nose on her nightdress sleeve. ‘
I’m
your
special girl now aren’t I? Now that Jess’s left home.’

  
‘Don’t use your sleeve,’
he said, handing her a tissue. ‘You’re
all
my special girls, you, Jess
and
your mum. I wrote that song with Uncle
Roy a long, long time ago, before you were even a twinkle in my eye.’ As he
sang, Katie closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. Eddie looked up to see
Jane standing by the door, a smile on her face.

  
‘Come on, Ed, let’s go to
bed. She’ll be fine now.’
 

  
He rose, took her hand
and led her to their room. ‘Come and love me, Jane, I need you. All in all it’s
been a pretty hectic day.’

  
‘Well
you’ve
been
swanning around at home for most of it,’ she teased as she took off her dress
and hung it in the wardrobe.

  
‘Don’t you believe it,’
he said as they sank down onto the bed.

  
It was only after making
love to Jane, and before he drifted of into a much needed sleep that Eddie
remembered he hadn’t asked Livvy not to call
Roy
. ‘Fuck!’ he muttered. Oh well, too
late now,
Roy
would just have to take his chance.

***

CHAPTER
FOURTEEN

Eddie stopped at the traffic lights and glanced across at Katie
who was frowning beneath the brim of her school hat. ‘Something bothering you,
Katie?’
 

  
‘I’ve been thinking,’ she
began.

  
‘Have you now?’ He knew
that tone. He was about to be interrogated.

  
‘That twinkle in your
eye, the one you told me about last night when you sang to me.’

  
‘What about it?’

  
‘Was Jess a twinkle when
you wrote that song?’

  
Eddie rubbed his chin
thoughtfully as the lights changed and he moved off. ‘Err, no, Jess was already
growing in Mum’s tummy by then.’
 

  
‘I knew it.’ She folded
her arms across her chest. ‘She always gets to do things before me. You could
have done two twinkles in one go if you’d shaped yourself.’ She pursed her
lips, exactly like Jane’s mother as Eddie tried to hide his amusement.
  

  
‘Lucy’s mum had two
twinkles at once from Lucy’s dad,’ she continued. ‘They got Lucy
and
Grace.
Her
daddy did it properly, not like you.’

  
‘Well it doesn’t always
happen that way, Katie. I’m sorry if I don’t quite measure up in the twinkles
department. I did my best, really.’ He patted her knee.
   

  
She turned to look at
him. ‘Well I s’pose it’s all right. It’s just that Jess’s left school now
and
she’s going to marry Nick. If I’d been borned a twin with Jess, Nick might have
wanted to marry
me,
not her. It’s not fair.’
                                          

   
‘Well
I’d
have
been committed to the loony bin with two of you like Jess in one go,’ Eddie
replied as he indicated to pull up outside Manor Banks. ‘It’s better this way,
Katie; you get more attention. I hardly ever saw Jon and Jess when they were
little. That’s why Mummy and I chose to have you and Dom later. We can enjoy
you both now that we’ve got more time on our hands. And, Katie, don’t tell mum
or Jess this, but
you
are really my
very
special girl. Now that’s
our secret. Mum thinks it’s her. Jess is quite sure
she
is as well. But
we
know that it’s really you.’

  
‘Thank you, Daddy.’ She
kissed him and got out of the car, beaming. She skipped off to join Lucy who
was waiting for her by the school gates.

  
Eddie watched her go,
feeling pleased with his diplomacy.

  
Dominic, sitting quietly
on the back seat, rolled his eyes. ‘Women,’ he muttered and clambered out of
the Jeep.

  
Eddie leant out of the
window and ruffled his hair. ‘Son, if you’ve any sense at all, you’ll avoid
women like the plague when you grow up. They get you into all kinds of
trouble.’

***

Jane looked up from her paperwork as Sammy flung her car keys and
handbag onto the desk and collapsed in the nearest chair. ‘Good time then?’

  
‘Wonderful, apart from
the bloody phone ringing every half-hour. Each time I answered, the caller hung
up.
Roy
said it was probably kids who’d
managed to get our number. Anyway,’ she continued, ‘I told him I’m going to
organise my time better and not neglect him so much. It was just like old ti
mes
. Why don’t you take a lunch break,
Jane? I’ll get on with things here.’

   
‘I will. I need to get a
sandwich, go to the bank and collect my dress from the dry cleaners.’

  
‘Oh, in that case, would
you mind dropping
Roy
’s cream jacket in for me? It’s in the car. Here’s the key. I
think the pockets are empty, but just check to make sure.'

***

Jane smiled as she made her way to the bakery. It was a warm and
pleasant day and her thoughts turned to
Brittany
. It would be lovely to spend time
at the farmhouse again. It would do the four of them good to get away for a
couple of weeks. There was no need to worry about leaving Katie and Dom behind.
With her parents’ help and Jon and Jess, there were enough hands on deck to
look after them.
  

  
She bought a chicken
sandwich for lunch and a box of strawberry tarts for afternoon tea break. She
reached the dry cleaners, collected her dress and handed in
Roy
’s jacket, pointing out the red
wine stains.

  
‘Have you checked the
pockets?’ the assistant asked.
  

  
‘I’ll do it now.’ The
outer pockets were empty except for a couple of coins. She reached into the
inside pocket and pulled out a postcard. She smiled to see it was from John and
Margaret Grey.
Roy
must have picked it up and forgotten about it. She’d give it to
Sammy later. ‘There you go.’ She handed the jacket to the assistant who gave
her a collection ticket, and left the shop.

  
On the way back to the
factory she popped into the bank, bumped into her mother’s ex-next door
neighbour and had a chat. By the time she arrived back at work she’d forgotten
all about the postcard.

***

After Sammy left for work
Roy
called Livvy. She answered
immediately.

  
‘Liv, I’m so sorry,’ he
began. ‘Sammy took the morning off. Didn’t Ed tell you last night?’

  
‘I didn’t speak to Ed. He went straight upstairs to see to Katie. Jane
saw me out to the car. I’ve tried calling you all morning, but Sammy kept
answering the phone.’

  
‘I know and I’m sorry,
really I am.’

  
‘So am I,
Roy
,
I took the day off sick. Can’t you come over now?’

  
Roy
sighed, Sammy had worn him out; he
couldn’t face it. ‘I can’t. Sammy asked me to do a few jobs for her then I’m
working with Ed. I’m sorry about your wasted day. I’ll try and see you later in
the week, maybe before we go to
London
.’

  
‘Okay, I love you
,’ she said tearfully.

  
‘Love you, too. Don’t get
upset, please, it makes me feel bad.’ He hung up, lay back on his pillow and sighed.
What a hectic last couple of days. He couldn’t go on like this. He should
finish with Livvy before he got in too deep and
really
hurt her, and more importantly, before Sammy found out.

  
His thoughts turned to
last night and Ed’s well-timed diversion with the spilt wine. It was only a
small thing, but could easily have been a disaster. He reminded himself to
throw that postcard away, before Sammy took his jacket to the cleaners. ‘In
fact, I’ll do it now,’ he muttered.
 

  
As he leapt out of bed
the phone rang. It was Eddie, calling to apologise for forgetting to tell Livvy
about Sammy’s morning off.

  
‘It’s okay, Ed; don’t
worry. She rang about four ti
mes
. Sammy got there before me. Livvy kept hanging up and Sam
wondered what the hell was going on. I told her it was probably kids
mes
sing about. I think she bought it.
I’ve just spoken to Liv. I’m gonna finish it. I can’t cope with all the worry.
She’s lovely, but so is Sam. I don’t want to jeopardise our marriage anymore.
We’re getting back on track. I want it to stay that way. I’d still like to help
Liv get her singing career off the ground and I’ll try to encourage her to meet
someone her own age.’

  
‘
That’s the best idea all round,
Roy
.
Finish it before it blows up in your face. Can you do me a favour? Will you
collect Katie and Dom from school? I’m mixing down the Perry’s Dream tracks and
I want to get them finished. Then I can relax tonight with Jane
.’

  
‘No problem, consider it
done.’
   

  
‘
Thanks, mate, see you later.’

  
Roy
looked at his watch. If he got a
move on he could be ready in ten minutes. He’d pop over to Livvy’s, tell her
the affair had to end and then collect Ed’s kids. He took a quick shower,
pulled on jeans and a T-shirt and reached into the wardrobe for his leather
jacket. His eyes searched the rail of clothes. His cream jacket wasn’t there.
Fuck! Sammy must have taken it when she left for work. Now what? She’d be sure
to check the pockets.
Roy
sat down on the bed, his mind working overtime.

  
Where the hell could he
say he’d been on Sunday night? Obviously she’d realise he’d lied about being at
the Greys. He felt sick. There was absolutely nowhere he could think of that
would excuse him for being out ’til the early hours on his own. He’d have to
enlist Ed’s help.

  
Livvy’s Mini wasn’t on
the car park. Bloody Hell! She must have decided to go into work for the
afternoon. He hadn’t the time now to drive into
Manchester
and then get back for Ed’s kids
and anyway, he couldn’t say anything to her at work in front of Jon and Sean. It
would have to wait until he could see her alone.

  
He drove slowly around
Pickford town centre to kill some time then down Broadgate, where The Roulette
Club used to be.
Roy
stopped the car and looked up at the old Victorian buildings.
They were now offices. As he sat quietly for a while, a host of happy memories
came flooding back. The club had been the first place where
The
Raiders
had played in public, over twenty-five years ago. It had been a small coffee
bar called
Mario’s
then. He’d been a
cocky sixteen, Tim and Ed both fifteen. But they thought they knew it all, that
the world owed them a living. Happy days. He grinned and drove out of town
towards
Manor
Banks
School
.

***

Roy
parked the car and sat down on a
garden wall opposite the school gates. He stretched his long legs out in front
of him, lit a cigarette and relaxed for the first time that day.

  
A woman, wearing a white
cotton coat, walked briskly down the road and smiled as she passed him. She
crossed over and disappeared through the school gates. She emerged two minutes
later, carrying a lollipop crossing stick.
Roy
stood up and put out his
cigarette. He crossed the road and lounged against the school wall, observing
the woman through half closed eyes as she put on a black peaked cap.

  
He’d always had a thing
about women in uniform. He would hazard a guess that the lollipop lady was
about forty. She had nice legs, was slim and didn’t appear to be wearing
anything other than underwear beneath her coat. She turned round and caught him
staring. He smiled.

  
‘Aren’t you Roy
Cantello?’ she asked, smiling back.

  
‘For my sins.’
 

  
‘I thought I recognised
you when I saw you sitting on that wall. I was a Raiders fan in the sixties.
Have you come to collect Eddie’s children?’

  
‘Yeah. Now how did you
guess that?’

  
‘Well, he and I usually
have a little chat. He told me you still work together.
He’s
not here
and they certainly don’t go home on their own. I just put two and two
together.’

  
‘Smart as well as
pretty,’
Roy
teased and she blushed slightly.
‘Eddie’s working so he volunteered me for collecting Katie and Dom.’

  
‘Here’s Katie now.’ She
nodded towards the little girl, who was struggling down the steps with her
navy-blue blazer half on. Her lunch box and school bag in her hands. ‘Dom’s
nearly always last out. It was nice to meet you, Roy. Now I’d better get on
with my job. Give Eddie my love, won’t you?’

  
Roy
nodded as Katie launched herself
at his legs, holding out her Victoria Plum lunch box. ‘Uncle Roy, why are you
here? Where’s my Daddy?’

  
‘He’s at home, Katie,’ he
said, taking hold of the lunch box. ‘He’s mixing some music
.
I’ve
come to
collect you instead.’

  
‘No Eddie today?’ a voice
asked in his ear. He turned to see a pleasant faced young woman standing behind
him, holding a small boy by the hand.

  
‘Err no, he’s busy,’ he
replied, smiling at the woman.