The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (65 page)

  
Jess sighed. ‘Dad, I know
you don’t like talking about Angie, and you obviously have your reasons, but
what was Jon’s mum
really
like? I mean she can’t have been
that
bad or you wouldn’t have dated her in the first place. Don’t you think it’s
time you told Jon a bit more? He’s dying to know, but he doesn’t want to upset
you by asking.’

  
Eddie looked at
Roy
for inspiration. ‘
Roy
will tell what Angie was like.’

  
Roy
blew out his cheeks. ‘Well, she
was a fit bird. Everyone fancied her. We were all in the same year at school.
She was the prettiest girl by far, but she only had eyes for your dad.’

  
Eddie nodded and took up
the tale. ‘Yeah,
she
fancied me and I suppose
I
fancied her. We
started dating when we were fourteen.’

  
‘Were you serious?’ Jess
asked.

  
‘We
were,
well,
sort of. She was always telling me she loved me. I couldn’t say it back and
mean it, because I didn’t really love
her
.’

  
‘Was she very popular?’

  
‘She was. Like
Roy
said, everyone fancied her. She
had long curly hair, like Jon’s but not as dark, green eyes, a cute smile and a
very sexy figure. She was a brilliant dancer and a bloody good kisser,’ he
grinned, remembering a few passionate clinches with Angie in
Norman
’s Woods after school. ‘But then I
met your mum and that was it. I fell in love, although I didn’t realise it
right away.’

  
Jess looked puzzled. ‘So,
you dated them both at the same time?’

  
‘Not really, I started
dating your mum and I kind of finished with Angie.’

  
‘Except he didn’t tell
her he’d finished with her,’
Roy
said, grinning. ‘And then he
wondered why she wouldn't leave him alone.’

  
‘I
did
tell her,’
Eddie protested, ‘eventually.’

  
‘Well you must have got
back with her because you married her and you had Jon. How did that happen and
what went wrong with Mum?’

  
‘She dumped me,’ her dad
admitted.

  
‘Why? I thought she’d
always loved you? This bit you’ve never told us is what puzzles Jon and
me.’
   

  
‘I’m embarrassed by what
happened,’ her dad replied.

  
Roy
carried on for him. ‘He was dating
Jane for a few months, but he saw Angie one night with Richard and was jealous.
The following week he walked Angie home and afterwards Angie threatened to tell
your mum he’d slept with her.’

  
‘
I
told her instead,’ her dad continued. ‘She was upset and walked
out on me, but we got talking a couple of months later and she agreed to see me
again.’
  

  
‘I can’t imagine you
two-timing Mum. You and Roy are tarred with the same brush,’ Jess teased.

  
Her dad grimaced and
continued. ‘We had a couple of dates the same week and then she came to our gig
that weekend. Afterwards we went back to my mum’s. We made love for the first
time and I told her I loved her and asked her to marry me. She was only
sixteen, but she said she would marry me when she was eighteen,’ Eddie sighed,
remembering the night as though it were yesterday.
 

  
‘So what happened, Dad,
how come you ended up married to Angie?’ Jess frowned.

  
Eddie wondered if he
should go on. He’d opened the can of worms now, but Jess wasn’t out to judge
him. She just wanted to know the truth, well - as much of the truth as he was
prepared to impart.

  
‘We were lying around
talking and Angie walked in on us.’

  
‘You’re joking!’ Jess’s
hand flew to her mouth.

  
‘There’s worse to come,’
he said, cringing inwardly. ‘She went mad, told us she was pregnant and I was
the father.’

  
‘Shit! Poor Mum, she must
have been devastated.’

  
‘She was. I don’t know
how she managed to forgive me. But she never stopped loving me, or I her. I
married Angie in July, as you know. Jon was born in December. The marriage
lasted less than three years. I got back with your mum in February 1964, Angie
started seeing Richard Price again and soon after that they were killed in a
car crash. I took custody of Jon and your mum moved into the flat with us. We
married in November that same year and you were born the following June. You
don’t need to work it out, Jess; you were already on the way. You’ve always
known that anyway, the strange thing is,
we
hadn’t a clue! What I’m
trying to tell you is that we didn’t rush into the marriage because of you, it
was because we loved one another. You were the icing on the cake.’
  

  
Jess looked at her dad
and took his hand. ‘Thanks, Dad. It took some guts to tell me that. I know you
don’t like to talk about your time with Angie, but Jon’s very curious. He
thinks that because you won’t discuss his mum with him, something must have
been really awful about her. Now is that it? You’ve told me the whole story?’

  
He nodded. ‘That’s it,
Jess.’

  
‘Well, can we tell Jon?
It’ll put his mind at rest. He’s got it into his head that his mum was a real
ogre. But she was just a teenager who made a mistake like thousands of others.
Poor Angie, and poor Mum.’
  

  
‘
You
can tell Jon if you like,’ her dad said. ‘He can come and ask
me questions if he wants to. But one thing I have to add, Jess, is that from
the minute Jon was born, I never regretted having him. I love him and I’m very
proud of him. I always have been. Make sure you tell him that. I’d hate for him
to think otherwise.’

  
‘I will. Take me over to
Gran’s now please.’
  

  
‘Don’t mention this to
your Gran, Jess. She’s been told an edited version and that’s enough.’
  

  
‘Your secret’s safe with
me,’ Jess said, giving him a kiss. She hugged
Roy
, said goodbye and Eddie gave her a
piggyback over to
Enid
’s house.

***

Jon went straight up to Jess’s bedroom when he arrived home from
work. She looked up and smiled as he walked in.
   

  
‘You’re home early again.
Not seeing Helen tonight?’

  
He shook his head. ‘Nope,
it’s over.’

  
‘Why? I thought you
really liked her?’

  
‘She was getting too
demanding of my time,’ he replied with a dismissive shrug.

  
‘You mean she was fed up
of you being with me and not her, I suppose?’

  
He flopped down on the
bed beside her. ‘Something like that! Don’t worry about it. We weren’t really
right for one another anyway. So, what sort of a day have
you
had then?’

  
‘Very interesting,
actually.’ Jess told him how she’d been upset over Nick and about her
conversation with their dad and Roy.

  
When she’d finished, Jon
lay back with his hands behind his head and sighed.

  
‘So, she didn’t have two
heads then, this mother of mine?’

  
‘Don’t be silly,’ Jess
grinned. ‘I don’t understand why he hasn’t told us before really. Why it’s all
had to be kept so secret.’

  
‘Maybe to protect Mum’s
feelings,’ Jon said. ‘He’d already hurt her enough without him keep dragging it
up.’

  
Jess nodded. ‘You’re
right, of course. I never thought of that.’

  
‘Shall we go downstairs
and get something to eat? The kids are in the kitchen talking Dad’s socks off,
well Katie is, and Dom’s hard pushed to get a word in. Mum’s just home from
work. Come on you, up you get.’ Jon lifted her easily and Jess slung her
un-plastered arm around his neck and held on tightly. He smiled, Jess felt good
in his arms, so right in fact and better than Helen had ever done. He felt a
twitch and his cheeks warmed.

  
‘Don’t drop me!’

  
‘As if,’ he said,
carrying her downstairs and sitting her at the kitchen table.

  
‘I’ll take these two up
for a bath,’ Jane said, looking at Jon and Jess’s faces.
 

  
‘I’ll read you a story
later,’ Jon called out to the kids as Jane hurried them upstairs. ‘Dad,’ he
turned to Eddie, ‘thanks for telling Jess about Angie.’

  
‘I should have told you
ages ago, Jon. Truth is I was a bit embarrassed. What must you both think of
me?’

  
‘Dad, you were a kid,’
Jess re-assured him.

  
‘Yeah, a
stupid
kid who thought he was God’s
gift.’

  
‘Well, it’s in the past
now and at least I know a bit more about my real mum,’ Jon said. ‘I called Aunt
Sally yesterday. She wasn’t in but I spoke to Angie’s mum, my grandma. I’m
invited for dinner tomorrow. I hope you don’t mind.’

  
‘You’ve a right to know
your mum’s family, Jon. How was the old erm, your Grandma?’

  
Jon grinned. ‘I presume
you and she didn’t get on?’

  
‘That’s the
understatement of the century. Lydia Turner and I hated one another. She called
me a tearaway and threatened to have me castrated on many an occasion.’

  
‘Oh dear, I’ll try and
keep your name out of the conversation then.’

  
‘You’d be very wise to,’
his dad grinned, patting him on the shoulder.

***

CHAPTER
TWENTY

Sammy couldn’t believe she had slept soundly for at least eight
hours. Jason had stayed over at Jules’s and she’d had a quiet night on her own.
Roy
, sounding doleful and drunk, rang
to let her know where he was in case she needed him, and she’d called Jane for
a chat.

  
A long soak in the
Jacuzzi, a bottle of chilled white wine and she’d retired to bed refreshed and
relaxed. She’d shed a few tears on
Roy
’s pillow, breathing in the
lingering scent of his aftershave. She’d thought of Nick and the vibrant young
man he’d been, and she’d recalled Jason’s earnest face the night he’d confided
he might be gay. What on earth had she done to deserve all this in one fell
swoop? Surely nothing else could go wrong now?

***

Driving to Livvy’s, Sammy rehearsed what she would say. She swung
onto the car park, wondering if Livvy was looking out of the window. The girl
certainly wouldn’t let her in if she rang the intercom. She’d have to hang
around and wait for someone to go in or come out of the building. As she
pondered she spotted a postman making his way across the car park. She leapt
from her car and followed him. As both she and the postman arrived at the door,
a young woman, pulling a toddler by the hand, emerged. She held the door for
the postman and Sammy nipped in behind.

  
A brass plaque on the
wall by the stairs proclaimed that flats
five to eight
were on the next floor. She ran up
the stairs and across the landing to the red door.

  
She knocked and waited.
The door opened a few inches and Livvy, wrapped in a pink bath towel, peeped
out. Her jaw dropped when she saw Sammy.

  
‘
Roy
isn’t here,’ she began as Sammy
pushed past her and walked into the flat without waiting to be asked.

  
‘I know he isn’t. But you
and I have a few things to discuss.’ She marched into the lounge as Livvy
followed.

  
‘Please sit down.’ Livvy
gestured to the sofa. ‘I’ll put some clothes on.’

  
Sammy nodded as Livvy
disappeared.

***

Livvy rushed into the bedroom and sank down on the bed. Her legs
were shaking. Why was Sammy here? Had she found out about the baby? She took a
calming breath and pulled on underwear and a big loose T-shirt, hoping it would
hide her baby bump. She skirted past the lounge and went into the kitchen.
      

  
‘I’m making tea, would
you like a cup?’ she called, popping her head around the lounge door. Sammy
didn’t look angry, just pale and sad eyed.

  
‘Please, no sugar,’ Sammy
replied. Livvy nodded and went back into the kitchen.

***

Sammy looked around the small, but neat lounge. She pictured
Roy
seducing Livvy on the sofa and
screwing her on the rug. Her stomach rolled and she swallowed hard. She closed
her eyes to blank out the scene as Livvy carried two mugs through and placed
one on the table in front of her. She sat on the opposite chair, pulling her
T-shirt down.
 

  
Sammy took a sip of tea.
‘It’s not easy for me, coming here,’ she began, wishing she hadn’t. All she
wanted to do was run out of the place. ‘I need to talk to you. Roy and I have
separated. It’s a temporary measure. We need some time apart.’

  
‘I see,’ Livvy said,
looking at the floor.
   

  
‘What I’m trying to say,’
Sammy continued, ‘is that it doesn’t mean he’s available for
you.
If he
co
mes
to see you I want you to send him
away. We’re going through an awful time, as I’m sure even
you
can
imagine. I want to try and bury the past and start again. Roy and I can only do
that if he has no further distractions from
you.
’

  
‘I haven’t seen him for
ages now,’ Livvy said. ‘I won’t let him in if he co
mes
round. I’m seeing someone new.’

  
‘Let’s hope he’s not
married this time. That’s all I’ve come to say. I’ll go now.’
        

***

As Sammy moved towards the door the phone rang and Livvy
remembered that Eddie was supposed to be calling her this morning. She couldn’t
take the call in front of Sammy, just in case it
was
Eddie.

  
‘Would you excuse me? I’m
expecting a call from my boyfriend. I’ll take it in my bedroom.’ She ran to her
room and snatched up the receiver, hoping that Sammy would see herself out.

  
‘
It’s Eddie,
’ the caller said.
   

  
‘Hi.’
 

  
‘
Listen, I can’t talk long. Have you decided?’

  
‘Yes, I’m keeping it.’

  
‘
And you’re sure it’s what you want?’

  
‘I’m absolutely
positive.’

  
‘
Okay then. It’s your decision and I’ll stand by you. We’ll get together
this week and I’ll decide how I can best help you.’

  
‘What about your
suggestion that I go back to
Glasgow
and not tell anyone who the father
is?’

  
‘
Forget I said that. I’ll call you when I can. Bye.’

 
‘Bye, Ed, and thanks for
offering to pay for the termination. But more than that, thank you for standing
by me.’

  
‘
Think nothing of it.
’

  
Livvy hung up. At least
she had someone on her side, other than Jon and Sean. How she wished she could
confide in her best friend Sheena in
Glasgow
. Maybe later in the year she’d do
that. She took several deep breaths as her stomach lurched. The last thing she
needed was to give the game away by puking while Sammy was around.
 

***

Sammy glanced at a pamphlet on the coffee table. She frowned as
the heading
You and Your Baby
leapt
out at her.

  
She could hear Livvy
talking to her boyfriend and crept down the hall. She heard Livvy say “
I’m absolutely positive
.” There was
silence as Livvy obviously listened to what the caller was saying. Then Sammy
heard her say “
What about your suggestion
that I go back to
Glasgow
and not tell
anyone who the father is
?” There was
silence again as her stomach tied itself in knots. Livvy must be pregnant, she
thought. But why would her boyfriend want her to go back to
Glasgow
. What Sammy heard next sent a
chill down her spine. “
Bye, Ed and thanks
for offering to pay for the termination. But more than that, thank you for
standing by me.”

  
As Sammy heard Livvy
replace the receiver she hurried back to the lounge. Livvy was pregnant and
Eddie was the father. Oh my God. She must have started seeing him after
Roy
finished the affair.
  

  
‘Sammy, are you okay?’
Livvy asked, walking back into the room ‘Would you like another cup of tea?’

  
Sammy nodded. Her hands
were shaking and she knew she was incapable of driving at the moment and facing
Jane after what she’d just learnt. Maybe the new boyfriend was called Ed too?
That would surely be the answer. But then why would he ask Livvy to keep his
identity secret and why would she have to go back to
Glasgow
when she had a nice little flat
and job here? Something didn’t add up.

  
Livvy brought more tea
through and stood in front of Sammy. ‘I’m going to put on my suit and blouse
for work; I won’t be a minute. I need to go soon or I’ll be late and I’ll have
Sean to answer to.’

  
‘Okay,’ Sammy said and
took a sip, her mind working overtime.

  
Livvy reappeared five minutes
later wearing a jacket that strained at the buttons across her swollen belly.
Sammy’s eagle eyes raked over her and narrowed.

  
‘Who’s the father,
Livvy?’

  
‘I’m sorry?’ Livvy looked
at her, wide eyed.

  
‘You’re pregnant. Who’s
the father? I saw the pamphlet in the kitchen and overheard your conversation
with your so-called new boyfriend. How far gone are you?’

  
‘About seven weeks.’
 

  
‘Is that all?’ Sammy did
a quick calculation.
Roy
hadn’t seen Livvy since early August, or so he’d told her and it
was now mid October. So that just about let him off the hook. She breathed a
half sigh of relief then remembered what she’d overheard.

  
‘So, who’s the father?
You still haven’t told me.’

  
‘My new boyfriend,’ Livvy
replied, blushing furiously.

 
 
‘And the new boyfriend’s called Ed, is he?
Coincidence, wouldn’t you say? Seeing as
Roy
’s best mate is called Ed, too. Why
were you thanking him for offering to pay for an abortion? Didn’t he want you
to have the baby?’

  
‘Not at first,’ Livvy
faltered. ‘But he does now.’
           

  
‘Well
you
didn’t waste much time, considering
Roy
told me you don’t sleep around.’

  
The phone rang
again.
   

  
Sammy looked at her.
‘Aren’t you going to answer it?’

  
Livvy remained where she
was, frozen to the spot.

  
Sammy marched over and
snatched up the receiver. Before she had a chance to speak a softly spoken male
voice informed her he could see her at lunchtime today. He’d take her for a
bite to eat and they’d talk properly then. He told her not to worry and said
goodbye.

  
‘Bye,’ Sammy replied
quietly and hung up. She turned to Livvy who was staring at her with a
terrified expression in her eyes.

  
From Sammy’s horrified
facial changes as she’d listened to the unknown caller, Livvy had convinced
herself it was
Roy
. She waited for the onslaught.

  
‘Eddie will see you
later,’ Sammy announced. ‘He’ll take you for lunch and then you can talk
properly. Oh, and he also said not to worry!’

  
Livvy stared into space.

  
‘So, is Eddie the
father?’ Sammy asked her.

  
‘Of course not, my
boyfriend is,’ Livvy stammered.

  
‘And your boyfriend just
happens to sound exactly like Jane’s husband on the phone. What sort of a girl
are you? You obviously get a kick out of sleeping with your friends’ fathers.
Are you trying to destroy our families for some reason?’

  
Sammy was furious, she
just wanted to batter hell out of the girl, but knew she ought to leave the
flat before she did something she might regret. She picked up her bag and
walked to the door.
 

  
‘I don’t fancy your
chances when Jane finds out about this, she’ll make mince-meat of you,’ was her
parting shot, before slamming the door.
 

  
She stormed downstairs
and out to her car. She headed towards the factory, rubbing her forehead with
the heel of her left hand. Something was nagging at the back of her mind.
Something didn’t quite add up, but she couldn’t for the life of her think what
it was. She went over the phone call word for word. It had definitely been
Eddie Mellor; there was no mistaking that softly spoken voice.

  
She turned on the radio
and pulled up at the traffic lights on the road just around the corner from the
factory. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel and stared out of the
window. As she waited for the lights to change, it came to her in a blinding
flash. Eddie had had a vasectomy shortly after Dom’s birth. The baby couldn’t
possibly be his. Relief washed over her, but was quickly replaced by another
rush of consternation. Why then, was
he
involved?
Shit! The baby must be
Roy
’s and he’d roped Eddie in to help him sort things out.

  
Sammy thought back to
Livvy’s swollen belly. That was bigger than a seven week pregnancy - more like
four months. ‘Oh,
Roy
,’ she muttered, ‘you stupid idiot.’ He’d assured her Livvy was on
the pill. The girl must have either forgotten to take it, or she’d deceived him
all along. Bloody hell, if it wasn’t one thing it was another.