The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (85 page)

  
‘I know that, but if Ed says he doesn’t want to work with me, God knows
what I’ll do for the future. I might end up having to write songs on my own.’

  
‘Ed will stand by you like you’ve always done for him.’

  
‘Let’s hope you’re right. Livvy has a brilliant voice and I’ve plans to
manage
her
career. She can support me
and the kid if needs must,’ Roy
quipped as his mother reappeared.

  
‘So, when’s this baby due?’ she asked.

  
‘Beginning of March.’

  
‘She’s four months gone already and you’ve only just decided to tell
us?’

  
‘I only found out myself on Wednesday night. She was keeping it from me.
She knew me and Sam were having problems and didn’t want to add to them.’

  
‘What made her decide to tell you then?’ his mother persisted.

  
‘Livvy didn’t tell me, Sammy did.’

  
‘You mean she told Sammy first. Well the devious little Madam.’

  
‘Mum, the details don’t matter. I don’t want to keep going over it again
and again. It’s been a painful week all round.’

  
‘It will be even more painful if Sammy uses her dressmaking shears on
you,’ his dad said.

  
Roy smiled weakly and stood
up to leave.

  
Mum put her arms around him. ‘You’ll never learn, will you, Roy?’
She shook her head wearily. ‘We’d better meet this Livvy, then. Bring her for
lunch tomorrow, about two.’

  
‘Okay, Mum. Thanks for not being too angry with me,’ Roy
replied.

  
‘What’s the point? You’ve made your bed.’ She patted his shoulder.
‘There’s been enough heartache this year without us turning our backs on you.
Both you and Sammy need our support and you’ll get it. We won’t take sides.
But, Roy, try and grow up a bit
now, son, for this new baby’s sake if no one else’s.’

***

‘So, what now, Sam?’ Pat asked as
she, Jane and Sammy were comfortably ensconced in the lounge at Jasmine House.
Pat had learnt the full extent of the week’s happenings as well as that
morning’s and was horrified by Roy’s
betrayal and the news of Livvy’s pregnancy. Tim had disappeared with Eddie to Hanover’s
Lodge, Abigail and Kim had been taken by their grandparents to visit relatives,
leaving the threesome to catch up.

  
Sammy shook her head. ‘I’ve no choice now other than to divorce him.’

  
‘Yes you do, Sammy,’ Jane said. ‘Earlier this week you said you’d fight
to keep him.’

  
‘That was before today, Jane. I mean, finding out about the affair was
one thing and the baby was a horrendous shock. But to see them together this
morning in that room, the rumpled bed, their clothes on the floor and the pair
of them fresh out of the shower. That’s when it hit me for real. They looked a
couple. Right and comfortable with each other and suddenly
I
was the
outsider. I’ve never seen them together before, apart from onstage at Nick’s
party. It was an awful shock, even though I suspected she was with him.’ Sammy
took a deep breath and continued.

  
‘
She
looked as horrified as
I
felt. When Roy
defended her, well that was the worst thing. I made a lunge at her. I was going
to slap her across the face and he stepped in between us. He told me to stop
because she’s pregnant. He was protecting her like she’s his property, which I
suppose she is. She was really shocked when I told her Roy
and I had been sleeping together. It’s pathetic, but I had to have a dig at her
and that was all I could come up with.’

  
Pat sighed and shook her head. ‘Maybe it will put her off him. Make her
realise what a bastard he is.’

  
‘I doubt it. They don’t seem able to stay away from one another. Can you
just imagine how it will be when that baby arrives? There’s no way Roy
will be able to resist seeing it. He loves kids. He’s a big softie at heart.
He’s lost Nick; Jason doesn’t want to know him. The baby will be all he’s got.
I might as well let him go now rather than face all the inevitable pain and
heartache next year.’

  
‘Put like that, I suppose you’ve got a point,’ Jane reluctantly agreed.

  
‘I have to face it, it really
is
over.’ Sammy’s eyes filled with tears that tumbled down her cheeks.

  
Pat and Jane stared helplessly at one another. Neither knew quite how to
console Sammy.

  
‘I’ll make a fresh pot of coffee,’ Jane announced and escaped to the
kitchen as Jason strolled into the house followed closely by Jules.

  
‘Hi, Jane. Are they here?’ Jason grinned good-naturedly.

  
‘Tim’s out with Ed. Pat’s in the lounge with your mum. Tread carefully
please, Jason. There’s been an incident with your dad and Livvy this morning. I
expect your mum will explain later.’

  
Jason’s good looks darkened. ‘What’s the bastard done this time?’

  
‘Wait until later, Jason, please,’ Jane pleaded.

  
‘Okay,’ he sighed. ‘C’mon, Jules, we’ll go through.’
 

  
Sammy looked up through her tears as the boys walked in.

  
Pat leapt up and threw her arms around her nephew. ‘You look well, Jason
and who’s this young man?’

  
‘This is my friend Jules,’ he replied. ‘Jules, meet my Aunty Pat. She’s
married to Tim,
The Raiders
bass
player. And where’s Dad?’ Jason raised his eyebrows enquiringly.

  
‘Not here,’ his mum replied.

  
‘So
where
is he?’
 

  
She shrugged. ‘At the hotel with Livvy I presume.’

  
‘Mum, you’ve got to call it a day.’

  
She nodded. ‘First thing on Monday I’ll see my solicitor. I promise you,
Jason, I’m divorcing him.’

  
‘You should go out with Stuart again, Mum, he really likes you. I could
tell by the way he looked at you on Thursday night.’

  
Sammy blushed while Pat looked at her, eyebrows raised.
   

  
‘What’s that? You went out with Stuart Green? You never said.’

  
‘I haven’t had a chance yet,’ Sammy replied.

  
‘Jules and I will go up to my room while you three have a good gossip. I
bet if you talked for a whole year you still wouldn’t catch up,’ Jason teased.

  
‘Cheeky monkey!’ Sammy smiled, tears forgotten for the moment. ‘By the
way, Jules, the black and purple eye colouring is very fetching. It matches
your shirt.’

  
‘I don’t bear him any grudges, Mrs Cantello,’ Jules said. ‘It must have
been quite a shock for him. But Jason tells me you gave him an even bigger
shock later.’

  
Sammy nodded. ‘You can say that again. It wasn’t Roy’s
night. Anyway, we’ll see you boys in a while.’

  
‘So, come on, you,’ Pat turned to Sammy as the boys left the room. ‘What
happened with Stuart, then?’

  
Jane waltzed in with the coffee pot and grinned. ‘Tell her what he said
about you being the right girl for him, before you started dating Roy.’

  
Pat smiled knowingly as Sammy related her night out with Stuart ‘I knew
he always had a soft spot for you, but
you
could never see it.’

  
‘That’s what I said,’ Jane nodded, picking up the phone from the side
table. ‘Call him now and ask him over tonight.’

  
‘I can’t do that, Jane. Can I?’

  
‘Course you can. Tim would love to see him again and so would Pat,
wouldn’t you?’

  
Pat nodded enthusiastically.

  
‘He might think I’m chasing him,’ Sammy protested.

  
‘So what if he does? Start as you mean to go on. Call him or I will.’ Jane
thrust the phone at Sammy.

  
Rolling her eyes, Sammy dialled Stuart’s number. ‘Hi, Stuart, it’s
Sammy. - Yes, they’re back safe and sound.’ She smiled at Pat. ‘Would you like
to come round tonight for dinner? - Brilliant. See you about eight then. Bye.’
She replaced the receiver, smiling broadly.

  
Jane grinned at her. ‘See, that was dead easy, wasn’t it?’

  
‘Don’t you go reading anything into it,’ Sammy said. ‘We’re just good
friends, that’s all.’

  
‘He’s asked you to go to London
with him,’ Jane said slyly.

  
‘Well that’s business, not pleasure.’
 

  
‘You’ll be staying in a nice hotel. The trip could turn to pleasure if
you wanted it to.’

  
‘Oh God, I couldn’t. It’s too soon. I’ve only ever been with Roy.
I wouldn’t know what to do,’ Sammy exclaimed.

  
‘Well they’re all built to the same design. There’s no mystery. Anyway,
what you’ve learnt with Roy over
the years you could give Stuart a brilliant time in bed. He’d think it was
Christmas and his birthday rolled into one!’

  
‘Jane!’ Sammy blushed furiously as Jane grinned and continued.

  
‘I bet Stuart would give his right arm to spend a night with you.’

  
‘Pack it in. I won’t be able to look him in the eye tonight. You can be
so brazen sometimes, Jane Mellor. Where
do
you get it from?’

  
‘Years of being with Ed I suppose,’ Jane said, winking at Pat who was
grinning broadly.

  
‘So, you and Ed are still getting on well?’ Pat asked.

  
‘They’re always at it,’ Sammy chipped in, making Jane blush this time.
‘They’re worse than rabbits! If there’s no peace at home they drive to Norman’s
Woods don’t you?’

  
‘Sometimes,’ Jane admitted. ‘If the
house is full and needs must.’

  
Pat laughed. ‘Some thing’s never change. Good old Norman’s
Woods. Tim and I had a bit of a strange time while I was ill. I hated him
seeing me without my breast. I felt ugly and I wouldn’t go naked in front of
him. But now I’ve got my new boob we’re back on track.’

  
‘I can’t get over the length of Tim’s hair and it’s so blonde. I expect
that’s the sun,’ Sammy said. ‘Makes his eyes look bluer than ever. Yours hair
looks lovely, short like that,’ she added, admiring Pat’s new hairstyle. ‘Very
chic.’

  
‘It’s growing back quite well,’ Pat said, running her hand over her
head. ‘I like
your
hair in that
bob-style, Sam and even
you’ve
gone a
bit shorter, Jane.’
  

  
‘Yeah,’ Jane nodded. ‘I’m not as brave as Sam. Ed likes my hair long and
I think he’d be really upset if I got it cut any shorter, so I struggle with it
for his sake.’
 

  
‘How’s Jess doing? Is she coming to terms with losing Nick?’ Pat asked.

  
‘She’s getting there slowly,’ Jane sighed.
 
‘It was a bad day yesterday, she was
hysterical.’

  
Sammy’s eyes filled with tears again at the mention of Nick.

  
‘Oh, Sam, I’m sorry,’ Pat apologised.

  
‘I’m okay; it comes and goes. I was
just remembering Roy at the grave
yesterday afternoon. Not twenty four hours ago and look what’s happened.’

  
‘Sammy, please talk to him before you see the solicitor,’ Jane pleaded.
‘I’ve been thinking; have you considered that Livvy might have taken it upon
herself to go to the hotel last night? Roy
probably didn’t invite her at all.’
  

  
‘Well why did he tell me he had?’

  
‘Probably to stop you belting her one,’ Pat suggested. ‘He knows what
you’re capable of.’

  
‘He’ll never bloody give her up, no matter what,’ Sammy sighed wearily.
‘I can’t stand sharing him. Anyway, he must have invited her to stay the night
and you’re not telling me they just lay side by side holding hands. I know my
husband better than anyone in the world and he can’t keep his hands to
himself!’

  
‘See,’ Jane said, ‘you just called him your husband. You still love him
and I know damn well he still loves you. Talk to him, just one more time before
you throw it all away.’

  
‘I’ll see. But don’t expect a miracle, because I
really
don’t think I can ever forgive him for last night.’

***

CHAPTER
TWENTY EIGHT

‘So, what’s the latest on the Roy
situation?’ Tim asked Eddie as they travelled to Hanover’s
Lodge. ‘I didn’t like to ask too many questions. Molly was bristly when I asked
where he was and Sammy looked as though she’d just had the stuffing well and
truly knocked out of her.’

  
‘Well, obviously you know about the affair,’ Eddie began. ‘After the
accident Roy stopped seeing Livvy.
Anyway, she turned up at Nick’s memorial service, told me she was pregnant and
asked me to tell Roy.’

  
Tim’s eyes widened. ‘She’s pregnant? No way!’

  
‘She is,’ Eddie nodded, and told Tim of the events of the last few
weeks, finishing with this morning’s escapade. ‘And that, my friend, is as far
as we’ve got. Sam came straight to us, totally devastated. Roy
phoned later, told me what had happened, but by then Sam had made up her mind.
She’s had enough and wants a divorce.’
  

  
Tim blew out his cheeks. ‘And who could blame her?’

  
‘The stupid thing is though, Tim, Roy
really loves Sam and he doesn’t want a divorce. If he’d stayed at home none of
this later stuff would have happened. But Sam made it impossible for him,
pecking his head all the time. He needed space and so did she, and while I
don’t for one minute condone what he’s done, I can understand it.’
   

  
Tim nodded. ‘So, tell me, Ed, what’s she like, this Livvy? She must be
something special to win Roy from
Sammy.’

  
‘She’s pretty fit. Petite, blonde curls, big baby-blue eyes, very sexy
body and twenty-two to boot.’

  
‘Ah well, nice little package then, eh?’

  
‘Very nice little package, but don’t you dare repeat that to Jane. She
doesn’t know of my involvement with Livvy over the baby either, so don’t drop
me in it for God’s sake.’

  
‘My lips are sealed,’ Tim said as Eddie pulled up outside Hanover’s
Lodge.

  
Lennon ran over to greet them, bounding round like a mad thing.
  

  
‘Who’s this fine fellow, then?’ Tim bent to stroke the dog who wagged
his tail with delight.

  
‘Goes by the name of Lennon,’ Eddie replied. ‘Jane’s baby substitute.
Oh, oh, here comes trouble.’

  
The back door flew open and Katie hurtled outside followed by Jess.

  
‘Daddy!’ Katie leapt up and down. ‘Hello, Uncle Tim, where’s Uncle Roy?’

  
‘In the doghouse,’ Eddie replied, without thinking.

  
‘What doghouse? Where is it? Can we go see it? Are there lots of doggies
there?’
  

  
‘Only Uncle Roy at the moment,’ Eddie said. ‘Stand still a minute,
Katie.’

  
Tim looked at the little girl who grinned up at him, hopping from foot
to foot.

  
‘Hi there, Katie. Miniature Jane,’ he nodded at Eddie.

  
‘And just as bossy!’ Jess said.

  
‘Hi, Jess. How are you?’ Tim took his goddaughter in his arms and held
her tightly. ‘Boy, you’ve sure grown up in the last couple of years. You look
just like your dad but with your mom’s long hair.’

  
Jess smiled. ‘Where’s Roy, Dad? Thought the three of you would be stuck
together like glue.’

  
‘I’m not quite sure where he is, but I’m going to call the hotel in a
minute to see if he’s there. Your mum’s staying at Sammy’s for a few hours.
They’ve got mountains of gossip to catch up on. Is Dom at your Gran’s?’

  
‘Yeah, she gave him and Katie lunch and said they can stay there this
afternoon. Molly rang Gran and she’s bringing Kim and Abby over later so I’ll
go and see them when they arrive. Jon called me earlier; he said Livvy hasn’t
turned up for work. So Roy may be
at her flat if he’s not at the hotel.’

  
‘Thanks, love. We’ll clear off to the music room and try and locate him.
See you later.’

  
‘She sure is pretty,’ Tim said as he followed Eddie upstairs.

  
‘Yes, she is,’ Eddie replied proudly. ‘Nick worshipped her. They were
such a lovely couple and you should have heard them sing. Their harmonies were
superb. I’ve got some tapes of songs that Roy and I wrote with Nick earlier
this year. I’ll play them for you later.’

  
Tim shook his head sadly. ‘You’d think that losing their boy would have
brought Sammy and Roy closer,
wouldn’t you?’

  
‘Well it did and it didn’t. Sammy blamed Roy,
not for buying the fast car, but for Nick’s mind being on
their
problems
rather than on his driving. It wasn’t of course, but you say things you can’t
take back sometimes, don’t you?’

  
‘That’s very true,’ Tim nodded. ‘You got an English ciggie, Ed?’

  
Eddie smiled and winked. ‘I can go one better than that. I got fresh
supplies from Mac.’ He reached into his desk drawer, took out a small package,
the tobacco tin and papers and rolled a joint. He lit it and passed it to Tim
who drew deeply and smiled.

  
‘Ah, home sweet home. Call Roy,
get him over here.’

  
Roy wasn’t at The Grand, nor
was he at Livvy’s flat. Livvy told Eddie he had gone to visit his parents and
she’d ask him to get in touch as soon as she could.

  
Eddie called Roy’s parents
at Tim’s insistence and his mother told him that Roy
had just left. ‘He’s got himself into a right mess,
Eddie,’ she said.

  
‘He certainly has,’ Eddie agreed, grinning at Tim.

  
‘We’ve told him we won’t take sides. But he needs to sort himself out
for everyone’s sake. He acts like a teenager instead of a responsible,
middle-aged man. He’s forty two for God’s sake; it’s time he grew up!’ Eddie
agreed again and said goodbye. He related to Tim what Roy’s
mum had said.

  
‘She’s always treated him like a big kid,’ Tim said.

  
Eddie nodded and put on a demo tape of the
Perry’s Dream
song.
  

  
Tim listened as the strains of
Let’s
Love a While Longer
filled the room, nodding and smiling. ‘Excellent,’ he
said as the powerful rock ballad came to an end. ‘Hey, you’ve still got it.’

  
‘Well it’s tipped for number one, so fingers crossed.’

  
‘So what’s the plan regarding
The
Raiders
?’ Tim handed the remains of the joint to Eddie.

  
‘I’ll call a band meeting for next Wednesday, so we can air some points
of view.’

  
‘You’re still in contact with Carl and Phil?’ Tim asked.

  
‘We see Carl regularly, when he’s not working in London,
but Phil hardly ever. We hear from him at Christmas and we’ve got an address,
so I can easily get in touch.’

  
‘I wonder what
he’s
been up to
since we disbanded. Is he still with Laura?’

  
‘I don’t think so. He bought that place just outside Ashlea in the
sixties, Apple Tree House. It was bit of a commune for a while. He was living
there with Laura and his kids, but I guess they’ve split up as he’s back with
his mum. Laura might still be living in the house. We don’t hear from
her
at all.’

  
‘Ah well, no doubt we’ll find out when we have our meeting. I need to
work to get out from under Pat’s feet. As soon as we’ve found a house we like
I’m all yours. Pat wants to start looking right away. On the way over here I
saw The Old Vicarage in Ashlea has a For Sale board outside. I wouldn’t mind
looking at that for starters. It would be good for Pat to have Sammy close to
hand when we go out on tour and it’d be less of a worry for me. It’s a massive
place; the board also said paddocks and the kids love riding. Pat promised new
ponies; we had to sell theirs when we sold the ranch.’

  
‘How
is
Pat?’ Eddie asked. ‘I
mean her state of mind and everything.’

  
Tim sighed. ‘She’s getting there. We went through a very rough patch
after the op. She was convinced I wouldn’t fancy her anymore. But I
was
just
so grateful to
still have her, boob or no boob. Now she’s been rebuilt she’s getting her
confidence back.

  
‘The biggest shock for me was her hair.’ Tim snapped his fingers. ‘All
that lovely, long blonde hair, gone, just like that. But it’s growing again and
I quite like it short.’ Tim blinked rapidly and stared up at the ceiling for a
long moment. ‘Ed thanks for listening to me. It’s been hard with no one close
by to offload on. The guys in the band weren’t really into that sort of
talking.’

  
Eddie patted his shoulder. ‘Anytime, Tim. I can’t imagine what you must
have gone through.’

  
Tim nodded. ‘Are you going to play me something by Jess’s group now?’

  
‘Yeah.’ As Eddie reached for the tape the phone rang out. ‘Grab that
while I put it on.’

  
‘The Mellor residence; Tim Davies speaking. - Well hello there, Mr
Cantello. Congratulations, you randy old stud! Are you coming over? - No, the
girls are at your place. There’s just Ed and me, and Jess is around, too. Come
and share a joint. We’ve had one, but we’ll wait for you before we skin up
again. See you in ten.’

  
Eddie switched on the tape and as they listened to the lovely harmonies,
Tim’s eye caught a movement by the door. Jess was standing perfectly still,
blinking hard.

  
Tim smiled at Jess as the song came to an end. ‘Beautiful, Jess,’ he
nodded.

  
‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘It’s the first time I’ve heard the songs since
the accident.’

  
‘So, Jon plays drums, like his dad?’ Tim turned to Eddie.

  
‘He does. And Jess plays bass like Uncle Tim.’

  
‘Are you up there?’ a voice yelled from the bottom of the stairs.

  
‘Come on up,’ Eddie called back.

  
‘Hi, Jess.’ Roy winked as he
strolled past her.

  
‘Hi, Daddy Roy.’ Jess winked
back.

  
‘Stop it, you,’ he warned playfully. ‘You’ll never let me live it down,
will you?’

  
Jess grinned as Roy flung
his arms around Tim and hugged him.

  
‘Fucking hell, Tim! Look at the length of your bloody hair, man. Don’t
they have barbers in Nashville?’

  
‘Not that you’d notice,’ Tim quipped. ‘Oh, Roy,
it’s so good to see you again. What have you been up to? Apart from the
obvious, of course.’

  
Roy smiled wryly. ‘I expect
Ed’s told you I’ve found a flat and I move in Monday. I’ve just been to see my
folks and told them about the baby.’

  
‘We know,’ Eddie smirked. ‘I just called your mum. She’s not taking
sides, she said.’

  
‘She’s bloody barking,’ Roy
sighed. ‘She thought Sam was in the club, for God’s sake. I wish she was; life
would be a lot easier.’ His face clouded. ‘Is she okay, Ed? I feel awful,
honestly. I can’t believe she turned up like that. Why
did
she, do you know? I’d just spoken to her and agreed to stay for
the weekend. I got a bit distracted I suppose and I guess Sammy must have
sensed something from my voice. Next thing, she’s knocking at the door,
shouting “room service”. I tell you that was the worst moment of my life,
opening the door and her walking in just as Livvy walked out of the bathroom -
starkers.

  
‘The looks on their faces. They were both gob-smacked. Sammy went for
Livvy and I stopped her, which obviously made matters worse. God, it was awful,
talk about piggy in the middle!’ Roy
shuddered at the memory. ‘Roll that joint, Ed. Boy, do I need it. You’re sure
the girls won’t show up like a lynch mob?’
       

  
‘Relax. They’re at your place. Jess, don’t tell your mum Roy
was here, please.’ Eddie looked at his daughter who was shaking her head at Roy’s
story.

  
‘I won’t, on one condition,’ she bargained.

  
‘What?’
   

  
‘Share your joint with me.’ She limped over and sat down besides Roy.

  
‘I can’t do that. You’re only a kid!’

  
‘I’m nineteen,’ she retorted. ‘Don’t be such a meanie, Dad!’

  
‘One toke, but don’t tell your mother.’

  
‘Well
she
smokes weed.’

  
‘Only occasionally, and she doesn’t like you kids to know she
does.’
    

  
‘Two tokes for my silence, or it’s no deal,’ she bargained and took the
new joint from Roy.

  
She took a long drag and inhaled deeply, a blissful expression on her
face as Eddie rolled his eyes.

  
Tim laughed. ‘Ed, she smokes a joint the same way you do. What a chip
off the old Mellor block!’

  
‘Isn’t she,’ Eddie said as Jess grinned.

***

Livvy lay on her bed and stretched
her arms above her head. She felt smug, like the cat that drank all the cream.
It had been painful, but worth it, and now she’d got him and they could adjust
to being a couple before the baby arrived. He’d left the flat like a gleeful
schoolboy for his reunion with Eddie and Tim. She felt a bit disappointed they
weren’t going shopping after all, but he said he’d take her next week instead
and she didn’t want to start off by being too clingy. He loved her; that was
the main thing. He’d be back later to collect her to spend the night at the
hotel.