Still Waters

by Linda Kavanagh

  “You look tired – are you sure you’re okay for this scene?” he asked. “We’ve only got two shots at getting this coffee scene right, Ivy, because Props have only two identical jackets for me.”

  “Stop fussing, we’ll be fine,” Ivy said crossly, annoyed at having her thoughts interrupted. She didn’t want to be on the set of Bright Lights at all – there were far too many other things needing her attention.

  Anton moved off, and Ivy immediately felt contrite. She hadn’t meant to be abrupt with him. Of all the people she knew, he was least deserving of her ire. But quickly her thoughts reverted to Danny and his relationship with Rosa, and another shocking thought occurred to her. All those business trips Danny had been going on for years – maybe they’d been nothing of the sort, merely excuses to meet up with Rosa in exotic locations. Perhaps Rosa had let him know her schedule in advance, then he’d tell his wife he had a conference to attend. And when Rosa was back in London, they’d use the Hampstead house for their trysts …

  Ivy made a mental note to check Danny’s passport. Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t recall ever being shown a single programme for any of the conferences Danny supposedly attended. He’d always been dismissive when he’d returned home, claiming that the conferences had been full of shoptalk that would bore her. Now, Ivy realised he’d probably been lying.

  God, what a fool she’d been. Never once had she checked up on him – she’d always assumed he was telling the truth.

  Ivy chewed her lip. When she and Danny first moved to London, it would have been convenient for him to meet Rosa regularly. Looking back, she recalled all those occasions when Danny claimed to be working late in the small supermarket he managed, supposedly to secure their future. Now she wondered if he’d been spending the time in his mistress’s boudoir.

  Suddenly, Ivy had a startling thought. Could Rosa be the mystery caller? It made perfect sense. Perhaps she was getting tired of being Danny’s mistress, and wanted him all to herself. Perhaps the price of her silence over the car in the lake would be Ivy’s agreement to give Danny a divorce? By telling her to stay away from the lake, Rosa had been letting her know that she knew what was down there. That would also explain why the mystery caller had managed to contact her in South Africa. No doubt Danny had been with Rosa while she’d been away, so she’d have known exactly where Ivy was.

  The more she thought of it, the more plausible it seemed. Rosa had still been living in Willow Haven when Fred’s car plunged into the lake. Could she have seen what happened, and kept quiet about it? On the other hand, Rosa had been dating Danny at the time, so wouldn’t she have told him if she’d witnessed his brother’s death? And how would Rosa know that Ivy had recently dived into Harper’s Lake? If Rosa had been back in Willow Haven, surely she’d have visited her mother? Ivy shook her head. Rosa might be a husband-stealer, but she couldn’t see how she could be the mystery caller, unless she had some other agenda. Nevertheless, she felt certain that Rosa was out there somewhere, pulling her strings like some master puppeteer.

  Momentarily, Ivy thought of ringing Brian again when she got home, because she desperately longed to talk the situation through with someone she could trust. But just as quickly she changed her mind. Their last phone call had been far from satisfactory, and Ivy knew it was her fault.

  “Ivy, are you okay?”

  Ivy turned round to find Emily beside her.

  “Yes, of course, Ems. Why do you ask?”

  “You looked a bit sad – are you sure there’s nothing bothering you?”

  Ivy switched into acting mode immediately, recalling how observant Emily had been at her dinner party some months earlier. Much as she was fond of her kind-hearted colleague, Emily was far too astute for her liking!

  She leaned down and whispered conspiratorially. “I’m just getting in form for my next scene – I’m deliberately putting myself in a sad mood for my row with Anton.”

  “Oh, okay,” said Emily, looking doubtful. “It’s just that Colin mentioned you’d been to see some medical guy – I hope nothing’s wrong, Ivy?”

  “Thankfully no,” Ivy replied. “It was a false alarm, and I’m fine.” She hated lying to her friend, but she’d no other option. The cast and crew were a great bunch of people, and she didn’t want them worrying about her, especially since all her actions were designed to cover up her own unsavoury past.

  Ivy smiled down at her diminutive friend. “By the way, Ems, I meant to congratulate you on Marina’s affair– Colin gave me a look at the rushes when I got back after my hol – break –”

  She’d been about to say holiday, but just caught herself in time.

  “The scenes between you and Tony are incredible. You really look as though you’re crazy about him!”

  Emily made a face. “You’ve no idea how difficult those scenes were, Ivy – between his bad breath and his wet kisses, I wanted to kill him or commit suicide – I just couldn’t decide which!”

  “Well, it just shows what a professional you are,” said Ivy, smiling. “I’ll be watching again tonight when the affair airs on TV. You know, it wouldn’t surprise me if the writers decided to make Marina a much more prominent character.”

  Emily coloured, looking pleased. “Do you really think so, Ivy? But I’d never want to usurp Isabella –”

  Ivy patted her friend’s shoulder. “Sometimes, we all need a change,” she said enigmatically.

  Suddenly, there was a shout from the director.

  “Ivy and Anton – you’re on!”

  Quickly, Ivy rose to her feet and hurried to the indoor set, where Anton gave her a discreet thumbs-up as she joined him at their dining-room table. She returned Anton’s greeting with a nod as she sat down opposite him. Her and Anton’s explosive row would culminate in Ivy throwing a pot of hot coffee over him.

  As the scene progressed and the atmosphere became more heated, Ivy finally hurled the coffee pot, screaming at Anton as the coffee dripped down his shirt, tie and jacket. In reality the coffee was cold, but Ivy found herself pretending that Danny was the recipient of the coffee, and the hotter the better as far as she was concerned.

  “Brilliant, folks – we got it first time!” the director called, as people from the make-up and wardrobe departments stepped forward with towels to wipe the coffee from Anton’s hair and face and to relieve him of his now very wet shirt and jacket.

  Ivy looked apologetically at her screen husband as he grinned back.

  “Well done, Ivy – my word, that’s some temper you displayed!” Anton said, laughing. “I wouldn’t like to be in Danny’s shoes if he ever did anything to upset you!”

  Ivy smiled back at him, but her smile turned to a grimace as soon as she turned away. Yes, she thought to herself, Anton was right. Danny has no idea what he’s taken on. But very soon he was going to find out.

  Chapter 49

  On a warm June afternoon, Willow Haven train station was crowded as the 2.15 to London prepared for departure. People were opening and closing carriage doors, loading on luggage and shouting to family and friends.

  Danny was laughing, excited to be setting out on such a big adventure.

  “Ivy and I are going to be rich and famous – just you wait and see!” he told his father and Ivy’s parents.

  Although smiling in agreement, Ivy secretly wished that Danny would keep his mouth shut – it almost seemed like tempting fate. They’d only just sat their A levels, and wouldn’t get their results for ages yet. Nevertheless, Ivy had already received confirmation of a place at RADA, so her A levels would just be the icing on the cake. Neither she nor Danny were short on ambition, so she’d little doubt they’d be successful in their chosen fields. But there was no point in boasting about it in advance.

  As Fred stood on the platform, he seemed like a zombie, unable to say anything, his face frozen into a ghastly white mask of grief. As Ivy’s father glanced at him, he was acutely aware that, for Fred Heartley, Danny’s departure must seem like losing yet another
son.

  Outside the carriage, Eleanor Morton was struggling to make herself heard over the din of voices and engine noise.

  “Safe journey, Ivy – phone us as soon as you and Danny get settled!”

  Ivy nodded as she stepped on board, following Danny who was now carrying on their suitcases, his photographic equipment and Joseph’s buggy, stacking them all on the luggage rack inside. Reaching down to take little Joseph from her mother, Ivy could see that there were tears in her mother’s eyes as she handed him over.

  “I’m going to miss him terribly,” Eleanor whispered, trying to smile. “I’ve grown so attached to him, you know. Are you sure it wouldn’t be better to leave him here with us – at least until you get settled in a flat, and Danny gets a job?”

  Ivy smiled at her mother. “I seem to remember – not all that long ago you were adamant that you and Dad didn’t want to be saddled with a baby.”

  “That was before we knew him!” her mother replied, desperation in her voice. “Now the house is going to be so empty, with Owen away at university and you gone to London …”

  Ivy’s father intervened. “We’ll gladly look after him any time you need us, pet,” he said, “but we know you want to make your own lives – don’t we, Eleanor?”

  “Yes, yes, of course we do. It’s just that –”

  Peter Morton closed the carriage door firmly. “Safe journey!” he called out, just as the whistle was blown and the train began to slowly move off. Danny and Ivy were waving frantically while a bemused Joseph looked on.

  Eleanor was now weeping quietly, tears running down her cheeks. The day she’d dreaded for so long had now come, and she was bereft. Fred Heartley was still wearing a haunted expression on his face. Peter sighed, slipping an arm around his wife. Earlier, he’d assumed the role of jovial conversationalist in an attempt to keep everyone’s spirits up, but now he had nothing left to say either. But as the silence deepened, he felt the need to make some comment or remark.

  “Why don’t you come back to our house for tea?” he said, addressing Fred as the train finally disappeared into the distance. “Or why don’t I open that bottle of brandy I got last Christmas? You look like you could do with a strong tipple, Fred.”

  Fred Heartley seemed oblivious to what was being said, and Peter had to repeat himself before he got a response. But Fred merely shook his head and began to walk away.

  Peter sighed, understanding that Fred didn’t dare risk crying in public. He regarded himself as a pillar of the local community, so he couldn’t allow himself to demonstrate human weaknesses.

  Eleanor was puzzled by Fred’s sudden departure.

  “What’s wrong, Peter? Where’s Fred gone?”

  “Come on, let’s get home,” Peter Morton said softly. “I think Fred wants to be left alone.”

  Eleanor nodded, and they began walking home arm in arm. Already, Peter was missing Ivy, but he was well aware that parents had to let their children go in order for them to fulfil their own destiny. Wasn’t Owen already away at university, and talking of going overseas when he qualified? But Peter knew his own feelings of loss were nothing compared to the agony that poor Fred Heartley was experiencing – having already lost a son and a wife, he was now watching another son leave.

  Peter sighed. Nothing could be worse than dealing with heartache all alone. At least he and Eleanor could share their pain with each other.

  As the train trundled along, Ivy glanced across at Danny, who was singing a nursery rhyme to Joseph. Suddenly, she felt fearful for their future. She and Danny were two jobless teenagers with a young baby – how on earth were they going to survive? They’d need to find a flat quickly, preferably one with a garden for Joseph – and she’d need to get him settled in a crèche before she started classes at RADA. They had the money Fred Heartley and her parents had given them, but that wouldn’t last for long. The cost of their first few nights in a B&B would make quite a dent in their funds. Danny would need to get a job as soon as possible. And since Rosa lived in north London, Ivy had decided they’d live south of the river. She’d buy a newspaper as soon as they arrived and start looking at the ads for accommodation.

  She sighed. Going to London was a huge undertaking, and she was beginning to wonder if she’d been wrong to insist on going. Danny had been fully in agreement, but Ivy also knew he’d do anything to please her. If she’d wanted to stay in Willow Haven, he’d happily have gone to work in his father’s shop. Would her determination to act be the undoing of them all? And little Joseph deserved a proper upbringing – if they’d stayed in the village, he’d have had three grandparents and a doting aunt, all willing and able to give him lots of love and attention. Ivy knew how deeply it had distressed her mother to say goodbye to him …

  Ivy sighed again. On the other hand, she and Danny were on the brink of a big adventure, and it was nice to have someone who adored you and would take care of you. Even if he wasn’t the one you’d originally wanted.

  The movement of the train soothed her, and gradually she felt herself drifting off into sleep.

  As Danny stared out the window of the train, watching the countryside rush by, he felt a surge of excitement inside him. Against all the odds, he’d succeeded! It had all been worth it, to finally win the woman he’d always wanted.

  As he bounced little Joseph on his knee, he glanced across at Ivy, who’d already dozed off, lulled into sleep by the warmth of the carriage and the monotonous clacking of the train. He gazed at his wife’s sleeping face, her golden hair lit by the sun, and the smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose giving her a look of childlike innocence in repose. She was so beautiful, and he adored her! He’d support her one hundred per cent as she fulfilled her dream of becoming an actress. He’d be the rock she’d lean on as she made her way up the ladder of success.

  And he’d be successful himself – he didn’t intend lagging behind his lovely wife. His success would match hers, albeit in a different field. He was taking with him all the knowledge of the retail trade that he’d learnt from his father – both the good and bad – and he intended ultimately turning the retail world on its head. He was buzzing with ideas for a new kind of shopping experience, and one day he’d create a new kind of supermarket. He’d give himself five years to get his dream up and running …

  He’d never told Ivy that after his mother’s death Fred had offered to retire and sign over Heartley’s Stores to him. But he’d turned it down, because he had ambitions he could never achieve in Willow Haven. There was also another reason why he needed to be in London, but it had nothing whatsoever to do with his or Ivy’s career. It was a personal matter, one that Ivy must never find out about …

  Despite the warmth of the sun shining in the window, Danny suddenly shivered. Things could have turned out very differently. At one point, it had looked as though he might lose everything. But that was all in the past now, and an exciting future was beckoning.

  Joseph was now asleep in his arms and Danny gazed down at him in wonderment. Would he take after Ivy, and end up in the theatre or on television? Or would he favour the retail business? Or maybe he’d want to do something else entirely? Well, whatever he wanted to do, Danny intended making sure that the world was his son’s oyster …

  “Ivy, we’re in London!”

  She awoke with a jolt, just in time to see the train glide into Kings Cross station.

  Danny was smiling cheerfully and even Joseph was looking interested in what was happening all around him. Throughout the carriage, people were collecting their belongings and queuing for the doors.

  Ivy felt disoriented and wrong-footed. She’d been asleep for three hours!

  “Why on earth didn’t you wake me?”

  Danny grinned. “You looked so cute – I couldn’t bear to disturb you!”

  His good humour was infectious, and Ivy found herself smiling too. They were in London at last, and their adventure was just beginning.

  Chapter 50

  At the ear
liest opportunity, while Danny was working late at the Betterbuys head office, Ivy opened the wall safe in the drawing room where the family passports were kept. Then armed with pen and paper, she retired to the coffee table with Danny’s passport, and began writing down the countries he’d visited and the dates on which he’d arrived and departed.

  Her heart was beating uncomfortably. As far as she was aware, Danny had told her he’d visited cities like New York and Philadelphia for his retail conferences. He’d never told her he was going to the Seychelles, Barbados, the Bahamas, Florida and Hawaii. Danny had also made a brief visit to Sydney in the last year, but Ivy had no recollection of ever being told he was going to Australia. Fleetingly, she pictured her husband and Rosa relaxing on Bondi beach, drinking pina coladas in a beachside café before hurrying back to the privacy of their hotel to make love …

  Having written a detailed list covering the eight years of travel on his passport, Ivy had mixed feelings as she returned it to the safe. She’d proved, without a shadow of a doubt, that Danny had lied to her. But while she had the satisfaction of being right, that proof was leading inexorably and frighteningly to the disintegration of her marriage.

  Next, she had to undertake the most difficult part of her investigation. She needed to check Rosa’s letters and postcards to Hannah. If these dates coincided with Danny’s visits abroad, then she’d have the proof they’d spent the time together. But first, she had to visit Willow Haven again, and somehow gain access to the drawer where Hannah kept Rosa’s correspondence. Could she sneak in at night, while Hannah was asleep? Ivy shuddered. If she was caught, she couldn’t imagine explaining herself out of that one. Ideally, she needed Hannah to leave the house, but wasn’t an ill woman more likely to stay close to home?

  At last, Ivy had an idea. She’d treat her parents and Hannah to a visit to the cinema in the nearest town. A new blockbuster movie had just been released, and every cinema had queues to see it. She’d have a word with the manager of the cinema in advance and ensure that Hannah and her parents got VIP treatment. Her celebrity would be enough to ensure his cooperation. She’d also book and pay for a meal for her parents and Hannah at a top local restaurant, ensuring they’d all be away from Willow Haven for at least several hours. Enough time to find out what she needed to know.