Ginny squeezed her harder, making her go pink in the face. ‘The will!’ she hissed. ‘You’ll have to lay claim to the money on my behalf. Then, when I’m out of here, you can give the money to me.’ She pressed her face so close that she was almost kissing her. ‘Don’t try and cheat me.’ Something in Lianne’s expression alarmed her. ‘There is a will, isn’t there? Dad’s had a letter, hasn’t he? You wrote and told me so.’
Lianne nodded, then, keeping her own voice as low as Ginny’s, ‘Apparently Grandmother didn’t have time to change her will, and everything was left to Cyrus. But he’s put a great deal of money into an account, in Daddy’s name. It’s there for when he and Mum get well again.’
‘If they get well again.’
Hating the look on Ginny’s face, Lianne pulled away. ‘They will get well again,’ she declared angrily. ‘The doctors have promised.’ Her voice rose in panic, causing the others to move towards them.
Dave stepped forward to take her away. ‘Goodbye, Ginny,’ he said. ‘No doubt we’ll see you again.’ Much as he loathed the idea, he knew Lianne would want to come again. Whatever Ginny did or said, Lianne felt in duty bound to forgive and love her.
But Ginny had the parting word. ‘You can’t make room for me in your little love nest!’ she yelled out after them. ‘But you’ll have to make room for the bastard!’
When, white faced and shaken, they both turned, she laughed cruelly. ‘I’ve got better eyes than you have, Dave Martin. You’ve made my sister pregnant, and you didn’t even know.’
Her voice faded as she was dragged away between the two nurses. But it echoed down the corridor, bouncing off the walls and telling the world of their shame.
Dave looked down on Lianne’s white upturned face, and he knew it was the truth. He didn’t say anything. Instead he took her in his arms and held her close. Words alone could never have said as much.
They broke the news over tea. Although it was no surprise to Mrs Martin, her husband was shocked. ‘What the hell were you thinking of?’ He stared at each of them in turn. ‘You’re just kids! Hardly got the nappy stains off your arses!’ He scraped back his chair, and stormed out of the room.
‘Give him time,’ Mrs Martin murmured, sipping her tea with deliberation. ‘Once he’s got used to the idea he’ll be back.’
A moment later he returned. He sat down and spread his hands on the table. There was an awkward moment, during which he stared at his son without saying a word. He glanced at his wife, and he shook his head. Then he spoke to Lianne, whose fists were nervously clenched under the table. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘It was a shock. I don’t know how to deal with it.’
Sensible as ever, Mrs Martin said firmly, ‘The way to deal with it is to talk it through. First of all, you’re right. They are very young.’ She smiled at him, and he knew what she was thinking. ‘But we were not much older when we got married.’
‘You weren’t pregnant though.’
‘And Lianne is, eh?’ She smiled broadly at her. ‘The most important thing is… do you and Dave want to keep this baby?’
When all three looked at her with horror, she nodded her head, and went on in a quiet, sobering voice. ‘All right. So now there are more practical things to be discussed… like where will you live? And whether Dave wants to work or go to college…’
Dave had given it a great deal of thought, and though the passion to be a doctor was still strong in his blood, he had a greater passion: Lianne, and the baby she was carrying. ‘I’ll do what’s best for my family,’ he answered.
‘I understand that, son,’ his father said. ‘But wouldn’t it be better to think long-term? There’s nothing wrong with driving a van. It’s a respectable way to earn a living, and I’m sure there are those who would never want to do anything else. But you have it in you to be a doctor.’ His voice dropped to a plea. ‘Don’t throw that away.’
There was a brief silence while everyone reflected on his words.
Dave was thinking of Lianne.
She was thinking of him.
Suddenly, her wise words rose above her thoughts. ‘Dave knows how I feel,’ she said. ‘I can’t let him turn his back on medical school.’ She gazed at him with a love only the two of them understood. ‘Promise them,’ she said softly, ‘and I’ll go along with anything else you want.’
There was another brief moment when Dave turned the whole matter over in his mind. At length he said, ‘I can’t lose you. If it’s at all possible, I’ll carry on with my studies.’
Mrs Martin cried into her handkerchief. Her husband leaped out of his chair to shake his son’s hand. ‘We’ll make it possible!’ he cried. Then he hugged Lianne, and called for a celebration. ‘There’s a baby on the way, and a wedding to plan,’ he laughed. And Lianne’s heart soared with joy.
Amidst the excitement, Ginny was momentarily forgotten. At that very moment she was lying on her bed, staring up at the stark white ceiling and making her devious plans. Wicked, selfish plans. Plans coldly designed to cast a dark shadow over Lianne’s happiness.
10
On 22nd August, Jack was released from hospital. ‘I have to come back twice a week for therapy,’ he told Liz, ‘but I won’t neglect you, I promise.’ He was sat beside her bed, one leg bent comfortably at the knee, the other stretched out awkwardly. His crutches were propped against the wall.
Sitting up in bed, Liz made a pretty picture. She was wearing a blue silk nightie and had taken the trouble to put on some lipstick. ‘You look good, Jack,’ she told him. Her manner was a little strained. She had something on her mind and didn’t know how to say it. It had to do with Ginny. Always Ginny.
‘You don’t seem your usual self,’ he remarked, peering curiously at her serious face.
‘Neither do you, Jack,’ she said without looking at him. ‘But then it’s not surprising when we’ve both been to hell and back.’
He laid his hand over hers but she pulled it away. ‘All right,’ he snapped. ‘What is it?’
She remained silent. How could she tell him she never again wanted to lay eyes on her own daughter? As a mother, how could she even think it?
‘Is it because we have to live over the bakery for a while?’ He grimaced when she still remained silent. ‘It’s only until we get ourselves sorted,’ he said. ‘Then you can choose a house… not as grand or large as the one we had, but maybe you’d prefer that.’
She raised her gaze to his. ‘Why are you doing it?’
‘What? Living over the bakery?’
She flashed anger. ‘You know very well I’m not talking about the bakery! I’m talking about Lianne. Why are you doing it to her?’
He looked away, tapping his plastered foot against the bed leg. Then he replied impatiently, ‘She’s too young, for Christ’s sake!’
‘Too young to be a wife, you mean?’ She gave a small laugh. ‘Well, she’s not too young to be a mother, is she? With a baby due in four months, all she wants is to get married so the baby isn’t born illegitimate.’
‘She doesn’t need my blessing.’
‘Of course she does!’ Slapping him on the arm, she spat the words out. ‘She needs both our names on the form. You know that, bugger you!’
‘She doesn’t need to marry him. I’ve already told her she can live with us. Her and the baby.’
‘Do I have an opinion on that?’
‘That goes without saying.’
‘Then you’d better know this: if Lianne and the baby come to live with you, I certainly won’t.’
He stared disbelievingly at her. ‘You’re talking out of your arse.’ Then, ‘I don’t know what you want,’ he said painfully.
‘It isn’t what I want. It’s what Dave and Lianne want, and they want you to give them your blessing so they can get married.’ She was blood-angry and it showed. ‘You’ve led that girl a merry dance, Jack, and now I’m leading you one. Go and see her, or when I get out of here, so help me, I’ll find myself a place to stay, and to hell with you!’
‘So! It’s them or you, is it?’
‘Looks that way.’
‘I’ll go round tonight.’ His smile was devastating. ‘She shall have her father’s blessing, if that’s what you want. I’ll even be proud while I walk her down the aisle. How’s that?’
‘That’s all she wants, Jack. Thank you.’ She even afforded him a fleeting kiss on the mouth.
The nurse came in to change her dressings. It was a slow, painful business. The wounds were healing now, but there had been complications.
Jack waited until the curtains were drawn back, and the nurse gone. ‘Have they said when you can leave?’
‘When the infection’s cleared away. A week, they said, maybe two.’ If it hadn’t been for that, she might have made it out of here before Jack. In a way she was glad she had not. ‘Don’t bother coming to see me tonight,’ she suggested. ‘Spend a little time with Lianne. She’ll be so pleased.’
‘I believe we have another daughter,’ he reminded her sternly. ‘Or aren’t you interested?’
Again she remained silent. No, she wasn’t interested. And no, as far as she was concerned, she did not have another daughter.
‘So you can’t forgive her?’
‘Can you?’ Her tone was one of disgust.
He stood up and balanced himself on the crutches. ‘Someone has to forgive her,’ he answered flatly. ‘I would have thought a mother could understand that more than most.’
She was glad when he went, making his way down the ward with surprising agility. ‘I’m sorry, Jack,’ she murmured. Ginny was evil through and through. She wanted them dead. She admitted that on the witness stand. How could she forget? A cold chill rippled through her. She hasn’t finished with us yet. If you can’t see that now, you never will.
The doctor was beside her when she looked round. ‘Oh!’ She was startled. ‘I didn’t realise you were there.’
A man of about Jack’s age, with bright blue eyes and a ready smile, Mike Pearson had taken a fancy to Liz. During their many hours of consultation, he had got to know her well enough to realise that she was vulnerable, and open to suggestion. ‘How are you today?’ he asked in his most professional manner.
‘Wonderful,’ she answered with a twinkle in her eye. ‘Aren’t I always?’
He examined her back, and touched her with the utmost tenderness. He dropped her nightie and whispered in her ear as he straightened up. ‘I could get struck off for what I’m thinking.’
‘Please don’t,’ she answered softly. ‘We should never have started it. I’m still in love with Jack. Whatever problems we have, we’ll sort them out.’
Lifting her hand, he pretended to be taking her pulse. ‘I’m here if you need me,’ he told her quietly. ‘Remember that.’
‘You’ve been a good friend,’ she said. ‘I won’t forget.’
He rubbed his finger suggestively over the palm of her hand. ‘More than a friend, I hope.’
He held her hand, and she took comfort from it. Her life was upside down. Her feelings were torn apart, and it was good to have a safety net. That was Mike Pearson. Her safety net.
The sister had seen him at Liz’s bedside, and came hurrying over. ‘This is the impatient one,’ she said, grinning at Liz. ‘Every day it’s “When can I go home?” ’ She tutted, folding her arms, and glanced at the doctor. ‘Anyone would think she wanted rid of us.’
He gazed down on Liz, and for a moment she was terrified that he might be indiscreet. Instead he took her clipboard from the foot of the bed, and made a note on it. His parting words left her unsettled. ‘Then she’ll have to be patient, won’t she? We all have to learn patience. Take me, for instance… the most patient man in the world. When I want something, I usually get it.’
Lianne looked beautiful. The bump on her stomach was cleverly camouflaged by the empire line of her cream satin gown, and the pale high-heeled shoes gave her a delicate countenance. With her fair hair and green eyes, she looked like a china doll. Jack walked her down the aisle as promised. He smiled when his eyes encountered Dave, looking impossibly handsome in his new dark blue suit. He smiled throughout the hour-long service, and he beamed when Lianne turned to look at him. The truth was, he had come to accept the situation.
Liz stood beside him, quiet and lovely. ‘You were right,’ he told her through the veil on her hat brim. ‘They do make a delightful couple.’
‘I’m glad,’ she said. ‘Lianne deserves to be happy.’
The love fled from her heart when he whispered in her ear, ‘Doesn’t Ginny look lovely?’
Liz followed his gaze. Ginny was standing beside Jack, her dark eyes intent on Lianne and Dave. On her other side was a female official from the clinic. ‘I moved heaven and earth to get her here,’ Jack said. ‘But then, she’s doing so well, how could they refuse?’
Ginny pretended not to notice that she was being discussed. She stood tall and straight, aristocratic almost. Her glowing beauty and commanding presence had already caught the eye of one of Dave’s friends, an amiable young man by the name of Luke Morrison. He and Dave had met at the open-day for the college course. That was a week ago, and they had hit it off straight away. Luke was a bit of a loner, articulate and extremely intelligent, except where women were concerned. He had a habit of choosing the wrong kind, and ending up with his heart broken. He was attracted to Ginny from the minute he saw her walk by, and now he couldn’t keep his eyes off her.
Ginny revelled in his adoration. She felt good. Jack had bought her a very expensive cream-coloured two-piece, with a long straight skirt and a fitted jacket. The choice of colour was hers. Chosen deliberately to rival her sister’s wedding gown. ‘Doesn’t Lianne make a lovely bride?’ she said, looking at her mother.
Liz nodded and turned away. She couldn’t bring herself to speak.
Lianne was in a world of her own. Dave was beside her and she was not afraid.
The vicar’s voice gentled into her mind: ‘I now pronounce you man and wife.’ Dave took her in his arms and kissed her. In that very precious moment the child inside her moved, and her world was filled with sunshine.
In the vestry at the back of the altar, they signed the register, and talked and laughed, and it seemed like no time at all before they were retracing their steps down the aisle. They walked through a sea of smiles: the smiles of people wishing them well; her mother softly crying; her father genuinely proud.
Only one face stood out from the crowd. One face that was not smiling, but was scrutinising her with dark cruel eyes, eyes filled with envy, and with something else. Something she could not easily recognise. ‘I wish you had been my bridesmaid, Ginny,’ she told her as she passed. But Ginny’s face remained impassive.
Refusing to allow anything to spoil their day, Lianne linked her arm with Dave’s, and walked out of the church into the sunshine and a hail of confetti. ‘I love you, Mrs Martin!’ Dave cried as they ran to the car. Inside the car he kissed her again, holding her so tight that she thought he would never let go. In her happy heart she prayed he would never let go. As the wedding car pulled away, Lianne glanced out of the back window. She watched her parents get into the second car. They still carried the marks of their ordeal, her father now reduced to one crutch, her mother stiff-backed, still afraid. But they were alive, she thought. Thank God they were still alive.
Ginny was with them. Striking as ever. Better now. But not well enough to bear the responsibility of being bridesmaid. That was a great pity, because Lianne had wanted no one else.
The hotel laid on a splendid meal. Everyone was satisfied, and later, when the music struck up and the evening wore on, people danced across the floor, occasionally stopping to wish the happy couple well and to have yet another look at the wonderful presents set out on the long table.
‘I’m a lucky bloke to have such a lovely wife,’ Dave said, dancing with Lianne. ‘There isn’t a man in this room who doesn’t envy me.’
Lianne looked up at him, thankful that her long thick lashes h
ad grown to fringe her eyes as before. Her smile revealed the depth of her love. ‘What? You mean they all want a fat wife, with swollen ankles and a skin problem?’ Lianne was in too good a mood to worry about the side effects of being pregnant, but she did like to tease.
‘Away with you, woman!’ he said, gently swinging her round until she squealed. ‘Even with your fat belly, swollen ankles and spots… you’re still the best-looking bird in the place.’
It did Liz’s heart good to see them so happy. ‘I remember when we were like that,’ she said, her sorry eyes turned to Jack. Visions of Mike Pearson flooded her mind. He was a rogue, refreshingly uncomplicated, wanting her with no strings attached.
Jack sidled closer, clinking his glass with hers. ‘It doesn’t have to be a memory,’ he murmured. ‘I love you just the same. Nothing’s changed.’ But Liz had changed, although he couldn’t see it. She was more distant. Growing more afraid.
‘You’re wrong, Jack,’ she said soulfully. ‘Things have changed. You… me. Everything.’ She wished it wasn’t so. Oh, if only she could turn the clock back, things might have been very different.
‘Are you saying you don’t love me any more?’ Suddenly Jack was attentive. If he lost Liz he had lost it all. She meant everything to him.
Liz couldn’t look him in the eye. ‘I don’t know what I’m saying,’ she confessed. ‘I’m all mixed up. Since I came out of hospital, I can’t seem to think straight.’ Her smile spoke volumes. ‘I do love you though, Jack,’ she said. ‘You need never doubt that.’ It was his passion for Ginny she couldn’t cope with. And her own inability to love her daughter, even a little.
The music slowed to a ballad. Without a word he took her in his arms and drew her on to the floor. His steps were clumsy, making him self-conscious. ‘I’m still having trouble managing without the crutches,’ he told her, ‘but it’s been so long since we danced together.’
As they moved round the floor, they made a handsome couple. Jack, tall and straight, cut a dashing figure. Liz, too, was over the worst of her injuries and looked lovely in a black dress and silver jewellery. They danced close, she with her face against his shoulder, and he with his arms round her waist. ‘I think I want to make love with you,’ he whispered in her ear.
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