‘Don’t talk about him like that, please. He’s your father.’
‘He isn’t my bloody father, he’s not! He’s nothing like my real father, who was a good, kind man, who loved me!’ she shrieked at the top of her voice. ‘And you’re not my mother, so just shut up and go and look after your precious boys, who happily call you Mummy. I never will!’
‘Maggie, you can’t steal—’
‘I didn’t steal anything. I took what was mine. I counted it; it came to six pounds eight and six. Take it out of the thousands of mine you’ve got your hands on, Miss Evacuee …’
As Maggie spat the words, Ruby reached across and slapped her daughter clean across the face. It shocked both of them, but whereas Maggie just looked stunned as she put her hand up to her reddening cheek, Ruby became even more furious.
‘Get up to your room now, and if you dare leave the house I’ll get on to Mr Smethurst and you’ll be a ward of court before you know what it means. There’s a limit to how much I’ll put with from you, and you’ve gone past it.’
‘That’s where I was going, anyway!’ Maggie shrugged and sauntered out of the room. She made it to the turn of the stairs before she cried.
Maggie was lying on her bed listening to her records when there was a knock on her door.
‘Maggie, can I come in and talk to you? It’s Gracie. I have tea and sandwiches.’
‘Has Ruby summoned the troops?’ she shouted back without moving. She waited for a few seconds. ‘It’s OK, you can come in.’
Gracie opened the door and stepped into the room with a tray in her hands; Maggie was lying on the bed on her side with her head on one hand and a pencil in the other. She carried on writing furiously in an exercise book.
‘It’s nothing like that; I wasn’t summoned. I just called in on my way home from picking Fay up from a friend’s house. Ruby was so upset, and I made her tell me what was wrong.’
Maggie shrugged. ‘Good. She hit me. The cow hit me!’
‘She told me, and she’s sorry, really sorry …’ Gracie put the tray on the end of the bed. ‘Look, do you mind turning the music down a bit? I just want to talk to you for a minute.’
Ruby leaned across and lifted the record player arm off the record. ‘Done.’ She lay back down and picked up her pencil.
‘Do you mind if I sit down? I’ve been on my feet all day, and I’m knackered. This getting ready to move lark is more tiring than going out to work every day.’
‘Help yourself …’
Gracie grabbed the chair from under the dressing table and pulled it over beside the bed. It was low, so it meant she wasn’t sitting higher than Maggie was on the bed.
‘That’s better.’ She sighed and stretched her legs. ‘Look, I can’t pretend to know what it’s like to have to go through your ordeal, but I can imagine, and I’d hate it. I’d probably behave as you have. I don’t know what I’d do, but I can understand how Ruby feels.’
Maggie didn’t look up as she spoke, but she didn’t interrupt her either. After her meeting with Gracie and Jeanette in town, she had felt a little more kindly towards the sisters, so she was prepared to give Gracie a chance, even though she had no real intention of taking any notice of her. She was well aware that Gracie and Ruby were as thick as thieves and each would always support the other.
But she listened.
‘You know Ruby and I have been friends for a long time … Do you know how we met?’
‘Not really; no one’s ever told me. Not that I ever asked,’ Maggie said as she carried on writing.
‘It was on the maternity ward at Rochford Hospital. Ruby had just had you, and I …’ She paused for a moment. ‘Well, I had just had my son Joseph.’
Maggie looked up, her interest caught. ‘Joseph?’
‘Well, that’s what I called him. My firstborn, but I wasn’t married, his father had disappeared off into the great unknown, so I had no choice. My parents sent me off to the mother and baby home, St Angela’s, and when he was born he was taken off and adopted.’
‘Where did he go?’
‘That’s the thing, Maggie; I have no idea. I don’t know anything about him, not even his name, because I know they would have changed that. I don’t know if he knows he was adopted or if it was kept a secret; I don’t even know if he’s alive. Anything could have happened to him. That’s how it is with adoptions.’
‘You don’t know anything at all?’ Maggie asked. She guessed where the conversation was going, but she was too interested in the story to cut Gracie off with one of her usual curt responses.
‘Nope. Not a thing. Nothing. I only know his birthday because they couldn’t change that even if they wanted to. I have a lock of hair and a piece of paper, his birth certificate, to prove he existed, but that’s all. I could pass him in the street and not know. I probably have, if he was adopted locally.’
‘That’s sad,’ Maggie said. ‘I knew a girl at school who’d been adopted. We used to feel a bit sorry for her, but I didn’t know then that I was adopted as well.’
‘Most children weren’t told. They still aren’t, and St Angela’s is still going strong! So you see you are connected to me whether you like it or not. I saw you when you were born, and I enjoyed seeing you and being a part of your life with Babs and George because I hoped desperately that my baby was as lucky as you.’
‘How was I lucky? Everyone lied.’
‘That’s how it was, but you think about it, Maggie …’ she said. ‘Giving up your baby is the hardest thing you can do. It’s not the easy choice that lots of people who’ve never been in that situation think. I saw what Ruby went through, the way her real family were to her. She couldn’t tell them, and she had no choice over adoption, same as me. Babs and George had loved Ruby as their own, and she knew they would do the same for you.’
‘If it was such a wonderful thing to do, then why didn’t anybody tell me? Why was it a secret?’ Maggie asked.
‘Because you were their daughter, and they were waiting until they thought you were old enough to understand. But the accident changed all that, and that was nobody’s fault.’
‘It was my fault. The accident was my fault! I distracted Mum. I made her crash the car. If I hadn’t been a cow to her she wouldn’t have looked round and gone off the road …’ The words were out before she could stop them.
‘No! You can’t blame yourself, Maggie. It was a terrible accident which spawned everything that followed, but you’re not to blame for the accident, and Ruby and Johnnie are not to blame for the rest of it, so you have to stop tearing them apart.’
Maggie looked at Gracie and shook her head. ‘I don’t know why they’re so bothered by what I do. Ruby has everything and I have nothing. They’ve even stopped my pocket money. It’s not fair.’
‘Is it fair that you refuse to go to school? Refuse to work? They’re trying to do their best for you. They want to motivate you. They want the best for you, and let’s be fair here, they’ve let you get away with murder …’
‘They don’t care about me; they only care about the boys. Johnnie is forever saying it.’
Gracie laughed gently. ‘He’s a man. They’re not good at saying the right thing! You know deep down inside that it’s not true, and saying it over and over won’t make it so. Look, how about you come down with me and we work out a compromise? I’ll be piggy in the middle and be referee.’ Gracie laughed. ‘God, the way my family used to fight, I’m good at it.’
‘I don’t want to.’
‘I know you don’t, but just give it a try. If it doesn’t work then we’ll think of something else. You have to try, Maggie my love, for your own sake.’
Maggie stood up. ‘OK.’
‘Good. Let’s go.’
‘Maggie? There’s a telephone call for you …’
As she heard Johnnie call up the stairs, she knew instantly who it was. Andy. She hadn’t heard from him as quickly as she’d expected, and she never dared ring him in London in case his father answered t
he phone. Andy always talked proudly of his father, but she sensed that Jack Blythe was the ruling force of the family and she didn’t want to get on his wrong side for Andy’s sake.
And also because of the demo disc he had that she was pinning all her hopes on.
Since the confrontation with Ruby, followed by the talk with Gracie, there had been an uneasy truce in the house. Maggie had agreed to help in the hotel behind the reception desk when they were short-staffed and had also let them all think she was seriously considering the idea of going to secretarial college in London. In return for her cooperation, her pocket money was reinstated and increased, and she was also going to be paid for working. The issue of her going through the papers in the office and taking the money would be forgiven but probably not forgotten, as Maggie now had the information.
She knew they were trying to keep track of her, but she was happy to let them think what they liked while she plotted what she was really going to do.
‘Maggie? Maggie, it’s the phone,’ Johnnie called again.
She ran downstairs to the hall, where Johnnie was standing with the phone in his hand.
‘It’s Andy Blythe for you.’
‘Thanks.’ She smiled as best she could. She was trying her hardest to be amenable, but it was difficult. She felt as if they were thinking they’d won. ‘Hello?’ she said cautiously into the phone.
‘I’ve got good news for you … Dad wants to meet you and hear you sing properly. Can you come up to London?’
Maggie looked around and saw that the kitchen door was still ajar, which meant Johnnie was listening in.
‘I’m fine,’ she said cautiously. ‘How are you?’
‘Did you hear what I said?’
‘Yes, I did. I’m fine.’
‘Ah. Someone is listening?’ he said.
‘Yes. It’s cold here too.’
‘Get the train to London on Monday. I’ll meet you at Liverpool Street Station, and we’ll get the underground to the office. OK? Monday, eleven o’clock at Liverpool Street Station.’
‘Oh, yes. I’m looking forward to Christmas as well.’
‘Is that a yes?’ he asked.
‘Yes.’
They spoke in coded terms for a little longer, and when Maggie put the phone down she went into the kitchen to find Johnnie looking out of the window. He had so obviously been eavesdropping on her phone call, but she wasn’t going to say anything. She’d promised herself she’d remain calm. Until she didn’t have to any more. ‘I’m going into town,’ she said.
‘Did Andy want anything in particular?’
‘No, just saying hello. I haven’t talked to him for ages.’
‘Maggie, I want to talk to you while your mum, Ruby, isn’t here.’
‘I haven’t done anything wrong!’
‘I know, but I know you’re unhappy. Look, I won’t beat about the bush. Do you want to go back to Melton? I’m sure we could arrange something for you, somewhere to stay. You could go back to school, pick up where you left off …’
Instantly, Maggie was alert. She knew Ruby desperately wanted everything to be fine between them, but Johnnie was a different kettle of fish. She had always liked him when he was just a brotherly figure in her life. He was always up for a laugh and would stick up for her to her mum and dad. But where he used to be fun as an occasional brother, now his role had changed, and so had he; where Ruby was desperately trying to get close to her, Johnnie seemed to be constantly pushing her away.
‘Are you trying to get rid of me?’ she asked him calmly.
‘No, I’m not. You’re my daughter, our daughter, but we want to do what’s best for you. More than anything we want you to be happy, and I know you’re not.’ He went over and put his arm around her shoulder, but whereas previously she had felt comfortable with Johnnie, now she had to force herself not to recoil.
‘So what do you want to do with me? Apart from throw me out, that is.’
‘I thought you could go back to Melton for term time and then come back here in the holidays. We could find somewhere for you to stay.’
‘Like where? When I wanted to do that, you told me it was impossible.’
‘Maybe at the vicarage with the Hobarts?’
‘I thought we’d agreed that I’d to go to secretarial college.’
‘No, you didn’t agree, Maggie. You can’t kid a kidder, and I know you have no intention of doing that …’ Johnnie smiled at her. ‘But it’s just something for you to consider. Think about it, and remember, we love you. We all do, even if you don’t want to believe it.’
Maggie smiled and said nothing.
The uneasy truce instantly became uneasier on her behalf, but she didn’t want anything to stop her going to London on Monday. There was just the weekend to get through …
When he heard the front door click shut and he knew Maggie had gone out, Johnnie Riordan made himself a cup of tea and went through to his new office. His den, the one place where he had time to himself.
He sat in the chair under the window, put his feet up and closed his eyes as he tried to think straight.
He loved Maggie as the father he was, but he couldn’t bear to see how she was ripping his previously happy family apart. He understood her and her feelings of estrangement from everything, but he was becoming fed up with forever treading the fine line that kept the peace in the household. It was also affecting Ruby at work and by default everyone else at the hotel, because she was short and snappy with the staff. She was also making silly mistakes because she was forever worrying about Maggie, wondering where was and what she was doing.
But mostly he hated the way Maggie’s behaviour was having an impact on the three boys and making them unsettled. After Martin and Paul’s mother had died in awful circumstances, they had lived with Johnnie’s sister Betty in Walthamstow, and he had fought for so long to have them living with him and Ruby.
Now, albeit unknowingly, Maggie was about to sabotage all that, because the boys had told their Aunty Betty just how unhappy they were with Maggie around the place.
Johnnie hadn’t told Ruby. Instead, he had decided it was up to him to try and find a resolution that suited all of them. Including Maggie. Whatever Ruby and Maggie thought, he did want what was best for his daughter.
When Ruby had given birth to their daughter, Johnnie Riordan had known nothing about it; he hadn’t even known she was pregnant. All he knew was that she had disappeared from Walthamstow into thin air. He assumed she had run away from her family and had tried to find her, but eventually he had moved on and married his first wife Sadie, and they had two sons.
It had been several years later when fate had finally brought the two of them back together, but by then Maggie was a formally adopted Wheaton, she had a new family and a new home, so all they could do was keep in touch as family friends, visit occasionally and hope that one day she would know she was their daughter.
Johnnie loved his daughter, as he always had, but he also had a more rational, almost unemotional, view of their daughter than Ruby. Unlike his wife, he had accepted that although he and Ruby were her birth parents, she would always be a Wheaton. It was they who had adopted her and raised her as their own. He knew that she would never be able to accept them as mum and dad because they weren’t, and much as he hated to admit it, he really didn’t feel the same about her as he did about the boys. The best he hoped for was a familial bond one day.
But while Johnnie was being realistic about their daughter, Ruby was absolutely enveloped in her own guilt and determined to make up for everything one way or another. She believed in happy ever after and was determined that they would all be a family sooner rather than later.
He picked up the telephone extension in the study and listened carefully for a few seconds to make sure no one else was on the line, then he dialled the number for the vicarage.
‘Mrs Hobart? Johnnie Riordan here again. I’d like to come up to Melton and see you, to talk face to face. I think Maggie needs to be back in M
elton with her friends …’
Thirteen
Maggie had been to London several times with Babs Wheaton on days out and shopping trips, but she had never been there on her own before, and she felt increasingly nervous as the train rattled through the stations en route. She prayed fiercely that Andy would be there as he’d said, because she didn’t even have the actual address of where she was going let alone know how to get there.
But when she got off at Liverpool Street Station and looked through the crowds she could see him standing at the end of the platform near the gate. He waved as he saw her, and when she got near she could see he was actually excited. He pulled her in tight and kissed her on the lips, as if they were a real couple.
‘I’m so pleased you’re here. Couldn’t talk to you properly on the phone, but Dad really loves the demo,’ he said as he hugged her. ‘And, guess what? I showed him a photo of you as well … one of those I took at the tennis club before you left. He really wants to meet you and hear you sing in person. He thinks you’ve got just the right look.’
‘Sing in person? What, stand up and sing in front of him? I can’t do that. It was bad enough in the booth on my own.’ Just the thought of it made Maggie jump from foot to foot nervously. Apart from the choir, she’d only ever sung to herself in the mirror, and the thought of singing by herself, actually in front of someone, was a terrifying prospect.
‘Don’t be daft, of course you can. That’s why you’re here. Dad’s agreed to see you. He’s going to see you personally, and that’s really something! He’s really impressed that I got you to make that demo; he said I’d shown initiative. I hope he likes you …’
Maggie registered once again how deferential Andy was whenever he talked about his father; he idolized him and was in awe of his business success. She found it strange, because although she had always loved and admired her own father, George, she had never been in awe of him.
Although he was a very attractive young man, Maggie had been drawn to Andy when she first met him because he was supremely self-confident, almost arrogant, and she’d never met anyone like that before; he was still very sure of himself, and yet whenever he talked about his father he sounded quite childish in his puppy-like adoration. She found it quite unnerving, but at the same time she was looking forward to meeting the very important businessman she had heard so much about: Jack Blythe. Musical and Theatrical Agent.
Maggie Page 14
