The gesture made her suddenly feel intimidated. “Yes!” Her answer was snappy and her eyes moved down pointedly to his foot.
“Thank you,” he said, smiling broadly.
As soon as he removed his foot she banged the door closed and slid across the heavy bolt which she seldom used. She then moved quickly into the dining room which faced towards the street and went over to the window. She could see the two men walking down the path, out of the high wrought-iron gates and into the leafy street. She watched as they went along, straight past all the other houses, until they disappeared off into the distance.
She gave it a couple of more minutes and then she went back to the front door, unlocked it and stepped outside. She locked it again from the outside and, holding the key tightly in her hand, ran down the path and turned into the gateway next door.
She rang the bell and a few moments later Jennifer came to the door.
“Hi,” Maria said, “I’m just checking if two men in dark suits called at your house a few minutes ago saying they were doing some kind of a survey?”
Jennifer shrugged. “I didn’t see anyone, but then I had the record player on fairly loud upstairs –but if you come in I’ll ask Mum.”
As she called out for her mother, Maria followed her into the hallway, wondering if she was doing the right thing. She wasn’t too keen on involving Mrs Cox who was inclined to be both nosey and a bit of a brag, always going on about their cul-de-sac being in the best area of Heaton Moor. She was also inclined to make comments about the late hours Leo kept and how his car often woke her when he was coming home from work. She had recently made a few little digs about how much the Italians liked to drink. But, Maria supposed, if anyone knew anything about the callers it was likely to be her, since little escaped her notice.
Mrs Cox emerged from the kitchen at the end of the hallway and came towards them, drying her hands on a tea towel. When Maria explained the situation, the older woman’s face grew serious.
“I saw the two men you’re talking about when I was in the dining room five minutes ago, but they never called here.”
“Maybe they called before going into Maria’s house and you didn’t hear them,” Jennifer said.
Mrs Cox shook her head. “I was in the dining room polishing the good silver cutlery for the last half an hour and, even if I wasn’t looking out of the window, that doorbell is a good loud one, and I definitely would have heard them.”
Jennifer raised her eyebrows. “It’s a bit strange, isn’t it? Telling Maria that they were doing a survey of all the houses and yet they didn’t call here.”
“I wouldn’t normally have given it a second thought,” Maria told them. “People call at the door often. But I just felt there was something funny about them.” She then went on to explain how one of the men had stuck his foot in the door to stop her closing it.
“That doesn’t sound like the sort of thing that an estate agent would do!” Mrs Cox’s voice was indignant. “And I would think his company would not be impressed with that kind of behaviour. In fact, if you only knew the name of the company, I think your father should report him.”
She went over to the door, looked out at the street and spotted an elderly neighbour, Mr Sweeney, out sweeping up some leaves. “Hang on,” she said, “I’ll just check if Joe saw anything – he’s been in the garden for the last hour or more.”
Maria and Jennifer went out of the house and down the path. They stood at the gate chatting about music and the latest episode of Coronation Street until she came back.
“They didn’t call to Sweeney’s house either,” she told them. “It all sounds a bit fishy if you ask me . . .” She looked at Maria, her eyes narrowing. “Your father hasn’t put the house up for sale or anything like that?”
Maria felt a wave of shock. “No . . . not at all. He wouldn’t do anything like that without telling me. Why would we want to leave here?”
Mrs Cox nodded her head. “I didn’t think it, but you never know. I’ve seen it happen before.” She pointed down the street. “The Atkinsons from Number 17 were there one day and gone the next without a word to anyone. They just decided to move to Penrith to be nearer their daughter and put the house up for sale and didn’t even tell their next-door neighbours.” She gave a sigh. “Not a word to a soul. Then there was the young Cullen family at Number 6. When Sally had the baby she lost her job, and then the talk was that they got into financial difficulties and weren’t managing to keep up with their mortgage payments.” She shook her head. “This is what happens when young people get big ideas and think they can just walk into the most desirable areas without having the money to back it up. If people would only know their place in life instead of trying to keep up with more professional people, they wouldn’t get into all this sort of nonsense.”
Maria suddenly felt that there was some point being aimed at her father, and it made her feel defensive. “Well, our family have been living here since before I was born – and before some of the other families in the street – but I think it’s a shame when any family hits hard times.”
“So do I,” Jennifer added, making eyes behind her mother’s back.
Maria saw her neighbour’s face tighten, and she knew her remark had hit home as the Contis had been there five years before the Coxes.
Mrs Cox shook her head and smiled. “You’re both young and naïve in the ways of the world. When you have your own houses and families and responsibilities you’ll soon know what it’s all about.”
There was a slight awkwardness so Maria turned towards the gate. “Sorry for being a nuisance . . . I’ve probably made the thing about the two men more dramatic than it was.”
“You can’t be too careful,” Mrs Cox said. “So we’ll keep an eye out for anything further going on.”
After she let herself into the house and carefully locked it behind her, Maria sat at the kitchen table debating whether or not she should phone her father and tell him what had happened. One half of her knew she should, but the other half was reluctant in case he came rushing home and refused to leave her on her own again. She was just thinking that maybe she should talk to Mrs Lowry about it and get her opinion, when her heart suddenly leapt as another loud rap came on the door. She moved quickly out into the hall and into the dining room so she could look out of the corner of the bay window to check who it was. Her first thought was that it was the two men back again and, if it was, she had no intention of opening the door to them.
Her heart was racing as she pulled the curtain back a little to allow her to see who it was. She could just see the bottom of a man’s dark trousers and shoes. It was only when he moved back down a step that Maria realised it was only the window-cleaner.
She went out to speak to him and had just finished explaining to him about Mrs Lowry having the money when she heard the phone start to ring. She closed the door and went in quickly to answer it, but it stopped. She was halfway up the stairs when it suddenly rang again, startling her.
She ran down into the hallway and picked the receiver up.
A voice said, “Hi, is that you, Maria?”
After all the shocks she’d had this afternoon, this was the biggest one. “Yes,” she said, “it is.”
“It’s Paul . . . Paul Spencer.”
There was a little pause during which her stomach did a somersault.
“I hope you don’t mind me ringing you?”
“No . . . not at all.” Then, there was another pause which made her feel so nervous that she suddenly heard herself saying, “Is there anything the matter?”
“What do you mean?”
She swallowed hard. “With you ringing me . . .” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she made a fist with her hand and pressed it to her lips to stop herself from saying something else that was stupid.
Paul gave a little cough to clear his throat. “I know it’s short notice . . . but I wondered if you’d like to go to the cinema with me tonight? It would be a kind of double date w
ith Tony who works with me at the stables and your friend Stella.”
Maria had to take several deep breaths to steady her breathing. “That’s nice of you to ask,” she said, “but can I just check that you haven’t been railroaded into this by the other two. Are you sure you definitely want to go?”
“No, no . . . I haven’t been railroaded into anything . . .”
She thought his voice sound taken aback or maybe even slightly anxious, but she didn’t know him well enough to work out which it was.
He cleared his throat again. “I’d really like you to come to the cinema with me tonight.”
She held her breath to stop herself from saying that she would have preferred to have been asked out on her own, as it might just put him off her entirely or set a bad tone for their first date. And maybe, she thought, it might be easier in some ways if the four of them went together. Besides, she didn’t really want to mention the date to her father and if Stella was with her she wouldn’t have to. It wasn’t that her father would have a problem with her going out with a boy – in fact he often joked about it – it was more she didn’t want to make a big deal of it in case it came to nothing.
“Okay,” she said, “that sounds great.”
“So, you’ll go?”
“Yes.”
“Fantastic!”
She couldn’t believe how delighted and relieved he sounded and she felt instantly better about it all.
“I’ve been thinking of asking you out for a while,” he went on, “but I never seemed to get the opportunity and, to be frank, I didn’t have the courage to just phone out of the blue. It seems so stupid but if it hadn’t been for Tony I probably would have dithered about for ages.”
Stella had been right, she thought, feeling guilty for misjudging her friend.
“Where will we meet?” she asked now.
“I think Tony and Stella have worked out all the arrangements. Tony is borrowing his friend’s car, so we’ll drive over to the cinema.”
“Okay,” Maria said, “I’ll ring her after this.”
There was a pause.
“Great, I’ll see you tonight then,” he said.
She couldn’t think of anything else to say, so she just said, “Yes, see you tonight.”
After she hung the phone up, she clapped her hands together and laughed with delight.
“I’m going on a date!” she said aloud. “I can’t believe it – I’m going on a date with Paul Spencer!”
When she calmed down, she dialled Stella’s number. Mrs Maxwell answered the phone.
“Hello, Maria, I’m afraid Stella is busy with ballet practice at the moment. Can she ring you back when she’s finished?” Then she said, “Oh, hang on a moment. She’s just come down the stairs. Stella, it’s Maria . . .”
There was a pause.
“Hi, Maria.”
“It’s all on for tonight!” Maria’s voice was high and excited. “Paul phoned.”
“Great. I’ll meet you in the café opposite the cinema at six o’clock ”
Stella seemed unnaturally calm and quiet, making Maria wonder if she was still annoyed with her for the curt way she ended their last phone call.
“Is everything okay?”
“Yes, thanks, I was just in the middle of practising some barre work for my ballet exam.”
Stella’s parents were so convinced of her talent that her father had converted one of the spare bedrooms in their large house into a practice room for her with a barre, mirror tiles on one wall and a special wooden floor. Stella often asked Maria to come over to practise their exercises with her, but she only went occasionally as Mrs Maxwell said she thought they only distracted each other and never got around to any serious work.
Stella suddenly raised her voice. “My mother doesn’t approve of me stopping dancing when I’ve just warmed up. She thinks I’m so immature and stupid I still need her to tell me absolutely everything I should do.”
Maria heard a door banging in the background and realised that her friend and her mother had obviously been rowing. “She hasn’t heard about you and Tony, has she?”
“You are joking!” Stella whispered in a scathing tone. “She wouldn’t just be banging doors, it would be more like World War Three if she knew. She said I couldn’t go to the cinema if I didn’t get all my ballet work done and some studying too! She’s driving me mad!” There was a slight pause. “Hang on – just let me check that the kitchen door is shut.”
Maria waited, her high spirits about Paul Spencer now dampened by the atmosphere she could detect in Stella’s house. She couldn’t imagine anything like that happening between herself and her father, and felt uncomfortable on her friend’s behalf. She wondered now if Mrs Maxwell would be annoyed with her for distracting Stella from her dance practice, and maybe be annoyed they were going out to the cinema later tonight.
When Stella picked the phone up again, Maria said quickly, “I just wanted to know what the arrangements are for tonight. I won’t keep you back in case you get into trouble.”
“I’m not in any rush,” Stella told her, loud enough for anyone around Maxwells’ hallway to hear. “Go on. Tell me what Paul Spencer said.”
Maria went on to relate the conversation word for word.
“I told you he liked you!” Stella said triumphantly. “So now do you believe me?”
Maria gave a self-conscious giggle. “Well, I suppose so . . .”
Stella lowered her voice. “Okay, the plan is that you and I will meet in the Plaza café at six o’clock, so we’ve plenty of time to chat about things before the film.”
“You mean that we’re meeting up on our own before Tony and Paul arrive?”
“Precisely.”
“Okay,” Maria said, glancing over at the clock. “It’s half past three now and I’m going to go and have a bath and wash my hair.”
“See you later, alligator!”
“In a while, crocodile!” Maria laughed. “And don’t break your leg dancing!”
Chapter 6
When she was putting the towels in the laundry basket, Maria thought that she should phone her father to say she was definitely going out to the pictures in case he rang her. It was then that she remembered about the two men. She bit her lip, debating whether to mention it to him on the phone now, or leave it to a more suitable time. He would definitely be worried, she decided, and especially when she told him about the man jamming the door open with his foot. There was also the possibility that he would drive home to investigate the matter further and she did not want that when she was virtually on her way out to meet Stella.
Her father might even ring Mrs Lowry and ask her to start coming over every evening. And although she was very fond of the housekeeper, she definitely didn’t want to be baby-sat at almost sixteen years of age. It was best, she thought, for the time being to say nothing about the callers.
She had a quick chat with her father and told him about her cinema plans, and he told her that the restaurant was busy for a weeknight but he hoped to be home reasonably early. Afterwards she tidied up the kitchen then went back upstairs to her bedroom to put her make-up on and spray herself with Madame Rochas, a birthday present from the chef Franco and his wife Bernice.
As she slid her arms into her coat, she wondered if she had gone a bit mad with the perfume as it seemed more potent than usual. She rubbed at her wrist and neck with a tissue and consoled herself that a walk out in the fresh air would tone the scent down by the time she met up with Paul Spencer.
As she walked along Heaton Moor Road, her mind full of the evening ahead, she spotted Mrs Lowry coming out of the fruit and vegetable shop on the corner with a bag in each hand. Maria went towards her, always delighted to see the housekeeper.
“Hello, love,” Mrs Lowry said, giving her a big smile. “You’re looking very well dressed tonight. Are you off out somewhere nice?”
“I’m just off to the cinema with some friends.”
“Ah, it will do you good to have
a night off – you’ve been studying hard for the last few weeks. Have you found everything okay at home after I’ve been in? Is there anything else that you noticed needed doing?”
“It’s all fine, thanks.” Then she remembered. “Did the window-cleaner call for his money? Dad told me to remind him this afternoon.”
“He did indeed,” Mrs Lowry said. “How’s your dad doing? I haven’t seen him for a while – I’ve only spoken to him on the phone.”
“He’s fine, thanks.”
“I hope he’s not killing himself at the restaurant? All those late hours he does . . .”
Maria felt a little catch in her throat. “No . . . no. He tries to finish earlier during the week. I was on the phone to him just before I came out and he said he’s hoping to be home in a couple of hours.”
“I’m glad to hear it. No one could ever accuse your father of being a lazy man.”
For a moment she considered telling Mrs Lowry about her father buying Bella Maria, but something stopped her. Time was one thing, because Stella might already be in the café waiting for her, but there was also the fear that Mrs Lowry might disapprove of him getting further involved in horses and gambling.
She might voice the same fears that Maria herself had. And the housekeeper might even say them to her father.
They chatted for a little longer then Maria said she’d better go as her friend was waiting for her. As she hurried towards the Plaza Café, she thought back to the last time she had been worried about her father – weeks before he ran into all the trouble with the bank.
It was during a particularly bad period, when Leo was not coming home after the restaurant closed at the weekends and some weeknights and was instead drinking and taking part in late-night card games. The housekeeper would be there when Maria came back from her after-school classes or the restaurant, depending on what evening it was, and then they would have supper together and she would see Maria off to bed. Then she would sit watching the television and knitting or sewing until Leo returned. Sometimes he came home as he should around eleven o’clock but there were occasions he didn’t arrive home until the early hours and he was usually the worst for drink. Mrs Lowry tolerated his lame excuses about problems in the restaurant for a while but she eventually told him that if his erratic hours continued, he would have to find a new minder for Maria. She explained as inoffensively as she could that, whilst she loved being with Maria, she needed to get to bed before midnight as she was up again at seven o’clock to get her sons out for work in the morning.
Music from Home Page 5
