33
The next few weeks were difficult, as Leanne and her mum waited for the police to release her father’s body for burial. They still hadn’t caught his attacker – or, more likely, attackers, since Norman had been quite capable of defending himself against one man, even in his wheelchair.
Jake didn’t leave Leanne’s side for the whole of that time, and she was grateful for his strength as her own frequently deserted her.
When at last the day of the funeral came around – which Jake had instead on paying for, and at which he, along with some of the workmates Norman had been drinking with the night he was attacked, carried the coffin – Jake escorted Leanne, her mum and her Aunt Gloria to Norman’s local after the service to join the other mourners in a buffet lunch, which he’d also paid for.
Chrissie and Ben were already there when they arrived, and Chrissie smiled when she saw Leanne and Jake’s hands locked together.
‘I’m so glad you’ve sorted things out,’ she said as she gave Leanne a hug. ‘Me and Ben were starting to get a bit worried for a while there; thought we were never going to get rid of you.’
Grateful to her friend for lifting her spirits on this gloomiest of days, Leanne smiled, and said, ‘Shut it, or I’ll come home with you tonight.’
‘You will not,’ Jake interjected, looping an arm around her shoulder when Chrissie had let go. ‘I’ve only just got you back, and I’m not letting you out of my sights again.’
‘Yeah, well, you’d best make sure you look after her properly this time,’ Chrissie warned, only half joking. ‘Any more nonsense and you’ll have me to deal with.’
Amused, Jake grinned and shook his head when Chrissie linked an arm through Leanne’s and guided her towards a table, leaving him and Ben to get drinks for them all.
‘I’m surprised you’re still hanging in there, kiddo,’ he teased, clapping Ben on the back. ‘Thought she’d have eaten you up and spat you out by now.’
‘She’s not that tough when you get to know her,’ Ben said loyally, shoving his hands into his pockets as they made their way to the bar. ‘We’re actually really happy.’
‘Good for you,’ said Jake. ‘I mean it,’ he added sincerely when Ben raised an eyebrow as if waiting for a sarcastic follow-up. ‘You deserve it.’
Ben cast a quick look around, then murmured, ‘I bumped into Sally the other day, and she asked me to tell you to call in. She had the lad with her.’
‘Not now.’ Jake frowned.
Before Ben could say anything else, Brenda walked past, and Jake reached out and put a hand on her arm. Asking her if he could have a quick word, he told Ben to get the drinks in before steering her out through the doors and into the pub garden.
‘Where’s Jake,’ Leanne asked when Ben carried their drinks to the table a few minutes later.
‘He’s talking to your mum,’ Ben told her as he squeezed in beside Chrissie. ‘I think they went outside.’
‘Bless him.’ Leanne sighed. ‘He’s been so good to her this week. She thinks the world of him. And my dad quite liked him, too.’
‘That says a lot.’ Chrissie smiled. ‘He wasn’t one for bullshit, your dad; proper straight-talker.’
‘He was, wasn’t he?’ Leanne said softly, her eyes misting up all over again at the thought of her lovely father.
‘Too much so, at times,’ Chrissie said drily. ‘Remember when we were fifteen and everyone was getting into tying hoodies round their waists and wearing their baseball caps the wrong way round? I thought I looked dead cool in mine, but your dad took one look at me and asked if I’d turned lesbian. “Not that there’s owt wrong with it if you have, love,”’ she added in an imitation of Norman Riley’s gruff voice. ‘“But I can’t say I’m too keen on the butch look you’ve gone for!”’
‘He was a right one!’ Leanne laughed. ‘I remember back-combing my hair one time when we were going to The Ritz. I thought I looked really sexy, but he said I looked like I’d been dragged through a hedge then pushed back in for more.’
‘Sounds like a character,’ said Ben.
‘Oh, he was!’ both women said in unison.
A sudden hush fell over the crowded pub, and all eyes turned towards the bar, where Jake was helping Brenda to stand on a chair.
‘I, um, just wanted to thank you all for coming along today,’ she addressed the room nervously, adopting the posh voice that she saved for special occasions – and which Norman had always teased her about. ‘I’m sure you can imagine how difficult these last few weeks have been for myself and Leanne. Where is she, by the way?’ She glanced around and raised a hand to wave Leanne over when she spotted her. ‘Come here, love; this involves you, too.’
‘Right, where was I?’ she continued when Leanne was standing beside her. ‘Oh, yes . . . thank you all for coming today. Norman would have been blown away to see so many people paying their respects.’
‘Norman!’ a man in the crowd called out, raising his beer glass in a toast.
‘Norman!’ the rest echoed.
‘He was a good man,’ Brenda went on. ‘And I was proud to stand by his side for forty years, because I couldn’t have asked for a better husband. If you were his friend, he’d give you the shirt off his back, but if you wronged him, or – God forbid – hurt me or our girl, he’d be your very worst enemy.’
‘You’re not wrong there,’ someone chuckled.
Brenda gave the speaker an approving smile, then continued: ‘I only ever saw the best of him, and he brought out the best in me. And we were – are – both so very proud of our beautiful daughter.’ She gazed lovingly down at Leanne now, who had to sniff back her tears as she reached up to squeeze her mum’s hand. ‘You were always a daddy’s girl, and I know he’ll have been watching over you these last few weeks, making sure that Jake’s looking after you as well as your dad always looked after me. I also know he’d be very happy to . . .’ Tailing off at this, she cast a quick glance at Jake, before saying, ‘No, I won’t ruin it. Over to you, love.’
Jake stepped forward and gave a sheepish smile at the crowd before saying, ‘This isn’t quite how I planned it, but Brenda insisted, so, I, um, couldn’t exactly refuse, could I? Thing is . . .’ He turned to Leanne now and peered into her bewildered eyes. ‘I was gearing myself up to talk to your dad when . . . you know.’ He smiled sadly. ‘Anyway, I decided to ask Brenda instead, and she’s given me her blessing, so . . .’ He paused and swallowed nervously before pulling a little box out of his pocket. ‘Leanne Riley’ – he dropped to one knee – ‘will you marry me?’
Unable to speak as tears spilled down her cheeks, Leanne covered her mouth with her hands and nodded.
‘Is that a yes?’ He grinned.
‘Yes!’ she cried, dropping to her own knees and throwing her arms around him.
‘To my girl and my soon-to-be son-in-law!’ Brenda beamed, raising her glass. ‘And to my Norman,’ she added, raising her eyes to the ceiling.
Back at the table, Chrissie raised her glass along with everyone else, but there was a hint of concern in her eyes. Seeing it, Ben leaned towards her, and whispered, ‘You okay?’
‘Yeah, I’m fine,’ she whispered back. ‘Just think it was a bit inappropriate to do something like that at a time like this.’
‘To be fair, he did say Brenda insisted,’ Ben reminded her. ‘And Leanne seems happy enough, which can’t be a bad thing if it takes her mind off grieving for a while.’
‘Yeah, you’re right,’ Chrissie agreed. ‘She’s been through hell lately, and I should be happy for her. Jake loves the bones of her, and you can’t ask for better than that, can you?’
Ben shook his head in agreement and took a sip of his pint, but a tiny frown was creasing his brow at the thought of how unhappy Leanne would be if she ever found out about Sally and Jake’s son. And how mad Chrissie was going to be with him if she ever found out. It didn’t bear thinking about.
‘Can you believe that?’ Leanne gasped, rushing over to them. ‘I had n
o idea!’
‘Let me see it.’ Chrissie held out her hand. Raising an approving eyebrow when she saw the huge diamond sparkling on Leanne’s third finger, she murmured, ‘Wow! That’s some serious rockage.’
‘Isn’t it gorgeous?’ Leanne said proudly. ‘And to think he chose it himself, in secret. He just amazes me.’
‘Not as much as you amaze me,’ Jake purred, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her. ‘I’ve waited twenty years for this. It would have killed me if you’d said no.’
‘As if!’ She grinned. ‘But you could have given me a hint. I’ve never been so shocked.’
‘What, and ruin the surprise?’ Jake scoffed. ‘No chance. Oh, and, on the subject of surprises . . .’ He let go of her and reached into his inside pocket. ‘Remember that holiday I promised you?’ He took out two tickets. ‘How does a fortnight in Vegas sound?’
‘Are you kidding?’ Leanne gasped. ‘I’ve always wanted to go there. My dad went there before he married my mum, and he used to talk about it all the time when I was a kid. How did you know?’
‘A little bird told me.’ Jake winked at Chrissie.
‘Did I?’ She frowned, unable to remember talking to him about that.
‘Okay, maybe not directly,’ Jake admitted. ‘I overheard the pair of you having a conversation about it once, and the idea stuck.’
‘When do we go?’ Leanne asked, already excited.
‘In two days,’ said Jake. ‘And don’t worry,’ he added when a flicker of doubt passed through her eyes. ‘Your mum’s fine with it. She thinks it’ll do you good to get away for a while.’
‘I agree,’ said Chrissie. ‘You’ve been through a lot this month, so a bit of sunshine will do you the world of good.’
‘Sod the sunshine!’ Leanne laughed. ‘I’ll be in the casino.’
Grinning as Leanne and Chrissie huddled together to discuss the upcoming holiday, Jake said thanks to several of Norman’s old mates who came over to give him congratulatory slaps on the back and handshakes. As Chrissie had said, it had been a rough month for Leanne, but he’d never seen her as happy – or as beautiful – as she looked right now. And, if he had anything to do with it, she would stay that way for ever.
34
Left in charge of Jake’s businesses while his friend was away, Ben had been leaving the house early each morning. After dealing with whatever maintenance needed doing on Jake’s various properties, he had to meet with the guys from the security teams, to take whatever money they’d collected the previous night and sort out who was needed where that night.
The property side of things was no problem, but Ben wasn’t so keen on the security side. The bouncers, doormen, or whatever they liked to call themselves, intimidated him. Not only were they all huge and extremely muscle-bound, which was the complete opposite of his own pudgy physique, they all looked at him as if he were some kind of bug they wanted to squash. He knew they wouldn’t actually do anything and risk losing their jobs – Jake paid them too well for that – but it unnerved him all the same, and he couldn’t wait for Jake to come home and take over the reins.
On the Saturday before Jake and Leanne were due home, Ben had received a call from the tenant of Jake’s latest acquisition: a two-bedroom semi in Oldham. It was much further afield than his other properties, so Ben had to set off earlier than usual.
Chrissie was still sleeping when he was ready to leave. He didn’t wake her, because she’d been doing overtime at the shop all week and had been rushed off her feet, so he knew she needed the rest. Tiptoeing out, he peeked in on Dylan, who was also sleeping, then quietly let himself out of the house.
It was dark outside, and quite cold, so he let the engine run for a few minutes after igniting it. Blowing on his hands to warm them as he waited, his thoughts drifted to Chrissie. After Jake’s impromptu proposal at the wake, Ben had done a lot of thinking about his and Chrissie’s relationship. He’d told Jake that they were very happy, and it was true. Chrissie was everything he could ever have hoped for in a woman: sexy, smart, strong, independent, and absolutely fantastic in bed. He’d baulked a little at her bossiness in the early days, when she had announced that he needed a complete overhaul and had chucked out all of his favourite corduroy trousers and replaced them with several pairs of jeans. But he supposed they weren’t too bad once he’d got used to them. And he’d got used to his new haircut now, too – also by order of Chrissie. No longer floppy and out of control, his curls were neatly cropped and, admittedly, much easier to handle.
Bossiness aside, Chrissie really was the perfect woman. Ben had been seriously toying with the idea of making an honest woman of her, though he hadn’t summoned up the courage to actually ask her yet. Or buy a ring. But he needed to do it soon, preferably before Jake and Leanne came home. Unlike Leanne, who hadn’t minded the public proposal, Chrissie would die of embarrassment if Ben were to launch something like that on her while they were in company, so his proposal would have to be extremely low-key.
Telling himself that he needed to stop wasting time and get on with it, he resolved to call in at a jeweller’s at some point during the day and start looking at rings. Although, God only knew how he was going to find out her ring size without alerting her as to his intentions.
Mulling that particular problem over as he set off, he didn’t notice the shadowy figure lurking in the bushes two doors down.
*
Dylan had woken at the sound of Ben’s car starting up, and he’d climbed out of bed and gone to the window to watch him drive away. About to return to the warmth of his quilt when the tail lights disappeared around the corner, he hesitated when he saw a woman dart out from the shadows of a clump of bushes and head quickly towards the house.
When she reached the gate, she looked up and gave a little wave when she saw him watching her. She said something, but Dylan couldn’t hear her, so he pushed the window open an inch.
‘Hey, Dyl,’ she whispered. ‘It’s me . . . Mummy. Be a good lad and let me in, eh?’
Scared because he didn’t know who she was and didn’t like the look of her, Dylan quickly pulled the window shut again and ran into his aunt’s room.
‘Annie Kiss-Kiss,’ he whispered, shaking her shoulder. ‘There’s a horrible lady outside.’
‘Ugh?’ Chrissie peeled an eye open and peered at him. ‘’S’up, love?’
‘Horrible lady,’ he repeated, pointing out into the hall. ‘She says she’s my mummy and telled me to open the door.’
‘You what?’ Instantly awake, Chrissie jerked into a sitting position and shoved the quilt off her legs.
‘Come look,’ Dylan said, taking her hand and tugging her into his bedroom.
Chrissie gazed out through his window and frowned when she saw the figure on the step below. At first she didn’t recognize her, but when the woman looked up, her heart lurched in her chest and she quickly stepped back.
‘Don’t like her,’ Dylan whispered, his eyes wide as he clung on to Chrissie’s hand. ‘She ugly.’
‘Yes, she is,’ Chrissie muttered. Then, pursing her lips, she said, ‘Go back to bed, sweetie; I’ll go and get rid of her. But don’t come down,’ she added firmly as she tucked him in. ‘Okay?’
‘’Kay.’ He nodded, peering up at her over the edge of the quilt.
*
Tina had assumed that Dylan was coming down to answer the door when he’d pulled the window shut, so it was a surprise to find herself face to face with Chrissie now.
‘All right?’ she said, her teeth chattering wildly as she forced a friendly grin.
Unable to disguise her shock, Chrissie took a moment to answer. ‘What the hell have you done to yourself?’ she managed at last, taking in Tina’s sunken cheeks, her spot-ravaged complexion and missing front tooth. ‘You look terrible.’
‘Yeah, nice to see you, too,’ Tina replied sharply, as if it wasn’t the reaction she’d expected.
Stiffening, Chrissie folded her arms. ‘What do you want, Tina?�
��
‘Where’s Mum?’ Tina asked, gazing past Chrissie and into the hall. ‘Is she still in bed? Do I have to shout and wake her up to get you to move?’
‘You’ll have a job,’ said Chrissie. ‘She’s dead.’
Not about to fall for that trick again, Tina gave a knowing smirk. ‘Yeah, right! Did you forget you’ve already pulled that one? Muuum . . .’ She yelled now. ‘Tell our Chrissie to let me in!’
‘Shut up before you wake all the neighbours!’ Chrissie hissed, grabbing Tina by the lapels of her jacket and yanking her over the step. Wrinkling her nose in disgust when she got a blast of BO as Tina stumbled into the hallway, she closed the door and pushed her into the kitchen.
‘Stop pushing me,’ Tina complained, glaring at her. ‘I haven’t come to see you. Well, actually, I have,’ she immediately corrected herself, a sly little smile making her eyes glint. ‘But we’ll get to that later. I wanna see Mum first. And Dylan.’
‘You’re not seeing either of them,’ Chrissie retorted frostily. ‘Dylan doesn’t know you, and I’m not letting you scare him any more than you already have. And you know full well that Mum’s dead, ’cos I know you read my texts, so you can quit play-acting.’
A flicker of uncertainty replaced Tina’s smirk as she gazed into her sister’s eyes. ‘Are you serious?’ she asked. Frowning when Chrissie released an exasperated sigh, she mumbled, ‘Jeezus, I had no idea. Honestly.’
‘You saw the texts I sent you,’ Chrissie repeated, unmoved by Tina’s performance.
‘I didn’t,’ Tina insisted. ‘I swear to God. I haven’t had my phone since I left.’
‘I should have guessed,’ Chrissie snorted. ‘Sell it for smack, did you? Or is it crack these days?’ she added with a sneer of disgust. ‘Certainly looks like it.’
Tina flopped down on to a chair at the table and shook her head. ‘I can’t believe it.’
‘Well, it’s true, so get used to it,’ Chrissie said bluntly. ‘And now you know, you can bugger off back to whatever squat you’ve been hiding out in, and leave me and Dylan in peace.’
Run Page 24
