by Dilly Court
Chapter Sixteen
‘Hi, Marilyn. It’s been a while.’
One look at Marilyn’s flushed cheeks and apprehensive expression was enough to convince Ginnie that this was Nick’s ex-fiancée. She turned slowly, preparing herself to hate the woman who had thrown Nick over for someone with better prospects, but it was hard to hate someone who had such a charming smile and seemed genuinely pleased to see them. Marilyn did not seem to be impressed. ‘It sure has, but we were just leaving. Maybe we can catch up another time?’
Betsy did not appear to be listening as all her attention was focused on Ginnie. She held out her hand. ‘I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Betsy Novak.’
‘Ginnie Travis. How do you do?’ Ginnie shook her hand.
‘So you’re Ginnie?’ Betsy cocked her head on one side, eyeing her critically. ‘You’re even prettier than I thought you’d be. But then Nick always had good taste.’
Marilyn nudged Ginnie in the ribs. ‘We’d better get going. Great seeing you, Betsy.’
‘Don’t rush off.’ Betsy laid a gentle but firm hand on Ginnie’s arm. ‘I’ve heard such a lot about you from Nick. We’re still good friends in spite of the break-up.’
‘That’s nice, but I think we have to leave now.’ Ginnie glanced anxiously at Marilyn who took her cue and stepped in between them.
‘How’s Brad? I heard that you’d moved to Pasadena.’
‘He’s just fine, and yes, we’ve bought a property. We’ll be moving in soon and you must come to our housewarming party.’ She turned to Ginnie, smiling. ‘And you too, if you’re still around. Are you staying with the Millers?’
‘Yes, she is,’ Marilyn said, grabbing Ginnie by the hand. ‘But we really are in a hurry.’
Betsy closed her fingers even more tightly on Ginnie’s arm and for a wild moment she thought they were going to have a tug of war, pulling her limb from limb. Marilyn was obviously agitated but Betsy had a steely look in her eyes. ‘I guess you came in that old pick-up truck of Pop Miller’s,’ she said in a saccharin-sweet voice. ‘So why don’t you go and get it from the parking lot, honey? We’ll follow you.’
Marilyn hesitated, frowning. ‘We’ll be late if we don’t leave right away.’
‘There you are then.’ Betsy made a walking motion with her fingers. ‘We’ll be right behind you, Marilyn.’
‘We’ll catch you up,’ Ginnie said firmly. She was growing tired of being piggy in the middle and she wanted to find out more about Betsy. This might be her one and only opportunity. She waited until Marilyn was out of earshot. ‘Well, go ahead, Betsy. Spit it out.’
Betsy’s eyes widened. ‘Excuse me?’
‘You obviously want to tell me something that you didn’t want Marilyn to hear, so go on. I’m listening.’
‘No, honey, you’ve got me all wrong. I wouldn’t say a word against Nick or his family. I mean losing his sight is just the most terrible thing that could have happened to him, but that wasn’t why I broke off our engagement.’
‘You didn’t love him enough to stand by him?’
‘That’s not fair, Ginnie. I’ve known Nick since kindergarten and we went through high school together. I guess everyone assumed we’d get married one day, but he was away at med school and then overseas. A girl gets lonely.’
‘I can see that it must have been difficult.’
‘It was okay until he met you.’ Betsy’s eyes narrowed although her lips were still firmly set in a smile. ‘I knew from his letters that something had changed.’
‘So when did you meet Brad?’
Betsy shrugged and turned her head away. ‘It was love at first sight. I know that sounds corny, but I wasn’t sure where Nick and I were heading.’ She shot a sideways glance at Ginnie and there was a hint of malice in her baby-blue eyes. ‘I knew that Nick had found someone else and I was hurt.’
Ginnie glanced towards the glass doors but there was no sign of Marilyn. ‘But you’d fallen for Brad so you’d lost interest in Nick.’
‘I’d had the rug pulled out from under me for the last time.’
‘What do you mean by that?’
‘You don’t know Nick as I do. He’s had quite a few affairs in the past, but he won’t find it so easy to break hearts now.’ Betsy leaned closer, lowering her voice. ‘Take my tip, honey, and don’t get involved. That family will chew you up and spit you out when they’ve taken all you have to give.’ She glanced over Ginnie’s shoulder and her expression changed subtly. ‘Well, got to go. Good luck, kid. You’re sure going to need it.’ She lifted her hand and waved to a woman on the far side of the cosmetic counter and a smile transformed her face. ‘Hi, Julie.’ She rushed off, leaving Ginnie trying to decide whether there had been a grain of truth in her words, or whether she was acting out of spite. She walked slowly towards the exit where the Millers’ pick-up had just pulled up at the kerb.
‘What did she say to you?’ Marilyn asked anxiously as Ginnie climbed into the passenger seat.
‘I’m not sure what to believe.’
‘I wouldn’t take anything she said seriously. The girls at school used to call her Poison Ivy.’
‘She said that Nick was always cheating on her.’
‘If anything it was the other way round. She kept poor Brad dangling for years and we all knew that she was seeing him when Nick was in med school, but he always believes the best of people and she’s a manipulative bitch. Sorry, Ginnie, but you were bound to come across her sooner or later. Forget what she said and don’t let her twist the truth so that the break-up was your fault, because it wasn’t. When she realised that his prospects weren’t so good she was off. Poor old Brad didn’t stand a chance.’
Ginnie sat in silence, mulling this over. Betsy had been convincing, but she trusted Marilyn to tell her the truth. Poor Nick, she thought sadly. No wonder he had lost his faith in women if that’s how his childhood sweetheart had treated him. She made up her mind to face him and challenge his decision, which affected both their lives. She hardly noticed the scenery as Marilyn drove along the wide boulevard until a yellow trolley car trundled past, clanging its bell to warn the unwary to get out of its way.
‘We call it the galloping goose,’ Marilyn said, grinning. ‘It sways and rocks and occasionally jumps the tracks. My pop told me that the kids in Ellenwood used to grease the tracks so that the car slid back down the hill. I guess you haven’t got anything like that in London.’
‘We have trams in Ilford, but they’re not the same.’
‘Are you okay, honey? I mean you didn’t believe Betsy’s lies, did you?’
‘Of course not,’ Ginnie said stoutly. ‘It’s obvious that she wanted to make trouble, although I can’t think why when she seems to have got everything she wanted.’
‘Except Nick.’ Marilyn pulled into the Millers’ driveway. ‘Betsy had her heart set on being a surgeon’s wife. I guess she couldn’t forgive Nick for letting her down.’
Ginnie opened the door and was about to climb out when she realised that Marilyn was still behind the wheel. ‘Aren’t you coming in?’
‘I’d better get back to work, honey. I’ll see you at dinner tonight.’
Ginnie stood on the drive watching Marilyn expertly reverse into the street and drive away. She turned slowly to gaze at the white stuccoed frontage of the Miller residence, which was even more impressive when seen in daylight. She walked slowly up the steps to ring the bell and when no one answered she went round to the back and let herself into the kitchen. ‘Hello? Barbara?’ Her voice echoed eerily but there was no response and she was about to go in search of her hostess when she saw a notepad on the table and her name written in block capitals.
GINNIE. Have some errands to do in town. Make yourself at home. Back soon, Barbara.
She gazed round the kitchen, wondering what to do. Should she help herself to food from the giant refrigerator? Or should she wait for Barbara’s return? There was no mention of time on the note and it might have been written minutes ago or s
oon after she had left with Marilyn. She walked through the ground floor, pausing at the foot of the stairs and listening for sounds of movement. Nick might have gone with his mother or he could be in his room, brooding over his disability. Suddenly she was angry. She was shaking with rage as she thought of Nick giving up on life without giving her a chance to tell him that she would stand by him no matter what. Betsy might have thrown him over for upwardly mobile Bradley, but he ought to have known that she, Virginia Travis, was not shallow and fickle. She was loyal and trustworthy and if that made her sound like a faithful Labrador she did not care.
She took the stairs two at a time, shouting his name. ‘Nick. Nick, where are you? I’m coming in so you might as well open the door.’ She ran along the landing, banging on each door in turn. She was just about to crash her fist against the panelling of the last door when it was flung open and she came face to face with Nick. For a breathless moment they stood motionless, staring at each other, and then he turned away and walked over to a chair by the window. She entered the room, closing the door behind her. ‘Why won’t you talk to me?’ All the opening gambits she had been composing during the flight from England had gone from her head. She knew she sounded like a fractious child, but the words had tumbled from her lips before she could stop them. ‘Why, Nick? Why are you treating me as if you hate me?’
‘You know why, Ginnie.’ He sat down, turning his head away. ‘I didn’t want you to see me like this.’
She crossed the floor to kneel at his side. ‘Look at me. I know you can see something although I haven’t a clue how much, but it doesn’t matter to me. I mean, of course it’s awful for you to be suffering like this, but I still love you. I love you for who you are and not what you are. Can’t you understand that?’
He turned his head slowly to meet her gaze with a hint of a smile, and he raised his hand to smooth her tumbled hair back from her forehead. ‘I believe you, Ginnie. But it’s not enough. To all intents and purposes I’m a blind man and I can’t support myself, let alone a wife. Betsy was right to throw me over for Brad. She’s a practical girl and I guess she knew that my heart wasn’t in it.’
‘And was hers? I met your ex-fiancée in one of the shops in town. She tried to tell me that you’d ditched her because of me, but I didn’t believe a word of it.’
‘She knew I’d fallen for you. I told her because she had to know the truth. If she’d insisted on going ahead with the marriage I would have gone through with it, but we both knew that any feeling we’d had for each other as kids had fizzled out long ago. She did the right thing by marrying Brad.’
‘So where does all that leave us, Nick?’ Ginnie clasped his hand in hers. ‘I haven’t changed. Have you?’
‘It doesn’t matter how I feel or what I want. You’ve got a future and I haven’t. It’s as simple as that.’
She raised his hand to her cheek. ‘I won’t let you talk like this. You’re still the same man I fell in love with. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.’
A tender smile lit his eyes. ‘How old are you, Ginnie? No, don’t tell me. I know the answer, and you won’t be old enough for me to buy you a drink in a pub for another seven months.’
‘You remember.’
‘Of course I do. Every moment we spent together is fixed in my mind. I can see everything clearly but only if I close my eyes and travel back in time. The present isn’t for me, Ginnie. I’m useless as a surgeon and a physician and all those years at med school have been wasted. I couldn’t even take a job in my father’s store.’
‘But you’re alive, Nick. You can’t just give up. I won’t let you.’
He leaned towards her, grasping both her hands. ‘I want you to go back to England and forget all about me, Ginnie.’
Wrenching free from him, she leapt to her feet. ‘No. You can’t make me do that. I won’t.’
‘If you care about me at all that’s exactly what you’ll do. You’ll go back home and concentrate on building up that store of yours. You’ll meet someone else and you’ll put all this behind you.’
‘How can you think I’d do that?’ Her voice broke on a sob. ‘I don’t want anyone else. I want you.’
He rose to his feet and faced her angrily. ‘You sound like a spoilt kid. I’ve told you how it is, Ginnie. You’ve got to respect my wishes and get the hell out of here.’
She had never heard him use that tone of voice, nor had she seen him lose his temper. She backed towards the door. ‘That’s so cruel. You don’t mean it.’
‘Go home, kid. Go back to England and give my folks some peace. They’ve been through enough without you coming here and stirring things up. The Nick Miller you knew is long gone. Let him rest in peace.’
‘That sounds as though you’re burying yourself alive. I won’t let you do that.’
He slumped down again, turning his head away. ‘I’m tired. There’s no more to say.’
‘There’s a lot more to say. I’m not giving up on you, Nick. This isn’t the end.’ She wrenched the door open and stepped outside, almost colliding with Barbara.
‘What’s going on? I could hear you shouting as soon as I walked into the house.’
‘Ask your son,’ Ginnie said, pushing past her. ‘He’s a stubborn idiot and he won’t believe that I love him.’ She ran down the corridor to her own room and gave way to the tears that she had been holding back. She did not hear the door open and it was not until Barbara sat down on the bed beside her that she realised someone else was in the room.
‘I know it’s hard, honey,’ Barbara said gently. ‘But you must do what Nick wants.’
‘He talks as though it’s all over for him, but I won’t have that. He’s still the same man, he just can’t see very well.’
Barbara placed her arm around Ginnie’s shoulders. ‘Of course he is to those who love him, but to the outside world he’s a wounded war veteran who relies on his family to do everything for him. And that’s not going to change, Ginnie. I hoped that your visit would cheer him up but it’s only made things worse, and that is our fault. Earl and I should have known better and we should have told Danny that it was a bad idea, but we hoped – we really hoped – and now you see what it’s done. It’s made it harder for Nick to come to terms with his disability.’
‘But there’s always hope. Mr Miller told me that Nick might regain more of his sight, and even if he doesn’t I don’t care. I’ll look after him. I’ll be his eyes.’
‘That’s so sweet, but it’s not going to happen.’ Barbara held her at arm’s length, giving her a gentle shake. ‘Be realistic, Ginnie. You’re little more than a kid yourself. I only know what Danny told me about your home life but it seems to me you’ve got enough hassle supporting your mother and your widowed sister and her two babies. You’re trying to build up a business and look after your family. How could a girl like you cope with a disabled husband?’
‘Nick isn’t helpless, but living like this is making him believe that this is all there is. There must be some schemes that help men like him.’
‘He gets a pension from the government, but that wouldn’t be enough for him to keep a wife. And would you leave everything in England and come to live here?’
Ginnie recoiled in surprise. ‘I don’t know. I never considered it.’
‘Well consider it now, honey. Would you leave your mom and sister and her little ones to fend for themselves? Would you be happy to live in this house with us? Nick wouldn’t be able to afford to buy or even to rent a property, not for a long time. Even if his father gave him a job in the store, there isn’t much that a blind man could do in the commercial word, and Nick is too proud to take charity, even from his own family.’
‘I hadn’t thought about it like that.’
‘No, honey, I guess you hadn’t thought it through at all. We all want what is best for Nick, but he has to find his own way. We can stand by him and offer help, but none of us can fight this particular battle for him. He has to do it himself.’
‘
Are you telling me to go away and leave him alone?’
‘Yes, Ginnie. I believe I am.’
That evening after dinner Ginnie was alone in the den. It was late and she was tired but the row with Nick had upset her more than she had thought possible. She did not relish the prospect of a sleepless night, tossing and turning in her bed or sitting by the window gazing out into the darkness and waiting for the first light of dawn.
Bob and Marilyn had gone out for the evening and Barbara and Earl had been invited to a card party in a neighbour’s house and were unlikely to return before midnight. They had asked Ginnie if she would like to accompany them, but she had declined the invitation, admitting ruefully that she had not progressed further than Snap and Beat Your Neighbours. Anyway, she needed time on her own. She wanted to think and to get things straight in her head. If she could have caught the next plane home she would have done so, but Danny was not yet ready to leave and he had made their travel arrangements for the end of the week. She would have to accept the Millers’ hospitality for a few days longer, even though Nick had made it plain that she was not welcome in his home. She sat on the banquette staring out into the darkness. It was raining.
Sensing that there was someone else in the room, she spun round to see Nick standing in the doorway, his hand clutching the side post. ‘Ginnie?’
She jumped to her feet and hurried to his side. ‘I’m here.’
‘I wanted to talk.’
‘Come and sit down.’ She tried to take his arm but he jerked it away.
‘I can find my own way.’
‘I’m sorry. It’s impossible to know how much you can see.’
‘Enough to know that I made you unhappy and I couldn’t bear that.’ He made for the banquette beneath the window and sat down, patting the empty space beside him. ‘Come and sit by me.’
She went to him, sitting close but not touching. ‘I didn’t think there was anything left to say. I’ll be going home at the end of the week.’
He felt for her hand and held it in a firm grasp. ‘I just wanted you to know that I love you, and I always will.’
