It hadn’t escaped Lisa’s notice, however, that Johnny already seemed to have done a pretty good job of getting his feet under the Hyneses’ table. Frankie might have started out by treating him as dismissively as he treated all the other outsider men, but he’d taken him into his business and brought him to live in his family home since then, so something had obviously clicked.
Still smarting about the way Johnny had humiliated her at the wedding reception, Lisa had been relieved when Ruth had decided not to talk to her afterwards: it would have tortured her to have had to visit their place and see them playing happy families. But that didn’t mean she’d given up on Johnny.
Quite the contrary.
He was the first and only lad who had ever knocked her back, and she refused to believe that he found Ruth more attractive than her. So she’d done some digging, determined to find out what made him tick, and it seemed that Ruth wasn’t even his usual type. According to his mates, Johnny usually went for sexy blonde girls with big tits and sassy mouths – girls just like Lisa, in fact. Which led her to believe that he probably was interested but was just too scared to do anything about it in case Frankie found out.
Aware that she must have scared him off by coming on too strong at the reception, she’d played it cool at the wake and had focused all her attention on Ruth instead; hugging her, and telling her how sorry she was to hear of her loss – even though she was secretly glad that her cousin’s rosy little world wasn’t so picture perfect after all. And the charm offensive had worked, because Ruth had invited her round to her new house for dinner – which had been a bit of a shock, because Lisa hadn’t even known that they were moving.
Foster Street was in the old, dirty, undeveloped part of Hulme, and Lisa had been praying that it would be some kind of decrepit fleapit, so she was disappointed to walk in now and find that – yellow walls aside – it was actually really nice. The warm glow from the lamp in the corner gave the living room a cosy feel, and Johnny and Dave looked right at home on the beige leather settee, watching football on a big colour TV with their beer cans on the glass coffee table in front of them. A mirror with an ornate gold frame was hanging on the wall above the fire, and a fluffy cream rug lay on the floor below it. And there was a shelf unit in the corner, already crammed with brass ornaments and crystal knick-knacks – most of which Lisa recognised from her Aunt Rita’s display cupboard back at the old house.
‘What do you think?’ Ruth asked, looking as pleased as Punch.
‘Nice,’ Lisa murmured, forcing out a smile.
‘Come through here while I turn the meat over, then I’ll show you round the rest of it,’ Ruth said, leading her through the dining room and into the kitchen.
Lisa stood in the doorway and gazed around as Ruth pulled on a pair of oven gloves and lifted a tray out of the oven. There was everything here that a woman could possibly need, and it sickened Lisa that Ruth’d had it all handed to her on a plate – and even more so that she was acting so cool about it, as if it were nothing less than she deserved. Spoilt bitch.
Ruth had her back turned to Lisa as she flipped the lamb over and basted it, but she could feel the envy coming off her cousin in waves, and that tickled her. She’d had no intention of inviting her round, and if her dad hadn’t pulled her to one side yesterday and told her to kiss and make up, Lisa would never have set foot through that door.
‘She’s blood,’ her dad had said. ‘And there’s not many of us left, so we’ve got to keep those who are still here close, especially at a time like this. So forget whatever shit went on between youse at the wedding and put it right – that’s an order.’
Ruth had sulked to start with, because she didn’t want to let Lisa back into her and Johnny’s life. But when she’d thought about it, she’d realised that she could turn it to her own advantage and had made a big show of apologising to Lisa before inviting her round to dinner. Not because she wanted to put things right with her – just so she could rub it in her face that she had everything that Lisa had ever wanted and would probably never get.
It had also been deliberate to invite her round on the same night that Dave would be here. Ruth knew they had split on bad terms again, and was looking forward to watching them squirm as they were forced to eat at the same table and make polite conversation. And they would have to make the effort, because it would be unforgivable to ruin her special night by arguing after she’d been gracious enough to invite them round – and so soon after losing her baby.
With any luck, Dave would feel so uncomfortable that he would eat and run – and never darken their door again. And Lisa’s jealousy would stop her from wanting to come back again, so that would be two birds slain with one crafty well-aimed shot.
‘Right, that’s almost done,’ Ruth said, turning back to Lisa when she’d put the tray back into the oven. ‘Can I get you a drink? Tea, coffee . . . ?’
‘Got any wine?’
‘Red or white?’ Ruth opened the fridge wide to display how well-stocked it already was despite the fact that they had only moved in a few hours earlier.
‘White,’ said Lisa, taking her cigarettes out of her pocket – desperate for a blast of nicotine to calm the sickening churning in her stomach.
‘Sorry, no smoking in here,’ Ruth told her before she had a chance to light up. ‘I’d have preferred everyone to go outside, but Johnny insisted on having a place to smoke so we’ve agreed that he can do it in the living room. But let me show you round first.’
A tiny smirk lifting her lips at the thought that Ruth and Johnny had already had a disagreement, Lisa followed her cousin upstairs.
‘This is the spare room,’ Ruth told her, waving her into the smallest of the three bedrooms, which contained a single bed and a chair – which was just about all she’d managed to cram in.
‘And this is going to be the nursery,’ she went on, leading Lisa to the second, marginally bigger room. ‘It’s empty, but that’s because I didn’t want to tempt fate by getting any baby stuff before the four-month mark.’
‘You’ve not got caught again already, have you?’ Lisa asked.
‘Not yet, but we’re trying.’
‘Is that safe? So soon after miscarrying, I mean?’
‘The doctor says it’s all right, so it must be,’ Ruth lied. ‘Just as well,’ she added with a secretive smile, ‘because Johnny can’t keep his hands off me.’
‘Really?’ A look of disbelief came over Lisa’s face, but she quickly removed it. ‘Well, that’s how it’s supposed to be when you’re still in the honeymoon period, isn’t it?’
‘Yeah, and it’s great. Really, really great,’ Ruth said wistfully.
It wasn’t easy to keep up the pretence of bliss when you knew it was a lie. After the shock of seeing the blood, and thinking that he’d been responsible for her losing the baby, Johnny had gone a bit funny about sleeping with her again. They still did it, but nowhere near as much as she wanted to. And she always felt like she was begging, which wasn’t very nice.
But there was no way she was giving Lisa the satisfaction of knowing that things were so strained between them. So, moving on to the next room, she opened the door and stood back.
‘This is our room.’
Lisa’s envy deepened. The king-size bed had fancy wrought-iron head and footboards, and a dusky pink satin quilt, dotted with little clusters of sequin flowers. Two plump pillows with matching cases sat side by side, and a mushy heart-shaped cushion nestled between them.
Opposite the bed there was a tiny white vanity table, the top of which already contained all Ruth’s perfumes and crap – all neatly lined up in true pernickety Ruth style, Lisa noticed. A dark oak wardrobe hulked in the alcove, and an old wicker chair on which a heap of teddies had been carefully arranged in height order sat beneath the window.
‘I see you couldn’t bring yourself to leave your friends behind?’ Lisa teased, remembering how Ruth had always taken the stupid things to bed with her and told them all her secrets as s
he was growing up – like they’d have been interested if they could actually hear her. ‘Bet Johnny won’t be too pleased to have them staring at him when youse are at it?’ she added with a dirty chuckle. ‘It’ll put him right off, that.’
‘I’m going to move them into the nursery as soon as the time’s right,’ Ruth told her snippily, annoyed that Lisa thought she was entitled to talk about Johnny in a sexual manner. Ruth could do it, because she was his wife, but no other woman should even be thinking about him in that way. ‘We’d best go back down,’ she said, hustling Lisa out onto the landing. ‘Don’t want the meat to burn.’
‘I’ll just have a quick fag with the lads, then I’ll come and help you,’ Lisa said, following her down the stairs.
‘No, don’t disturb them,’ said Ruth, pushing her bossily on through to the kitchen before she had a chance to sit down. ‘You can open the back door and smoke it there while I’m plating up.’
‘My feet are killing me,’ Lisa complained. ‘And it’s bloody freezing outside.’
Shouldn’t have worn high heels and such a short skirt, then, should you? Ruth thought meanly.
Ruth had been warming the plates at the bottom of the oven, and she took them out now and lined them up on the ledge, dishing up while Lisa shivered with her cigarette in the doorway. When Lisa had finished her smoke, Ruth handed two of the plates to her.
‘The table’s already laid – take these through.’
‘Who’s sitting where?’ Lisa asked.
‘Me and Johnny at the heads, you and Dave opposite each other,’ Ruth said, bustling in with the other two plates. ‘Johnny, Dave . . . you can come through now,’ she called.
‘Just a minute,’ Johnny called back.
‘Now,’ Ruth insisted, going back into the kitchen and snatching a bottle of wine out of the fridge. ‘I’ve spent all day on this, and I don’t want it to go cold.’
The lads traipsed in miserably. Dave sat where Ruth told him to, but he shuffled his chair back and tipped it onto its back legs in an effort to carry on watching the match. It was nil-nil, but there were still eight minutes to go, and their boys had just put a spurt on, so there was still time for a lucky one.
‘No telly while we’re eating,’ Ruth ordered, marching into the living room and switching the set off.
A look of despair passed between Johnny and Dave as the screen went blank. Catching it, Lisa whispered, ‘Bet you wish you’d gone to the pub, eh, lads?’
‘Tell me about it,’ Johnny muttered.
‘Everyone comfortable?’ Ruth asked, coming back in and taking her seat.
Johnny and Dave sighed their resignation and reached for their forks. Quickly recovering from his disappointment at missing the end of the match as the scents rose to his nostrils, Dave said, ‘Smells great, Ruth. Didn’t realise you were such a good cook.’
‘Our Ruth’s always been the homely one,’ Lisa told him, smiling so that Ruth couldn’t accuse her of having a dig – even though she was. ‘I remember when we were kids. Me and our mates would be all dolled up for the disco, but she’d still be in the kitchen when we went round to get her, with her apron on and another bloody cake in the oven.’
‘Don’t tell me you can make cakes, an’ all?’ Dave groaned. ‘You’re a right jammy bastard, Johnny. No wonder you couldn’t wait to get out of my place.’
When Ruth beamed, Lisa looked down at her plate. That wasn’t quite the reaction she’d expected, but at least Johnny hadn’t joined in with the flattery.
Dave gazed over at her with a streak of gravy dribbling out of his stuffed mouth. ‘Not staying, Lisa?’
‘You’ve still got your coat on,’ Johnny explained when she frowned as if to say what are you talking about?
‘Oh, yeah, silly me.’ Lisa giggled. ‘Totally forgot.’
Ruth nearly choked on a roast potato when her cousin unzipped her jacket and hung it over the back of her chair. Her T-shirt was so tight that it made her breasts look even bigger than usual, and her nipples were standing out like coat-hooks because of the cold.
Dave’s eyes widened. ‘You look nice.’
Heart pounding, lips tightly pursed, Ruth stared at Johnny from under her lashes, daring him to look – praying that he wouldn’t.
Johnny could feel her staring and sensibly kept his eyes on his plate, before turning his head deliberately towards Dave.
‘Wonder if anyone’s scored yet?’
‘Who’s playing?’ asked Lisa, both of her little fingers sticking out as she used her knife to push a piece of broccoli onto her fork. Well, Ruth wasn’t the only one who could act like a lady. If Johnny wanted posh, Johnny would get posh.
‘United, Chelsea,’ Dave told her, remembering that this was one of the things he’d liked about her – that she was one of those rare birds who didn’t mind a bit of footie banter.
‘Oh, yeah, I think Mikey mentioned it when I saw him at the market this morning,’ she said.
‘Mikey?’ Johnny’s head shot up. ‘I haven’t seen him in ages. How is he?’
‘Yeah, he’s okay.’ Aware that Ruth was watching them like a hawk, Lisa kept her eyes on her food. ‘He’s over in Levenshulme now, but he’s trying to get a swap with someone up in Hyde.’
‘Eh?’ Johnny frowned. ‘I didn’t even know he’d moved.’
‘Oh, yeah, I forgot you haven’t seen him since all that shit on your stag night,’ said Dave, cramming another loaded forkful of lamb into his mouth. ‘They got a lift home after we left, and they were warned to keep their heads down for a few weeks. But you know what Mikey’s like, he went on a total para and did a runner in case they came looking for him.’
‘What’s this?’ Ruth looked from Dave to Johnny. Johnny hadn’t mentioned the stag do, and she’d been too wrapped up in the wedding and all of the problems that came after it to remember to ask. But she didn’t like the sound of this.
‘Oh, something and nothing,’ Dave said offhandedly, flicking a hooded glance of apology at Johnny.
‘It can’t be nothing,’ Ruth said sharply. ‘Otherwise no one would have had to keep their heads down or do a runner.’
‘Honest, it was nothing,’ Dave assured her. ‘Just Mikey and Andy getting into a barney with some blokes at the pub, that’s all. But I dragged your man home before it kicked off, so he didn’t know anything about it.’
Ruth pounced. ‘Why would they need to get a lift if you were only at the pub?’
Dave shifted in his seat and wished he’d kept his big mouth shut. ‘We, er, weren’t at the local,’ he backtracked. ‘We’d gone to The Whalley to watch the footie ’cos they’ve got a bigger screen.’
‘So you took Johnny to watch a football match on his stag night?’ Ruth’s eyes were bright with disbelief.
‘Well, it was either that or a club,’ Dave shot back with a cheeky grin. ‘And I didn’t think you’d be too happy if we took him to see a stripper. Anyhow, he wouldn’t have gone even if me and the lads had wanted to,’ he added, rolling his eyes as if Johnny was a proper killjoy. ‘Footie comes first with this one – stag night or not.’
Ruth flicked her suspicious gaze at Johnny, trying to read his eyes to see if there was any guilt there.
‘It was the derby,’ he lied, fronting it out and looking straight back at her. ‘United and City – most important match of the season.’
‘You’re wasting your time trying to explain football to our Ruth,’ Lisa laughed, giving her cousin a fond look. ‘Too rough for you, isn’t it, babe?’
Ruth stabbed her fork into a piece of lamb and chewed on it angrily. She was sure that Dave and Johnny were lying, and she didn’t know why Lisa was being so nice, but it felt like they were all in on something and had closed ranks to keep her out of it. And that wasn’t right. Not when they were sitting in her house, eating her food and drinking her wine.
Dave and Lisa ate the rest of their meals in silence, afraid of opening their mouths in case they dropped Johnny in it again. After dessert, Dave glance
d at his watch.
‘Shit, I didn’t know it was that late. I’d best get moving.’
‘Already?’ Johnny gave him a please don’t go yet, mate look.
‘Sorry, but I promised Jeff I’d pop round and have a look at that motor.’ Dave shrugged and finished his wine in a gulp. ‘Cheers for dinner, Ruth, it was ace,’ he said as he stood up and went into the living room for his jacket.
‘You’re welcome,’ Ruth muttered, gathering the pudding bowls together.
Dave came back into the doorway and raised an eyebrow at Lisa. ‘Want me to walk you home?’
‘No, thanks,’ she replied coolly. ‘I’m staying to help Ruth clear up.’
‘No need,’ Ruth said quickly. ‘I can manage.’
‘I insist,’ Lisa told her firmly. ‘Uncle Frankie would kill me if he thought I wasn’t pulling my weight – especially while you’re not well. So you just go and sit down and leave it to me.’
Dave sighed as he watched Lisa take the dishes off her cousin and wiggle her way into the kitchen. They’d had sex a few times, but it was obvious they were never going to be anything serious because they always ended up wanting to kill each other. But she was still one of the best shags he’d ever had, and he’d been fantasising about giving her a good old seeing-to ever since she’d taken her jacket off tonight.
Johnny showed Dave out as Ruth slumped down sulkily on the couch and Lisa busied herself with the washing-up.
‘Cheers for fucking off and leaving me on my own,’ he hissed, pulling the door to behind him so that Ruth couldn’t hear – or complain that he was letting the heat out.
‘Sorry, mate, but it was doing my head in,’ Dave apologised, pulling his collar up. ‘She’s like the fucking Gestapo when she gets going, isn’t she?’ he added in a whisper, flicking a glance through the window to make sure that Ruth hadn’t crept up behind the door to eavesdrop.
‘You’re all right, you don’t have to live with her,’ Johnny muttered.
Lost Angel Page 13
