He picked up his own phone again and pressed redial.
‘The number you have dialled is not available,’ a mechanical voice answered.
He looked at it grimly. Someone must have switched the phone off. Rosie? Had his daughter even been present? Or was this all down to Jane?
He didn’t intend to make himself obnoxious, didn’t want to upset the family, but until he heard from Rosie herself that she wanted nothing more to do with him, he wasn’t going to give up hope. She had initiated the contact. Surely she wouldn’t chicken out without even meeting him once?
In the meantime, what the hell was he going to do with himself on such a day? Rain was still sweeping across the promenade, scouring the pavements. A tram went past and he watched it idly, then turned to his clothes. Because it was nearly summer in England, he’d brought nothing suitable for a cold, rainy day like this. He might as well go and do some shopping. Then he’d try that phone again.
* * *
Jake looked out of the window and saw nothing but grey skies. No gardening today, though the plants would appreciate a good soaking.
But the trouble with rainy days was they allowed you too much time for thinking. He was sorry now that he’d been so hard on Lou, kept wondering how she was getting on.
He still wished she wouldn’t try to contact his father. At least he thought he did. He already knew that the old man had lived to a ripe old age. What he’d not been able to understand was why their father had suddenly written to them a few months ago. Peggy said she’d destroyed her letter, but he’d kept his – unopened. Somehow he couldn’t bear to read it.
Guilt flooded through him. He was a fine one to talk about keeping in touch. When was the last time he’d seen Peggy? It must be months now and she only lived a few miles away. Trouble was, he couldn’t stand that bugger she was married to or the way Hartley treated her as if she was a servant, and a stupid one at that.
On that thought he picked up the telephone and dialled her number. There was no answer and he didn’t want to leave a message, but he made a mental note to ring again later. She was probably out.
* * *
Rosie felt well enough by mid-afternoon to want to listen to some music. Her mother had gone shopping, so she slid out of bed and picked up her iPod. As she took it out of its case, she found a scrap of paper stuffed in with it. How had that got there?
She was just about to throw it away when she realized it was a note from Casey.
Mandy brought an airmail letter for you from you know who. Mum took it off me and opened it. Thought you should know. C.
Rosie stared at the note in dismay. Then she heard a car turn into their drive and contemplated going down to confront her mother. No, best to ring Mandy up first and check what had happened.
But her mobile wasn’t there. She knew she’d left it charging up, she did that automatically as soon as she got home.
She checked the floor and under the bed, in case it had been knocked off the surface, but there was no sign of it.
Had her mother taken that, too? Why?
She made her way carefully down the stairs, feeling exhausted by the time she got to the kitchen.
Her mother turned from the sink and stared at her in surprise. ‘What on earth are you doing out of bed?’
‘Where’s my mobile phone?’
‘How should I know?’
‘You’re the world’s worst liar, Mum. Where is it?’
‘I took it away. You’ll never get better if you’re nattering on that thing.’
‘You’re still lying. And there was a letter for me, too.’
‘How did you—’
Rosie felt the room swirl round her and staggered across to one of the chairs in the eating area.
‘You definitely shouldn’t be up.’
‘Give me my phone and my letter and I’ll go straight back to bed.’
There was silence then her mother shook her head.
‘The letter was from him, wasn’t it? Brad.’
Her mother’s mouth went into a tight, disapproving line. ‘You shouldn’t have started all this without consulting us.’
‘I need to meet him, Mum. It doesn’t stop me loving Dad and considering him my father, but I need to know this other guy too. Surely you can understand that?’
‘No, I can’t. And I’m not having it.’
‘Why not?’
She hesitated. ‘Because, Stu’s job is at risk and he’s extremely upset about it. He’s got all the trouble he can take at the moment.’
‘I thought he’d be a shoo-in for the new job.’ She hadn’t believed Casey when he told her Dad might not get the job.
‘He’s been at loggerheads with Binnings, who’s going to be the head of the new school and he’s hinted pretty broadly that Stu should look for a job elsewhere.’
‘Well, if Dad doesn’t get that job, he can find another, surely? They’re always talking about a shortage of experienced teachers.’
‘Stu wants to live here, near the nursing home where his father is.’
‘Grandpa doesn’t know whether we’re here or not now. He doesn’t recognize anyone. I’m not going to see him again. I’d rather remember him as he used to be.’
‘Well, your father does want to be near him and he also wants to stay in the area where he grew up. You know what a homebody he is. And you also know how much he loves that job of his, what a success he’s made of the Learning Resource Centre.’
‘Yeah.’ Rosie shifted uneasily in the chair. ‘Poor Dad. But this isn’t just about him. I have my own needs.’
‘At the moment Stu comes first. Unless you’ll promise me not to contact Brad again, I’m not giving you your phone back. And I’m definitely not giving you the letter.’
‘I can’t believe I’m hearing this! You’ve no right to do that.’
‘I’m your mother. You’re under age. I have every right. And I repeat, you’re not the only one who matters here.’
And from that decision Rosie couldn’t move her. She felt so woozy that after a while she went back up to bed. But she wasn’t going to give up.
When Casey came home from school there was another row downstairs and he came stamping up to his room.
Rosie raised her aching head to call, ‘Casey!’
He came into her bedroom and sat on the end of her bed. ‘You look awful.’
‘Yeah, you’re beautiful too. Look, I heard Mum shouting at you. Was it about me?’
He shrugged.
‘Thanks for giving me the heads up about the letter. She won’t hand it back, though, and she’s taken my mobile off me.’
‘You can borrow mine.’
‘How can he contact me on that?’ Her eyes filled with tears and she rubbed them away on the sheet. ‘I haven’t given him our address. He’ll not be able to find me. He’ll think I don’t want to see him.’
Casey grunted something, patted the bump under the bedclothes where her feet were and left.
Rosie scrubbed at her eyes. But however hard she thought about it, she could see no way of getting in touch with Brad. And she wanted to so desperately.
She hadn’t said anything to her dad, because he’d been looking pretty grim lately. But she would if her mother didn’t relent. Dad was usually very fair about things.
* * *
When Brad had finished shopping, he got into the car and drove aimlessly out of the centre of Blackpool. Seeing a sign to Poulton, he turned in that direction because it was the town where Rosie’s post office box had been.
He stopped the car near the centre of town, waited for a heavy shower to pass, then got out and asked the way to the post office. He stood by the rows of post office boxes, with their neat little keyholes and found the number he had sent letters to.
On a sudden impulse he went inside and bought a prepaid envelope and a notepad. Taking it back to the car, he found a long-stay car park and settled down to write to Rosie. It took several attempts because he wanted to get it just right.<
br />
By that time he was hungry so he went and bought a snack, taking the scribbled note out of his pocket to study as he ate. He made a couple of small changes and nodded. Yes, he’d explained how he felt, said he was puzzled that she hadn’t spoken to him herself. He hadn’t tried to blame anyone but had wondered if she knew what was going on. If she really didn’t want to see him then he would, very regretfully, leave her in peace.
Going back to the car, he wrote it out carefully, giving the address and phone number of his hotel and writing that on the back of the envelope as well.
When he went to post it, he hesitated for a minute, then raised the letter to his lips and wished it luck as he dropped it into the letter box.
CHAPTER 13
Australia
Gina spent the whole day worrying about the note that had blown away. There had to be something she could do to trace the person. It must be one of her relatives from England. Surely it was?
When she went to the hospital, Mel was sitting up in bed, pale and limp still, but looking better than she had for a while. Gina kissed her cheek and offered a novel by one of her daughter’s favourite authors.
Mel looked at it and gave a faint smile. ‘Thanks. But all I seem to do is sleep.’
‘Your body must need it. How’s the sickness?’
‘A little better, but that stuff they’re giving me clouds my brain so that I can’t think straight.’ Tears came into her eyes. ‘They said I shouldn’t go back to work, should just take things easy until the baby’s born. Nearly six more months! We’re going to lose the house.’
‘Most women would be more concerned about whether they were going to lose the baby.’
‘The doctor says the baby’s all right, developing normally. It’s me who’s malnourished.’
Gina hadn’t intended to start this discussion, but if Mel wanted her sympathy, she wasn’t going to get it. ‘Just be thankful for what you have got. If you have to move somewhere smaller, it’s not the end of the world.’
Tears rolled down Mel’s cheeks. ‘You don’t understand.’
‘No, I don’t. I’ve not got a husband any more. I certainly understand that. And I’ve had to put my whole life on hold to help you. I understand that, too.’
Mel gasped.
‘Sorry.’ Gina stopped and fought to control her irritation. ‘I didn’t mean to speak so sharply when you’re in this condition, only I’m not having you oozing self-pity all over me – or anyone else.’
‘You said something similar the night I collapsed, didn’t you? About me interrupting your life.’
‘Yes.’
Mel started fiddling with the edge of the sheet. ‘I’m sorry, Mum.’
‘You’re not being ill on purpose. These things happen. You know I’ll always help you when you’re in trouble, but you have to help yourself, too. No one can turn the clock back, so we have to make the most of what we’ve got.’
Mel lay back with a sigh and a nod. ‘Thanks for the book. And thanks for all you’ve done for me.’
‘You’re my daughter. I love you very much.’ Gina kissed her, received a big hug in response, then left her daughter to sleep. When she looked back from the doorway, Mel’s eyes were already closed.
It was as Gina was walking back to her car that she remembered Mrs Besham saying ‘young people’ about the two who’d tried to find her. If they were young, they might be staying in a backpackers’ hostel. That was the cheap way to travel. It was worth a try, surely?
Only how did you leave messages for people when you didn’t know their names?
* * *
When she got back to Mel’s house, Gina started ringing round the backpacker hostels, but as she’d expected, they said they couldn’t really to help her. They got lots of English people passing through.
Only when she pressed them did they agree to put up a notice to say she was looking for some young people believed to be relatives of Daniel Everett, but they doubted it’d do any good.
Frustrated, she waited until Emma came home from school, gave her a quick drink of fruit juice and bundled her into the car. Then she drove round to Mrs Besham’s to ask for a better description of the young woman who’d been looking for Gina’s father.
The old lady opened the door and stared at her in surprise. When Gina explained her reason for coming, Mrs Besham insisted they have a cup of tea while she tried to remember.
Her description of the young woman could have fitted a hundred other young women. ‘They all look alike these days, with that stripy hair and clothes that look too small for them,’ Mrs Besham muttered.
‘Oh, dear! How am I going to find them, then? Did you say she had a companion? What was the other person like?’
Mrs Besham’s face brightened. ‘He was dark. Nice-looking young man, not got crinkly hair or anything.’
Gina sat forward. ‘You mean he was black?’
‘I just said he was dark, didn’t I?’
Gina set down her cup, plonked a quick kiss on the old lady’s cheek and took her leave. She felt a great urgency because the young couple might be setting off any moment for their next destination.
When Emma began grumbling, she said sharply, ‘Be quiet, dear! This is very important.’
‘But I’m hungry, Gran.’
‘We’ll stop and get you a burger and fries.’
Emma brightened. ‘Mummy doesn’t let me have those.’
‘She won’t mind this once.’
Back at the house, she sat Emma down and went back to the phone, calling all the hostels again. If it was humanly possible, she intended to find this young woman.
* * *
Not without difficulty, Lou and Rick found their way to the office of the estate agents. The receptionist seemed completely impervious to their problem and kept saying sorry, she couldn’t give out clients’ phone numbers.
Frustrated, Lou leaned forward and said very loudly, ‘We’ve come all the way from England to trace my relatives and I’m not stirring from here until you ring up this woman and ask her if she’ll speak to us.’
A man came to join them. ‘Is there a problem?’
Once again, Lou explained.
‘Oh, I think we can ring up Marla’s client, don’t you?’ He smiled at the receptionist. ‘Have a go now.’
Muttering, she got out the file and casting a suspicious glance at them, opened it on top of a filing cabinet behind the counter so that they couldn’t see its contents. She rang a number and waited, foot tapping impatiently, but no one answered. When the answering service started she put the phone down.
‘Why didn’t you leave a message?’ Lou demanded.
‘It’s not my place to harass clients.’
‘Your client would want to see us! And she won’t think much of this firm if you refuse to help.’
The same man, who’d been listening from across the room, called, ‘Tell us where you’re staying and we’ll ring your relative again later. After that, you really must leave us to get on with our work.’
Lou wrote down the name and address of the hostel then went outside.
‘I bet they throw away the piece of paper.’
* * *
It was a very busy day at the real estate office, one of many during a frenzy of house buying that had sent prices skyrocketing. The receptionist tried the number once more then set it aside until later.
As one of the sales staff walked past, the piece of paper wafted off the desk and floated underneath the filing cabinet.
The receptionist got on with her normal work, keeping one eye on the clock. She had a hot date that evening and was counting the minutes till she could leave. She didn’t even think about making the phone call.
CHAPTER 14
England
After Peggy had at last stopped weeping, the counsellor brought her a cup of tea which she sipped gratefully.
‘Ready to talk now?’
Peggy looked at the other woman, saw no scorn, only sympathy in her expression and
nodded. ‘I think so. But what good will it do?’
‘It never hurts to share your problems with an impartial listener.’
Impartial, Peggy thought. Yes, she needed that. There was no one in the family she could talk to. Well, they didn’t even keep in touch with one another, did they? Hartley said he didn’t want her family coming round and her brother was a loser, no wonder his wife had left him. Jake said Hartley was an arrogant bastard who expected the whole world to revolve round him and Peggy should stick up for herself.
In fact, when the two men got together they were like bristling dogs, always on the verge of quarrelling.
She looked up at Gillah. ‘I’ve never heard that name of yours before.’
‘It’s Jewish, means Joy of the Lord. I chose it myself when I made a new start in life.’
‘It’s pretty.’
Gillah nodded and waited.
‘I can’t think where to start talking,’ Peggy blurted out. ‘I don’t know how it all came to this.’
‘Start anywhere you like. This isn’t a test.’
So the worries tumbled out, how Hartley had always been – well, the only way to describe it was superior in attitude towards her. How he’d grown so much worse since their daughter left home. Finally, her voice breaking with the humiliation of it all, she described Cheryl’s visit and the way they’d left her out of everything. Only then did she look up, sure she’d catch a scornful look on Gillah’s face as well.
But there was only an understanding expression, which gave her the courage to say, ‘I feel such a fool at my age. I’m sixty-six, for heaven’s sake. You’d think I’d have sorted out my life by now. And what will I do when Hartley retires next year? He’ll be at home all the time then. I can’t face that. I can’t!’
She hadn’t let herself dwell on how worried she was about his retirement until the words came tumbling out. She clapped one hand to her traitorous mouth and looked at Gillah again, feeling helpless and stupid.
Family Connections Page 10
