Schemer (47 page)

Angela sat down on the sofa. ‘I’ve actually come to see you to try and build some bridges, Mum. Spending time with Aidan has kind of made me realize just how important family is, and I wondered if you could have a word with Steph for me. I know I was a bitch in my younger days, and I can’t blame Steph for hating me, but I’ve changed now. I can see the error of my past ways and I feel as though I am not only missing out on a relationship with my sister, but also my niece and nephew. I would like to wipe the slate clean and start all over again. I thought perhaps we could all go out for a family meal or something. I’ll pay for it, of course.’

Pam was so shocked by her daughter’s heartfelt speech that, rather than sit on the armchair, she sort of fell on top of it. Was Angela playing another one of her devious little games? ‘So, what’s brought all this on, then?’ she asked suspiciously.

‘As I said, spending time with Aidan has just got me thinking about things. You’ve only got one family, Mum, I realize that now, and Steph and I haven’t spoken for bloody years. My fault, I know, but I wanna make things right if I can. Will you help me do that?’

Pam stared at Angela’s pretty face. Her daughter certainly seemed to have changed for the better since returning from Greece, and for once Pam believed that she was being genuine. ‘Your sister’s got enough on her plate at the moment, but I will have a word with her in the next week or so and try to sort out a truce between yous. I dunno how Steph will feel about it, but I’ll do me best.’

Angela smiled. ‘Thanks, Mum. I had a lovely time with Aidan last night, by the way. He insisted on taking me out for a meal out of his first wage packet. He’s bought you a present and is bringing it round on Sunday. You should have seen all the girls in the restaurant looking at him, Mum. Aidan could have had his pick of ’em, honest he could.’

Pam couldn’t help but chuckle. She was pleased that Aidan had bought her a present and was coming to visit her. At least he hadn’t forgotten about her completely. ‘What restaurant did you go to?’

‘Jailhouse Rock in Hornchurch. ’Ere, you know who I bumped into in there? I didn’t recognize her, but she recognized me. Tammy’s sister, the copper. Apparently, she came out of the actual police force and now just answers the emergency calls. She said that her and her husband had split up, so she had moved back to stay with her parents. She asked how Steph was and then told me that Tammy had just found out she was pregnant. She said since moving to Spain with Richard, Tammy had distanced herself from her family and was a bit up herself.’

‘Ooh, I’ll have to tell Steph that. Do you fancy a bit of lunch?’

Angela stood up. ‘No, I can’t, Mum. Roxy and her husband are coming to stay with me for a couple of days and I need to get home and make a start on the dinner. I learnt how to cook whilst living in Greece and I really enjoy tampering with new dishes and stuff now. Tonight, I am attempting Lobster Colorado for the very first time. Christ knows what Roxy’s bloke will make of it. Dean is a typical chips-and-gravy northerner.’

Pam chuckled. She had no idea what Lobster Colorado was herself, so could imagine the look on this poor Dean’s face when he was presented with it on a plate. She stood up and was stunned when Angela gave her a daughterly hug. ‘Christ! You ain’t ill, are ya?’ she asked, jokingly.

‘No, Mum. I’m not ill. I’m just grateful for the way you brought my son up for me, and I can’t thank you enough for being there for him when I wasn’t. You truly are a wonderful woman.’

Absolutely gobsmacked by the change in Angela’s attitude, Pam was too choked up to reply.

Stephanie listened in earnest as Dannielle explained Tyler’s version of events over his altercation with James Woodcock. ‘Honest, Mum, I know Ty’s not lying, but I still gave him a real big talking-to. He seriously didn’t have any intention of using that knife, I know he didn’t. He is just a typical lad who doesn’t like to lose face in front of his pals. You know how cocky young boys can be?’

Remembering how Wayne was at school, Stephanie nodded sadly. ‘Tyler’s very much like your dad, in more ways than one. When I first met your father, he was a football hooligan, you know. He used to go over West Ham and get into gang fights and all sorts. I don’t ever recall him carrying a knife about with him, though. That’s what has scared the life out of me, Danni. Boys will be boys and all that, but carrying knives is not only stupid, but bloody dangerous as well.’

‘Tyler knows that now. Between me and you, I told him about our grandad ending up in prison for stabbing our nan to death. It frightened the life out of him, I know it did. Ty won’t be carrying no more knives, trust me. Don’t ground him though, Mum. You’re at work till late most days, I’m always round my friends houses or out gallivanting, and it’s not fair for him to be stuck indoors all alone. I can guarantee you, after my little speech, Ty will be the best-behaved boy in Loughton for a good few months.’

Stephanie couldn’t help but smile. Dannielle was not only an angel sent from heaven as a daughter, she was also a godsend as a sister for Tyler. ‘OK. Tell him he’s allowed out, but he’s got to be in by eight. If he proves that he can behave himself, then after a month or so, I’ll let him stay out until his old curfew, nine.’

‘Thanks, Mum. Oh, and while I think of it, I want to ask a favour off you for myself.’

‘What now?’ Stephanie replied, pretending to be cross.

‘You know I told you my friend Mimi’s sister owns a pub in Chigwell?’

‘Yeah,’ Stephanie replied, half guessing what was coming next.

‘Well, Mimi’s sister said me and the girls can go in there now that we’ve left school. She said that we’re not allowed to be served alcohol, but as long as we behave ourselves we can have soft drinks in there. Can I go, Mum, please? The other girls have already asked their mums and they all said yes. You know you can trust me, don’t you?’

Part of Stephanie wanted to say no. Danni was still a little girl in her eyes, but remembering that she and Tammy had been visiting pubs and drinking alcohol long before they were sixteen, Steph nodded. ‘Just be careful, though, and never leave your drinks unattended. There was some woman in the salon the other day telling me that her niece had got her drink spiked, and had then been sexually assaulted by some boy.’

‘Mum, I’m not stupid. I’ll only have a couple of Cokes and they won’t leave my side, I promise. I’m going to have a shower in a bit and start getting ready. I haven’t a clue what I’m going to wear.’

‘Are you going to this pub tonight, then?’ Steph shouted out as Danni galloped excitedly up the stairs.

‘Yes.’

‘Well, give me the name and address of it before you go. I don’t mind you enjoying yourself, darling, but I need to know where you’re gonna be.’

‘I will, Mum,’ Danni yelled, as she shut the bathroom door.

Stephanie let out a deep sigh. Children were the most wonderful gift in the world, but with that gift came worry.

Pam had expected Lin to be in a reasonably melancholy mood, but within a couple of hours of arriving, she seemed quite chirpy considering the circumstances. David was upstairs messing around on his PlayStation, which Steph had bought him to cheer him up a couple of days after his dad had died.

‘I’m a bit peckish, are you? I think I’ll make us all some sandwiches,’ Pam said to Cathy.

‘How’s your diet going?’ Lin asked her sister.

Pam grinned. She had recently joined Weight Watchers and had now lost nearly two stone. ‘Yeah, good. I lost another three pound this week. Getting there slowly but surely. I’ve saved some of me points so I can have a couple of glasses of wine tonight. Anyone wanna join me in a tipple?’

‘Does the Pope pray?’ Cathy said, laughing.

‘Wine makes me depressed lately, so I’ll just stick with a beer, sis,’ Lin added, sensibly.

‘I’ll rustle us up some grub, then I’ll sort the drinks out afterwards,’ Pam said, heading off to the kitchen. Just about to butter the bread, Pam heard an excited yell.

‘Pam, quick. Come and look who’s just pulled up in a cab.’

Thinking she had an unexpected visitor, Pam dropped her bread knife and ran into the lounge. ‘Oh my gawd! Looks like he’s here to stay for a while by the size of that suitcase an’ all.’

‘He’s more handsome than ever, ain’t he? I wish I was thirty years younger,’ Cathy said, chuckling.

‘He reminds me of an older version of Robbie Williams,’ Lin said, joining in with the fun.

Grabbing her phone, Pam darted back into the kitchen and rang her eldest daughter.

‘You all right, Mum? How’s Lin?’ Steph asked.

‘Lin’s absolutely fine. ’Ere, you’ll never guess who’s just pulled up outside in a cab.’

Steph had been dozing on the sofa and hadn’t really come to her senses yet. ‘Who?’ she asked, yawning.

‘Barry Franklin.’

Stephanie leapt off the sofa as though she had just received an electric shock. ‘What the hell is he doing back?’ she hissed.

‘I don’t know, love, but by the size of his suitcase, he’s staying for a while.’

Stephanie felt a griping fear inside her stomach. Barry Franklin had toyed with her feelings, used and abused her, and left her emotionally scarred for life.

‘Are you OK, love?’ Pam asked.

Stephanie was anything but OK. Dropping the phone, she ran to the toilet and was violently sick.

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

After a sleepless night, Stephanie tried her hardest to act as normal as possible the following morning.

‘Are you OK, Mum? You don’t seem yourself,’ Dannielle asked, concerned. She had been chatting away about her great night out for the past half an hour now, and she could tell that her mum had barely listened to a word she had said.

Hearing that Barry was back in England had knocked Stephanie for six. Every bit of pain and humiliation Barry had ever caused her had come flooding back into her mind, as if it had happened only yesterday. He had killed her fiancé, Steph was sure of that now, and had she not fallen for Barry’s deceit and slept with him, Stephanie would have told the police the truth. However, having her name dragged through the court, and the jury looking at her as though she were some stupid tart, was not something that Steph could have handled. Her children were her top priority, and if they had ever found out the awful truth of her sleeping with Barry just months after their father had gone missing, Steph would probably have tried to top herself again with the shame of it all. ‘I’m fine, darling. I just feel a bit peaky this morning, that’s all. There’s been a bug going around the salon and I think I might have caught it,’ Steph lied.

Dannielle swallowed the fib and carried on chatting about her night out. She had found going to the pub with her friends for the first time ever extremely exciting. It had made her feel like an adult for once. She had told her mum the truth about them only being allowed to buy soft drinks in the pub. What she hadn’t told her mum was that she and her friends had drunk four alcopops each before they had even gone inside the boozer.

‘So, did any boys in the pub try to chat you or your friends up?’ Steph asked, warily.

‘No. Well, a few tried to talk to us, but none of us were interested.’

Breathing a massive sigh of relief, Stephanie put the bacon on the grill. ‘Call your brother, darling. Tell him his breakfast will be ready in five minutes.’

‘Did you let Ty go out last night, Mum?’ Dannielle asked, remembering their conversation.

Even though her daughter had had a word with her about not grounding Tyler, Steph had still been keen to keep him in for a week or so, to make sure her son was fully aware of the error of his ways. ‘No. I made him stay in and he sulked all evening in his bedroom. However, he can go out today as long as he comes and eats this bloody breakfast I’m cooking. The little sod refused his dinner last night and he must be starving.’

Dannielle grinned. ‘I’ll go and tell him – and is it OK if I go to the pub again tonight? They are having a karaoke night.’

Under usual circumstances, Stephanie would not have allowed Tyler to go out gallivanting or her daughter to spend two consecutive evenings in the pub. However, after hearing that Barry was back in England and was less than ten miles down the road, what her children got up to was the last of her problems. Stephanie turned to Dannielle and forced a smile. ‘Of course you can go to your karaoke evening.’

Barry Franklin felt surprisingly at ease when he woke up at his mother’s house the following morning. He and Marlene had never particularly seen eye to eye, but when he had turned up yesterday evening, they’d knocked back a bottle of Scotch between them, had a good in-depth chat, and had got along better than they had in years. Barry had come back to England for two reasons. Number one was that Jolene had done his head in and he’d recently got rid of her, and number two was his father had been diagnosed with throat cancer. Barry wanted to spend as much time with his old man as possible before the inevitable happened.

‘Morning, boy. Now, ’cause I never knew you were coming, I haven’t got any proper breakfast stuff in. Because I’m knocking on a bit now, I have to really watch my figure, so I don’t usually eat shit like fry-ups any more. But we did sink a few last night, and I dunno about you, but I think we need to soak it up with something. Shall we shoot up that café in the Heathway and stuff our faces in there?’

Absolutely starving, Barry readily agreed. When he had spent some time in England just over ten years ago, he had purchased a couple of properties in Essex to rent out. One was in Chigwell, not too far from where Steph had lived at the time, and seeing as the current tenants were moving out next week, that was where Barry was planning on living for the time being. Residing in Spain wasn’t an option any longer, not after everything that had happened; and in all truthfulness, Barry was pleased to get back to England. He had thoroughly enjoyed his twenty-odd years in sunny Spain, but it had never really felt like home to him. Pie and mash in Kelly’s at Roman Road was far more his scene than paella on the veranda.

Barry followed his mother out of the front door and gave a furtive glance at the house opposite. Barry still despised Steph for what she had done to him and probably always would. But, making love to her that time was something that would stick in his mind forever. It had been perfect, just like he had always known it would be, and he was sure it was because of his night of passion with Steph that he had never been able to make a proper go of it with Jolene afterwards. There was an old saying that there was a thin line between love and hate, and Barry now believed in that. Steph had ruined his life, and even though he had got his revenge, he still couldn’t completely move on from her. He probably never would.