Where Memories Are Made (18 page)

The woman thought about this for a moment before she said, ‘Yeah, that sounds okay.'

Getting her to move away from the door so she could remove the wedge to open it, after telling her she wouldn't be a moment, Jackie went outside.

Terry immediately pounced on her. ‘Where is she then? Couldn't you talk her out? Only there really is going to be trouble if this shower block remains out of use for much longer.'

Jackie glanced at the snaking queue of disgruntled people waiting to use the facilities. She was about to tell Terry what had transpired and get him to hand over his jacket when she was stopped by a worried-looking man who barged his way towards them through the crowd. He was sporting a black eye and a bloodied, cut lip.

‘I've heard a woman has locked herself in the shower block and is really upset. I can't find my wife Colleen anywhere and I'm worried it's her. Is it?'

Clive appeared to be a decent man, and genuinely concerned for his wife, but knowing what she did Jackie couldn't stop herself from hissing at him, ‘It's a bit late to be worried about your wife, isn't it? After what you've done to her. She doesn't want to see you and I can't say as I blame her. I hope breaking up your marriage for a woman you hardly know is worth it. And I shan't hold back from letting Helen know what I think of her when I sack her, which will be immediately after I've sorted out your devastated wife. Now, if you've got any compassion for her at all, you'll make yourself scarce while I get her out of here and make the arrangements for her to return home. I'd go and pack if I were you because as soon as Helen has been spoken to, I want you both off the camp.' Jackie hadn't the authority to order him off the camp or to sack Helen, but she soon would if Harold Rose ran true to form and handed her over responsibility. For once Jackie would willingly accept it.

Clive was looking utterly bewildered. ‘Look, I really don't know what you're talking about. What's this about breaking up my marriage for some woman I hardly know. And what's Helen … I presume you mean Helen the Stripey … got to do with this?'

Jackie tutted disdainfully. ‘Please don't try and act the innocent with me, Mr … Your wife told me that you've been constantly disappearing, telling her you're going to the shops and all other manner of excuse to avoid taking her with you, just so you can meet Helen and make plans to run away together. Don't try and deny it because she followed you this morning and saw you both looking at a bus or rail timetable.'

He exclaimed, ‘What!' Then he eyed Jackie imploringly. ‘Look, I admit I have been sneaking out to meet Helen, but not for the reason my wife thinks. Colleen's been so down lately. We've been trying for a baby for the last five years and nothing has happened. She feels it's all her fault, thanks to her thoughtless doctor telling her the reason could be that she's overweight. She's not overweight, she's cuddly. After what the doctor said, though, she got it into her head she wasn't attractive to me any more and that I'd want to find myself someone else who was and wouldn't have any problems giving me children. Whatever Colleen was, fat or thin, I would still love her with all my heart. She means everything to me. If we never have children, we just don't, because I wouldn't want them with anyone else but her.'

Clive heaved a sigh. ‘I thought bringing her away, 'specially somewhere like this with loads to do, would cheer her up, help take her mind off things. I was aware that while we were away it would be her birthday and wanted to do something special for her. As soon as we arrived I made an excuse to go to the shop for some cigarettes while Colleen was unpacking, but what I was really doing was looking for a Stripey who would give me some ideas for a nice surprise for my wife and help me arrange it. Helen was the first Stripey I came across and I couldn't have wished to find a more helpful person … she's been marvellous. She's booked a meal for us tonight at a top-notch restaurant in Skegness, and they're going to bring a birthday cake out to Colleen when we've finished our main course. Helen's arranged for a taxi to take us there and back, and what Colleen saw us looking at today was a list from the local florist for me to choose a bouquet to be delivered later this afternoon. That's the truth, honest. I thought I was being clever, covering my tracks. I never thought for a minute Colleen would become suspicious, follow me and reach the conclusion she has.'

Jackie was feeling mortified. Clive had left her in no doubt whatsoever that he was telling the truth. When she had first started to work with Rhonnie and Drina, a young and naive girl, she'd often made snap judgments, mostly to find she'd been totally wrong. They had both told her that there were always two sides to a story, and it was dangerous to jump to conclusions until she had heard both of them. Pity she hadn't remembered their words of wisdom today and taken the trouble to ask Clive for his version before she had judged him a philandering husband, and Helen a harlot. Jackie promised herself not to make that mistake ever again.

Shame-faced, she said to him, ‘I apologise for speaking to you like I did. I shouldn't have judged you before I'd heard your side of the story. It's a shame after all the trouble you've obviously gone to, but in the circumstances you've no alternative but to tell your wife what you've been up to: that you're not planning to leave her but organising a special surprise for her. I'm sure it'll still be a wonderful evening even if it's not exactly a surprise any longer.'

He gave her a wan smile. ‘I hope so. It's costing a fortune. But as long as it shows Colleen how much she means to me then it'll be worth every penny. I won't be planning any more surprises in a hurry, that's for sure.' He glanced at the queue of disgruntled people waiting to use the facilities before adding, ‘I'll get Colleen out as quickly as I can.'

Jackie smiled. ‘We'd appreciate that.'

As he disappeared inside the shower block, she said to Terry, ‘Well, thankfully that's turned out all right. I need to get back to the office. Will you tell the crowd the show's over, and the people waiting to use the showers that they shouldn't have to wait much longer.'

As she started to walk away, Terry called after her, ‘Nice choice in knickers, Jackie. Does your bra match?'

Her temper rose. So he had looked up her skirt when she was climbing through the window, despite her warning him not to. That man was beneath contempt. She wouldn't give him the satisfaction of telling him exactly what she thought of him, though. Instead she pretended she hadn't heard him and marched purposefully back to the office, ignoring the fact that people were staring after her open-mouthed once she had passed them by.

She arrived back to be handed a wad of telephone messages, several needing her immediate attention. Still feeling mortified for the way she had ticked off Clive before she had heard the explanation for his behaviour and embarrassed by Terry's remark, Jackie uncharacteristically snapped at Al. ‘These will have to wait until I've spoken to Mr Rose about hiring another nurse to replace Sister Pendle.'

Al told her, ‘He's gone out for the rest of the day.'

‘Oh, where?'

He shrugged. ‘He didn't say.'

Jackie inwardly fumed. Neither Drina nor Rhonnie would ever go off during office hours without saying where they could be reached in case of emergency. What was the man playing at, going off without a word, leaving her in sole charge of the camp – something she was neither fully equipped nor remunerated well enough to do. She sincerely hoped nothing else came up today. She'd had enough crisis-solving. She spun on her heel and began striding over to her desk to get stuck into her work, but was stopped by Al calling out, ‘Er … Jackie?'

She spun back and snapped at him, ‘What now, Al? You do know how busy I am so I hope this is important?' She immediately felt remorseful for taking her mood out on him, but that was quickly dispelled when he muttered, ‘Er … it was nothing.' She shot him a withering look before she went back to her work.

Later that evening Jackie sat hunched on her bed, confessing everything to Ginger who was lounging on the bed opposite. Her tone remorseful she said, ‘I feel awful for tearing a strip off that poor chap like I did, when all he was guilty of was trying to organise a nice surprise for his wife.'

Ginger gave a yawn and stretched her arms. ‘Don't be too hard on yourself, gel. It's understandable you'd react like you did, considering what you're going through yourself.'

Jackie heaved a sigh. ‘It's not right to let my private life affect my work. I did apologise to him. Anyway, hopefully they're both in Skeggy now, enjoying a nice meal together. Helen suffered no more than a black eye and I told her to take a couple of days off until the swelling goes down. The bruising can be disguised with make-up. Terry isn't happy about having to do without her, but he can lump it.'

‘Did you tell Helen you branded her a marriage-breaker?'

‘No. I've made enough people think badly of me today without adding her to the list.'

‘Apart from the woman's husband, who else have you upset then?'

‘I snapped at Al, took my mood out on him when he was only trying to tell me something. Then he decided not to, which only made me more cross with him, and I was curt for the rest of the afternoon. I know he was glad when home time came and he could make his escape. I'll apologise to him first thing in the morning. That's if he decides to come in. After all he's only a temp'

Ginger assured her, ‘Al's not going to give up a job he enjoys just because you were off with him this afternoon.' She secretly hoped he didn't ask the agency to reassign him as she was still hopeful that he would ask her out one day. ‘You didn't join us in the restaurant for dinner this evening so I take it you haven't eaten?'

‘I had to work late today again doing some jobs that couldn't wait. Most of the work was what Harold Rose should have been dealing with. He went home early today without even affording me the courtesy of telling me. Anyway, I'm not hungry.'

Ginger looked at her knowingly. ‘And your lack of appetite has nothing to do with your day today. It's to do with your mother and Keith, isn't it?'

Tears of misery glinted in Jackie's eyes. ‘I feel so mixed up, Ginger. I miss my mother dreadfully. Normally she would have been the one I would have turned to, to help me through something like this. But I can't, can I? Because she's the problem, isn't she? I can't seem to accept the fact that she's chosen Keith above me. I hate her yet at the same time I love her. I miss him so much too. I was going to write a letter to my mother, but I can't tell her that she deserves happiness at my expense … even though I do want her to be happy. Oh, I'm hurting so much.' Jackie rubbed her hands wearily over her face. ‘God, this is just unbearable. If Harold Rose did the job he was supposed to then I wouldn't have walked in on them like I did.'

Ginger had to stop herself from giving the stock response all women told their friends at times like these: that there were plenty more fish in the sea. At this moment all the other fish were of no interest to Jackie, just the one who was now lost to her. So Ginger made the other stock response instead: ‘Time's a great healer, Jackie.'

‘So they say. Pity someone hasn't invented a forgetting pill you could take to wipe certain memories out. They'd make a fortune, wouldn't they?'

Ginger chuckled. ‘I'd be a good customer, that's for sure.' Then she looked at Jackie enquiringly. ‘Look, I know you're going to say you're not ready, but it would do you the world of good to go out and have a drink and a dance in Groovy's for a couple of hours. Take your mind off things. You haven't seen the new resident group yet, have you? They started last week and I've seen them three times now and they're ever so good, as good as some of the groups in the charts to my mind. They played “I Can See for Miles” and “Little Red Rooster” the other night, and if I hadn't known better I'd have sworn it was the Who and the Stones.' There was a twinkle in Ginger's eyes when she added, ‘The rhythm guitarist is worth writing home about, believe me.'

Jackie sighed. ‘Maybe tomorrow night, Ginger, but tonight I haven't even got the energy to get myself dressed and walk across to Groovy's, let alone have a dance. Just 'cos I'm a misery guts doesn't mean you have to stay in, though.'

Ginger, as always, was in the mood for having some fun but wouldn't at the expense of leaving her friend on her own at a time when she needed support. ‘I'm not really in the mood either. We'll have a girly night in then. I've a Miner's face pack I've been meaning to try so we'll put that on and make ourselves beautiful, then we'll set the world to rights. And I've a bottle of cider in my bag. How does that sound to you?'

All Jackie wanted to do was crawl into bed and hope sleep would release her for a while from her heartache. But Ginger was trying to cheer her up and Jackie hadn't the heart to deny her that. ‘It sounds great, Ginger. I'll go and have a shower first.' She inched herself off the bed, then collected her shower bag and dressing gown.

As Jackie made for the door, Ginger received a view of her back. Her eyes widened, jaw dropped in shock, then she burst into hysterical laughter.

Confused as to what she could possibly have found so funny, Jackie spun round to face her.

Through her fit of mirth Ginger managed to splutter, ‘It wasn't only Terry you gave an eyeful of your knickers to today, Jackie. Al and the rest of the campers you passed on your way back from the shower block must have seen them too.'

She gawped in confusion. ‘What are you going on about?'

‘Your skirt. You've a rip in the back big enough to drive a bus through.'

‘What!' Jackie exclaimed, mortified, trying to swivel the top half of her body around. She couldn't so she felt for the hole with her hand. She found a large L-shaped tear, the torn material flapping. She didn't need to see it to know that the hole was exposing part of her bottom and the top of her legs. ‘How did that … Oh!' she mouthed as memory returned. ‘I caught my skirt on the window frame as I climbed through and then I just forgot about it.' Her face glowing red with embarrassment, she exclaimed in horror, ‘Oh, God, that was what Al was going to tell me before I snapped at him. He obviously decided my mood was bad enough without telling me about it. And I wrongly accused Terry of looking up my skirt … thankfully not to his face, but I still thought the worst of him when he made his comment. And after that all those campers saw me too …' She gave a loud groan. ‘My life's going from bad to worse. I don't know how I'm going to face everyone tomorrow.'