Meet Me at the Pier Head (22 page)

Isadora listened carefully. It occurred to her, not for the first time, that evil spread its tentacles across the whole of society, missing no sector, rich, poor, or middle of the road. Had
Richard stamped his foot, Joan would now be in hospital or in the morgue, and that would have been a huge blot in the pristine copybook of a great acting family. No one was immune when it came to
the nasty streak in the human animal. ‘I am so sorry, Portia,’ was all she managed to say. ‘You seem to have been through the wars, and you haven’t even started work
yet.’

‘I’m using Teddy’s phone, Ma. I’ve ordered my own line, but goodness knows when it will arrive. As for what’s happened, I’m sure this sort of thing goes on in
Manchester, London and Birmingham. Most people here are wonderful.’

Isadora heard Mr Quinn in the background. He was telling Portia to talk for as long as she needed, and he awarded her the full name. The mother of Tia smiled. Teddy was falling in love; it was
etched into every syllable he spoke. ‘Tell him hello from me, darling.’

‘He’s wandered off, Ma. I think he’s a nomad at heart. He’s probably looking for his camel.’

‘He sounds pleasant.’

‘He is. He’s a half-American lunatic. I’m waiting for him to build a totem and do rain dances.’ She lowered her tone. ‘He’s lovely, Ma.’

‘Delicious voice, Portia.’

‘Hands off, Mother. He’s also halfway in love with you, and he’s the only name on my maybe list. There isn’t one of your films he hasn’t seen, but he’s too
young for you.’

‘Darling, no man is too young for me.’

‘But I saw him before you will, so I get first dibs. You can’t go around picking up innocent young men just because you’ve ditched Pa.’

Isadora smiled into the phone. ‘You’re falling in love, my darling.’

‘Perhaps. As far as I’m concerned, he’s the lone ranger on the definitely interesting list. See you tomorrow, Ma.’

‘Be careful,’ Isadora warned. ‘Don’t jump too quickly into a relationship. I did that, and look at the state of me now, on the run from home.’ She paused.
‘How is the little girl?’ She listened while her daughter delivered the rest of the tale. What she said and the way she said it betrayed the affection Tia had developed for the child,
too. She had always been an open-hearted girl, but she now seemed to be offering bits of herself all over the place.

‘I love Liverpool,’ Tia said.

‘You love Liverpool, Teddy and Rosie, don’t you?’

‘Perhaps I do.’

‘I hope they deserve you, my precious girl. Though I must say, that poor child has had a very rough introduction to life. How could a mother decide to take her own life and leave a
daughter behind? That’s what I can’t understand. I suppose the drink addled her brain. Oh well, we’ll talk tomorrow.’

‘Is Pa in jail, Ma?’

‘I haven’t the remotest idea. Good night, Portia.’

Tia replaced the receiver. She heard him entering the hallway, knew he was standing very near to her.

‘What’s your father done now?’ Theo asked.

‘He’s just being a pillock.’

‘Pillock? That’s a new one for me, Portia.’

She faced him. ‘It’s a hillock with a P on it.’

‘Ah.’ He nodded gravely. ‘So he’s been done for depositing a pee on a small hill? Surely he’s not so undignified as to urinate in public? Isn’t that a breach
of the peace?’

She grinned. ‘How are you spelling that, P-E-A-C-E or P-I-E-C-E?’

‘Mind like a sewer, Miss Bellamy.’ He sat in a Victorian rocker. ‘Maggie’s telling little Rosie now. Unfortunately, it will have to be the truth, because it will be all
over the Lady Streets, and children are cruel.’

‘Shit,’ Tia mumbled.

‘He didn’t do that as well, did—’

‘Shut up, Teddy.’ She gazed at him. ‘Do you always talk rubbish when you’re nervous?’

‘Yes, I do,’ he replied. ‘Is your mother coming tomorrow?’

Tia nodded. ‘And she’s gone silly, too. She likes your voice. I’ll sit next to you on the floor. No, no, don’t stand up, I prefer the floor. If I’m on the floor, I
can’t fall.’ She slid down the wall. ‘Do you think Maggie will have told her yet? Will she know how to tell her? I feel a bit wobbly.’

He left the chair and sat next to her on hard oak floorboards. ‘This is not comfortable, Portia. And there’s no right way to tell a child that her mother wants to be dead. Telling
her that Sadie almost died by her own hand will be hard, but it has to be done before Rosie hears it at school in September.’ He shifted. ‘My backside’s already defunct on this
floor.’

‘It’s not supposed to be comfortable. Maggie won’t be comfortable telling Rosie that her mother’s critically ill. And Maggie has all the gossip to face. They both do, I
suppose, because Rosie will suffer, too.’

‘And my butt will go gangrenous if we sit here much longer.’

Tia took hold of his hand. ‘Pretend you’re Catholic and think of it as penance.’ A pleasant tremor travelled up her arm, her neck, her face and into her hair. Had her crowning
glory been less abundant and shorter, it would probably have stood on end. But she said nothing. This might be the right time for distracting jokes, but romance was off the cards. Rosie was
learning one of life’s sadder lessons, so flirtation would be inappropriate. But Tia propped her head on his shoulder. ‘You should go in, Teddy. Take them a drink or something and see
if you’re needed.’

‘You think?’

‘
Ergo sum.
I think, therefore I am.’

‘You go in,’ he suggested. ‘You’re female.’

‘Glad you noticed,’ she said drily. ‘But why should the task fall to a woman? Would I be better at dealing with bad news just because of my gender? You’re the experienced
teacher.’ Then she remembered – his mother had been murdered in America. ‘Sorry. I didn’t forget; I just wasn’t thinking while this is going on. Someone had to give
you similar news, I expect.’

‘No.’ His fingers tightened their hold on hers. ‘I was there. I heard her screams and saw the flames, breathed in the smoke, watched my father trying to claw his way through
hot metal to get to her. His hands were bandaged for weeks.’ Theo turned his head and looked at her. ‘No one else knows that, not from me, anyway. I can trust you, yes?’

She nodded and tried to swallow the lump in her throat. He still hadn’t told her everything – of that she felt sure. ‘Always trust me, Teddy. I’ve lived in a war zone for
long enough to know unhappiness.’ She told him about Ma and Pa, the former having nurtured and improved her talent, the latter continually neglecting his and becoming lazy. ‘Father was
dragging her down, so she pretended to be unfit for work due to alcoholism. He became righteously indignant, and she turned into a mess, stinking of gin and saying little that was sensible. We had
no trauma like yours, of course, but it was hard, especially on Juliet, who’s the family’s token Christian.’

‘Your mom was sober?’

‘Oh, yes, though we discovered that only recently. She and Nanny fled to the local inn, and he came in and threw Nanny – Joan Reynolds – on the floor. The police took him
away.’ She awarded him a rueful smile. ‘You have a comfortable shoulder, Mr Quinn.’

‘My ass is dead.’

‘Poor creature. Do you mean arse?’

‘Probably.’ He paused. ‘I heard you telling your mother that I was a nomad and a half-American lunatic.’

Tia wagged a finger at him. ‘Eavesdroppers hear no good about themselves.’

‘I heard good,’ he whispered. ‘Did you mean it? Because if you did, we shouldn’t work together.’

She shrugged. ‘Get rid of me, then.’

‘I can’t. You know I can’t, and you know why.’

‘Do I?’

The front door opened quietly, and both turned to see Simon in the porch. He stepped into the hall and apologized, explaining that he had tried Tia’s bell first. ‘I came to tell you
I’ve cancelled the appointment for Rosie at Alder Hey tomorrow. The poor child will have been through enough, I imagine.’ He studied the pair on the floor for a few seconds. There had
been other men in Tia’s life, and he knew it, though he’d never met any of them. Something was happening here, and he felt as if he had been kicked hard in the belly. Oh well, she had
warned him often enough, so he could blame only himself.

He sat on the floor opposite the two of them. ‘Is her grandmother telling her now?’

Theo sighed. ‘Yes, and it must be damn hard for both of them. God, how does a person describe attempted suicide to a five-year-old? It’s no use wrapped up in jargon, because children
from school will be hearing their parents talking about it. Shall we go into the living room? Maggie and Rosie are in a spare bedroom.’

As he stood up, Simon noticed that Tia’s right hand was holding Quinn’s left. So it had happened, then. First prize to the swarthy-looking fellow who looked as if he needed a good
shave and a hot bath.
I should have stayed in Kent. She was right. She’s always bloody right. Her sisters are the same. No, hang on, Simon, that’s not true. Juliet’s sweet.
Delia bats for the other team, and she’s plain, but Juliet has the real looks . . . Perhaps.

They went into Theo’s living room and sat like three dummies in a shop window, frozen and silent. ‘They’re not talking,’ Tia whispered after several minutes. ‘Shall
I go in?’

Simon decided to save his beloved from that. ‘If no one emerges within ten minutes, I’ll go in. It’s all right for me, because I’m a non-person, a doctor. It gives me a
professional edge, though I’m not looking forward to it. That poor, innocent child deserves better than all this. She needs decent parents.’

‘Thank you,’ Theo said.

Tia announced her intention to make tea.

When she was safely out of earshot, Simon spoke to Theo. ‘Are you two an item?’ There was no point in beating about the shrubbery; he wanted an answer, and he wanted it now.

Theo shifted in his chair. ‘We seem to be growing fond of each other.’

Simon waited, as he sensed that there was more to come.

‘But if she wants children, it can come to nothing,’ Theo said softly.

‘I see. Why is that? I’m a doc, so you can talk to me.’

Theo shook his head almost imperceptibly. ‘I’m not impotent and, as far as I know, I’m not sterile. There’s a genetic fault on my mother’s side. Tia knows about it,
though not in detail, not yet.’

Simon frowned. ‘Is your mother affected by it?’

‘She’s dead.’

‘I see. Sorry about that – was she affected?’

‘To an extent, yes. I could be a carrier. For that reason, I have remained a bachelor. Portia breezed into my professional life first, then into my home life. She’s quite a
character, isn’t she?’

‘She certainly is. I’ve been in love with her for years; I think her heart belongs to you, though.’

Theo offered no immediate reply. For the first time in many moons, he felt truly alive, and she was the reason for his joie de vivre. There was something different about her, and it wasn’t
just her fascinating accent or her stunning good looks. She was mischievous, intelligent, unpredictable and warm. ‘I’m sorry, Simon.’

‘Not your fault. She made it plain that I was swimming against the tide. I just wouldn’t listen.’ He gazed at Theo. ‘Do you love her?’

Theo shrugged. ‘It’s a bit early for all that kind of jazz. Love at first sight isn’t to be trusted in my book. But I do have a lot of admiration for her – affection,
too. As I said before, it depends what she wants out of life.’ He pondered for a moment. ‘For myself, I was wondering about vasectomy.’

‘Because of the genetic problem?’

‘Yes.’

‘It could be arranged.’

The conversation was cut short by Tia’s return. She passed a cup and saucer to Simon. ‘Drink that before you go in,’ she said. ‘It’s still very quiet, isn’t
it? I wonder whether Maggie managed to tell her?’

Simon put down his cup without taking even a sip. ‘Which door?’ he asked Theo.

‘Second on the left after the little morning room.’

‘I’ll be right back.’ The young doctor squared his shoulders, ran both hands through his hair and went off in search of Maggie and Rosie. He returned within a minute or two.
‘They’re not here,’ he said. ‘I looked in all the rooms, bathroom included – no sign.’

Theo and Tia leapt to their feet. They left the flat by the front door; there was no one in the garden. Dashing round the back, they ground to a halt when they saw two figures on a bench.
Grandmother and granddaughter sat very still. On a table in front of them, candles flickered in a light summer breeze.

‘Thank God,’ Tia whispered. ‘Come on, Teddy – we’re not wanted here. Maggie seems to be handling the situation well.’ She turned to Simon. ‘I think
they’re having some kind of prayer ceremony – let’s leave them to it.’

When they returned to Theo’s sitting room, Simon began to feel like a spare part or even a spy. They wanted their privacy, and he needed to get the hell out of here. After a swift
farewell, he left and sat in his car for a few minutes, his mind wandering back through the years.

He remembered getting bored one wet summer when all his friends seemed to be away on holiday, and he’d picked up some books of Mother’s. The stuff hadn’t been his cup of tea,
but he’d persevered through Louisa M. Alcott’s works. The guy next door to the March family had been stuck on Jo, but Jo had rejected him, so he’d turned to . . . Amy? Juliet was
sweet. She was a nurse, too, wasn’t she? Doctors often married nurses, so could he switch sisters as easily as the Alcott character had managed to do? It all sounded so slick and simple, just
as it had when he’d read the novels. Surely that sort of thing didn’t happen in the real world?

Tia’s always been the one for me, despite the attitude of her prejudiced father. I’ve been raised C of E, because Mother’s a Christian, so why should my surname matter? Now
my thoughts are out of order. They’ve been all over the place since she said she was moving to Liverpool. Perhaps I should return to Dad’s practice, and to hell with all this northern
business.

He started the car. One thing was certain: he should get away now, at this moment, from the house where two newly hatched lovebirds were starting their courtship. Well, the arrival of Mrs
Bellamy and Nanny should put progress on hold. With this thought in mind, he selected first gear and drove towards another lonely evening in a city he scarcely knew. Perhaps he should get out
more.