Shaping the Ripples (25 page)

“Yes, you’re right,” she said, sounding relieved. “He wouldn’t have been able to wait. I’ll look out for him though, just in case.”

I said goodbye and rang off. Katie was watching me with a fairly amused expression on her face.

“What?” I asked her.

“I would never have guessed that you could lie so convincingly,” she said. “I can see that I’m going to have to keep my eye on you.”

“Just your eye?” I asked in mock disappointment. She laughed, but blushed slightly.

After that, the evening was great. We stopped to eat on the way home, and then spent the rest of the evening cuddled up together watching a video we had rented. Just being with Katie was like basking in warm sunshine, and it was just what I needed right at that moment.

Chapter Twenty Six

The rest of the week passed by, thankfully without incident. Katie was as good as her word, and we spent every evening together. I was fairly sure that she would have stayed the night if I’d asked, but I decided not to find out. So each evening, we parted with some lingering kisses, and she drove back home.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want her to stay, or that I didn’t have an ache of longing every time she went away, but there was something holding me back. Partly it was that to sleep together would be to make a fundamental step forwards in our relationship, and I wasn’t sure that was wise. A relationship with me was always going to be difficult, even without someone who seemed determined that I only had a couple of weeks to live, and I wasn’t sure it was fair on Katie to let her get even more involved.

But, if I’m being honest, that wasn’t the only reason. Sex for someone who’s experienced child abuse is always going to be a bit of a complicated area. It stirs up all sorts of feelings, not all of them positive. With Liz it was OK, we had built up such a degree of trust, that it was easy for me to relax, and not worry too much about the whirlwind of emotions. There was a part of me that couldn’t imagine anything better than making love to Katie, and part of me that was terrified of it.

More than that, making love for me is to be totally vulnerable with another person. I could only do that with Katie if I was certain we were going to build a future together. Right now, I couldn’t see past the end of the month.

Saturday came and, although I didn’t feel much like going to a party, I figured that I owed it to Ian for all that he’d done for the Centre. In any case, I’d promised to take Katie.

I picked her up just a little before seven. She looked absolutely stunning as always. “Are you sure that you’re up to this?” she asked, as she climbed into the car.

“Of course I am,” I told her. “Anyway, I want to have a look at what sort of house the city’s most prominent businessman lives in.”

Ian’s house didn’t disappoint. He lived a few miles out of the city, in one of York’s most exclusive neighbourhoods. A long drive led up to it from the main road, winding past immaculately kept gardens. The house itself was large, fronted by a sun terrace and balcony which appeared to lead off an upstairs bedroom.

“Not bad,” Katie murmured as we walked up to ring the front doorbell. Almost immediately the door was opened, and Ian stood there smiling.

“Jack and Katie,” he began. “So glad you could make it.” As he closed the door behind us, his expression became more serious. “How are you really, Jack?” he asked. “George has been keeping me up to date with what’s been going on. It must be dreadful for you.”

“It has been pretty bad,” I admitted. Everyone’s being very supportive and helpful, but I’ll be glad once it’s all over. The worst thing is waiting, half expecting something awful to happen at any moment.”

“I’m sure,” he nodded sympathetically. “I hope you’re taking good care of him, Katie.”

Katie blushed a little. “I’m doing my best,” she answered.

“She’s being wonderful,” I told him. “I don’t know how I’d have managed without her.”

Ian opened one of the doors off the entrance hall we had been talking in, and waved us into an enormous living room. George and Mary were already there, as were Barbara and her husband Tom. Ian’s wife, Lisa, came across the room to greet each of us with an air kiss.

“It’s very kind of you to invite us all,” Katie said.

“Not at all,” Lisa answered emphatically. “Normally whenever we entertain, it’s Ian’s clients, and all they do is talk about business all night. I’ve been looking forwards to you all coming ever since Ian suggested it.”

Ian was smiling in the doorway. “Now everyone’s here, it’s time for our waiters to serve the drinks. There’s red and white wine, but just ask them if you’d like anything else.”

Rachael and Ben came into the room, each holding a tray of filled wine glasses. They were both immaculately dressed. I decided to have white, and so went to help myself from Rachael’s tray.

“Hello again,” I said to her, removing a glass of wine. “I see your dad’s roped you in to work for the evening.”

“It’s not so bad,” she smiled back. “Ben and I have already agreed that we’ll share the left over wine between us while you’re all eating.”

“I heard that,” Ian called, flashing her a look of mock severity. “You just can’t get decent staff these days.”

“I’m not surprised on what you’re paying us,” she shot back, and Ian laughed.

“I should have learned by now not to try arguing with you,” he conceded. “Heaven knows what it will be like when you’re a teenager.”

Once everyone had a drink in their hands, Ian cleared his throat. Once again I was struck by his sheer presence as the room fell instantly silent and everyone turned to face him.

“It’s an occupational hazard that I always feel compelled to make a speech,” he began, and was greeted with a chorus of groans. “Tonight is a celebration. Partly we’re celebrating all the new donations that the Centre has attracted over the last month, money that’s enough to secure your future for a long time to come. But more than that, I wanted tonight to be a celebration of all of you.”

“Each of you does so much invaluable and unheralded work to change the lives of the desperate people who come to you, including the partners here who put up with their husband and wife being on call at all hours of the day and night. The money we’ve raised is important, but only because it allows all of you to continue the vital work that you do.”

He lifted his glass in the air. “To the Domestic Crisis Centre, and a successful future.”

We all joined in the toast, and then George proposed another toast to Ian for his work in making the centre financially secure.

“Shall we all go and get something to eat?” Lisa suggested.

We followed her back out into the hall, and then across into an elaborate dining room. It was furnished with a couple of antique cabinets, and a long oak dining table. There were eight chairs on either side of the table, and one at each end.

“I’ve only ever seen tables like this in stately homes,” Barbara commented.

“It’s not quite as pretentious as it looks,” Ian answered, looking slightly embarrassed. “We don’t come in here when it’s just the four of us. Quite often when I’m evaluating a company it helps to get the management away from where they work. I often use this room to hold board meetings and so on.”

“Help yourselves please,” Lisa said.

The table itself was laden with food. There were plates of new potatoes, rice and chips, and bowls with all different sorts of salad in them. There was a section of cold foods; quiche, gammon, roast beef, and a delicious coronation chicken. And there were dishes of hot food; chilli, pizzas, curry and a lamb stew.

“This must have taken you forever,” Mary said.

“You could feed a small army with all this,” Tom joked.

“You haven’t seen our children eat,” Lisa told him. “Make sure you’ve got a good plate full before we let them loose on it.”

Once we’d all piled our plates high, we headed back into the living room. Katie and I sat together on a small couch, and Lisa came and perched on a chair next to us.

“How long have you two been together?” she asked.

Fortunately I had just shoved a large fork full of food into my mouth, so I left Katie to answer.

“Just the last few weeks,” she said.

“Really?” Lisa exclaimed. “You look so comfortable together, I thought you must have been going out for ages."

“How long have you and Ian lived here?” I asked her in an attempt to change the subject.

“We’ve lived in York ever since we were married,” she answered. “But we’ve only lived in this house for the last couple of years. Ian had always said that one day we’d live in this area so once his business started doing so well, we found this house. It’s much too big for us really, but it means a lot to him to have kept his promise.”

“It’s beautiful,” Katie told her. “Any chance of a guided tour when we’ve finished eating?”

Lisa looked a little uncertain. “It always feels a bit like we’re showing off,” she said. “But if you really want to have a look around, you can.”

When we’d cleared our plates, Ian insisted that we go back for a second helping of the food. Rachael and Ben had obviously done their best, but there was still mountains of food left. I did my best to help, piling my plate high again with as much food as I thought I could possibly eat, but they were going to be able to feast on leftovers for a few days.

Back in the living room, George and Ian seemed deep in conversation, so we sat in a group with Barbara, Tom Mary and Lisa. The conversation was relaxed and friendly, and at one point Lisa, Mary and Tom were comparing notes on the pains of being married to someone whose job took up the bulk of their time and energy. Katie winked across at me.

“Perhaps being apart so much stops you getting fed up of each other,” she suggested.

“Maybe,” Tom laughed, drawing a mock glare from Barbara. “But you must find it hard to have a proper social life with the hours you work.”

“Oh, I’m not doing too badly at the moment,” Katie answered in a demure tone, and Lisa glanced quickly across at me.

The conversation moved on, interspersed with compliments about the excellence of the food. Finally, we were all completely stuffed.

“How about that tour then?” I asked Lisa. Again she looked rather embarrassed.

“If you’re really sure that you won’t be bored,” she agreed with some reluctance.

I’m not sure that I’d have been so modest if I lived in such a spectacular house. We only went around the ground floor, but it still took us the best part of half an hour. There were two other living rooms, both overwhelming in their own way. The first one had a cinema style television screen taking up most of one wall and was most reminiscent of an electronics showroom, with video and DVD players, as well as several different games consoles. The second Lisa introduced as their “music and reading room”, and was furnished with several comfortable looking couches, an ornate piano, and a tiny music system, with speakers in every corner.

The kitchen was enormous and centred around a pine table and benches which, Lisa informed us, was where the family had most of their meals. Then we went on to Ian’s study where the antique desk was slightly incongruous amidst two state of the art computers, printers, a photocopier, and a fax machine.

Lisa had saved the most stunning part for last. She lead us down a corridor, which had obviously been built as an extension to the house. At the far end of the corridor were two doors. One was labeled “Games Room”, but Lisa pushed the other one open. The smell of chlorine gave away what the door was leading to. It was a good sized swimming pool, with changing cubicles. I knelt down and dipped a finger into the water. It was lovely and warm.

“Ian only likes swimming in warm water,” Lisa smiled as she watched me. “Our electricity bills are enormous since we had this pool built.”

Finally we moved into the games room. This was dominated by a large snooker table. There was a bar at one end of the room, seemingly stocked with every kind of alcoholic drink. Leather padded benches ran along each wall, and there was a wooden rack, containing a large number of professional looking cues.

“Wow,” Katie said, her mouth slightly open with awe. “This place is fantastic.” As the rest of us agreed with her assessment, the door to the room opened again, and George and Ian walked in.

“We thought we’d better come and find out what you were all up to,” Ian smiled. “Would anyone like a drink?”

Before long, he was happily behind the bar, serving drinks to all of us. Once we were all sorted, Ian spoke again.

“Perhaps you can all see why I was so keen to help as much as I can with the work you all do at the Centre. We’re well aware how lucky we are to have all this, especially when we hear the stories of the people that you help. I’m not ashamed of being successful, but I do think there’s an obligation to help those who aren’t so fortunate.” He smiled again. “Of course, that could just be my way of avoiding feeling guilty about all the money that we’ve spent here.”

“I think it’s a wonderful home,” Katie replied. “I don’t suppose you’re looking for a lodger, or someone to mind the house when you’re on holiday?” she joked.

“You never know,” Ian answered. “Does anyone fancy a game of snooker?”

Somehow it ended up that Katie and I were matched against George and Ian, while the others sat and watched and offered “helpful” advice. Thanks to my “hard-working” days at university, I reckon that I’m not an awful player – in the sense that I can sometimes pot three or four balls in a row. Katie turned out to be pretty good as well, so I reckoned we had a good chance of winning. That was until I saw Ian play. He scored twenty eight points on his first go and then apologised to George for having missed a shot.

Fortunately George seemed to think that the idea of the game was to get the white ball into as many different pockets as possible, so the penalty points he gave us each time just about kept the score respectable. Even so, it was a fairly emphatic defeat.

“You’re far too good,” I told Ian as I shook his hand.

“I’ve just had a lot more practice,” he said modestly.

“That’s Ian for you,” Lisa teased. “He can’t stand it if he’s not the best at everything he does, so he tries and tries until he is.”