The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (103 page)

  
‘Quite!’ Eddie laughed. ‘Phil’s
back with Laura. It’s early days, but he’s spending the next few nights at
Apple Tree House with her and the kids. Fingers crossed for them. They’re coming
tomorrow afternoon, so we can see for ourselves how they’re doing.’
 

  
‘Laura’s a very nice lady,’ Jon
nodded. ‘You got on well with her when you met her backstage after the first
show, didn’t you, Jess?’

  
Jess smiled. ‘Yes, she was
lovely, really friendly and she’s so pretty. Phil’s very lucky to be given
another chance. I hope it works out for them. I’m going over to help Mum, Sammy
and Pat decorate the marquee. Can you two cope alone?’
  

  
‘Of course we can,’ Jon replied.
‘Dad’s a dab hand. They’re asleep now anyway, so they can go down in their
baskets for a while and we’ll grab a couple of beers and watch
Live Aid
in peace.’
    

***

Jess found her Mum, Sammy and Pat sitting on the lawn by the side of the
marquee, sipping glasses of white wine.

  
‘It’s alright for some,’ she
said.

  
‘Help yourself,’ Sammy said.
‘Grab a glass and join us.’

  
‘Thanks, I will.’

  
‘She looks well,’ Pat said as
Jess strolled towards the house.

  
‘She’s so slim already,’ Sammy
said. ‘I couldn’t have got into shorts that skimpy so soon after having Nick.
My extra weight hardly shifted at all.’

  
‘That’s because you were
pregnant again,’ Jane laughed.

  
Sammy rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t
remind me. But then again, I wouldn’t have had Jason.’
 

  
‘How are he and Roy getting
along these days?’ Jane asked, pushing her sunglasses up her nose as Jess came
back and flopped down beside her.

  
‘Really well; better than I
dared hope. That’s definitely down to Harley, bless her. She’s brought them so
close.’

  
‘Have you heard from Livvy?’
Jess asked.

  
‘Yes, we had a letter from her
last week. I’ve written back and sent her a couple of photographs of Harley. I
know we said at first we wouldn’t have any contact, but she looked so sad when
we were taking Harley that I couldn’t do it to her. The odd letter won’t hurt.
I mean, she’s given me her child. You can’t get more generous than that.’
   

  
‘Do you think she’ll ever come
back for her?’ Jess, who had every admiration for Livvy these days, asked. The
girl had been so brave in giving up her daughter that Jess couldn’t imagine how
empty she must be feeling right now.
 

  
‘I don’t think she would
somehow, Jess,’ Sammy replied. ‘She wrote that she’s met up with her old
boyfriend Danny McVey.’
  

  
Jess nodded and twiddled the
stem of her glass. ‘Good luck to her.’

  
‘Shall we make a start on
getting this marquee decked out?’ Jane jumped to her feet.

    
Sammy yawned loudly. ‘Oh God,
I’m
so tired, never mind Roy, Harley was awake at six this morning. Can you see the
bags under my eyes?’ She ran her fingers over her wrinkle-free face.

  
‘Oh yeah,’ Jane laughed. ‘Bloody
big holdalls they are, too!’

***

CHAPTER
THIRTY SEVEN

Eddie lay in the half-light with Jane dozing in his arms. He kissed her
forehead, rolled her onto her side and extracted his arm.
    

  
She opened her eyes and smiled
sleepily. ‘Oh, you
are
here? Last night wasn’t all a dream then?’

  
He arched an amused eyebrow.
‘Hey, lady, I hope you’re not in the habit of having dream’s like that or you
won’t want the real thing when I come home.’

  
‘I’ll
never
stop wanting the real thing.’
 

  
‘It
was
pretty
wonderful,’ he said. ‘It makes such a difference when the kids stay at your
mother’s.’

  
‘The whole night was wonderful.
The meal out was good, and then all of us back here.’ She leant up on one
elbow. ‘What time is it, Ed?’

  
‘Almost eight,’ he replied,
leaping up. ‘Would you like breakfast in bed? Then we’ll share a bath.’

  
‘Mmm, sounds good. Toast and
coffee for me, please.’

  
‘What time are the caterers
due?’ he asked, pulling on boxer shorts and a T-shirt.

  
‘About one.’

  
‘Roy and I are really looking
forward to today. It’s kept us going all week. It’s one thing being admired by
fans night after night, but we like nothing better than being home with our
families.’

  
‘Talking of families, have you
remembered that Angie’s mother accepted her invitation to the christening?’

  
‘Yes,’ he said. ‘But I don’t
care. What can she possibly say now after everything that’s come out? She owes
me a bloody big apology really.’

  
‘I doubt you’ll get one. You
still slept with her daughter. Jon could have been yours. You were just bloody
lucky!’

  
‘How do you work that one out?
I
took the blame, married the girl
and
brought up the kid.’

  
‘You wouldn’t be without Jon for
anything.’

  
‘I’m joking, Jane.
I’m
the
lucky one. It was worth it in the end. We’ve got the start of a new band with
Jack and Nathan.’

  
‘Yep, and they’re so beautiful,
just like you and Jess with their big blue eyes. Poor old Jon never got a sniff
where looks were concerned, except for those wispy curls.’

  
‘Maybe their next one will look
like him.’

  
‘There won’t be a next. Jon’s
promised he’ll have the snip as soon as he can. Jess says she doesn’t want
more.’

  
‘They’re a bit young to be
making drastic decisions like that.’

  
‘It’s their lives. We can’t
interfere. They’ve got their hands full with the twins. Jess wants to enjoy
herself, not get bogged down with more babies. No, a vasectomy is definitely
the answer.’

 
 
‘You wouldn’t say that if you were a man!’ he grimaced. ‘It’s agony,
I
should know.’

  
‘No more than childbirth. When I
delivered Harley I saw all that pain and fear in Livvy’s eyes. I couldn’t go
through that again. No wonder
Roy
passed out, but at least he actually saw a
child of his coming into the world.’

  
‘He’s so in awe of you. He says
he’ll never forget it as long as he lives.’

  
‘Nor will I,’ Jane said. ‘Right,
are you going to make that toast for me while I call Sam? I know it’s early,
but she’ll be up.’

  
Sammy sounded bright and breezy
when she answered.

  
‘
Hi, Jane. You’re awake early, considering you’re in a kid-free zone
.’

  
‘I’m still in bed,’ Jane
replied. ‘Ed’s making breakfast. Wasn’t it nice to have them home last night?’

  
‘
Wonderful.
Roy
’s
taken Harley out for a stroll in her buggy. They’ve got flowers to put on
Nick’s grave. He wanted to go on his own with her.’

  
Jane detected a slight catch in
Sammy’s voice. ‘Oh, Sam, that’s lovely. Jon and Jess went last week. They told
Nick about the twins. Jess said she would hate him to feel left out.’

  
‘
I thought they had,’
Sammy replied softly
. ‘I saw the flowers when I went on Thursday. At least he has plenty of
visitors. Jason and Jules go every weekend, so do
Roy
’s
Mum and Dad.’

  
‘Are we meeting at your place
before church?’ Jane asked.

  
‘
Yeah, about two. We can have a drink before we set off. I hope the
press don’t show up. I hate our private lives being public.’

  
‘We’ve kept things low key by
doing it ourselves,’ Jane said. ‘The only outsiders are the caterers and
marquee people. It should go smoothly. Jon and Jess are nervous as well, so
you’re not on your own.’

  
‘
Ah well, fingers crossed. See you all later. Bye, Jane.’
 

  
‘Bye, Sam.’ Jane replaced the
receiver as Eddie carried a tray into the bedroom.

  
‘You okay, love? Why the serious
face?’

  
‘Sammy hopes the press won’t
show up at the church.’

   
‘Well unless the Vicar’s sold
his story to The Sun for the church roof fund, there’s no reason for them to be
there.’

  
‘Yeah, but look what it was like
at the hospital after Nick and Jess’s accident, and the church after Roy and
Sammy’s ceremony. If it gets out about Jon and Jess the papers will make it
sound so sordid.’

  
‘If that’s the case, I’ll tell
everyone the truth. We’ve nothing to be ashamed of.
Roy
’s got more to hide than me, passing Harley
off as his and Sammy’s kid.’

  
Jane took a sip of coffee and
sighed. ‘I know, I can’t help worrying though, it’s in my nature.’

  
He ruffled her hair
affectionately. ‘Shut up and eat while I run a bath.’

***

‘Which way does this hat go?’ Jon was dressing Nathan ready for the
christening. He’d managed the white romper suit, with a blue N embroidered on
the front, but the little white hat defeated him. It looked exactly the same,
whichever way he turned it.

  
‘Either way, Jon. It sits on top
of his head. Pull the brim down and slip the elastic under his chin,’ Jess
replied from across the room where she was feeding Jack.

  
‘Like this?’ Jon held out his
son, complete with hat.

  
‘That’s it. He looks so cute.
Ah, bless him. You get changed now while I get Jack ready. I won’t put my new
dress on until the last minute in case one of them pukes on it.’

  
Jon placed Nathan in his Moses
basket and left the room. Jess popped Jack on the changing mat and picked up
his romper suit. He looked at her, blue eyes wide and gave her a lop-sided
smile. She gasped and smiled back at him. ‘Jon, quick, Jack just smiled.’

  
Jon shot back into the room and
stared at his tiny son, who stared back unblinkingly, without the least trace
of a smile. ‘Probably wind,’ he laughed.

  
‘It looked real enough to me,’
Jess said.

  
Jon put his arms around her and
pulled her close, kissing her slowly. ‘I feel like carrying you off to the
bedroom.’

  
‘We haven’t got time,’ she said.
‘Later, maybe, if these two go to sleep for a few hours.’

  
‘I can live in hope,’ he called
as he dashed away.

  
Jess finished dressing Jack and
lay him in his basket. She looked up as Jon came back into the room.

  
‘You look nice in that shirt.
The pale green suits you; it echoes the colour of your eyes.’

  
‘Thanks. Now
you
go and get ready and I’ll keep an
eye on these two,’ he said. He rushed to answer a knock at the door.

  
Enid
, wearing a peach two-piece and matching hat,
asked if they needed any help.

  
‘You look lovely, Gran.’ Jon
held the door open for her. ‘Come on in. Jess is getting changed.’

  
‘We’ve an hour before we need to
be at Sammy’s, so why don’t we take the babies to ours? You and Jess can have a
bit of time to yourselves,’
Enid
suggested.

  
‘Brilliant!’ Jon’s face lit up.
He lifted a Moses basket in each hand and followed her across the garden.

***

Jess was sitting in front of the dressing table putting on her makeup.
Jon took the brush from her and pulled her onto the bed.

  
‘The boys are with Gran and
Grandpa. We’ve just under an hour together. What would you like to do?’

  
‘Hmm, now let me think,’ she
said, laughing as his face lit up.

***

‘Where are they?’ Jane looked at her watch. ‘You said they were getting
ready.’ She looked accusingly at her mother and father who had carried the
twins across in their baskets. ‘Honestly, you give them an inch.’

  
‘Jane, get off their case and
don’t have a go at them when they come in,’ Eddie said. ‘They haven’t had a
minute to themselves lately. Here they are now, see.’ Jon and Jess, flushed and
smiling, walked into the kitchen, holding hands. ‘Hi, kids, everything
alright?’

  
‘Wonderful, thanks, Dad,’ Jon
replied, winking at Jess.

  
‘Good. Shall we get on our way
then?’

***

The convoy left
Hanover
’s Lodge, with Jon, Jess and the twins in Jon’s car. Eddie, Ben, Enid and
Dominic were in the Jeep. Jane and Katie were bringing up the rear in Jane’s
Porsche.

  
Katie chatted excitedly on the
way to Sammy’s house. She was still trying to work out how Aunt Sammy had
managed to have a baby without getting fat. She’d asked several ti
mes
lately why Livvy didn’t baby-sit anymore.

  
She’d spotted Livvy at
The Raiders
concert and between her, Kim
and Abby, had decided that she was pregnant. Then Livvy had suddenly
disappeared with Uncle Roy, Aunt Sammy and Mum, never to be seen again.

  
Nothing had been said in front
of Katie and Dominic about Harley’s arrival. But Kim and Abby had overheard
snatches of conversation between their mum and Sammy and the young detectives
had decided that Uncle Roy and Aunt Sammy were looking after Livvy’s baby
because Livvy was ill.

  
What they couldn’t quite fathom,
but didn’t dare ask, was why Harley looked so much like Uncle Roy. Abby
suggested that maybe Uncle Roy was Harley’s dad, but Katie said that Uncle Roy
had told her Sammy was
His Special Girl
and she was quite sure he wouldn’t have done any of that twinkling stuff with
Livvy. So where Harley had actually come from, remained, for the time being at
least, a mystery.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
  

  
‘Who’s gonna be Harley’s
Godparents, Mum?’ Katie asked for the umpteenth time, hoping to extract another
clue.

  
‘Me, Tina, Sean and your dad,’
Mum answered, stopping at the traffic lights. ‘And before you ask, Tim, Phil
and Pat are Jack’s, and Sean, Carl and Cathy are Nathan’s.’

  
‘Yeah, I know all that,’ Katie
replied impatiently, twisting a strand of hair around her fingers. Mum was
giving nothing away, as usual.

  
‘What time are Lucy and Toby
coming over?’

  
‘
Five o’clock
, I think,’ Katie replied, feeling her cheeks
warming at the mention of Toby.

  
‘I see you’re wearing lipstick
and my perfume again,’ Mum teased. ‘Is that for Toby’s benefit?’

  
Katie rolled her eyes and stared
out of the window while Mum sniggered at her own silly comment.