The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (52 page)

  
‘Well, tell him Katrina
said hi,’ she said with a smile.

  
‘Oh, I will,’
Roy
replied, grinning.

  
‘I’ve got a mastiff bone
to pick with Daddy when I get home,’ Katie told
Roy
with a serious face.

  
‘Why, what’s he done?’
Roy
could hardly contain his amusement
as the miniature version of Jane placed her bag on the floor and her hands on
her hips, hat cocked at a rakish angle.

  
‘He’s told me big lies
about twinkles!’ She screwed up her nose and sniffed.

  
Roy
scratched his head in
bewilderment. ‘Twinkles?’

  
‘Where’s Eddie today?’
another woman asked him.

  
Thankfully, Dominic
arrived at that moment, creating a diversion. ‘Where’s Dad?’ he demanded,
looking around.

  
‘He’s at home. Come on,
let’s go and get in the car.

  
‘But we always go for
sweets to the paper shop after school,’ Dominic said.

  
‘Well okay, we’ll go for
sweets then. Lead the way.’

  
‘You have to carry our
bags.’ Katie thrust her Barbie school bag at him. ‘I’m full of arms.’

  
‘Full of arms?’
Roy
scratched his head again.
  

  
‘She means her arms are
full,’ Dominic said. 'I’ll carry mine for you, Roy. Then you only have to carry
hers.’

  
Roy
followed the pair down the road,
carrying Katie’s bright pink lunch box and bag. The diversion took his mind off
his immediate problems of the postcard and how to end it with Livvy.

  
The small shop was
crowded with kids and mums, but Katie and Dominic quickly made their choices
and took the sweets to the counter.
Roy
dug in his pocket and handed a
fiver to the young female assistant.

  
‘Where’s Eddie today?’
she asked, handing him his change.

   
‘Working,’ he replied.

  
‘Oh, that’s a shame, he
always makes my day.’

  
‘Does he really?’
Roy
said dryly. ‘Yours and a dozen
others it would seem. Come on, you two, let’s go.’

***

Eddie put the kettle on and sent Katie and Dominic to their
bedrooms to change out of their uniforms.

  
‘You were missed down at
the school gates and in the sweet shop,’
Roy
said with a lewd chuckle. ‘No
wonder you don’t object to this bloody househusband malarkey. Your harem
wondered where you were. Katrina says hi, and the lollipop lady sends her love.
Oh, and Katie’s got a mastiff bone to pick with you.’ He pulled a chair out from
under the table and sat down.

  
‘What have I done now?’
Eddie groaned, spooning coffee granules into two mugs. ‘Do you mind instant?
Save me brewing a pot.’
  

  
‘No, that’s fine. Err, do
twinkles ring any bells?’
Roy
raised an amused eyebrow. ‘Here she co
mes
,’ he added.

  
Katie bounced into the
kitchen and faced her father with her arms folded, a stern expression on her
face. ‘Daddy, you told me mastiff lies,’ she began.

  
Eddie held up his hands
in a gesture of protestation. ‘I’m not with you, Katie. I
never
tell you
lies.’

  
‘Well you did this time,’
she retorted. ‘Babies do
not
come out of twinkly eyes they come from
men’s naughty bits and ladies bottoms!’

  
Stifling a grin,
Roy
stood up and walked over to the
sink, turning his back on father and daughter.

  
‘Katie, who told you
that?’ her dad exclaimed.

  
‘Lucy did, she said
daddies plant seeds in mummies tummies and that they do it with their naughty
bits. I know babies grow in ladies tummies, ’cos Mummy told me. You said they
get there from twinkly eyes but you’re wrong, Daddy. Perhaps that’s why I
wasn’t borned when Jess was. I told you that you did it all wrong.’
                                                      

  
Roy
’s shoulders shook helplessly as
Eddie looked at Katie’s serious face. ‘Get out of that one, mate!’ he directed
at Eddie.
  

  
‘Well now, it looks like
I did,’ Eddie spluttered as Katie pursed her lips. ‘But you know what? You’re
here now and that’s all that matters. And, Katie, remember what I told you this
morning, about you being my
very
special girl?’

  
Katie’s features softened
slightly. ‘Don’t worry, I won’t tell Mummy or Jess our secret. We don’t want to
make them jealous, do we?’

  
‘Of course we don’t. Now
why don’t you go and see Grandma Enid? Take Dom with you. I believe she’s made
some chocolate crispy cakes. Go on, I need to talk with Uncle Roy privately.
Katie, don’t mention twinkles or men’s naughty bits to Grandma, she might not
understand.’

  
Nodding, Katie called
Dominic and the pair hurried off.
     
                            

  
‘See, we each have our
cross to bear,’ Eddie said with a grin. ‘My eight-year-old just informed me
that I don’t do it properly.’
   

  
‘Obviously not.’
Roy
wiped the tears from his eyes and
sat down at the table. ‘That’s the best laugh I’ve had in a long time.’

  
‘Jane needs to explain
things a bit more clearly to Katie,’ Eddie said. ‘That’s her department.’

  
Roy
shook his head, still grinning.
‘Thank God mine are boys.’

  
‘They can be just as bad.
Although having said that, Jon knew what was what when I attempted to explain
the birds and bees. They learn it all at school now. Not like us, having to
pick it up as we went along.’

  
‘Yeah, but it was fun
finding out,’
Roy
reminded him. ‘We were mean, moody and magnificent, not to
mention randy.’

  
‘Some people never
change.’ Eddie looked at
Roy
over the rim of his coffee mug.

  
The laughter left
Roy
’s eyes as he handed Eddie a
cigarette and lit up himself. ‘I’ve got another problem, Ed.’ He inhaled deeply
and coughed out a cloud of smoke.

  
‘Now what?’

  
‘That bloody postcard.
Sam’s taken my jacket to the cleaners. Guess what was in the pocket?’

  
‘Oh, fuck! Well that
ought to do it.’

  
‘Help me, Ed. Where can I
say I was on Sunday night that would cause me to lie to Sammy about my
whereabouts?’

  
Eddie screwed up his
face. ‘I’m damned if
I
know. Can you think of anyone she wouldn’t
approve of you going to see?’

  
‘I’ve racked my brains
’til my head hurts and still come up with nothing.’

  
They sipped their coffees,
minds working overtime. Eddie spoke first.

  
‘I’ve got it. The one
person Sammy isn’t too keen on is Mac.’

  
Roy
’s eyes lit up. ‘Brilliant, Ed!
Bloody
brilliant, in fact. Why didn’t
I
think of Mac?’ He scratched his head for a few minutes, deep in thought. ‘How
does this sound? I was out of dope, nipped into town, bumped into Mac in Tommy
Duck’s, got talking, went back to his place and lost track of time.’
Roy
took another drag on his cigarette
and continued. ‘I didn’t wanna tell Sam I was at Mac’s. I made up the tale of
being at John and Margaret’s, not realising they were away until the postcard
came. I panicked and hid it to avoid a row. Does that sound feasible?’

  
‘Perfectly feasible. It’s
a far safer bet than telling Sammy you were in bed with Livvy. If necessary,
Mac would cover for you. He’s cheated on Jackie often enough to know the score.
Anyway, come up and listen to the tracks, they’re pretty good. We’re off to

  
‘Sounds fair enough.’
Feeling positively light-headed at the solution to his problem,
Roy
followed Eddie up the stairs to
the music room.

***

‘Mum, are we coming for dinner tonight?’ Jess asked as she put on
her jacket. Her culinary skills were showing no sign of improvement and she and
Nick looked forward to dining with their respective families.

  
‘Of course. Your dad’s
promised Spaghetti Bolognese,’ Jane replied.

  
‘Again?’ Jess frowned.

  
‘Well it’s your own
fault. You and Nick always tell him how much you enjoy his Spag Bol and he
thinks it’s your favourite. He’s only making it because you two are coming.’

  
‘Jess, anything’s better
than coffee and toast three ti
mes
a day,’ Nick, who had come to collect her from work, teased.

  
‘Cheeky thing. You had
beans yesterday and bacon the day before. Anyway,
you’re
no better; you
burnt our boiled eggs last week,’ Jess retorted.

  
‘I won’t ask how you
managed that, son, the mind boggles.’ Sammy shook her head at the pair. ‘See
you tomorrow, kids.’

  
‘Yes, Sam, see you
tomorrow. See you later, Mum,’ Jess called over her shoulder.

***

Sammy strolled through the factory, checking the machines were off
and the irons unplugged. Jane locked Molly’s office and collected her handbag
and dry cleaning. The pair made their way out and Sammy locked the doors,
dropping the keys into her handbag. She rummaged around in the bottom of the
bag, frowning.

  
‘Where the bloody hell is
my car key?’

  
‘Oh - I’ve still got it.’
Jane opened her bag and took out both her own and Sammy’s keys. ‘And this was
in
Roy
’s pocket.’ She fished out the
postcard. ‘I forgot to give it to you earlier. That’s what I was about to ask
you before Ed dropped the wine last night. Did you get a card from John and
Margaret? We got one, too. They’re at their new villa in
Portugal
for a few weeks. Margaret
suggested we all join them. But it’s not convenient to go away at the moment.’

  
Sammy took the postcard
and turned it over to read it. ‘Trust Margaret and John to post the cards on
the last minute. No point in inviting us over when they’re already home.’

  
‘They’re not home until
weekend.’ Jane stared at Sammy as her face drained. ‘Is something wrong?’

  
‘They
are
home.
Roy
was with them until the early
hours on Sunday.’ Sammy turned the card over and stared at the picture of a
fisherman mending his nets.

  
‘You must be mistaken.
Are you sure he said he was with John and Margaret? Not Sean and Tina maybe?’

  
Sammy nodded slowly. ‘He
definitely said John and Margaret. The lying bastard! I knew he’d been up to
something by the way he avoided eye contact on Monday morning. What time is it
now?’ She looked at her watch. ‘Five-fifteen - right, Jane, come back inside
with me.’

  
‘What for?’ Jane followed
Sammy back into Molly’s office.

  
‘Just wait and see.’
Sammy reached into her bag and pulled out a small address book. ‘Accountant,’
she muttered, running her finger down the first page. ‘Here it is.’ She
snatched up the phone and dialled a number.

  
‘Ah, yes, this is Sammy
Cantello. Could you tell me if my husband left a set of house keys on your
premises when he came in to see Mr Atkinson on Monday? Thank you, I’ll hold.’
She waited patiently, shaking her head at Jane who was staring at her with a
look of bewilderment on her face. ‘I see. I must have been mistaken then. I’m
sorry to have troubled you. Goodbye.’ She slammed down the phone, her eyes wide
in her pale face.