The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (62 page)

  
She quite liked her
newfound curves. The only thing she didn’t like were the more prominent veins
on her breasts and the way her nipples, which
Roy
had likened to strawberries, had
darkened. Still, it was a small price to pay. When Eddie got in touch, she
would tell him she definitely wanted to go ahead and have the baby. What she
didn’t relish, apart from telling Roy that she was pregnant, was admitting to
him that she’d forgotten her pills on a couple of occasions. He’d be thinking
she’d done it on purpose. She took a deep breath. She needed to be strong to
face
Roy
’s wrath as this baby could not be
hidden for much longer.

***

Jane opened a bottle of chilled white wine and poured two glasses,
carrying them through to the lounge. The kids were in bed early and already
asleep and Jess was having a lie down in her room. ‘Come on, Sam; relax while
Ed and Roy are out getting the food.’

  
Sammy kicked off her
shoes and sat on the sofa opposite Jane, tucking her feet up underneath her
bottom.

  
‘Now are you going to
tell me what’s on your mind?’ Jane asked. Sammy had been quiet for most of the
afternoon, brooding almost, Jane thought.
 

  
‘Nothing gets past you,
Jane Mellor,’ Sammy said. ‘I’m worried about Jason, if you must know. I heard
him crying in the early hours, couldn’t sleep myself and I went to sit with
him.’

  
‘Is he missing Nick?’
Jane clapped her hand to her forehead. ‘What a bloody insensitive thing to say,
of
course
he’s missing Nick.’

    
‘He’s missing him
desperately. Lucky he’s got Jules to support him. That lad’s been good for
Jason. Roy and I have been so wrapped up in our own grief that we’ve not really
taken Jason’s pain on board.’ Sammy took a sip of wine and looked at Jane over
her glass. ‘There’s a bit of a problem though. I don’t quite know how to handle
this one.’

  
‘What’s that?’ Jane
frowned.

  
‘Jules is gay!’

  
Jane nodded. ‘I
did
wonder.’

  
‘Hmmm,’ Sammy said. ‘Nick
was always hinting at it.’
  

  
‘Does it matter?’ Jane
asked.

  
Sammy shrugged. ‘Jason
thinks that
he
might be gay, too,’
Sammy replied.

  
‘Oh, Jesus!’ Jane choked
on her drink.

  
‘Exactly. I feel numb.
Like you can throw
anything
at me now, anything at all, and nothing else
can possibly hurt.’

  
‘So, what did you say to
Jason?’

  
‘I held him and told him
I love him. That he’s my son, no matter what. I said I would support him. I
also suggested that maybe he’s wrong and perhaps it’s all to do with the
grieving process. He told me he felt more comfortable with Jules than he’d ever
felt with girls. He said Jules understands him. He also said that he’d always
felt different to Nick.’ Sammy took another sip of her drink.
 

  
‘Actually, looking back,
a lot of things fall into place.
Roy
always said I babied and fussed
Jason too much, but he needed it. He’s so tidy and careful, nothing at all like
Nick and Roy, just different.
Roy
will blame me of course if Jason
is
gay, you can bet your sweet life on it.’

  
Jane nodded. ‘Jason was
always the one who didn’t like mud on his clothes or sticky hands. Sammy, how
on earth are you going to tell
Roy
this?’

  
Sammy stared at her.
‘Jane, are you mad? I can’t possibly tell him, he’ll flip. I’ve told Jason not
to say a thing for now. They’re not getting on at all, so their paths won’t be
crossing too often. Don’t tell Ed, not yet anyway.’ Sammy knocked back the rest
of her wine.

  
‘I won’t. Like you say,
it could be the grief. He might be enjoying the attention he gets from Jules.
He seems a nice enough young lad and Jason needs a confidante.’ Jane got up and
reached for Sammy’s empty glass. ‘I’ll get us another drink.’

***

Just before leaving work, Jon had called his Aunt Sally. The phone
was answered by an elderly woman. Jon asked to speak to his aunt.

  
‘She’s not here at the moment. Can I take a
mes
sage?’

  
‘This is her nephew,
Jonathon Mellor, Angie’s son. Could you ask Sally to call me tomorrow at work,
please?’

  
The woman drew in a sharp
breath.
‘Jonathon, this is your grandma,
Angie’s mother.’

  
‘Oh - hello,’ Jon
stammered, his hand on the receiver going hot and sticky. ‘I’m sorry I didn’t
make it to the funeral.’
  

  
‘
It doesn’t matter, love. We read the report of the accident in the
newspapers. Please don’t worry. How’s your sister, Jessica?’

  
‘She’s getting there, thanks.
She’s still in plaster of course and grieving for Nick,’ Jon replied.

  
‘
I know how that feels, believe me. There’s not a day goes by when I
don’t think of Angela. It never quite goes away, but it gets easier to live
with as time goes by.
’

  
‘I’m sure it does,’ Jon
said.

  
‘Well, Jonathon, are we going to meet up soon? I’d love to see you
before I go back home. You were only a little boy the last time we met and we
knew you as Jonny. I expect you’ve grown out of that.’
 

  
Jon chuckled. ‘It’s Jon now,
and I’m over six-foot tall, so be prepared for a shock. I’ll come on Wednesday
night if that’s okay with you?’

  
‘
Come for dinner. Sally will be delighted. We’ll see you about seven-thirty
then. Goodbye, Jonathon
.’

  
‘Goodbye, Grandma.’ Jon
hung up and let out a deep breath. Well, that hadn’t been too bad. He was dying
to know a bit about his late mother’s family. He felt that something was
missing from his life and it was probably all down to this link with Angie’s
past. He’d managed to piece together odd bits he’d gleaned from Sean and his
godmother, Cathy. That Dad had dated Angie
and
Jane and when Angie discovered she was pregnant, she and Dad had been rushed
into marriage.

  
Jon was aware that Dad
regretted the mistake and when the marriage had broken down he’d gone back to
Jane and his mother to Richard Price, who’d been killed alongside her. That was
all he knew, but he had a feeling in his bones that there was a lot more.
Hopefully Sally would fill in some of the gaps on Wednesday.

***

‘I’ll see you tomorrow, Jane,’ Sammy said as she and
Roy
left
Hanover
’s Lodge. She ignored
Roy
as they drove down

  
‘I’ve been thinking,’ he
began nervously.

  
‘Really? Well let’s hope
you’ve used your brains instead of your dick this time!’
 

  
Roy
chose to ignore her and continued.
‘I’m moving out tomorrow for a few weeks. I’ll book into a hotel and then look
for a flat. We can’t go on like this; it’s destroying everything between us.’

  
Sammy nodded, it was
exactly what
she
had in mind, but because of
Roy
’s vulnerable state she hadn’t
suggested it. This way it was
his
decision and it also meant that Jason could relax a bit more while he tried to
come to terms with Nick’s death and his own sexuality.

  
‘Are you sure it’s what
you want to do,
Roy
?’ she asked, her tone more gentle.

  
‘Yes, I think it’s for
the best. We’re going to end up splitting up for good if we don’t put some
space between us. Jason told me he wanted me out when I saw him earlier today.’

  
‘When did
you
see
Jason?’

  
‘Eddie took me to pick up
my car from the body shop. I drove it back to the house. Jason was on his way
home with Jules. He’d skipped college and he’d been drinking.’

  
‘He’s very down,’ Sammy
said. ‘He needs time and
you
need to be patient with him. He’s lost
without Nick. It’s a good job he’s got Jules to rely on. He’s been a very good
friend to Jason.’

  
Roy
grunted and pulled a face. ‘He’s a
bit effeminate if you ask me. All that bloody eyeliner and earrings and his
hair resembles a badger.’

  
‘It’s the fashion these
days,’ Sammy said, sighing. There was no way on earth that
Roy
would begin to understand Jason’s
dilemma. He was too much a man’s man, or a woman’s man, as the case may be.

***

‘You okay, Jess?’ Jane popped her head around Jess’s bedroom door.

  
‘Have Sammy and Roy
gone?’ Jess struggled to sit up.

  
‘Yes. Didn’t you hear Sam
calling bye to you?’

  
‘No, I had the telly on.
Will you help me shower and wash my hair before Jon gets back?’
                    

  
‘Course I will. You’ll
have to stand in the shower cubicle and I’ll squeeze in with you. I’ll go and
put on some old clothes.’

  
Jane tied plastic bags
around Jess’s casts and getting wet through in the process, she did the best
she could in the limited space. She wrapped Jess in her towelling robe and sat
her in front of the dressing table mirror.

  
‘I’ll go and get into
something dry.’ Jane nipped across the landing to her own room. Eddie was lying
on the bed reading Rolling Stone magazine and he looked up as she walked in.

  
‘What happened to you?
Been taking part in a wet T-shirt contest?’

  
‘Watch it, you,’ she
threatened, peeling off her top.

  
‘Or else?’ He put down
the magazine and stared at her half naked body.

  
‘Or else I’ll chuck this
at you,’ she said and threw the wet T-shirt as he ducked out of the way.

  
‘Right, lady, you’re for
it now.’ He leapt off the bed and caught her arms, pinning them down by her
sides. ‘Kiss me, Jane,’ he whispered, grinding against her.
 

  
‘If I kiss you, you know
what’ll happen.’

  
‘No, I don’t,’ he said.
‘Show me.’

  
‘Yes, you do and Jess
will
never
get her hair blow dried tonight.’

  
‘Well kiss me anyway.’ He
put his arms around her and nuzzled her neck. She kissed him and slipped her
hand down the front of his jeans, oblivious to footsteps on the stairs.

  
‘Are you two at it
again?’ a voice said, and they jumped guiltily apart.

  
‘Oh, it’s you, Jon,’ Jane
laughed. Remembering she was in a state of undress she folded her arms across
her breasts while Eddie discreetly turned his back. ‘It's not what you think, I
was wet from showering Jess and err,’ Jane gabbled.
 

  
Jon held up his hands.
‘You don’t have to explain your antics to me. Where’s Jess now?’

  
‘In her room, waiting for
me to blow dry her hair. I was getting changed when your father accosted me,’
Jane laughed.

  
‘I’ll dry her hair. I’ve
come home early to be with her anyway. You and Dad relax and finish what you
started.’ He winked and discreetly closed the door on the pair.

  
Eddie turned the key and
laughed. ‘That boy of mine’s one in a million, you know.’

  
‘I
do
know,’ Jane
replied. ‘Anyway, he’s as much my boy as he is yours. Come here, you.’ She
pulled him down onto the bed beside her and yanked off his jeans. Her wet hair
flapped in his face and made him gasp.

  
‘God, woman, you’re wet
through and your jeans are soaked. You’ll have to take them off or you’ll catch
your death,’ he said laughing, and peeled off her clothes.

  
‘Any excuse,’ she said,
rolling into his arms.
      

***

‘Jess,’ Jon called softly as he knocked on her bedroom door.