The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (68 page)

  
‘There’s a fully tiled
shower cubicle, too,’ she said, composing herself. ‘And as you can see, the
flat’s been newly carpeted throughout in this oatmeal Berber.’

  
‘Yeah, it’s nice. I’ll
take it on a six months lease,’
Roy
said. ‘When can I move in?’

  
‘Early next week,’ she
said. ‘We’ll have the lease drawn up and we’ll need references from your bank
and employer.’

  
‘Okay,’
Roy
nodded. ‘Bank should be no
problem, but I’m self-employed. Would a reference from my accountant do
you?’
     

  
‘Of course. What line of
business are you in, Mr Cantello?’

  
'We’re song-writers,’
Roy
told her.

 
‘Oh, right.’ She looked
closely at them. ‘I thought I recognised you when you came in and your name’s
so familiar. Were you both in a group?’
   

  
Roy
nodded. ‘
The Raiders
ring any bells? Ed here was our drummer.’

  
She smiled. ‘Yes. I
bought your records when I was at school.
My
Special Girl
always
made me cry. I was sorry to read about your recent bereavement. It must have
been a very difficult time for you and your family.’
 

  
Roy
sighed. ‘It was, Sarah; and it
still is, believe me.’

  
Eddie pointed to a
further door, running off the corridor. ‘Is that another room?’

  
‘Oh, I’m sorry, I almost
forgot about that. You can actually access it from the bedroom too. Let me show
you.’ Sarah led them back into the bedroom and opened one of the fitted
wardrobe doors. At the back of the cupboard was another door. She opened it and
they stepped through into a pleasant little room, simply furnished with a
single bed, small chest of drawers and a nursing chair.

  
‘There you are; a spare
bedroom. It’s actually a nursery, but I don’t expect
you’ll
need it for
that purpose, will you?’

  
‘I doubt it very much.’
Roy
grinned. ‘I can keep my guitars
and amps in here.
They’re
my babies these days.’

  
Eddie stared silently out
of the window as
Roy
arranged an appointment with Sarah to sign the lease.
 

  
‘You’re miles away, mate.
Are you okay?’
Roy
asked.

  
‘Yeah,’ Eddie replied.
‘Just a bit tired.’
   

  
They said goodbye to Sarah
and drove back to the hotel in companionable silence.

 
‘Come on in, Ed. I’ll have
them send up coffee and cakes,’
Roy
suggested.

  
‘That’ll be nice, but I
can’t stay too long, I’ve got to get Katie and Dom. Lucy’s mum’s collecting
them from school and taking them home with her for an hour. I don’t like to
take too much advantage.’ He followed
Roy
into the hotel reception
area.
              

  
‘Okay, well half an hour
then.’
Roy
approached
Sharon
with a smile.
                      

  
‘Yes, Mr Cantello?’

  
‘May I have a tray of
coffee and Danish pastries sent up to my room, please?’

  
‘Of course, right away,
Sir.’

  
‘
Sharon
?’

  
‘Yes, Mr Cantello?’

  
‘For God’s sake call me
Roy, please!’

  
‘Oh, okay, err,
Roy
. I’ll see to that straight away,
err, the coffee, I mean.’

  
‘C’mon, Ed, let’s go up.’
Roy
led the way, leaving
Sharon
staring open mouthed after them.

  
‘Did you hear that,
Avril? He called me Sharon and he asked me to call him Roy!’

  
Avril tutted behind her
back and ordered the coffee and cakes from the kitchen.

  
‘Come down off your
cloud, he was just being friendly. Maybe he prefers to be called
Roy
. I mean he’s hardly your suited
and booted businessman type and he’s not at all stuffy and boring.’

***

Eddie stretched out his denim-clad legs on
Roy
’s bed and looked around the
elegant suite.

  
‘It’s not too bad this,
Roy
. You’ve loads of space and it’s
nicely decorated and furnished.’

  
‘Yeah, it’s okay I
suppose. A bit feminine though, don’t you think?’
Roy
said, looking at the mainly pink
decor and carpet. ‘It’ll do until I can move into the flat. I should have asked
Sarah if she knew anything about my neighbour. I hope it’s not some old battle
axe who doesn’t like loud music or I’m in
big
trouble.’

  
‘I doubt it will be. The
rent’s quite steep at four hundred a month. It’ll probably be a yuppie couple,
someone with a decent income.’

  
‘Hopefully, or it might
be a nice woman on her own. Who knows?’
Roy
had a gleam in his eye. ‘That
Sarah was nice, wasn’t she?’

  
‘Don’t you think you’ve
enough problems with the two women you’ve got?’ Eddie spoke without thinking.

  
Roy
stared at him thoughtfully. ‘Which
two? It’s over with Livvy and I don’t think Sammy wants me anymore.’

  
‘Didn’t you mention you
were going to see Sammy later?’

  
‘Yes, she wants to talk
to me about something. She’s given me no clues as to what. Do you think she
wants me back?’

  
‘Who knows? Ah, the door,
coffee and cakes no doubt.’ Eddie welcomed the diversion of room service. Sammy
had plenty she wanted to talk to
Roy
about, but he was quite sure she
hadn’t any immediate plans to ask him to go back home.

  
Roy
opened the door and let in a young
girl bearing a tray. He tipped her a fiver as she left the room, shooting them
both a shy smile.
 

  
They tucked into the
Danish pastries and the pot of fresh coffee.

  
‘I really must join a
gym.’
Roy
licked his sticky fingers.
‘Otherwise I’ll start putting on weight with the lack of physical exercise I’m
temporarily experiencing.’

  
‘We should
both
join,’ Eddie said. ‘If we’re planning on doing live shows again we need to be
fit, otherwise we won’t be able to cope. I tell you what, let’s go swimming
sometime tomorrow.’

  
‘Great idea. I’ll go back
home when you leave, sort out my swimming gear and the rest of my clothes
before Sammy gets in. Not that I’ve many clothes since the massacre. She used
to buy me something new every week at one time you know,’
Roy
said wistfully. ‘Ah well, those
days are gone, for now anyway.’

  
‘Right, I’m off.’ Eddie
stood up. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow then.’

  
‘Yeah, I’ll come over in
the afternoon.’

***

CHAPTER
TWENTY-TWO

Jane looked up as Sammy replaced the receiver.

  
‘Who was that and why are
you smiling so mysteriously?’

  
‘Wouldn't you like to
know?’ Sammy teased.

  
‘Yes, I would, especially
as you’ve arranged to go out to Rozzillo’s tomorrow night. It’s obviously not
Roy
, because
he
certainly
hasn’t put a smile on your face for the last few weeks. Come on, Sam tell, we
don’t have secrets.’

  
‘It was Stuart Green,
actually,’ Sammy replied, her cheeks flushing.

  
‘Was it now? Well, well,
well!’

  
‘Don’t you go reading
anything into it; it’s just a business meeting, that’s all.’

  
‘You could have had that
here.’

  
Sammy shrugged. ‘We
could, but it’ll be nicer over a candlelit dinner and a bottle of red.’
  

  
‘Benito will get a shock
when he sees you with another man.’

  
‘Won’t he just?’

  
‘I wonder why Stu never
married,’ Jane mused. ‘He’s had a lot of women. There never seems to be anyone
serious.’

  
‘I think he enjoys being
single to be honest,’ Sammy said. ‘He’s lived all over the place,
Germany
, the States, that long spell in
Oz. When he brought those samples in the other day he told me he’s fed up of
travelling and has decided to settle in
England
. He’s bought a small cottage just
outside Westlow.’

  
‘Really? That’s great. So
we’ll be seeing a lot more of him then? By the way, when are you next seeing
Roy
?’
  

  
‘Tonight actually,’ Sammy
sighed. ‘There’s something we need to discuss, something serious.’

  
‘You mean about Jason and
Jules?’

  
‘No, not yet. Listen,
I’ll tell you, but be prepared for a shock. Close those doors so Mum doesn’t
hear us talking and whatever you do, don’t yell out with surprise.’

  
Jane leapt up and pushed
the adjoining doors to. ‘What is it, Sam?’

  
‘Sit down again,
otherwise you’ll fall down. You know when I said the other night that you could
throw anything at me and it wouldn’t hurt, because I’ve been hurt so much
already?’

  
Jane nodded, wondering
what was coming next.

  
‘Well, today I got the
absolute, ultimate smack between the eyes.’

  
‘What, for God’s sake?’

  
‘I went to see Livvy
before I came to work.’

  
‘Oh God, Roy was with
her!’ Jane gasped.

  
‘No. If it was just that,
I don’t think I would feel so bad.’

  
‘Well what then, what
could possibly be worse?’

  
‘Are you ready for this?’
Livvy’s pregnant.’

  
Jane’s jaw dropped and
she was glad she was seated. ‘No! Are you sure?’

  
‘Oh, dead sure. She’s got
a nice little belly full of arms and legs courtesy of my adulterous husband.’

  
. ‘I don’t believe it. Is
it definitely
Roy
’s?’

  
‘Yes, absolutely
definitely.’

  
‘But, Sammy, remember how
Angie duped Ed?’

  
‘I know, but this baby is
Roy
’s.’

  
‘How can you be so sure?’

  
‘Your Jon confirmed it
and the timing is bang on.’

  
‘Jon told you? How come
he hasn’t mentioned it to us then?’

   
‘Because he was sworn to
secrecy.’

  
‘Oh my God! So you’re
going to tell
Roy
tonight?’

  
‘That’s the plan,’ Sammy
replied. ‘For one thing he’s got a right to know and for another, Livvy can’t
be expected to cope on her own. He’s going to have to offer her some support.
It’s his responsibility, although to give
Roy
his due, he thought she was on the
pill.’

  
‘The stupid girl must
have forgotten to take it, or maybe she lied in the first place and was never
taking it at all,’ Jane said.
    

  
‘That’s probably more
like it.’
   

  
‘I bet she planned it to
get money out of
Roy
,’ Jane said. ‘She’ll have seen him as a lifelong meal ticket. Oh
hell, what if she contacts the papers? They pay a fortune for kiss and tell
stories, especially if there’s a baby involved. You can just see the headlines;
Randy Raider
Roy
fathers secret love child with girl young enough to be his daughter!

  
Sammy smiled wearily.
‘That’s why I want
Roy
to sort it out now before she
does
do something like that.
Otherwise, we can kiss goodbye to any privacy for months to come.’

***

Roy
let himself into Jasmine House.
Sammy wouldn’t be home until at least
five thirty
, which gave him half an hour to
sort out a few things. He busied himself packing the remainder of his clothes.
In the music room he picked up several boxes of tapes and guitar leads and
packed them all into the boot of the family BMW. He loaded in his favourite
Fender Strat, an amp and finally squeezed in his keyboard. If he was going to
be stuck in the hotel room for a few days he might as well as be productive and
write some lyrics.
    

  
His stomach began doing
cartwheels at the thought of seeing Sammy again. It was only a short time, but
he was missing her so much he felt like his right arm was gone. He passed
Jason’s room, heard a slight sound and stopped to listen. It hadn’t dawned on
him that Jason might be home. There was usually evidence of his presence by the
sound of loud music blasting from the hi-fi. The sound came again, a muffled
sigh and whispering.
Roy
smiled. It sounded like Jason had a girl in his room. He tapped
the door gently, not wishing to disturb them, but to warn Jason that they
weren’t alone. He opened the door a crack and peeped inside.

  
What he saw shocked him
to the core and the room swam before his eyes. He clutched the doorframe for
support. His son and Jules were lying on the bed, locked in one another’s arms.
Jason was crying. Jules was stroking his hair and caressing his back.

  
Roy
sprang forward. He grabbed Jules
by the hair and yanked him off the bed. ‘You filthy little pervert, get your
fucking hands off my son!’ Jules screamed as
Roy
punched him hard in the face
knocking him out onto the landing. He fell to the floor howling.

  
Jason leapt off the bed,
a look of horror on his face. ‘Dad, what the fuck are you doing? You bastard,
you’ve broken his nose!’ He ran out of the room, knelt by Jules and helped him
to a sitting position. Blood spurted from Jules’s nose, all over the landing
carpet and down the front of his white shirt. Jason ran into the bathroom,
grabbed a towel, dunked it in cold water and held it against Jules’s face.
Roy
sat down heavily on Jason’s bed
staring at the pair through the open door.

  
His son was in tears,
cradling Jules in his arms. The lad moaned with pain as
Roy
heard the front door open and
close.
 

***

‘
Roy
, are you upstairs?’

  
‘Mum, we’re here,’ Jason
said. ‘Dad’s flipped!’
     

  
Sammy ran upstairs and
gasped. Guessing immediately what had happened she looked at the distraught
young men and Roy, his face a mask of horror, and shook her head.

  
‘
Roy
, come here.’ He came forward
silently. ‘Go and sit in our room, go on.’ Sammy gave him a push. ‘Jason, get
Jules a clean shirt and I’ll run the pair of you to casualty. I can’t leave
your dad alone for too long, he’s in shock.’

  
‘Okay, Mum.’ Jason helped
Jules into his bedroom.

  
Sammy ran downstairs,
tipped a liberal measure of brandy into a glass and took it up to Roy who was
now sitting on their bed, still wearing the same horrified expression.

  
‘Stay there. I won’t be
long.’

  
He looked at her with
haunted eyes. ‘You knew, didn’t you? You knew what was going on and you never
thought to tell me.’

 
 
‘Not now,
Roy
. I need to get Jules to casualty.
Be back as soon as I can.’ She patted his shoulder and left the room.

***

Sammy was back within half an hour. She’d given Jason money for a
taxi home rather than have to venture out again. A few brandies wouldn’t go
amiss for her, she thought, never mind
Roy
, while she geared up to telling
him about Livvy.

  
She collected the brandy
bottle and a glass and went upstairs. He was still sitting where she’d left
him, still looking numb, and clutching the now empty glass. She poured him
another drink and took his cold hand. ‘
Roy
, I couldn’t tell you, not so soon
after Nick’s death,’ she began. ‘It would have been too much for you to cope
with.’

  
He turned to her. ‘Why
has this happened? I mean, he’s
my s
on; he shouldn’t be gay. We Cantello
men have
never
been gay. Nick wasn’t. What’s gone wrong with Jason?’

  
‘There’s
nothing
wrong with Jason,
Roy
. He’s a lovely boy. He’s got all
your nice qualities about him. He can’t help the way he is.’

  
‘But people will point
him out in the street and laugh at him. His life will be hell. God, even Eddie
and me were pratting about this afternoon, pretending to be a gay couple to
wind up the estate agent. He’ll be a figure of ridicule.’

  
‘He won’t. People these
days are more understanding about homosexuality. But the understanding has to
start at home - with his parents. He’s very discreet and so is Jules.’

  
‘Sammy, if the papers get
to hear of it, they’ll make Jason’s life impossible. You can just imagine the
bloody gutter press, can’t you? So soon after Nick’s death it will have more of
an impact. Then they’ll find out
we’ve
split and they’ll be digging deep for more muck, making mountains out of
molehills as usual. For fuck’s sake, Sammy, there’ll be no bloody peace!’

 
 
Sammy took a deep breath. ‘Well, before you
get on
too
high a horse about Jason,
there’s something else you ought to know. Something
you’re
responsible for, Mr Squeaky Clean!’

  
‘What?’

  
‘Livvy’s pregnant!’

  
‘Say that again.’

  
‘Livvy is pregnant, with
your
child.’

***

Roy
stared at Sammy as her face spun
out of focus. The blood rushed through his ears, the room swam before his eyes
and Sammy’s voice, echoing, asking him if he was okay, was the next thing he
was conscious of. He was on his back on the bed and she was bending over him, a
look of concern on her face as she pushed his hair out of his eyes.

  
‘Roy,
Roy
, are you okay? You fainted.’ He
stared blankly up at her. ‘I think it was the shock of everything. God, you
fool, you scared the life out of me. I thought you’d died. Can you sit up now?
Come on, try.’

  
He sat up slowly. His
eyes wondered briefly to his flies. Still zipped up and no pain. She was
sitting calmly by the side of him, having just informed him that he’d put Livvy
in the club, and he was still alive and in one piece. Why? It didn’t seem to
make any sense to his fuddled brain.

  
‘She
can’t
be,’ he
uttered weakly.

  
‘She is, believe me.’

  
‘Well it’s not mine
then.’

  
‘Of course it’s yours.’