The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (72 page)

  
Jess smiled. ‘Well he
kissed me goodnight before he left the room. Probably went over the top,
splashing it on before he went on his visit.’

  
Jane nodded and left the
room. She frowned as she went into Katie’s room and pulled the curtains across.
Jon’s musky cologne had smelt strongly on Jess, more so than a fleeting kiss
would have left behind. There was his flushed face, too and his usually neat
curls standing on end. Maybe Jess had had a weepy session and he’d cuddled her
for a while, although she certainly didn’t have swollen eyes or a blotchy face.
In fact, Jess looked chirpy tonight, more animated than she’d looked since the
accident. Had she and Jon been kissing properly?

  
Jane pushed the unbidden
thought to the back of her mind. Things like that didn’t happen in families
like theirs. Jess and Jon were close, like brother and sister should be. Ah
but, the thought mocked, they’re not brother and sister, and Jane was aware
that there had always been an attraction between them. From the moment he’d
clapped eyes on her, Jon had been devoted to Jess and she in turn had always
been a flirty little Madam around her brother. Jane shook her head and closed
Katie’s door quietly behind her. Dom was flat out and she swept his fringe from
his eyes and smiled. She mustn’t think along those lines. It was a ridiculous
notion anyway and one she certainly wasn’t going to share with Ed. He’d think
she was cracking up.’

***

Sally was pleased with the way her nephew’s visit had gone. It was
strange, but wonderful, seeing Angie’s child again after all the years apart.
He was so tall and handsome and had lovely manners. At long last Eddie Mellor
had redeemed himself in her mother’s eyes. He’d brought Jonathon up to be a
decent young man.

  
Sally had fully expected
Jon to resemble Angie in looks, but he hadn’t and he certainly didn’t look like
her distant memories of Eddie. He hadn’t the vivid blue eyes or Eddie’s
straight, glossy brown hair. Jon’s curls, similar to Angie’s, were dark and
abundant and his eyes, fringed with thick sooty lashes, were a deep penetrating
green.

  
With her mother settled
in bed, Sally took out a photograph album from the cupboard. It was her “Angie
album” filled with snapshots of her sister. There were photos of Angie and
Eddie before and after their marriage and then with Jon. She’d planned to show
Jon the album during his visit, but had decided against it and was keeping it
for a time when maybe she could see him on his own. He must have been dying to
ask questions about his mother, but there had been too much going on with her
own brood here too and he’d been quite shy at first. Still, that was only to be
expected, he hadn’t known any of them from Adam.

  
Martin brought her a cup
of tea and sat down opposite.

  
‘I’m just looking at my
“Angie album,”’ she told him. ‘It’s tragic really; looking at all these
photographs and thinking back to how vibrant and lively she used to be. There’s
a photograph here of her taken at an early Raiders gig with the group and her
friend Cathy. Angie’s draped all over Eddie, she really loved him at that
time.’ Sally shook her head sadly and turned the page. There were more photographs
of Jon and his mother alongside Sally’s own children. Another photograph, taken
at Jon’s second birthday party, showed the ever-widening gulf between his young
parents. They looked like distant strangers, Sally thought, posing with their
son as he blew out the candles on his cake.

  
She turned to the last
page, which contained photographs from the spring following the couple’s
separation. One, taken at her son Kevin’s birthday party, showed a beaming
Angie sitting on a garden bench with Jon on her knee. Next to her, his arm
protectively around her shoulders was Richard Price. Sally smiled, remembering
how very happy Angie had been at that time, with plans to marry Richard as soon
as their respective divorces were granted. As Sally looked closely at the
photo, trying to recapture some of her sister’s lively presence, she was
conscious of a prickling sensation on the back of her neck and gave an
involuntary shiver.

  
‘What’s wrong, Sal?’
Martin looked closely at her face.

  
‘Nothing,’ she replied,
closing the book quickly. ‘Just a little ghost running over my grave.’

  
‘Okay, well I’m off to
bed now. I’ll leave you alone with your memories for a while. Don’t stay up too
late.’ He bent to kiss her and left the room.

  
Sally opened the album
again. She took the photo of Angie, Richard and Jon from beneath the protective
plastic cover and carried it over to the standard lamp. She studied it
intently, and gasped. Jonathon was Richard’s double. She sat back down on her
chair. Why hadn’t she noticed it before? The dark curls were an instant
giveaway and she remembered now that Richard’s eyes had been a very definite
shade of green.

  
There could be no other
explanation, it was staring her right in the face. Richard was surely Jon’s
father and not Eddie Mellor, as Angie had led them all to believe. Sally
rummaged in her cupboard and took out a packet of photographs. Sifting through
them she selected three of her sister and Richard. She held them under the lamp
and scrutinised them. One was very clear, a close up of Richard with
three-year-old Jon on his shoulders and even at that tender age the likeness
was apparent. But the now adult Jon was so much the image of Richard back then
that Sally was convinced she couldn’t possibly be mistaken - the pair could easily
pass as twins.

  
Her heart thudded so
loudly she was sure her mother and Martin could hear it upstairs. Had Angie
herself known? If so, she certainly hadn’t confided in Sally. There was
probably only one other person in the world who would know for sure and that
was Cathy, Angie’s best friend, and Sally didn’t have an address or phone
number for her. Maybe Jonathon would know, after all, Cathy was his godmother
and Sally also remembered from past newspaper reports that she had married one
of
The Raiders
. Carl Harrison, the
keyboard player. Eddie and Jane would be sure to keep in touch with them.

  
Sally decided that she
would call Jonathon in the morning and ask for Cathy’s phone number on the
pretext that her mother wished to see her again for old time’s sake. She put
away the photographs, not relishing the thought of her mother looking through
them tomorrow and coming up with the same conclusion. Thank goodness she hadn’t
brought out the album while Jon was here. Daughter Grace never missed a trick and
would be certain to have spotted the likeness immediately.

***

‘Morning, Mr Cantello, err,
Roy
,’
Sharon
said, blushing as
Roy
leant on the reception desk.

  
He smiled sleepily at her
and winked at Avril as he collected his room key and said, ‘Hold any calls to
my room until after eleven, please.’

  
‘Certainly,’
Sharon
nodded, following him with
narrowed eyes as he disappeared around the corner.

  
‘
H
e looks as though he’s just spent the night on the tiles,’ she
said, as Avril busily filed her nails.

  
‘He certainly looks
knackered,’ Avril agreed, pursing her glossy red lips.

  
‘He looks nice though,
with that stubbly chin and those sleepy, sexy eyes, all kind of wicked,’
Sharon
said dreamily. ‘Lucky girl,
whoever she was.’
 

***

Roy
tossed his clothes on the floor
and stumbled thankfully into bed. He needed a few hours’ kip before Sammy
arrived. He’d lain awake most of the night, going over in his head the events
of the last few hours and how he could find the right words to tell Sammy what
he would like to do for Livvy and the kid. He couldn’t see her putting up
too
much opposition. In fact, he felt quite sure she wouldn’t once he’d explained
that he had no intentions of making a home or future with Livvy.

  
He needed to stay married
to Sammy, wanted to be home with her, sharing her bed and her lovely body.
Financially, divorce would be a disaster for him. He wasn’t short of money, far
from it.
The Raiders
had amassed a
small fortune and he and Ed continued to rake in the royalties from their
song-writing. But a lot of his money was tied up in investments and property
and had been used to furnish their comfortable lifestyle. Apart from a
succession of fancy cars and expensive holidays over the years, he’d bought
their own large home, detached bungalows for his and Sammy’s parents and he’d
spent a fortune educating the boys until Nick had been expelled and Jason had
opted for a state college.

  
Along with Ed he’d
purchased the farmhouse and land in
Brittany
, owned an investment property in
Tuscany
, where his father’s elderly
brother and wife, who took care of the place, still lived. He’d invested money
in Sammy’s business and owned the factory buildings and the two shops where her
designs were sold. He had a feeling that if divorce were ever on the cards
again, Sammy would carry out her threat and take him to the cleaners.

  
He’d eventually dropped
off to sleep at about four thirty and Livvy had woken him at six when she’d
gone to the loo. She’d crept back into bed and snuggled up to him whispering
that she wanted to make love again. He’d feigned sleep, but she was familiar
with his weaknesses and before too long she got her way. So all in all he was
worn out and his batteries needed some serious re-charging.

***

‘Thank, God for that,’ Jess said as she and Eddie strolled out of
outpatients.

  
‘Are you okay,
sweetheart?’ He slung his arm around her shoulders.

  
‘Yes, Dad, I’m just glad
to get out of there. This place doesn’t hold very happy memories for me.’

  
‘Not for any of us, Jess.
It’s where Angie died, too.’

  
‘Dad, I’m so sorry, I had
no idea.’ She squeezed his arm. ‘I’ll have to grin and bear it again next week
when I have my ankle plaster removed, but then that’s it. I hope I never have
to set foot in there again.’

  
‘Did the clinic confirm the
physiotherapy appointment?’

  
‘Yes, I start next
Tuesday for my wrist and the following week for my ankle. I’m looking forward
to going back to work once I’ve built up some strength. I’m getting bored at
home all day.’

  
‘I tell you what, let’s
pop home first while I call
Roy
and then we’ll go into town, surprise Jon and take him out for
lunch,’ Eddie suggested.

  
‘Err, oh okay,’ Jess
said.

  
‘What’s the matter? Don’t
you want to go? I thought it would make a change for you.’

  
‘It’s fine, honestly.’
Jess felt her cheeks warm. There had been a slight awkwardness when Jon had
popped his head round her door to say goodbye this morning, neither of them
meeting the other’s eyes. He’d not even pecked her on the cheek as he normally
did and now she was wondering if he was already regretting last night’s kisses
and cuddles.

  
Back home, Eddie rang The
Grand to speak to
Roy
.

  
‘
I’m sorry, Sir, Mr Cantello has given instructions that he doesn’t wish
to be disturbed until after eleven. I can pass on a
mes
sage
if you like?’
the
receptionist offered.
 

  
‘Thanks. Tell him Ed
called and I’ll meet him at The Lodge about two-thirty.’ He hung up and turned
to Jess. ‘
Roy
’s not available. Shall we set off for town and have a wander
round the shops before lunch?’

 
 
‘Yeah, I might buy myself something new to
wear and I’m almost out of perfume. Can we go to Kendal’s first?’

  
‘That’s more like it,
girl.
 
C’mon, I’ll lift you into the
Jeep. Do you need your crutches?’

  
‘No, I’ll lean on you, if
you don’t mind. I can put a bit more weight on my ankle now they’ve fitted this
boot thing over my cast. I feel a right prat on the crutches!’

***

Jess and Eddie wandered around her favourite clothes shops,
emerging with several bags containing sweaters, tops, underwear and perfume.
Eddie purchased a large flask of Jane’s favourite Chanel Number 5, and then
they made their way to Flanagan and Grey’s.

  
Leaning heavily on her
dad’s arm, Jess laboured up the stairs and emerged at the top puffing and
panting. A delighted Sean took her in his arms and hugged her.