The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) (73 page)

  
‘Jess, it’s good to see
you out and about, so it is’ he said, kissing her on both cheeks.
   

  
She waved her
un-plastered arm triumphantly in the air and looked across to the counter where
Jon was standing. He stared at her for a long moment then walked over and
hugged her.

  
‘So, sis, how does it
feel to be plaster free?’

  
‘Good, really good. Dad
wants to take us out,’ she said.
 

  
‘Oh, nice one. Can I go
for an early lunch Sean?’

  
‘No problem. Livvy’s just
arrived, so I can manage. Not that she’ll be much help; she looks half asleep
this morning.’

  
‘Maybe she didn’t sleep
much because of the outcome of seeing
Roy
last night,’ Jon said.

  
Sean grinned knowingly.
‘Or maybe she didn’t sleep much because
Roy
spent the night with her, she just
told me.’

  
Eddie shook his head.
‘Did he now? No bloody wonder he doesn’t want to be disturbed until after
eleven.’

***

Livvy strolled out of the staffroom and caught them all standing
in a huddle. Guessing correctly that she was the topic of their conversation
she felt her cheeks warming when she saw that Jess was with them. Jon came to
the rescue by telling her that Jess had just had the plaster cast removed from
her wrist.

  
‘How are you, Jess?’ she
asked, looking directly at the girl.

  
‘I’m getting there,
Livvy, slowly but surely,’ Jess replied.

  
‘I’m so sorry about Nick,
really I am.’

  
Jess nodded.
‘Congratulations,’ she said, looking pointedly at Livvy’s baby bump.

  
Livvy felt her cheeks
heat further. ‘Thank you, although I wouldn’t have said that congratulations
were really in order, would you?’

  
‘Well you want it, don’t
you?’ Jess said. ‘Otherwise, you would have got rid of it, or made sure it
didn’t happen in the first place.’

  
‘Of course I want it,’
Livvy said. ‘I’m just not sure that everyone else thinks I
should
have it.’

  
‘You have to admit it’s
an awkward situation for everyone,’ Jess said. ‘Your timing could have been a
little better.’

  
‘I didn’t plan to get
pregnant, Jess; it was an accident. Anyway,
Roy
wants me to have the baby. He’s
standing by me and he’s offered all kinds of support.’

  
‘Bet he hasn’t offered to
marry you though, has he?’ Jess’s reply was laden with sarcasm.

  
Livvy’s eyes filled with
tears and Eddie stepped in to diffuse the situation.

  
‘Jess, that’s enough,’ he
ordered gently.

  
But Jess hadn’t quite
finished. ‘He hasn’t, has he? And he never will. He’ll never, ever divorce
Sammy for
you
, no matter how often you open your legs for him!’ She
turned away as angry tears sprang to her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

***

Jon led Jess into the staffroom. Shutting the door behind them, he
sat her down and handed her a glass of water. ‘Calm down, you.’ He knelt in
front of her and took her hand. It was cold and lifeless after weeks in plaster
and he rubbed it gently.

  
‘What does
Roy
see in her?’ Jess sobbed. ‘She’s a
calculating little bitch who got pregnant to try and trap him. She likes what
she’s seen on her visits to our ho
mes
and she wants to be part of it.
Roy
’s such a fool for falling for that
one.’

  
‘It goes a bit deeper
than that, Jess.
Roy
loves
Livvy, but he also loves Sammy and he’s a very mixed
up man at the moment. Whether we like it or not, Livvy’s carrying his kid and
he’s taking responsibility for it.’

  
Jess sniffed and sighed.
‘Well at the end of the day, it’s no one's business but Roy, Livvy and Sammy’s.
God though, I’d want to scratch her eyes out if I was Sam.’

  
‘Well you’re not, so stop
fretting about it. You and I have a far more pressing problem of our own.’

  
‘Do we?’ Her lips
trembled and her smile was wary.

  
Jon nodded. ‘You know we
do. I couldn’t face you this morning because I was embarrassed. Then when I got
here, I was annoyed with myself because I probably upset you by not saying goodbye
properly.’

  
‘Well I did wonder,’ she
replied.

  
‘The truth is, I
wanted
to kiss you again this morning, but I didn’t dare. Everyone was up and about
and it would have only taken Katie to come barging in and we’d have been in
deep shit.’

  
‘So now what?’

   
‘Maybe we should avoid
being alone together.’

  
‘Is that what you want?’
Jess looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

  
‘Of course not. I’m
terrified of voicing what I
really
want, because we can’t do that and
I’m damn sure if we’re alone it’ll happen. Am I right?’
 

  
She was silent for a
moment. Taking a sip of water she sighed. ‘Yes, it would. I can’t believe this
is happening to us, Jon. We’re brother and sister; we’re from a normal family.
Things like this don’t happen to people like us.’

  
‘Hardly a normal family,
with everything that’s happened in the past and having a famous dad.
Circumstances have brought us closer as well with Nick’s death.’

  
Jess nodded. ‘I’ve come
to rely on you so much. I don’t want us to be frightened of our being close,
but we need to keep our feelings under control.’

  
‘That’s easier said than
done, but we’ll try. Are you ready to face them all again? Dad will be
wondering what’s going on. Let’s go and have lunch.’ He kissed her on the lips
and hauled her to her feet. ‘Lean on me.’ He took her arm and together they
went back into the shop.

***

‘Alright, you two?’ Eddie smiled as Jon and Jess emerged from the
staffroom. With them out of the way he’d managed to speak to Livvy about
Roy
’s reaction and the promises he’d
made her.
    

  
Jess nodded. She turned
to Livvy and smiled. ‘I’m sorry, Livvy, I had no right to be rude to you. It’s
a difficult time for everyone. I’m sure you’ll do what’s best for you and the
baby and I hope things work out for you.’
      

  
Livvy nodded
wearily.
   

  
Between them, Jon and
Eddie lifted Jess under her arms and whisked her down the stairs, closely
followed by an obliging Sean, carrying the packages.

  
‘I’d join you, but I
can’t leave Livvy alone,’ he said. ‘I’ll see you again.’ With a wave of his
hand he strolled back inside the store.
    

  
‘Pub lunch or Italian?’
Eddie asked.

  
‘Pub lunch, please,’ they
chorused.

  
‘Right you are. Let’s go
to the Rose and Crown. They do decent food.’ Eddie led the way, carrying the shopping,
whilst Jess held on tightly to Jon as they followed their dad down the road. As
he disappeared through the pub doorway, several yards ahead of them, Jon turned
and kissed Jess on the lips.

  
‘I’m sorry, I couldn’t
resist that one,’ he said, smiling at her as he led her into the pub.
 

  
They made their way to
the bar where their dad was chatting to the barmaid, a pint of lager already in
his hand. ‘Come on, you two. What do you want to drink?’

  
‘Same as you please,
Dad,’ Jon replied, winking at the barmaid. ‘Alright, Carol?’

  
‘Not so bad, Jon. And
yourself?’

  
‘Overworked and
underpaid,’ he said, smiling.

  
‘Aren’t we all?’ Carol
pulled a neat pint and handing it to him.
   

  
‘Have you decided, Jess?’
her dad asked.
 

  
‘Pint of cider, please.’

  
‘Ah, our favourite tipple
from schooldays.’

   
Jess tutted with mock
disapproval. ‘And
you
used to go on at us about under-age
drinking.’
  

  
‘I was trying to be a
protective father,’ he laughed.

  
Jon found an alcove and
Jess slid onto a seat. Eddie placed the bags on the seat beside Jess and sat
down facing her while Jon squeezed in next to her.

  
‘They’ve done this place
up a bit,’ Eddie said, looking round at the fresh cream décor, mahogany floor
and red velvet upholstery. ‘Bit fancier than it was in the sixties. Your shoes
used to stick to the old carpet.’

  
‘What have you been
buying?’ Jon peered into one of the bags. ‘Oh, that looks nice.’ He half pulled
out a black lacy item.

  
‘Jon, put it back,’ Jess
hissed, taking the bag from him and blushing furiously. ‘I don’t want everyone
to see it.’

  
‘Sorry,’ he grinned. ‘I
thought it was a dress or something.’

  
‘No, it’s not. Now can we
please stop discussing my underwear in public?’

  
‘Here, choose something
to eat.’ Eddie handed them the menu, grinning at Jess’s comments. ‘I’ll just
have a sandwich. I’m supposed to be swimming later. If I eat too much now I’ll
sink, never mind swim.’

  
‘Steak for me,’ Jon said
and Jess chose the same.

  
With his father out of
earshot at the bar, Jon whispered in Jess’s ear, ‘I wouldn’t mind seeing you in
that black lacy thing sometime.’

  
‘Pack it in, Jon, Dad
will hear you. This is going to have to stop.’

  
‘But you don’t really
want it to, do you?’

  
‘You know I don’t.’

  
‘What are you two whispering
about?’ Eddie made them jump as he appeared beside them. ‘Would you prefer
chips or baked potato with your steak?’

  
‘Chips please, Dad,’ they
chorused.

  
As his dad walked away,
Jon squeezed Jess’s hand.

  
‘You’re treading
dangerous ground.’ She pulled her hand away.

  
‘I know.’ he replied and
took a sip of his drink, ‘but it doesn’t feel wrong.’

  
‘It
is
wrong
though,’ she said.

  
‘What is?’ Eddie sat down
and picked up his drink.

  
‘Oh, Roy and Livvy,’ Jess
replied quickly.

  
‘Well it’s certainly a
mes
s. But it’s happened and he’ll have
to do the best he can for all concerned. Now I wanted you both together to tell
you something. It mustn’t go any further because of the delicate nature, but
I’m telling you two as I know you’ll offer support.’

  
Eddie lowered his voice
and told them about Jason and Jules. He sat back and looked at their faces.
‘It’s a bit of a shock, I know.
I
found it hard to take when your mum
told me last night. The whole family have a lot on their plates at the moment
and they need us, and that
includes
Roy
, Jess, so don’t give him a hart
time when he co
mes
over later.’

  
‘I did wonder - you know,
about Jason I mean,’ Jon said. ‘He has that sort of look.’

  
‘What look,’ Jess
frowned. ‘Gay, you mean? Well whatever, he’s our mate and always will be. I
like Jules a lot, too. He’s really good to Jason.’
  

  
‘
Roy
thumped Jules last night and
nearly broke the lad’s nose. He’s lucky he isn’t facing an assault charge
today. Poor
Roy
, it wasn’t his night. Sammy told him about Livvy and the baby and
he fainted clean away.’ Eddie shook his head.

  
‘Bloody hell. So he
didn’t know about the baby until last night?’ Jess said.

  
‘No, only me, Sean and
Jon knew, but
Roy
didn’t and neither did Mum or Sammy until yesterday, so don’t you
dare let on to Mum that I knew before her.’