Whatever Love Is (17 page)

‘So you see, Dad, it wasn’t James’s fault,’ Ned said.

‘Of course it was his bloody fault!’ Thomas roared. ‘He took the photos in the first place, he discussed my business with this low-life Jon, and never once did he stop to think
of the consequences.’

‘Dad, I —’

‘You’re a waste of space, you know that?’

‘Thomas! Don’t say that,’ Tina blurted out. ‘He’s said he’s sorry.’

‘Oh, and that makes it all right, does it?’ he shouted. ‘He’s not satisfied with bleeding me dry financially, so he tramples my reputation into the mud as well.’ He
turned to his son. ‘Now get out of my sight. I want you as far away from me as possible.’

The look of abject misery on James’s face made Frankie want to cry. He stared at his father. ‘You don’t mean that.’

‘Of course he doesn’t, darling,’ Tina assured him.

‘Oh believe me, I do,’ Thomas said. ‘I’ve had it with you. You’re on your own.’

‘Suit yourself,’ James retorted. ‘If that’s what you really think of me, then I’m better off without you.’

And with that, he turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

‘I’m going after him,’ Tina said. ‘Thomas, there are times when I just don’t understand you at all.’

Thomas spent the next few hours closeted in his study on the telephone. Frankie got the guest bedroom ready for William and tried to calm Tina, who was distraught at the fact
that James had packed a bag and left the house, refusing to say where he was going or when he would be back.

‘Things will calm down,’ she said. ‘It’ll blow over.’

Tina looked at her unflinchingly. ‘There’s one thing I know about my husband and elder son,’ she said, ‘and that’s that they are as stubborn as one another. Neither
will give an inch.’ She sighed. ‘I’m worried about Thomas. This publicity is stressing him out and he does so much that’s good. I don’t believe he knew about these
girls in the factory, do you?’

‘No, I’m sure he didn’t,’ Frankie said.
Although
, she thought to herself,
he should have done. He should have cared enough to check things out
.

‘Perhaps we should make a donation to a charity out there,’ Tina mused. ‘Something positive to give the newspapers. Or . . .’

Suddenly Frankie had an idea. ‘I’ll be back,’ she said to her aunt, and ran downstairs, crashing into her uncle’s study without even knocking on the door. To her
surprise, her uncle wasn’t alone. Ned was perched on the end of the desk.

‘Frankie, what on earth’s the matter?’ Thomas asked.

‘It’s about my birthday celebration —’ she began.

‘Not now, Frankie,’ Ned interrupted. ‘This is hardly the right time.’

‘It’s precisely the right time!’ Frankie insisted. ‘Listen, please. This party – the one for the KOT kids – I think we should make it as big as we can and
make sure the newspapers know about it. That way, we can show them what you’re really like, which is the kindest, most thoughtful man anyone could wish for.’

‘You dear girl,’ Thomas said softly. ‘I fear it won’t make much difference because the press always prefer bad news to good. They’d just say I was doing it for a
bit of cheap publicity.’

‘They can’t,’ Frankie said, ‘because we’ll say it was arranged before all this happened and if we take Dr Grant up on her offer of help, then we can make sure she
tells the reporters that you’ve been planning it for ages. Even though you haven’t.’

Suddenly Thomas jumped to his feet. ‘Frankie, you’re amazing! Ned, you can clear it with the charity, health and safety and all that nonsense.’

‘Of course.’ Ned nodded. ‘We could have a bouncy castle, magicians, and the Rushworths said —’

‘They won’t be interested.’ Thomas sighed. ‘I had a phone call from Seamus only an hour ago. He’s furious and refusing to invest in the new project. I’ve told
him the facts but he won’t believe me.’

‘So we forget the carousel.’ Frankie shrugged. ‘There’s plenty of other things we can do.’

‘Maybe Alice could sort pony rides,’ Ned suggested. ‘But, Dad, all this is going to cost, and we’ll have to work flat out . . .’

‘I don’t care,’ his father replied. ‘Hire all the help required. I need good publicity. Besides, I want to focus now on the son who hasn’t betrayed me.’

‘Dad, James didn’t mean —’

‘Leave it, Ned. Concentrate on the party. And now I must go. Things to do, people to see.’ And with that he was out of the front door and into his car.

‘You’re a star, Frankie,’ Ned said, giving her a quick hug. ‘What a mess this all is!’

Frankie nodded. ‘He didn’t know the way that factory was run, did he.’ It was a question but she voiced it as a statement.

‘No. At least, he says he didn’t and I do believe him. My father may be out for maximum profit, but he would never treat people like that. The
maquiladoras
were infamous a few
years ago, and even Dad admits that the workers are underpaid – but he swears he didn’t know conditions were as bad as they are or about the age of some of the machinists. I just wish
to God that James hadn’t talked to Jon about it.’ He sighed. ‘The thing is, the
Telegraph
had been running pieces about injustice in employment law in the Far East and Jon
thought that he’d earn Brownie points for coming up with a new angle and in return get the paper to take some of his freelance pieces on music. How naive can you get?’ He paused.
‘I’m worried about James. He swears he’s going to stay away from the house for as long as Dad’s in it. He feels utterly betrayed.’

‘
He
does?’

‘Yes, because Dad was so furious about the way James cheated at uni and now, as James sees it, Dad’s cheating too. Cheating people out of a decent work environment, good pay –
all that kind of stuff.’ He paused as his mobile rang. ‘Hi babe!’ He turned to Frankie and mouthed, ‘It’s Alice’, like she hadn’t already worked that out
for herself. ‘What? Oh. You’ve seen it . . . What do you mean? Who should be grateful?’

He bit his lip. ‘Dad didn’t know. What? . . . No, I’m sorry I can’t come today – I’ve got stuff to do. We’re going to make the party for the KOT kids
even bigger and that means going flat out for the next few days. Hey, why don’t you come over and we’ll tell you all about it?’

Another pause.

‘Oh. OK, then. See ya. Bye!’

‘Is everything OK?’ Frankie asked sweetly, trying not to feel pleased that it obviously wasn’t.

‘How come Alice can be so adorable ninety per cent of the time and then suddenly say something that makes me wonder whether it’s the same person?’

‘I guess we all have off days,’ Frankie murmured, thinking that ninety per cent was a bit on the generous side. ‘What did she say?’

‘That she can’t see what all the fuss is about and the Mexicans are lucky to have a job at all considering they are all . . . well, I’m not going to repeat her opinion of
them.’ He sighed. ‘I guess it’s pretty much the way she thinks about the kids I work with. You know what she said? That I was turning into a boring do-gooder and that I’d
get nowhere in life if I spent all my time worrying about what she called “the dregs of society”.’ His face flushed and his jaw tightened. ‘Anyway, enough of all that. We
need to make a start on the party arrangements before William comes. I’ll tell you what, why don’t you drive to the station to meet him? Give him a surprise to see you behind the
wheel?’

‘You’d do that? You’d come with me? I mean, he’s not due till six-thirty and you usually see Alice —’

‘Not this evening,’ he said firmly. ‘This evening is all about you.’

Frankie and Ned were in the garden, deciding where the bouncy castle should go, when Henry came up the drive in his MG Midget.

‘Hi, you guys!’ he called. ‘Surprise!’

He jumped out of the car and pulled a large bag from the passenger seat.

‘I twisted the arm of the costume department at the Royal,’ he said. ‘Told them about the party, the charity and all that, and they’ve lent us these. Mind you, if we mess
them up we have to pay to get them cleaned! And they want us to put up a few posters advertising their kids’ half-term shows in October.’

He pulled out a pile of costumes and held them up one by one. ‘A cat – that was from
Dick Whittington
last year apparently, a clown, Bob the Builder and – heaven knows
what this is?’

‘Upsy Daisy,’ said Frankie. ‘They’re great – thank you so much! Now all we have to do is find someone to wear them.’

‘I’ll do Bob the Builder,’ Henry said at once.

‘
You?
’ Frankie gasped.

‘Sure,’ he said. ‘It’s your birthday party, you want it to work well for the kids – what’s to argue about?’

He got back in the car and grinned up at her. ‘Better get home and practise my bricklaying!’ He laughed. ‘See you!’

And with that he was gone.

‘He’s such a nice guy,’ Ned commented. ‘Don’t you think so?’

‘Mmm,’ Frankie said and busied herself with folding the costumes back into their bag.

They arrived at the station ten minutes before the train was due, which was just as well because it took Frankie three attempts to reverse into the only available parking
space.

‘You must be so excited,’ Ned said. ‘How long is it since you’ve seen your brother?’

‘Face to face? Seven months,’ she said. ‘We Skype when we can but it’s not the same. I can’t wait. There’s so much to catch up on.’

‘Mmm, I guess.’ Ned looked thoughtful. ‘Not least about you and Henry. He’s your first real boyfriend, right?’

Frankie looked at him in horror. ‘He is NOT my boyfriend,’ she stressed, opening the car door. ‘This is all because of that wretched photo, right? He came on to me – I
mean, seriously came on to me. Why won’t anyone believe me?’

Ned turned and gave her a smile. ‘Well, you have to admit, it didn’t look much like you were fighting him off.’

Frankie swallowed hard and began walking towards the station entrance. His words echoed her own to Henry when she’d seen him kissing Mia – and they also took her straight back to the
feelings that had welled up inside her when she was in Henry’s arms, and to the subsequent anger she had felt – anger that she knew stemmed partly from the fact that it wasn’t Ned
who was holding her that way.

‘I was in shock for a moment or two,’ she said, knowing as she spoke how feeble the excuse sounded. ‘I shoved him away and told him where to go. You have to believe
me.’

‘Hey, it’s no skin off my nose whether you like him or not,’ Ned protested.

Frankie took a deep breath. ‘So, if we were an item, you’d be cool about it?’ Her voice wavered as she asked the question.

‘Sure I would, silly!’ He laughed. ‘Me and Alice, you and Henry – it’d be kinda neat.’

It was the answer she expected but not the one she wanted to hear.

He put an arm on her shoulder. ‘Listen, I’ll let you into a secret,’ he said. ‘Henry was telling me how he feels about you, and how he doesn’t get the way you come
on to him one minute and then pull away the next.’

‘The arrogant sod!’ Frankie exploded. ‘I have
never
come on to him!’

‘I told him you’re shy and a bit . . . well, you know . . . uptight.’

‘Oh, well, thank you for nothing!’ she snapped. ‘I’m only
uptight
, as you call it, with people I don’t want in my personal space.’

‘See, Henry and Alice, they’re both fun-loving, out-there kind of people.’ It was as if Ned hadn’t heard.

‘You can say that again,’ she muttered. ‘So, you’re still OK with Alice? Even though she is against what you want to do?’

‘Hey, it’s not like I’m about to marry her!’ He laughed. ‘And anyway, I reckon that after the party, once she’s seen the kids at first hand and realised just
how much help they need, she’ll change her mind.’

As well as being blind, Ned was, Frankie thought, the eternal optimist.

CHAPTER 12

‘I cannot think well of a man
who sports with any woman’s feelings.’

(Jane Austen,
Mansfield Park
)

W
ITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS IT WAS AS IF
W
ILLIAM HAD
never been away. He had none of Frankie’s shyness and definitely none of
her inhibitions; and while Frankie had expected him to be stressed and anxious about the loss of his job, he simply laughed and said that if the worst came to the worst, he could always march up
and down Brighton seafront taking snaps of holidaymakers.