When Sorry Is Not Enough (18 page)

‘You think so?’

‘I know so because there is evidence that things were not done by the rules. And David, you never would have wrongly used your position to assist him if Barbara hadn’t wheedled.’

The kettle had just started to sing when the door bell rang again.
Surely
, Sally thought,
that David Stock has not come to my door again for round two
.

Opening the door she was again surprised. This time it was Margo accompanied by her father, Harry, carrying a large bouquet of red roses.

A long exhale hissed from Sally’s lips. ‘You know I must go and check the calendar.’

‘Why would you do that, Mum?’ Margo twittered as she proceeded into the house.

‘Because with the goings-on of the morning I am beginning to think it must be April Fool’s day instead of the end of blooming June.’

All three had just got themselves seated in the lounge when Margo pulled a grimace before blurting, ‘Oh Mum, we found out by accident. Well to be truthful it’s the talk of the place, about David Stock.’

‘And?’

‘Mum, Dad and I are here to support you. Both of us are heart sorry that you’ve had such a …’

‘What?’

‘Shock. I mean it was no secret that you cherished hopes that some day you and David Stock would …’

‘That’s very good of you but could I say I don’t require any … anything from anybody, especially you two.’

Harry gave a few guttural coughs before he spoke. ‘Sally, don’t be brave. Now that you and I are going to be grandparents, wouldn’t it be nice to show the world we are one big happy family?’

‘But, Harry, you hardly know our son, Bobby, and you have never met his wife, Lois, so why do you … ?’

‘It’s not Bobby’s baby that’s going to bring us all together but Margo’s. See when she told me!’ He turned to face Margo. ‘It’s over three weeks now since you announced your good news to the world.’ Margo nodded and smiled.

‘Not the world, Harry, just you. And thank you for telling me that I will soon be welcoming another grandchild.’

Sally got up on her feet, made a show of dusting herself down, before spitting, ‘Now if that’s all for today, could I bid you goodbye. I have a lot to tend to and don’t forget to take your roses with you.’

Margo was astounded. ‘Mum, have you nothing to say to me?’ she cried.

‘Not that I would wish a stranger to hear,’ Sally emphasised before indicating with several jabs of her right thumb that Harry and Margo should leave. Flinging the door open wide she smiled sweetly at them as they passed by her.

‘But, Mum,’ pleaded Margo, ‘surely you wish to congratulate me on becoming pregnant. I’m giving you your wish to become a granny.’

‘Ah,’ Sally replied, triumphantly, ‘Bobby beat you to that. And now will you please leave my home and don’t return as long as you think I am an afterthought.’

Harry snorted, ‘Can’t you see that if you take up my offer to come back into your life you will be able to hold your head up. Be respected.’

Sally’s derisive laughter echoed through the house. ‘Take you back,’ she hissed. ‘Oh, Harry, I may be desperate but I’m certainly not suicidal!’

After making sure Margo and Harry had left, Sally sank down on to the settee. Scalding tears rushed to her eyes.
I know
, she thought,
that he is a bounder and no matter what, he will always be yesterday’s man to me
.
But Margo, you were my first born. I loved and still love you so much, so why do you always have to slap me in the face?
She sighed.
But, Margo, do you realise that by telling your father first about your baby, the baby that wouldn’t have been if I hadn’t financed your Swiss treatment, may prove to be your long overdue undoing
.

She was still sitting quietly when she heard the door open and Luke call, ‘Sally, it’s me. Hope you’re in residence, my lady. Because how about the two of us nipping over to the Rockville restaurant on the other side of the street for a bite to eat?’

‘One good idea,’ Sally answered, ‘because no way am I in the mood for cooking. Besides there’s nothing other than bacon, sausages and black pudding in the fridge.’

The Rockville hotel which housed the restaurant and three letting bedrooms was owned and run by an Italian family. Sally regularly took her family to dine there on a Sunday.

Sally chuckled when Sophia, the mother of the family, approached to pass the time of day with her. During the three, nearly four, years that Sally had owned the bed and breakfast on the other side of the street a genuine interest in each other’s businesses and a friendliness had developed between the families.

‘Busy?’ Sophia asked, handing Luke and Sally a menu.

Sally nodded. ‘Yes. I’m booked out for next week and already the festival is proving a draw for tourists. How about you?’

‘Hmmm,’ Sophia mumbled, taking out a chair and sitting down beside Sally. ‘We’ve got the chance of a prime site in Musselburgh, opposite the race course, so …’

‘Och, don’t tell me you’ll be selling up?’

‘To be truthful I’m not so keen. But we only have the three letting bedrooms and one of them is a single.’ She blew out her lips. ‘Tried to persuade Dom to stay, especially as,’ Sophia leaned in closer to Sally to whisper, ‘I heard, and from a reliable source, that the rundown house three doors along from you is coming on to the market.’

‘Is it?’ Sally exclaimed, looking at Luke.

‘Aye, and won’t that be a good buy for someone who wants something cheap that they can upgrade.’

Sally nodded.

‘You wouldn’t think of taking on that house yourself?’

‘No, Sophia. You see I’ve extended out the back and now have eight letting rooms with facilities and when you add on my private apartment, well that’s more than enough for me.’ Sophia looked despondent. ‘But tell you what, if I think of someone I’ll give them the nod. Mind you, that will only be if you can’t persuade Dom to stay in good old Porty and take the ramshackle place on.’

‘That was an excellent meal,’ Luke remarked as he finished off his tiramisu.

‘Always is. If Sophia and Dom do leave I hope this place will be taken over by someone who knows how to cook.’

Looking about, Luke said, ‘They do have a lot of ground.’ Sally nodded. ‘Then why don’t they extend here?’

‘Don’t know,’ she replied but he felt her thoughts were elsewhere now.

Pouring himself another cup of coffee from the pot Sophia had left on the table, Luke started to make clucking sounds by clicking his tongue. ‘You want to say something?’ he asked.

She nodded her head and then shook it.

Not sure what she was trying to indicate he rested his elbows on the table before tentatively continuing with, ‘Well I have something to say but I’m frightened to open my mouth because you said I was not to mention Josie until … whenever.’

She exhaled deeply before replying, ‘Look, with the day I’ve just had with some that are supposed to be my nearest and dearest, speaking about Josie right now would be the final straw.’

Adding another spoonful of sugar into his coffee, Luke allowed his tongue to click several times before saying, ‘Sally, I met our half-brother, John, in Taylor Gardens and he had a wee lassie with him. A lovely wee bright thing.’

Simpering, Sally chimed, ‘Our Ellen. Great bairn. Mind you I’ll soon be having two wee ones of my own.’

‘Lois is having twins?’

‘No, Luke, would you believe that my Margo just happened to forget to tell me she was pregnant? Mind you she did remember to tell her dad.’ Sally sighed. ‘You have to hand it to my Margo for having the highest polished brass neck going.’

Luke mused. ‘See when I met Ellen I realised I was going to miss the bus.’

‘The bus?’

‘What I mean is if I don’t get hitched soon I’ll be too old to be a doting daddy.’

‘Right enough, you’re racing towards thirty-nine.’

Straightening himself up Luke blustered, ‘Okay, so I am. But I’m wearing well and everybody says I could be taken for twenty-nine.’

‘That right?’

‘Aye, and before you go shooting me down in flames just remember you’re pushing fifty-five.’

‘So I am. But I’m the mother of three adult children and like you I could pass for being ten years younger.’

‘Back to where we should be,’ Luke chanted as he positioned the salt cellar nearer to himself. ‘I was wondering, as I have only another seven weeks leave to go, if you’d like to chum me down to London for a few days?’

‘What?’ exclaimed Sally. ‘Are you forgetting you have to get Irish sorted out? Which means you still have to get Jessie Scott by the throat and try and discover why she gave the testament she did.’

‘I know that we have to work out why she did what she did. And the other things I have to find out are who put her up to it and what was her motive. Mind you, to do that I will have to get hold of her.’

‘What’s keeping you back, Luke?’

‘Just that I think someone may have whispered in her shell-like ear that her testimony was going to be looked at again. And that the powers that be will not be pleased if it can be proved that she lied.’

‘And you get a custodial sentence for trying to pervert the course of justice.’

‘Precisely. So I think she’s done a runner. But knowing Jessie it’ll be just for a day or two then when she’s worked out a plan of action to save herself she’ll surface again. Mind you, the minute she hears that there may be a whole judicial enquiry then,’ he chuckled, ‘she’ll dive right down her bolthole again.’

‘But why would she do that?’

Luke pondered. ‘Well someone killed Marie and I think that Jessie just might know who and that information could cost her dearly.’

Perplexed, Sally muttered, ‘Leave it with me. I’ll ask Nancy where she thinks Jessie might be.’

‘Good. Now back to London. Sally, before I left Hong Kong I was getting real friendly with a lassie. Her father’s been on the force for years. She stays London way with her mother but she comes out regularly to visit her dad.’

‘How old is she?’

‘That’s what’s been holding me back. She’s fifteen years younger than I am.’

‘Oh, cradle snatching, are you?’

‘No quite as bad as your pal David. He’s at least twenty-five years older than Phil Watson’s sister.’

‘Right enough but some people like old age creeping over them.’

‘Behave yourself, Sally. What I want is for you to meet Spring …’

‘Spring! Is that really her name?’

‘Aye, and as far as I’m concerned she’s well named.’

‘Okay, but Luke I have to be running both the guest house, which I could leave in Maggie’s hands, and also the Four Marys. Surely, Luke,’ she pleaded, ‘you can see that after the humiliation David Stock has subjected me to that I just have to be seen working away there next week as if his betrayal is of no consequence to me.’

‘That takes us back to Josie …’

‘No, it doesn’t!’ Sally accented with such force, other diners looked towards her. ‘And,’ she confided in a softer tone, ‘you should go to London on your own. You’re picking a life companion for yourself so what you would consider as an ideal mate, most certainly, would not rate with me.’ She gave a mocking chuckle before adding, ‘And with my track record you really should consider if I am a competent judge.’

‘Hmm.’

Ever since they had taken their place at the table Sally had kept glancing over at her outside door in case anyone should call. ‘Oh,’ she squealed, gripping the table to rise, ‘would you believe it? There’s Nancy pulling at my doorbell and I think she’s brought the boyfriend to meet us.’

‘Just the person we need to assist us,’ Luke chortled.

‘Luke, you pay the bill.’ Sally then hesitated before adding, ‘And I think it would be best if you leave Nancy to me.’

When Sally shouted, ‘Cooee, cooee,’ Nancy was so startled that she jumped backwards and nearly fell off the top step.

Regaining her balance and half turning she grumped, ‘Sally, I was expecting you to open the door. Not to come dancing over the street.’

‘Sorry. Luke and I were just having a meal at the Rockville.’ Sally said no more. She was eyeing up Benny. She liked what she saw. He was of average height for a man and she guessed he had said hello to his late fifties. Nonetheless he was wearing well and although he seemed a bit hesitant, there was a masculine attraction about him. She grinned when he smiled directly at her. Indeed from that moment she was completely captivated by him.

‘Pleased to meet you,’ Benny said, thrusting his shovel-like right hand towards Sally.

‘And I have heard so many good things about you that I am delighted to meet you in the flesh.’

By now Luke had joined the party at the door. ‘Look let’s all of us get inside,’ he said pushing past Sally so he could open up both the storm and inner doors.

‘We just had our tea in Elio’s,’ Nancy joked. ‘You see, we’ve no got your kind of money, Luke.’

‘Or Sally’s brass neck,’ Luke added with a wicked grin.

‘That’s him telling you that I rushed over here to meet you and left him to pay the bill.’

Once inside the living room Nancy grabbed hold of Benny’s hand and steered him over towards the couch where they could sit side by side.

‘Were you out for a wee dander?’

‘Aye, Sally, we were. Would you believe we walked all the way from Leith Links to here? But we’re out of puff now,’ laughed Nancy.

‘Bet you could murder a pint, Benny.’

Benny looked at Luke somewhat puzzled.

‘Nothing to worry about, Benny,’ twittered Sally. ‘He’s just looking for a pal to go with him to the Ormelie.’

‘Ormelie?’ echoed Benny.

‘Aye, see go over there to the window and look left and you’ll see it.’

‘Serves a good pint so that wee pub does,’ Luke added, before indicating with a nod of his head that Benny and he should stroll along for a pint. ‘Nae need to worry, Nancy. We will only have one, okay maybe two, before we meander back.’

Nancy and Sally watched from the window as Benny and Luke started to make their way to the Ormelie Tavern. ‘Looks to me as if everything has been sorted out between you and Benny,’ mused Sally.

Nancy had set herself down on the couch again before she replied, ‘More than sorted out. Oh, Sally, he …’ Nancy inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before carrying on haltingly, ‘We’re – getting – married.’