Vintage Babes (34 page)

‘Almost every bloody night. Claims he feels lonely and wants to see his mum. I’ve threatened to put a bolt on his bedroom door and lock him in, but Kathryn won’t agree.’

‘I don’t blame her,’ I retorted, defending the slick chick again.

‘You’ve got this place nice and tidy,’ Tom declared, as if needing a diversion. ‘You should see our kitchen in Islington, it’s a tip. Kids’ trainers left lying around for days, piles of unwashed cutlery and the damn cat walking over everything. Why we haven’t all died of food poisoning, I’ll never know.’

I smiled. This was a recital I had heard before. ‘You used to complain that the kitchen was a tip in Kensington.’

‘Never.’

‘Think back,’ I said, then, indicating we should sit at the kitchen table, I got down to business. ‘As I told you on the telephone, a couple of weeks ago Lynn and Justin quarrelled and she walked out. Since then, she and Beth have been living with me. Basically, her reason for leaving is that Justin has been short-tempered, bad-tempered, moody and they’re not getting along. But –’

‘Happens all the time.’ Tom shrugged. ‘
C’est la vie.’

‘But if they discussed why things have gone sour, maybe they could sort them out and get back together again. There’s Beth to consider and –’

‘And you’re doing your marriage guidance bit, ’cept they’re not married.’

‘I want to help,’ I said heavily. ‘As you know, Lynn can act the drama queen and I don’t want her to do anything rash, something she might regret for the rest of her life.’

As we drank our coffee, I explained what I knew of the situation and how I wanted him to talk to our daughter and try to persuade her to think again.

‘I understand and I’ll do my best to mend things,’ Tom said, when I had finished. Taking hold of my hand, he squeezed it. ‘You can rely on me.’

‘Thanks.’

I looked into the blue eyes which I knew so well. He may have put on weight, but he was still an attractive man. The silver grey hair suited him. He had impact and an inner spark. I understood why he appealed to the politicians and why, for all those years, he had appealed to me. And yet… He had sounded a little glib about Lynn’s split with Justin. Might family troubles rate as trivial in his scheme of things?

‘If you thought we were so good together, why did you start the affair with Kathryn?’ I enquired, withdrawing my hand. ‘I know all about infatuation with someone new and ‘middle-aged man craves younger woman’, but what did you feel was lacking with us? Okay, you didn’t like the smell of cigarettes and you considered I was chaotic in the kitchen and I never cooked asparagus, but what else was wrong?’

‘There was nothing wrong. Nothing lacking.’

‘No?’

‘No. People have been unfaithful since time began.’

I  frowned. This  was true,  yet… throw-away.  ‘Maybe,  but –’

‘I didn’t regard the canoodling with Kathryn as serious. In fact, I’d decided to end it, but then she announced she was pregnant and –’ he spread his hands ‘– no way out.’

I stared. I had not been aware of this. ‘Why didn’t you tell me you’d been all set to end it with her?’

‘Didn’t see the point and what difference would it have made? Kathryn was determined Cameron wouldn’t be a bastard – though the kid can be a real bastard at times – and insisted we must be married. She kicked up such a stink about it and I was so relieved when you didn’t – kick up a stink about us divorcing, I mean.’

‘What would you have done if I had?’

He moved his shoulders. ‘Ended it with Kathryn. Probably. Don’t know, though now I wish to hell I had. I realise I caused you a lot of distress, Carol –’

‘And caused Lynn distress.’

‘And caused Lynn distress, too, and I’m sorry. So very sorry.’ He swallowed hard. His eyes were wet with tears.

‘Oh, Tom,’ I said.

To feel sympathy for the man who had dumped me may be illogical, yet I couldn’t help it. I wanted to put my arms around him and hold him tight.

He swallowed again. ‘When I think back I’m appalled at what I did, but if you operate under pressure that’s often the way it goes. You’re at the heart of the action, living the high life, hobnobbing with famous people and it’s unreal, so you do daft things. A kind of madness descends. It goes with the territory. Virtually all my colleagues had affairs. Playing around was accepted and, because I didn’t, for a long time I was the odd man out. A dullard. A real square.’

I looked at him in disbelief. Was he saying what I thought he was saying? Many of his contemporaries were onto their second – or, in some cases, third – younger wives. Had he viewed his affair with the slick chick as something expected of him and a way to prove himself a swinger?

‘You mean you committed adultery because you wanted to be one of the boys?’ I demanded. ‘You went with Kathryn because you needed to show you were with-it?’

Tom frowned. Shrugged. ‘Well –’

‘What juvenile reasoning and what a facile bloody excuse!’

‘Carol, you’re not in the big-time now, you’ve forgotten what it’s like. You’ve forgotten the strains and stresses, and how, if a guy is a go-getter, the girls throw themselves at him. I accept I was weak, but –’

‘Did Kathryn approach you or did you approach her?’

He hesitated. ‘Well, she’d been fluttering her lashes at me for quite a while and it was obvious she was eager –’

‘So you approached her.’ I had always condemned the girl for making the running, but I was mistaken. ‘Did you have other affairs before the one with her?’

‘No!’

I studied him. He looked offended and outraged. ‘I believe you.’

‘Thanks. And how is life on
The Siren
?’ Tom enquired, clawing desperately for an escape. ‘Dog barks in the night and you have your headline?’

‘Piss off!’

He laughed. ‘That’s what I like about you, you have balls. Lynn’s told me how you’re settled and happy in Dursleigh, but you must regret quitting the London scene.’

‘I did at first, briefly. But not any more. The people are nicer here, not so cut-throat, not so narcissistic and self-obsessed. Far more human.’

‘Mmm,’ he said, as if my remarks were a criticism of him. ‘Are you okay for cash?’

‘I am.’

‘I can always let you have some if you’re short.’

‘Thanks, but no need.’

I would not accept money from him. And why must he always give cash to Lynn and Beth, instead of taking the time and trouble to choose a present?

‘If you should ever need, I’ll just tell Kathryn that Harrods is out of bounds. The way that woman can spend. Clothes for herself, things for the kids, for the house. And she pays top dollar.’ He grimaced. ‘Remember the early days, how short of cash we were?’

I nodded. ‘We bought a new bed when Lynn got too big for her cot and paid it off at a pound a week.’

‘And we had a holiday in that grotty rented cottage in North Wales.’

‘Where we lived on Smash mashed potatoes and tins of Campbell’s meat balls.’

Tom laughed. ‘Those were the days. Do you remember –’

Off we went, sauntering down memory lane, reviving this incident and that. We had reached another cheap holiday, at a guest house in Devon where the beds had been rock-hard and it had rained all the time, when the doorbell rang. It was an unwelcome intrusion. Memory lane had been fun, a reminder of the times, places and events which we had shared. Just us. Our lives may have diverged, yet there were still years of past pleasure which could never be erased. Years when we’d been a young and happy couple.

I looked at my watch. ‘This’ll be the gang.’ But when I opened the front door, Lynn was stood there alone.

‘Justin’s taken Beth to see his folks,’ she told me, walking in. ‘He’ll bring her back around six.’

‘You had a good time?’ I asked, mentally crossing my fingers.

‘Not bad. Beth enjoyed stroking all the long-suffering animals and Justin and I managed not to garrotte each other. Hello, Dad,’ she said, in surprise.

Tom came along the hall. ‘How’s my favourite daughter?’ he enquired, and hugged her.

‘I’m well. Beth will be sorry she’s missed you.’

‘Ditto,’ he said.

‘But what are you doing here?’ she asked him, then looked at me. ‘I know, you’ve called in reinforcements. Dad’s been summoned to give me counselling, too.’

‘You don’t mind?’ I had wondered if she might resent my interference and march out, but instead she was smiling.

‘Of course she doesn’t mind,’ Tom said, and spoke to Lynn. ‘How’s about you and I go for a walk?’

She shrugged. ‘Whatever.’

‘Back in half an hour,’ he said, and they went off down the path.

As I waited for a second time that day, I didn’t smoke. I refused to invite any more comments on Tom’s return. Why had I been so uptight about his visit? I wondered. It seemed foolish now. We may have once been man and wife, but that had ended eight years ago. They were eight years during which I appeared to have air-brushed out many of his faults. Eight years when I had been wearing rose-coloured spectacles. Though maybe if Tom had had me to tell him to ‘piss off’ now and then, he would not have become quite so pompous.

Yet, whatever his faults, a scintilla or two of affection, of attraction, still remained.

The half an hour stretched to almost an hour and when they returned, Tom was looking at his watch.

‘I won’t come in,’ he said. ‘Cameron’s in a concert this evening and I daren’t be late.’

‘What is he doing in the concert?’ I asked.

‘Not a clue. Hope you’ve listened to your old dad’s words of wisdom,’ he told Lynn, and took his wallet from the inside pocket of his jacket. He handed her some notes. ‘Pocket money for Beth.’

She smiled and kissed him. ‘Thanks. Bye,’ she said, and went off upstairs.

‘It’s been great to see you again, Carol,’ Tom declared, and pulled me close. He hugged me and I hugged him back. ‘I’ll be in touch to see how it goes with Lynn. Take care.’

‘And you.’ I waited until he had climbed into his car, a gleaming new registration Lexus, then waved him goodbye. As I went back into the house, Lynn was coming down the stairs. ‘Have the words of wisdom prompted a change of heart?’ I asked hopefully.

‘No, and actually there weren’t so many wise words. Dad spent most of the time talking about himself and Kathryn. Grumbling about her, saying how she’s obsessed with the boys and how the two of them are in a constant state of warfare. How she makes his life a misery and he’d be better off without her. Then he’d be free to shack up with Cher.’

‘He’s not still hooked on her?’

‘Sad, isn’t it? And Cher must be well on the the wrong side of fifty. Poor old soul.’

‘Watch it.’

Lynn
smiled. ‘Yes, Mum.’ Her smile faded. ‘Dad was asking if you had a man in your life, so I said there’d been a couple of brief encounters a few years ago, but –’

‘You knew?’ I said, in surprise.

‘Victoria told me. She’d overheard her mum telling her dad how she wished you would settle down, but you’d ended two budding relationships.’ Grinning, Lynn tilted her head. ‘What I didn’t reveal to Dad was that you’re on the brink of starting a new romance with your boss.’