Chapter 7

The next morning, Maddy got a call from her boss, one of the afternoon staff had phoned in sick, so he needed her to do an extra shift, Maddy reluctantly agreed. This meant she only had time to take Jess to her bank. I would need to take Jess and the kids to meet Sheila, Maddy’s mum.

This would also be my first meeting with Sheila, with no Maddy to help me. Should be interesting.

Once the teenagers had left for school, Jess put Olivia in her stroller, and we set off across town to Maddy’s bank.

There are plenty of closer banks, but Maddy assured us her bank manager had been very understanding in the past, so should be willing to help Jess.

Noah held my hand most of the way there, which was fun.

Maddy had phoned ahead and made an appointment, the branch manager greeted us warmly and we were directed to a side room, there was no way we could all fit, so I took Noah to a nearby cafe, where he devoured a donut while I enjoyed a coffee and toasted teacake.

I’d never wanted children, it’s one of the things my ex-wife and I firmly agreed on. Having children would have seriously impacted our lifestyle. I think it was the right decision, London me wouldn’t have made a good father.

Now though, sitting in a coffee shop with Noah, I felt different, I felt a completeness I’d never felt before. Maybe I was ready to have a child of my own.

This is a discussion to have with Maddy once all the higher priority stuff was sorted.

My phone rang as I was about to order a second drink.

“Hey Maddy, how’s it going?”

“We’re all sorted at the bank, everything went swimmingly. It’s just, Jess needs a car. The family car she used before is Dan’s, and it’s not at the house. She doesn’t need anything flash, and we think we’ve found the perfect one.”

“OK, so why are you talking to me about it?”

“Well, it’s £5,000, and Jess doesn’t have that kind of cash, and as you can imagine, she isn’t getting a loan any time soon, and whilst I’ve got enough to pay for it, it’s locked away to stop me doing this very thing, namely buying a car for someone we’ve only just met.”

“That’s quite a specific thing for you to protect yourself against,” I replied, “well done.”

“I know, I’m very clever. Anyway, I was wondering if...”

“Where are you, I’ll come round.”

“This is why everybody loves you Jim.”

I helped Noah into his coat, and we went to find the car dealership, which was on the road out of town. Noah was fine with the walk and was very excited when he spotted his mother looking at cars.

Maddy pulled me into a hug as soon as Noah had let go of my hand.

“Oh my god Jim, Jess’s life has been so grim these last few years.”

“Oh no, what else has she told you?”

“Nothing really, it’s more what she’s not done. She’s not been on holiday since she was married, they didn’t even have a honeymoon. The only time she’s been out anywhere is when Dan needed someone on his arm. You’ll laugh at this, they came to the barbecue because Dan had seen me and was hoping to get lucky.”

“The snake!” I laughed.

“Like he stood a chance with you around,” Maddy replied.

“So, what am I buying?”

“You’re not buying anything, you’re lending Jess the money.”

“OK, but I don’t expect her to pay me back.”

“I know, but we don’t want her to feel like she’s our pet charity.”

“Fair enough, which car is Jess buying?”

“See that car she’s looking at?”

“The Porsche, surely not!”

“Yeah, like they’ll let her have that for £5k,” Maddy laughed, “the silver Skoda behind. I’m no expert, but it looks pretty tidy.”

We walked across the lot to the Skoda Octavia, Maddy gave Jess’s hand a quick squeeze as we passed.

From the outside, the car did look tidy, no bodywork damage, the alloys were mostly unscathed. Maddy passed me the keys and I checked inside. It was high mileage for the age, probably used by a salesman, which was good, because company cars are serviced regularly. I popped the bonnet and started the engine; no weird noises, no black smoke. VW group diesel engines last forever.

Overall, a great choice.

Maddy grabbed Jess, reminded her that even I couldn’t afford the Porsche, and we completed the paperwork for the Skoda.

“Are you sure you’re OK lending me the money?” Jess asked at least half a dozen times during the transaction.

I assured I was happy lending her the money, and she needn’t worry about paying me back until she’d got a full time job.

Unfortunately, the garage wouldn’t let us leave with the car, it needed taxing, servicing and a fresh MOT; and more importantly, Jess needed to insure the car.

This meant we would be driving to Sheila’s in my Mini; which involved a stop at Jess’s house to pick up her spare car seats.

Once the seats were fitted and the kids installed, we kissed Maddy goodbye as she left for work.

The address Maddy had given me was in a part of town I wasn’t familiar with, so I tapped the postcode into my sat nav.

“Ohh, it’s fancy round there,” Jess told me as she saw the destination appear on the screen, “did you know her parents were wealthy?”

“I don’t really know much about Maddy’s parents, I know her mum’s name, and she was a nurse before Maddy was born. I don’t even know her dad’s name, which is bad, but we’ve only been close for a few weeks.”

“I guess we’ll both learn things about Maddy then,” Jess replied cheerily.

Sheila’s house was on a small estate down a narrow lane, the houses were large, detached properties, some of them had outbuildings and three- or four-car garages.

Number 6 was one of the smaller houses, but still stood down a short driveway that ran past a large front lawn, the house was double fronted with a two-car garage, the ornate gates were standing open, so I drove past the beautiful lawn and parked in front of the left-hand garage.

The front door opened as we were lifting the kids from their cramped confines in the back of my Mini.

I did a double take as I turned around with Noah, Sheila was like looking at a photo of Maddy from the future. I guessed her to be around 50, but she looked younger.

“Gosh, she’s stunning...” Jess whispered as she hoisted Olivia into her arms and we walked across the gravel path to meet Sheila.

“Hello dear!” Sheila called as we approached, “come inside, I’ve just put the kettle on.”

The entrance hall was painted white with grey marbled floor tiles, the walls were decorated with paintings and photographs, the largest, and most stunning of which was a framed black and white photograph of Maddy.

“Have you not seen this photo before?” Sheila asked, “Maddy has a copy.”

“No, ma’am, I haven’t.” I replied.

“Less of the ma’am nonsense young man, I’m Sheila,” she laughed, “I’ve another one upstairs, if it’ll fit in that little car, you can have it. She was so beautiful as a teenager...”

“She still is,” Jess replied.

“Oh yes, she is, but she could have been a model, unfortunately, the only people who were willing to give a girl with Maddy’s gifts work were, shall we say, not family friendly, and mentally, she wasn’t in the right place for that kind of work.”

We were sitting in a bright airy sitting room as Sheila poured tea, “she’s told you about the ... incident?”

“Yes,” I replied.

“And what she did prior to her...” she paused and looked at Noah, he was playing with a small poodle and wasn’t listening, “her suicide attempt, she’s told you what she did ... and don’t worry, I know everything, she held nothing back that night...”

“She’s told me she did some stripping, and sex work, and drugs,” I replied, checking Jess’s reaction as I spoke, she looked shocked, so it looked like they’d not spoken about any of this.

“OK, she clearly loves and trusts you if she’s told you everything, this is reassuring.”

“What she hasn’t told me is that she used to live in a mansion,” I laughed.

“Ahh, this old dump,” Sheila replied, smiling, “I wonder, has she spoken about her father?”

“No, she hasn’t. Jess and I were just talking on the way over, and I had to admit that all I knew was your name, and you used to be a nurse.”

“OK. Maddy adored her father. Phillip was a good man, a caring man within the limits of men his age ... he was what, 15 years older than me, he’d have been 72 now...”

Gosh, I thought, that made Sheila 57, she definitely did not look that old.

“Men of his generation were not brought up to show emotion, and to care for their children like they are now; still he loved Maddy and she loved him, worshipped him.”

Sheila paused, thinking, she looked around the room, “do you know the wallpaper factory on the way out of town?”

I shook my head, Jess looked excited though, “McKenzie and Palmer?”

“Yes, that was Phillip’s company, he founded it over 40 years ago.”

“We have their wallpaper ... ahh, had, I don’t live there anymore,” she added, sadly.

“You can decorate your new house with the paper, I still have shares in the company, I can get you any wallpaper you like.”

“Oh my, you’re all so kind to me.”

“Think nothing of it. Anyway, where was I, ahh yes, Phillip. He didn’t handle Maddy’s teenage years very well. She was a precocious child, she dressed in a provocative manner as soon as she started to develop ... don’t get me wrong, this does not excuse that bastard’s behaviour. She dressed well at school, full uniform, no cleavage showing, she did not lead her teachers on ... the boys, yes, she led the boys, and some of the girls,” she added, winking at Jess, “a merry dance, but she did not make advances at her teachers. Mmm ... you’re thinking she made advances towards Phillip ... I don’t believe she did, at least neither of them mentioned it ... no matter, that’s not important. What is important is that when Maddy was raped, and she started behaving erratically afterwards, Phillip did not handle the situation well.

“We didn’t know what had happened to her at the time, Maddy didn’t confide in me until after her attempt, but Phillip’s reaction was to shun her, to ignore all attempts at conversation, her cries for help. I’m not blameless here, I should have been better, but I did try to understand. I found her a therapist, although that turned out to be a bad idea, she wasn’t the right person to help Maddy.

“After her suicide attempt, things were a little bit better, but he wasn’t well by this point, aggressive cancer, it took him mercifully quickly. They did reconcile near the end, and Phillip’s death affected her badly, she blamed herself for a while, something else her new therapist had to deal with.”

Sheila shook her head as if to clear it of memories, “more tea?” she asked brightly.

After she’d poured us all a second cup, she lifted Olivia onto her lap, “anyway, it seems Phillip knew the end was nigh, he sold out to his partner and put half the proceeds in a trust, which provides Maddy and myself an income. This is why I only work weekends and Maddy can afford to work in a pub.

“He must also have taken notice of Maddy’s struggles, even if he didn’t feel capable of helping in the way he should have, as he didn’t leave her a lump sum in his will, he knew it would be too much temptation, as she was still very fragile.”

“Ahh, that explains it!” Jess cried.

“Explains what?” Sheila asked.

“She wanted to pay for my car just now, but she couldn’t, she said her money was tied up. I thought she was just trying to look good, now I realise she was being honest.”

“Do you need money for a car, dear?”

“Oh no, Jim kindly came round and paid for it, I’ll pay him back when I have some savings put aside.”

“Which brings us to the reason for your visit,” Sheila looked at Olivia asleep on her lap, “I think this one is happy here, and Noah seems to be enjoying Arlo’s company. Are you happy for me to look after them both while you’re at work?”

“I am, but are you happy to have them?”

“Of course, or you wouldn’t be here. Listen, I don’t go out much, but when I do, I have a big car, and I usually take my neighbour Eileen shopping, she’ll love to help with them.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to pay you much...”

“I don’t want a penny for looking after your kids. Tell me what food they eat and I’ll make sure I always have some in. And no, you won’t pay for the food either. The income Phillip left us is more than generous, I don’t know why Maddy insisted on renting that tiny flat, she could have afforded a house or one of those nice two-bed apartments overlooking the bay.”

Jess told Sheila as much about her past as she felt comfortable telling, Sheila quietly fumed about Dan and promised Jess she would want for nothing in the future whilst she rebuilt her life.

“Where do you work?” Sheila asked.

“I do four mornings a week at the Health Centre by the supermarket. That’s all I can manage at the moment because I only get 15 hours childcare from the Government, and if I worked longer, the cost for two kids would take up all the extra I’d earn.”

“I know, it’s a ridiculous situation, anyway, that’s over now. Do you think they’d give you more hours?”

“They keep offering me full time work as office manager, but I’ve not been able to accept the offer.”

“I suggest you take up the job, office manager would be a good salary. Now, tell me everything about the little ones, what TV programmes do they like?”

I zoned out as Jess detailed various CBeebies TV shows, the foods Noah and Olivia like, the toys they play with.

“This all sounds very exciting, Eileen and I will have a lot of fun. Eileen is a little older than me, she has a couple of daughters, but neither has a family, so she has been deprived of grandchildren.”

Sheila looked at her watch, “did you say you need to see Xenia this afternoon?”

“Maddy told me Xenia was going to phone me this afternoon, that’s all I know.”

“OK, let me call her, she only lives round the corner, you’ll have passed her house on the way here.”

Sheila handed Olivia back to her mother as she went in search of her phone, returning a few minutes later, “that’s sorted, she can see you in 10 minutes, which will give you enough time to put your coats on and walk round there, hers is the three-story house with the lions in the garden ... not real lions, obviously, that would be quite dangerous ... there’s three lion statues on the lawn, you can’t miss it.”

Jess stood, “could you fetch me the kid’s coats, Jim.”

“Oh, there’s no need to take the children, leave them here, I’ll phone you if they kick up a fuss when you leave.”

“If you don’t mind...”

“I don’t mind at all, and I suspect Noah isn’t ready to let Arlo go just yet.”

“Dan wouldn’t let me have a dog...” Jess said almost too quietly for us to hear.

“Then you should get one as soon as you’re settled, Arlo’s mum is having a litter soon, give it a few months and you can have one of hers. In the meantime, Noah can keep playing with my dog.”

We took a wrong turning on the way to Xenia’s house, so we were a bit longer than 10 minutes; Xenia must have been watching out for us, as the ornate gates slid open as we arrived.

The driveway was a little shorter than Sheila’s, probably because the house was significantly bigger.

Indeed there were three lion statues on the lawn, arranged around an ornamental fountain.

Xenia greeted us at the door, she was wearing another black dress, this one more figure hugging, definitely not suitable for court or business meetings.

“Ahh Jess!” she exclaimed, “so good to meet you, are you well? Come inside, I was about to make a cocktail, would you like one?”

“Err, hello,” Jess replied timidly, unused to quite as forceful personality as Xenia, “thank you, I don’t really know about cocktails, I’ve only had one.”

“Do you like gin?”

“I think so, I’m not much of a drinker ... Dan didn’t like drunk women unless they were someone else’s girlfriend ... I like wine!” she added cheerily, “Maddy has been giving me a lot of wine the last couple of days.”

“We’ll have wine then, we’ll drink it in my office, Max is meeting some clients in the sitting room. My office is cozy ... Ahh, Pierre,” she added as a man passed, “could you bring a bottle of Krug, the 2011 I think.”

“We have more of the 2006, ma’am.”

“I prefer the 2011, Jess is a special client.”

“Are you using the drawing room?”

“No, my office, thank you.”

We followed Xenia along a hallway lined with tapestries, “I think tapestries are for castles, but Max likes them,” Xenia commented as we turned a corner and she opened a dark wood door, “this isn’t oak,” she said as we entered, “the builder said it was, but it’s just stained pine, I wanted to complain but Max said it was OK, we’ll buy oak doors later. We’ve been here 10 years ... anyway, welcome to my office.”

Office wasn’t the word I’d use; it was more like a sitting room. We had a pair of comfortable sofas, a small desk, paintings on the walls, a cocktail bar in one corner. What we didn’t have was shelves lined with legal books, something you normally find in lawyers’ offices.

Xenia caught me looking around, she smiled, “the law library is in Max’s office. My practice is more limited than his, I know most of the law in my area, but if I need anything, I use his books, or my computer.”

The was a gentle knock on the door, Xenia called for Pierre to enter; he pushed a small trolley into the room, along with the Krug, we had afternoon tea, sandwiches, mini pies and cakes.

“How did he prepare this so quickly,” Jess asked as she selected a smoked salmon sandwich.

“I think he stole it from Max’s meeting,” Xenia replied, “so, tell me more about yourself, and be as honest as you like, I’ve read Dan’s file.”

“So, I’m Jess Foster ... or am I, this is so weird, that Dan’s surname, so if I never legally married him, did I ever legally change my name?”

“You’ll need to ask a lawyer,” Xenia replied with a grin, “and the answer is, I don’t know, because I’ve not managed to find anything in Max’s books. What I can say is that it isn’t really a problem, do you want to use your maiden name from now on?”

“Yes, I do, so I’ll start again, I’m Jess Thompson, I’m 26 and I’m single.”

“Excellent! We’ll sort your surname next week when I go to court to have your marriage annulled. Tell me more about yourself, what do you enjoy doing? Do you like to read, take walks in the countryside, watch films?”

Jess started to cry, I passed her a handkerchief, “I’ve not done anything since I married Dan, he kept me locked in my room at night, I only went out when he wanted to appear like he was normal.”

“Oh my god!” Xenia cried, “this is just appalling, he actually kept you locked in your room?”

“Yes,” Jess replied quietly, “after Olivia was born, I decided I didn’t want another child, he told me I was no longer any use to him, he moved me to the box room and kept me locked up at night.”

Xenia moved to her desk, she opened a drawer and pulled out a file, quickly scanning through, “mmm, he did this once before, but Spencer hasn’t found any reason why. Ahh, this wife had three children in three years, maybe she didn’t want another child.”

“How many children has he fathered?” Jess asked

“As far as we know, 27.”

“27! He has 27 children! How much maintenance was he paying for all those kids?”

“Nothing, every divorce, when he even bothered getting a divorce, was uncontested, the wives definitely wanted an end to the nightmare.”

Jess slumped back in the sofa, she turned to me, “please tell me Dan’s unusual, other men don’t do this kind of shit.”

“I’m pretty sure Dan is an edge-case,” Xenia assured her, “I’ve never met anyone like him before.”

“Maddy is a lucky woman,” Jess said, giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

“And now you’re a lucky woman,” I replied, “because you’ve escaped, you’ve survived, and you’ve got Charlee to take Dan’s place.”

Xenia flipped back a few pages, “Charlee, she’s Marina’s isn’t she?”

“Yes, I didn’t know her mum’s name yesterday, which is very bad.”

“Do you get on with Charlee? Are you happy for her to stay with you? She’s not your responsibility.”

“I love Charlee,” Jess replied, she looked at me, then back to Xenia, “I really love Charlee, she asked me to marry her yesterday.”

Xenia clapped her hands with joy, “oh my god! this is amazing, did you accept?”

“I did ... obviously she’s too young, but ... oh this is so weird, until the weekend I hadn’t even thought about loving another woman, I wasn’t brought up that way. Then Maddy kissed me, properly kissed me, and my eyes opened. Then I find out that Charlee has always loved me, as a mum, and as a lover, well, you can imagine, my mind was blown.”

“Well, as your lawyer I can confirm that as Charlee is not related to you by marriage, once she’s 18, any marriage will be legal. I look forward to a wedding invitation.”

“So, what happens next?”

Xenia pulled an iPad from a drawer, she swiped through a couple of screens until she found what she wanted, “OK, Dan’s applied for bail, the judge initially refused it, considering him a flight risk. he appealed and the Judge granted bail, subject to Dan surrendering his passport. Max expected this to happen and sent one of his team down, they’ve persuaded the judge to grant a restraining order, claiming you fear retaliation. Dan cannot come within 500 metres of you, so he can’t return to his own home, at least for the next 6 months. I’m having the locks changed tomorrow, I’ll get you a spare set, so you can move your things out ... I’m assuming you’re moving into Willow’s house.”