Chapter 22

Arnold stood there gasping for breath and wheezing like the dying man he was,

"May I come in Thomas please? I need to sit down"

I stood to one side, amazed that he'd actually dared to come her,

"Sit down but don't get comfortable, you won't be staying long!"

"I expect not"

He sat down at the table opposite mum and took a few minutes to recover from climbing the stairs, finally though he looked at us both in turn and said softly,

"I'm sorry, sorry to you both and I've come to apologise to you both"

"Right" I said harshly, "You've done that, now fuck off"

Mum stood up and said,

"Tommy this is your flat and I respect your wishes, not to mention what you've done for me, but if you make him leave now, I'll leave with him"

"What?"

"At least hear what he has to say, I'll be honest with you Arnold, I don't want you here any more than my son does, so please make it brief"

He took a deep breath and smiled weakly,

"Thank you"

Then he hesitated as if he'd changed his mind and just for a moment I thought he was going to leave, but then he began slowly to speak,

"I was stupid, stupid, ignorant and I behaved abominably towards you Polly, you too Thomas for that matter, all I can think of is that the tumour or even the news of it sent me slightly off balance, I would never dream of going to the authorities about you and I certainly never intended to in the first place"

He paused for breath,

"I've never known what it's like to be loved or wanted, the only women who've shared my bed have been paid to do so and paid well, I might add, I - - -I just wanted someone to share what time I have left with, that's all"

His shoulders slumped and he sat looking down at the table,

"I'm so very, very sorry"

All my hatred left me, how could I hate a pathetic old man?

I was about to say something but he beat me to it,

"I made a new will this morning, I've left everything I own to my sister apart from a small sum of money that I have with me now, please don't insult me by refusing it, it's just a token of the esteem in which I hold you both"

He placed an envelope on the table,

"Please don't open it until after I leave, oh and there's this as well"

He placed another, larger envelope on the table in front of my mother, who opened it nervously.

"I don't understand Arnold"

Again he smiled,

"It's a cottage on the south coast, I bought it to live in last year, but I've never even spent one night in it, I'd like you to have it, it's got a huge rear garden, ideal for a budding market gardener and it overlooks the sea at the front"

Another pause for breath, he really was struggling,

"You may have noticed they are the deeds to it, made out in two names, yours Polly and yours Thomas, all legally signed and witnessed, etc, etc, it's yours with no strings attached!"

I could see mum was getting a bit emotional, but none of it mattered to me, I didn't care one way or the other about the cottage or the money, all that mattered to me was that there was now no threat to us, then she dropped the bombshell!

"Arnold, I really don't know what to say about all this, but I must say it's a huge relief to know it's all over.

You were good to me inside, very good and in spite of what you nearly did, I'm grateful to you, I'll be proud to marry you tomorrow!"

Without speaking, I got up and went down to the garden again, this was all getting fucking crazy and I didn't understand her reasoning at all.

I was in the greenhouse when I saw the chauffeur go up the stairs to fetch him and I was still there after they'd gone. The river was still and peaceful as I sat down on the bank and rang Jill, hoping that she could make some sense out of this craziness.

I told her exactly what had happened and what had been said, she'd just started to say something when mum laid her hand on my shoulder, I hadn't heard her behind me.

"Tommy, let me please"

"Hi Jill, why don't you come over in about an hour, we've all got a lot to talk about? And please remember Jill, I love you"

We sat on the bank talking, or rather she talked and I listened,

"Tommy when you met me outside the prison, I had nothing, I was nothing, now I've got a lot, a hell of a lot more than I ever thought I would have and it's all down to you.