Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? (10 page)

It had been the
final insult as far as Daniel was concerned. He was there under
sufferance and now he was being deprived of the pleasure of
drowning his sorrows and in a rage he had grabbed a soft drink and
retired to a corner of the room to sulk. Rebecca glanced over at
him now as he stood, stiff as a board, clutching a warm orange
squash, his face radiating displeasure as he gazed out of the
window visibly ignoring the chatter around him. Turning away her
glance rested on Carol and her husband. Tim was older than Carol; a
wonderfully pleasant and old fashioned man, he was a gentleman
through and through. Daniel despised him as weak and ineffectual,
Rebecca loved spending time in his company. The tales he told were
dry and witty, educational and amusing. A real contrast to Daniel’s
pompous lectures and one sided opinions. Rebecca smiled as she
watched Tim slide a piece of stray hair behind Carol’s ear and drop
a kiss on her nose. It was the sort of gesture that Daniel would
have made only a few years before. What had gone wrong she
wondered? What on earth had she done to destroy that
tenderness?

‘How are you
Rebecca?’

‘I’m well
thanks Tim, very well.’

Tim smiled,
‘Carol tells me that you’ve left the Deli?’

Rebecca shot a
nervous glance in Daniel’s direction. This was her one worry about
tonight, that an unwary comment might let Daniel know that she had
resigned her job.

‘Oh don’t
worry!’ Tim leaned into her a little and she realised that his
voice was actually deliberately low. ‘Carol did tell me not to
mention it in front of Daniel.’

Rebecca sipped
at her drink.

‘Strange
though, if you don’t mind me saying. Stopping work and not telling
your husband? He’s going to find out some time.’

Rebecca
stiffened as she met Tim’s eyes. There was no recrimination there,
just a gentle curiosity. He was, of course, right. How on earth did
she think she could keep this from Daniel? How could she continue
to hide any of this from Daniel - in fact, why did she want to? He
was her husband. She had just won the lottery - a huge amount of
money that could solve all their problems and bring back some joy
and love into their lives. Why on earth hadn’t she just told
him?

‘It’s
difficult,’ she muttered, her eyes fixed on the carpet. ‘I can’t
really… I mean it’s something that … I…’

A hand came to
rest gently on her own. ‘I’m sorry Rebecca. How rude, it’s
absolutely nothing to do with me.’

Rebecca sent a
wary smile in his direction. ‘It’s just...’

‘No! Please, I
shouldn’t have mentioned it, what happens between you and your
husband is nothing to do with me. Now, let me get you another drink
and we’ll change the subject,’ and taking Rebecca’s glass from her
he gave her a warm smile before walking across the room, stopping
briefly to chat to someone she didn’t recognise and to twirl his
wife around on the tiny area marked for dancing.

What was she
doing? Why hadn’t she told Daniel? Why hadn’t she told the
children, her mother, her friends? How wonderful to have given
Susie a whopping great cheque instead of a pretty crystal vase. To
give Carol enough money to pay of the small but ever present loan
on the Deli, to let her mother know she needn’t worry about
Parklands closing, to pay off the children’s student loans, buy
them cars, give them an allowance.

She hadn’t told
them because it all revolved around telling Daniel first and
Rebecca had to admit that the longer she delayed telling him the
harder it was becoming. Why hadn’t she let him know that first
weekend? They could have met the lottery people together, watched
the money arrive in their account and chosen a house together. What
on earth was she thinking?

‘Here we go, a
fresh, cold glass of champagne!’ and Rebecca’s anguish was cut
short as Tim thrust a glass into her hand and Carol appeared by
their side, closely followed by Susie who had streaks of mascara
under her eyes and very pink cheeks but who couldn’t stop
smiling.

For the next
few hours Rebecca ignored Daniel’s increasingly desperate attempts
to get her to leave as she joined in the fun. These were friends,
they were good people and she felt a very real guilt at the
pretence she was carrying out and the lies she was telling.

Eventually it
was time to leave and as Daniel stalked back towards their car in a
rage Rebecca wandered slowly in his wake, smiling at the memories
of the evening and ignoring her husband’s stiff shoulders.

‘How could
you,’ he hissed as they got in the car, ‘how could you?’

He was glaring
at her with such ferocity that Rebecca was horrified that somehow
in the course of the evening her secret had come out.

‘W-what do you
mean?’ she whispered.

‘Getting drunk!
Partying with those…common people. Making me stay there until all
hours speaking to wretched people who haven’t got an original
thought in their head! That’s what I mean Rebecca!’

The relief kept
her silent, but not so Daniel. He complained all the way home,
complained as they parked the car and went into the house and
continued to complain for a good half hour after they got into bed.
In the end Rebecca, who now had a pounding headache and just wanted
some respite, rolled over and pressed her hand none too gently
across his lips.

‘Enough Daniel.
Enough.’

‘No,’ she added
crossly as he started again. ‘Those were my friends and I enjoyed
their company. Now shut up!’

And much to her
surprise he did, rolling on to his side with a grunt and within
seconds he was snoring.

Rebecca laid
back. The bed was hard because Daniel liked hard beds. Rebecca
preferred the soft snugly mattress of Quebecs hotel. But Daniel
hadn’t consulted her when he bought a new mattress, it had just
arrived one day, a hard orthopaedic mattress that he declared would
let both of them sleep better. In the dim light of the street lamps
she could see the plain magnolia walls of the bedroom. Their house
in Leeds had been warm and inviting, each room having its own
character and charm. When they moved here Daniel had arranged for
the decorators to come in and paint everything magnolia; made the
rooms look clean and calm he said. Rebecca hated magnolia. She
hated the house, magnolia or not. Her flair for decorating hadn’t
moved from Leeds to Darlington. She had looked around at the
magnolia walls and decided it wasn’t worth the effort or the
arguments.

She would tell
him tomorrow she decided. Absolutely. She would show him her bank
balance tomorrow and tell him she had won. Tomorrow they would
clear the air and they could both start again.

Rebecca slept
late that morning and was woken by the slam of the door. Sitting
up, still half asleep she reached out. ‘Daniel?’

She knew what
she would find before she even went downstairs. He needed revenge,
he needed to teach her a lesson. The message was short and to the
point. GOLF.

She made a cup
of tea and wandered through to the conservatory. She had less than
a week to go. Then Beech Grange would be hers. If she wanted to
live there she had to tell Daniel. She had to tell him she had won
the lottery, left her job and bought a house in Leeds. She had to
tell him. Today.

The phone rang
and Rebecca reached out to grab the receiver.

‘Hello
Rebecca?’

Rebecca didn’t
recognise the voice for a moment.

‘Yes.
Speaking.’

‘Rebecca, its
Mrs Wendover at Parklands. I’m so sorry Rebecca but your Mum’s had
a nasty fall. She’s in hospital.’

A cold hand of
fear clutched Rebecca’s heart. This was her fault. She had brought
this on her mother through all the lies she had been telling. For
the last three weeks she had used Gwen as an excuse for her trips
to Leeds. She had lied to everyone she knew, she had told them all
that her mother was ill and this was the result.

‘Is she okay?’
whispered Rebecca.

‘Oh I’m sure
she’ll be fine. We think she’s broken her wrist, nothing more
serious but at her age we can’t be too careful so we sent her
straight to the hospital. She was trying to get from her bed to her
wheelchair by herself and fell. Please don’t worry my dear, I had
to let you know but it’s nothing serious, I’m sure.’

Was it
Rebecca’s imagination or was there an element of doubt in Mrs
Wendover’s voice.

‘I’m coming
down,’ said Rebecca, leaping out of her chair. ‘I'll be there as
soon as I can.’

‘I thought you
might dear but you really don’t have to…’

But Rebecca was
already gone, running up the stairs with tears pouring down her
cheeks as she went over every lie she had told, every occasion she
had used her ‘sick’ mother as an excuse, all the sympathy she had
received, all the best wishes. It was her fault. All her fault.

She threw some
things in an overnight bag and without even bothering to check the
train times drove at breakneck speed to the station. She had left
Daniel an explanation on the bottom of his own terse note. Mother
in hospital. Gone to Leeds. She had written down the number of the
mobile she had bought weeks ago so she could keep in touch with the
lottery people, the bank, Annie, the hotel. So many people had come
into her life over the last few weeks, people that Daniel knew
nothing about.

She was
fortunate, there was a train just about to depart and she was soon
in a taxi on her way to the hospital. Running up several flights of
steps to her mother’s ward, Rebecca stood panting in the doorway.
Her mother was sat up in bed dressed in her favourite nightgown and
a delicate crocheted bed jacket. She had one wrist in a pot and was
nibbling at a biscuit. Mrs Wendover sat at her side drinking a cup
of tea and they were both laughing at something the lady in the
next bed had just said.

‘Mum?’

‘Rebecca my
darling girl! Mrs Wendover said you were coming. There really
wasn't any need you know. I am quite alright. Oh whatever is the
matter?’

Because Rebecca
had burst into loud noisy sobs and would have fallen to the floor
if a passing nurse hadn't held out a supporting hand and whisked a
chair under Rebecca's shaking legs.

Shock, declared
the nurse and for the next few minutes everything was a flurry of
activity as tissues were produced, hot sweet tea poured and Rebecca
was fussed over as though she was the invalid.

‘Rebecca
darling, it's a broken wrist, I'm absolutely fine otherwise.’

‘I was just so
worried Mum, I was sure that… you see I told people... I came to
visit and said that you were ill and I didn't mean it to happen and
it did!’

Gwen and Mrs
Wendover exchanged a sympathetic glance.

‘Rebecca you’re
in shock my dear. You mustn't feel guilty. I know you can't come
down any more than you do. You have your own life in Darlington.
You can't be down here every weekend.’

Rebecca stared
at her mother. At the grey wavy hair that she kept perfectly
groomed despite everything. At the bed jacket she had crocheted
years ago and was her 'best'.

‘But I can Mum.
I can be down here all the time, I can come and visit you as often
as I want to. Because I'm moving to Leeds. I'm coming back to live
in Leeds!’

Gwen's eyebrows
shot upwards into her grey curls while Mrs Wendover clapped her
hands in delight.

‘Oh how lovely
for you both. I'm so pleased for you Rebecca.’

‘Coming back to
live in Leeds? Well that's lovely darling. Has Daniel moved back to
the Leeds office?’

‘Not exactly,’
offered Rebecca, ‘I mean he may do, but it's not been decided if he
will, he doesn't actually need to.’

Gwen smiled,
her shrewd eyes looking directly into Rebecca's own. ‘So are you
coming to Leeds on your own?’ she asked softly.

‘Oh no! Of
course not. It's just that I'm definitely coming, I mean we will be
coming I…we just haven't sorted out all the details yet.’

Refusing to
meet Gwen's eyes, Rebecca turned instead to Mrs Wendover. ‘Have
they said when Mum can go back to Parklands yet?’

‘Well, probably
tomorrow. It's just a simple break. We'll have to keep an eye on it
of course, make sure it heals properly, that sort of thing, but
nothing we can't cope with at Parklands.’

‘Thank you for
being here with Mum,’ Rebecca reached out and took Mrs Wendover's
hand in hers. ‘It’s meant a lot to me over the years knowing that
you've been there to look after her.’

‘Oh it's
nothing.’ Mrs Wendover flapped her hands dismissing Rebecca's
gratitude even as her eyes looked suspiciously watery. ‘All part of
the service. Anyway, I should get back. I'll no doubt see you both
tomorrow,’ and collecting her coat, hat and gloves she left waving
a fond farewell in Gwen's direction.

There was a
moments silence and then Gwen took Rebecca's hand in her one free
hand.

‘What's going
on darling?’

There was no
accusation in the voice, just a world of love and for a moment all
Rebecca wanted was to climb onto the bed and snuggle into her
mother's side as she had done as a small child.

But she
couldn't tell Gwen because she hadn’t told Daniel. It was bad
enough that she had left it so long but if he found out others knew
before Rebecca told him he would be mortified.

So she squeezed
her mother's hand instead and tried to smile a reassuring
smile.

‘It's nothing
bad Mum. Truly it isn't. But it is a bit complicated and I can't
tell you all the details right now. But I can tell you that it will
all work out and I will be happy.’

Gwen looked
into her daughter's eyes for a moment then patted her hand.

‘When you're
ready my darling, when you're ready.’

Rebecca hadn't
had time to make a reservation before she left Darlington, so some
hours later she left her mum at the hospital and caught a taxi
asking the driver to take her to Quebecs Hotel but wait for her
outside for a moment.