The Price of Love (8 page)

Although she was as disappointed as he was, Lucy was adamant.

‘Sam’s not the problem,’ she pointed out. ‘It’s the fact that it’s far too soon after the death of my parents.’

‘Would you prefer us to leave it until next year?’ he asked. ‘Perhaps early in June?’

‘Yes. Sam will be back on his feet again by then and all our worries will be behind us,’ Lucy agreed smiling.

‘In the meantime, surely Patsy could help look after Sam occasionally so that we can go out together now and again,’ Robert insisted. ‘After all, she’s always claimed that she and Sam are going to be married one of these days so he’s as much her responsibility as yours.’

‘Yes, you’re right,’ Lucy said thoughtfully. ‘She should have plenty of spare time now,’ she added with a wry smile.

Robert frowned. ‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, lately Patsy has been too busy dancing attendance on Percy Carter to spend much time with Sam,’ Lucy reminded him, her mouth tightening with annoyance. ‘Sam’s quite miserable about it and says he can’t understand why she has to bother about Percy now that he is better.’

‘Probably because he takes her out for expensive meals,’ Robert pointed out.

‘Yes, but that’s going to have to stop. I overheard Mr Carter telling him off about doing that because Percy’s been putting the meals on his expense account and Mr Carter said he wouldn’t stand for it,’ Lucy commented.

‘Oh dear, have you been listening in on the boss’s calls?’ Robert grinned.

‘No, I don’t listen to people’s calls – well, only for a second, to make sure that I’ve made the right connection. Believe me, that switchboard is far too busy most of the day for me to spend time eavesdropping on calls,’ she told him rather tartly.

‘So how do you know about what Mr Carter told Percy?’ Robert asked.

‘They were arguing about it in Mr Carter’s office and their voices were raised so much that everyone in the general office could hear what was being said.’

‘Did Mr Carter mention Patsy by name?’

‘Yes he did; and what’s more, he said Percy has got to stop seeing her.’

‘Whew!’ Robert let out a low whistle. ‘That will put paid to that little flirtation.’

‘Yes, and I’m pleased about it; after all, it’s not been fair on Sam since she’s supposed to be his girlfriend.’

‘Well, there you are, then. Like I said, Patsy can help to look after Sam and take some of the strain off your shoulders. We never have the chance to go out together on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon unless we take Sam with us in his wheelchair and that rather spoils things for us, doesn’t it?’

‘It’s not much fun for him either. He hates having to be wheeled around.’

‘Perhaps he’d enjoy it more if Patsy was the one pushing his wheelchair. Why don’t you ask her if she’ll take him out next weekend? I’m sure she will, if you tell her that we have to go somewhere on our own.’

Although Lucy was in full agreement with Robert’s idea, it didn’t work out as either of them had hoped. Lucy gave Patsy time to greet Sam and have time to talk with him before she brought up the idea only to find that Patsy wasn’t at all keen on taking Sam out and it was only after a great deal of persuasion that she agreed to do it.

‘I suppose I could take him along to the park on Sunday afternoon as long as it is only for an hour,’ she finally agreed reluctantly.

‘That’s great! I’ll make sure he’s all ready when you call round for him.’

‘Don’t say anything to him in case something crops up and I can’t manage it.’

‘I think I should tell him because it will be something special for him to look forward to and he is rather depressed at the moment,’ Lucy murmured.

Sam seemed to be quite buoyed up at the idea and for the first time since he’d come out of hospital he settled himself in the wheelchair without his usual grumbling.

It was a glorious summer day, the sun was shining and there was only the lightest of breezes. Lucy was looking forward to being with Robert so much that she felt quite excited as she put on a red and white cotton dress and red jacket.

She hoped that there would be time for them to go across to New Brighton but unless Patsy agreed to look after Sam for the whole afternoon, that wouldn’t be possible. She would have to try and persuade her to take Sam back to her place for tea and then she and Robert could collect him on their way home.

‘Are you going somewhere special? You look as though you are dressed up for a wedding or a garden party,’ Robert teased when he arrived.

‘It’s new; I intended to wear it on Easter Sunday when we went out in the afternoon but so much happened that day that I never got to wear it. Do you like it?’

‘I think you look absolutely terrific,’ he assured her. ‘Good job I put on my new flannels and sports jacket. I only wish we were going somewhere special.’

Robert agreed with her whole-heartedly when she suggested that they should take a trip to New Brighton if Patsy looked after Sam for the whole afternoon.

‘Great idea. Mr Warren might like to see Sam and have a chat with him and I’m sure Mrs Warren would be happy to invite him to have tea with them.’

Patsy was almost half an hour late and they were all becoming uneasy, wondering whether she was going to turn up at all or whether she had forgotten about their arrangement.

She gave no explanation when she did arrive but said she could only manage an hour so they wouldn’t be able to spend very long at the park.

Sam looked so disappointed that Lucy felt angry. In as calm a voice as she could manage, she told Patsy that she and Robert wanted to go to New Brighton and went on to suggest that Patsy took Sam back to her house after their walk.

‘I’m sorry but that’s not possible,’ Patsy told her. ‘I’ve arranged to go out later on this afternoon.’

Lucy and Robert looked at each other in dismay, knowing that meant their own outing was impossible.

‘Well, in that case, you’d better get going right away,’ Robert said sharply. ‘I’ll manoeuvre the wheelchair outside on to the pavement for you.’

‘Why are you dressed up to the nines, Lucy? That is a new dress and jacket, isn’t it?’ Patsy went on. ‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you wearing red before. You usually go for muddier colours and, of course, lately you’ve always been in black or some dark colour. I’m not sure red suits you; it’s far too bright for your colouring, if you know what I mean.’

‘There you are, then, Patsy. He’s all yours, so enjoy your walk,’ Robert said as he propelled the wheelchair over the doorstep and out on to the pavement.

Gingerly, Patsy took hold of the handles. ‘I’ve never pushed one of these things before,’ she murmured, tossing her hair back. ‘I feel really nervous.’

‘You’ll find it’s not very different from pushing a pram,’ Lucy said, smiling.

‘I’ve never pushed one of those either; it’s terribly heavy, isn’t it?’ Patsy grimaced as, cautiously, she pushed the wheelchair a couple of yards.

‘It won’t be once you get used to it,’ Robert assured her.

‘It’s all right for you because you’re so strong.’ Patsy smiled, her big blue eyes staring at him admiringly.

‘Lucy manages to push me to the hospital when I have to go there,’ Sam pointed out.

‘She’s so much bigger than me,’ Patsy countered. ‘In fact, Lucy’s almost twice the size I am. She doesn’t wear high heels like I do,’ she added, looking pointedly at Lucy’s sensible flat-heeled shoes and then at her own pencil-thin high ones. ‘I think high heels make your legs look more attractive, don’t you, Robert?’

Lucy bit her lip. She knew Patsy was quite capable of pushing the wheelchair and, what was more, she resented her exaggerated comments as well as the way she was flirting with Robert. It also worried her that Patsy protesting so much was making Sam very uncomfortable as well.

‘Come on, I’ll get you going,’ she offered. ‘Like Robert has said, once you start moving and get used to it, then you’ll find it’s not difficult at all.’

‘No, I’ll push it and we’ll walk with Patsy to the end of the road, then she can carry on to the park and we’ll go on down to the Pier Head,’ Robert said briskly. ‘Even if we haven’t time to go over to New Brighton this afternoon we can still go and take a look at the Mersey,’ he added.

There wasn’t room for them all to walk abreast on the pavement so Lucy found that she was walking on her own a few paces behind the other two.

‘Why don’t you come to the park as well?’ Patsy suggested when they turned into Priory Road and were about to go their separate ways.

Lucy sensed Robert looking at her and deliberately avoided his eyes because she didn’t want to have to trail along behind Patsy and Sam for the rest of the afternoon.

‘No, Sam’s been looking forward to having some time on his own with you,’ Robert told Patsy.

‘Could you take the wheelchair across the road for me, then?’ Patsy asked in a pleading voice, looking at Robert wide-eyed.

‘No, you do it and we’ll stand here to make sure you can manage it,’ Lucy told her, taking hold of Robert’s arm as he was about to do what Patsy asked.

‘Very well.’ Patsy gave a toss of her head and bumped the chair down the curb, causing Sam to yelp with pain as the rough movement jarred his leg.

‘Go easy,’ he muttered holding on to the side of the wheelchair.

When she reached the other side of the road Patsy hesitated for a moment then tipped the wheelchair backwards so violently in order to get the wheels on to the curb that it tilted sideways. The next minute, before Robert could reach them, Sam had been thrown out on to the roadway.

Patsy was most contrite. Her big blue eyes filled with tears as she looked helplessly at Robert and protested that it wasn’t her fault and that she’d already told them that she couldn’t manage on her own.

‘You could be a bit more careful, Patsy.’

Lucy tried to hide her anger as Robert righted the wheelchair and she tried to help Sam up from the ground, but she knew her voice was strident.

‘I didn’t do it on purpose,’ Patsy snuffled. ‘I told you the wheelchair was too heavy for me to manage.’

‘Well, come on, give me a hand to get Sam up off the ground and back into it,’ Lucy urged.

‘I think he’s too heavy for me to help lift him and I’m shaking like a leaf, it was such a shock.’

‘You move out the way, Patsy, and I’ll help Lucy,’ Robert told her.

To Lucy’s immense relief it appeared that although Sam was rather shaken he wasn’t hurt apart from some gravel cuts on his right hand which he had instinctively put out to try and save himself. He tried to make light of the matter the moment he saw how upset Patsy appeared to be.

‘It looks as though we’d better go to the park with them after all,’ Robert murmured apologetically in Lucy’s ear.

She nodded although she felt near to tears because her carefully made plans were all going so wrong. She knew she was being childish but she had so looked forward to spending some time alone with Robert that she couldn’t help feeling very frustrated. What was more, she was quite convinced in her own mind that Patsy had deliberately tipped the wheelchair over.

Once again she found herself trailing behind as Patsy pushed the chair along the paths and Robert kept a restraining hand on it.

Patsy was so busy chattering and looking up into Robert’s face and laughing at what she’d said that several times she almost crashed into posts and seats. In the end Robert suggested that she should walk alongside the chair and hold Sam’s hand and he and Lucy would push the chair.

His arm went round Lucy’s waist and he gave her a companionable squeeze as if to indicate that he knew how she was feeling and was as fed up with the arrangement as she was.

When they reached the park Patsy looked at her watch and gave a gasp of fake horror.

‘Is that the time already?’ she gasped. ‘I really will have to fly. You’ll be safe enough with Lucy and Robert looking after you won’t you?’ she said airily.

‘Do you really have to go so soon?’ Sam protested. ‘I’ve been looking forward to this outing so much.’

‘I’m afraid so. Perhaps we can all go out again sometime soon and you can teach me how to handle Sam’s wheelchair,’ she added smiling coquettishly at Robert.

With a wave of her hand and an airborne kiss, Patsy hurried off.

‘I’ve messed your afternoon up completely, haven’t I?’ Sam said bitterly.

‘Of course you haven’t, we always enjoy coming to the park, but we thought you’d like Patsy to take you for a change,’ Robert told him blithely.

‘Come on; let’s speed things up instead of dawdling along as we’ve been doing ever since we left home,’ Lucy said as she began pushing the wheelchair.

‘Right; we’ll take a brisk walk around the park and then let’s see if we can find a café open and have a cup of tea and some fancy cakes,’ Robert suggested.

‘Or we could go back home and then you two could go over to New Brighton like I know you wanted to do,’ Sam told them. ‘I don’t mind; I’m getting used to being on my own.’

He looked so dejected that both Robert and Lucy magnanimously declared that they didn’t want to go to New Brighton.

‘If that was what we wanted to do, then we could have taken you with us,’ Robert pointed out. ‘In fact,’ he added, ‘why don’t we do that next Sunday? We can make a whole day of it, how about that?’

‘Do you think Patsy will come as well?’ Sam asked eagerly.

‘We can ask her, but she may already have something planned,’ Lucy sighed.

Lucy found her life was increasingly frustrating. Sam’s leg was taking far longer to heal than had been expected. Also, when the wheelchair had toppled over, the impact of his hand with the pavement had torn the skin on his palm which was still thin and tender from the fire and an infection had set in. This not only caused him a great deal of pain but it also meant that he had to have fresh dressings on it every day for several weeks.

For the first few weeks after the car accident, Miss Yorke had been understanding about letting Lucy have time off to take Sam to hospital but as the weeks extended into months she started to raise objections whenever Lucy asked and told her she would have to ask Mr Carter herself for permission.

‘Why don’t you ask Patsy to take a turn at taking Sam to the hospital?’ Robert suggested when Lucy mentioned the matter to him and said how curt Mr Carter had been.