The Runaway Woman (40 page)

Some hours later, Kathleen opened the door to see Lucy standing there.

‘Oh, Lucy … come in. Come in, love.’ She hugged her as though she would never let her go. ‘It’s so good to have you back, you little darlin’.’ She wondered if it was her place to tell Lucy the news, or should she call Anne, but then Lucy
told her that she had been round to Anne’s but there was no one there.

‘Fancy a nice hot cuppa?’ Kathleen was trying hard to delay telling her the truth.

‘Yes, go on then.’ She followed Kathleen into the kitchen. ‘Martin wasn’t home either. I dare say he’s out working, but where’s Anne? She’s never out at this time of day.’

‘Shall I give her a ring … see if she’s back yet?’ Kathleen asked.

‘Yes, please, Kathleen. Maybe she was out the back. I never thought to look.’

There was a knock on the door, and when Kathleen opened it she was surprised to see Anne standing there.

‘Sorry, Kathleen, could I stay with you for a while? I’ve just been round to Mum’s and she’s still not home. I’m getting really worried.’

Lucy heard the conversation from the kitchen. ‘There’s no need to worry,’
she said cheekily, and Anne ran down the hallway to hug her.

‘Oh, Mum! I’m so glad you’re back. Something terrible has happened, and I don’t know what to do.’

‘Hey!’ Lucy took hold of her and walked her to the living room, while Kathleen kindly took care of the baby. ‘I think you had best tell me what’s happened that you find so terrible!’

Anne started crying – from relief that her mum was
back, and also the realisation of how very much she had missed her. ‘Mum, I have to tell you … there was a terrible fight … between Dad and Paula’s husband. Paula tried to get between them and she was badly hurt. She wants to see you, Mum. She’s sorry … and so am I, because I never knew what was going on …’ Now all the pent-up emotions broke loose and she sobbed in her mother’s arms. ‘I didn’t know,
Mum … I hate Dad for what he’s done to you … cheating on you with your sister … sleeping with her! Oh, Mum … how could he do that to you?’

Lucy gave no answer, because she did not have one. Instead she held on to her daughter, comforting her while she sobbed bitterly.

After a time, when Anne was calmer, Lucy asked her solemnly, ‘How bad is Paula? I must go and see her.’ Even after everything
Paula had done, Lucy could find no hatred in her heart for her, or, indeed, for Martin. And besides, she herself had learned how easy it was to do something out of character.

‘She’s really poorly, Mum.’

‘Look, you two, I’ll mind the baby if you want to go and see Paula,’ Kathleen offered.

It was agreed, and with Kathleen insisting on paying for a taxi from the High Street, Lucy and Anne hurried
away.

At the hospital Lucy was shocked to see her sister all trussed up, her arm and shoulder in plaster and her face black and blue, with a cluster of deep bruises and a multitude of bloodied stitches reaching from her eyebrow down to her chin, which was also encased in plaster.

‘Oh, my God, what’s happened to her?’ Lucy was in tears, anxious to see the doctor and impatient
when told he was in surgery just now, but he would be along shortly to speak with her.

The ward sister came to explain Paula’s injuries to her. ‘She’s broken her nose, arm, shoulder and both legs, and three fingers. And her chin is fractured in two places. She is being kept sedated until we can see how she’s responding to treatment.’

Lucy grew anxious. ‘So, are you saying she’s not responding
to treatment?’

‘No, I am not saying that, but she’s in a good deal of pain. Right now she’s sleeping, which is helpful for her recovery.’

Anne had an idea. ‘Mum, you look absolutely shattered. You need a hot drink and to get your thoughts together. The sister says Paula is being kept sedated, so why don’t we go down to the canteen – just for a minute or so – give you time to catch your breath?’
Her voice broke. ‘Please, Mum. I’m worried about Aunt Paula, but I’m worried about you as well.’

‘Aw, sweetheart …’ Lucy laid her hand over Anne’s. ‘I should have been here. I might have been able to stop what happened, though even now, I’m not altogether sure what that was. Yes, I’ll ask the doctor, and if he says it’s all right we’ll take ten minutes out, then I’ll come back and sit with Paula
while you get off home and get some rest. Is that a deal?’

Anne told her that yes, it was a deal.

The doctor arrived just then. ‘It was touch and go when she was brought in, but I believe she is now settled and stable, although, of course, she’ll be with us for some time yet,’ he explained to Lucy. ‘There are several injuries that will take a time to heal.’

When he was called away, Lucy leaned
over her sister. ‘Paula, it’s Lucy. I don’t know if you can hear me, but all I want to say is, I’m not angry about you and Martin. I realise you didn’t do it to hurt me. We can none of us help who we fall in love with. If you can hear me, Paula, don’t worry about a thing. You are my sister, and I love you. I always have, and I always will.’

Leaning forward, she tenderly whispered in Paula’s ear,
‘Please, Paula, be strong. You’re going to be just fine. Make sure you keep that at the front of your mind.’

Paula’s eyes flickered for a moment.

‘She heard you.’ Anne grew emotional. ‘Mum! Aunt Paula heard you.’

Lucy bent to kiss Paula on the forehead. ‘You’re going to be fine,’ she promised. ‘You’re a tough little thing … I know you would never give in, and besides, you have so much to live
for.’

Later, in the canteen, Anne got them a cup of tea and a biscuit each, but neither of them felt like eating.

‘She heard you, Mum,’ Anne assured Lucy. ‘I know she did.’

Lucy nodded. ‘It’s out of our hands now, sweetheart,’ she reminded her. ‘But I think she heard me, and I hope that what I said will make Paula realise, I bear her no malice.’ Her thoughts wandered back
to Dave Benson. ‘These things happen, sweetheart,’ she said. ‘Life is short, and whether it’s right or wrong, we do what we do, and often we seem to forget about the consequences.

‘But what exactly happened? Who was it that hurt Paula like that?’ She could never believe that it was Martin, but then again, who knows what anyone would do, if in the wrong circumstances? Never in her wildest dreams
would she have thought that she, Lucy Lovejoy, would willingly go to a stranger’s bedroom, dressed only in her nightgown, and offer herself to him, but she had done just that, and she was still shocked at her actions.

‘It was Paula’s husband,’ Anne replied. ‘From what I can get out of Dad, he went round there to see Paula, and her husband had come back. Apparently, he was in the bedroom with
her when Dad arrived. There was a big fight, and Paula’s husband went for Dad with a crow bar, or some such thing. Apparently, Paula got between them, and she took the full force of the blows … or so Dad says.’

She shook her head. ‘I still can’t believe what they did to you, Mum – sleeping together and cheating on you. Dad told me everything. I hate him for what he did to you, Mum, I really do!’

‘Oh, no! Don’t be filled with hate,’ Lucy told her. ‘It won’t change anything. All it will do is make you bitter and miserable … and rob your son of his Granddad.’

‘Well, if that happens it won’t be my fault, will it?’

Lucy warned her, ‘You know as well as I do, that darling boy idolises his grandfather. So, think carefully before you let your son pay the price for any resentment you might be
feeling. Apart from that, I hope you won’t let yourself be affected too harshly by what’s happened between your father and Paula, because if you do, it will eat you away inside.’

‘But what they’ve done to you is shocking!’ Anne had tried so hard not to show her deeper feelings, but she could not deny the disgust she felt at the manner in which those two had hurt her mother.

‘Shocking it may
be,’ Lucy conceded, ‘but we all make mistakes, and we should not allow them to affect our children or grandchildren. Love is a wonderful thing, while hatred is dark and destructive.’ She gently stroked Anne’s face. ‘I know you’re disgusted and upset, sweetheart, and I don’t blame you, but it would mean a lot to me if you could promise that you will try to forgive them.’

Instead of answering,
Anne had a question. ‘Can
you
ever forgive them?’

‘Like I say, the alternative is unacceptable, and besides, your father and I have had a fair run. He’s been a good father and a good husband. I think in life we are all entitled to make one mistake, don’t you?’

Anne looked at her mother’s face, at the shining light in her pretty brown eyes, and she saw a good and kind woman; a woman who took
the bad with the good, and dealt with whatever life threw at her.

Then she had another question. ‘Mum?’

‘Yes, sweetheart?’

‘Would you ever take Dad back as your husband? You know what I’m saying, don’t you?’

Lucy understood and, after some soul-searching, she gave her answer. ‘I’ve already forgiven him and Paula for what they did. But as for taking your father back – as a husband in the full
meaning of the word – the answer would have to be no. Our marriage is over now anyway. And if Paula and your father want each other, I would never stand in their way. It would serve no purpose for me to do such a selfish thing.’

Anne had got the answer she knew she would get, and, for some reason that she did not understand, she began to feel less angry about the whole thing.

‘I hope Paula gets
well, Mum.’

‘So do I, sweetheart.’ Taking hold of her daughter’s hand, Lucy gave it a long squeeze. ‘And now I’d like to go back in and sit with Paula for a while.’

‘Mum, Les should be home by now. Do you mind if I call and ask him to pick me up? It’s been a long day. And anyway, Dad said he was coming back within the hour, so you’ll have him to talk to, I suppose.’

Lucy understood. ‘Look,
you make your call, and by the time Les gets here, Dad should be here to sit with Paula, and I could cadge a lift with you. Like you say, it’s been a long day. But I intend to be back here first thing in the morning.’

With so many worrying matters on her mind, Lucy was not yet ready to talk with Martin. And anyway, there was time enough to sort out what needed sorting out.

It would not be easy,
for there were so many factors to be taken into account, not least the practical matters such as finances and other unpleasant things that had to be dealt with, one way or another.

Whichever way it all turned out, Lucy hoped it might be for the best, to give herself and Martin every chance of moving on with their lives.

But in that moment, Lucy was certain of only one thing: nothing would ever
again be the same.

So for now, and with so much still unsaid, she could not bring herself to think beyond the day.

A
FTER SPENDING A
month in hospital, Paula was allowed to come home.

Lucy and Martin spent that evening discussing whether or not Paula would be able to manage on her own.

Lucy was emphatic. ‘That’s impossible! Her wounds may be well on the road to healing,’ she argued, ‘but she still has a long way to go, and emotionally she’s in a mess. We can’t let her go home on her own. She
would never cope. She’s far too vulnerable. We can’t risk her having to go back to hospital.’