‘Yep, when we got some cash. Right now we’re having to be real careful. She’s half-way. We’ve got to take care of the baby.’
‘You love her?’ asked William, sipping the strong coffee.
Jacob’s dark eyes bored into William’s. ‘No, I’m after her trust fund, man!’
‘No need for sarcasm. Anyway, you’re going to have a long wait. She’s only sixteen, and she can’t touch it until she’s—’
‘Twenty-one. Yeah, I know.’
‘You work in a bar?’ William asked, and sipped the coffee.
‘Yeah. Sorry I’m not no accountant.’
‘Jacob, I don’t give a fuck what you are just so long as you’re going to take care of my daughter. Listen to what I have to say.’
‘I’m all ears.’ Jacob drained his coffee and crushed the cup in one hand.
‘You needn’t tell Sabrina, if you don’t want to, but I’m going to open a bank account in your name. All I ask is for you to take care of her and contact me when she’s in labour. I’d like to see the baby. After all, it’ll be my grandchild.’
‘No thanks, no bank account. I’ll take care of her ’cos I’m crazy about her and we’ll get along fine.’
William stood up and looked down into Jacob’s face. ‘Don’t turn it down. Everyone needs a break. It won’t be millions, just enough to get you started in some kind of job, whatever you want. Get a decent place to bring up your kids. I may not have been a decent father, but...’
‘Money’s no object, huh?’
William leaned over him. ‘I earned every cent I’ve ever made. If you love her you’ll take what I’m offering, because if you don’t you’ll not stand a chance of making it work between you. It’s a game for her right now, but she’s scared shitless.’
Jacob bowed his head as William took out a visiting card. ‘Ask to speak to Michael. He’ll have all the details.’
Jacob held the card loosely in his hand before he stood up to face his soon-to-be father-in-law. ‘Thank you.’ William reached out and hugged him.
When William reached the car he saw that Justin was asleep, his head resting against the car window and his mouth slightly open. He looked like a small boy. William tapped on the window and Justin’s eyes sprang open. There was a moment, it came and went so fast, but for that second, as Justin stirred, he seemed terror-struck: his hands flailed and he covered his face as if protecting himself from a beating.
‘Sorry,’ William found himself apologizing, ‘do you want me to drive?’
‘No, get in. Did it all go okay?’
‘Yep, but I don’t want to talk about it. All I can think of is getting some shut-eye.’
Justin grinned as he started the engine. ‘Right, home it is.’
When they got home William directed Justin to a spare bedroom and was thankful that Justin said that they’d talk in the morning. But when he leaned close and kissed his cheek, it was perhaps the best moment of William’s wretched day.
Chapter thirteen
William stared out of the window. The heavy rain and dark grey skies made visibility so poor that he couldn’t even see the end of his walled garden. It had been lashing down all night and, with the trauma of yesterday, sleep had been impossible. When Michael arrived at nine William gave him strict instructions that if any press phoned he was to say he knew nothing and that William was out of the country. He was explaining that Charlie and Justin were both still asleep upstairs, when Charlie strolled in. ‘Hi there, Dad.’
‘I need to speak to you for a few minutes, Charlie.’ They went into the drawing room. ‘I will take you to the island and I’m very glad that you’ve met Justin but—’
Charlie groaned. ‘I knew there’d be a but.’
‘But you’ve really got to get straightened out first. Now, you’ll have to go back to this clinic and don’t give me this bullshit about weekend leave. It’s mid-week. Do you think I’m stupid?’
‘The place is full of wankers.’
‘You liked them last week.’
‘Yeah, but I’ve never been into all that therapy stuff and the group-leaders are full of shit. They were addicts themselves and all they ever talk about is their old scene.’
Justin was standing in the doorway. ‘There’s a great place you’d really like in Minnesota,’ he said. ‘It’s where all the super-stars go. I’m sure your dad can pull a few strings.’
William spun round. Justin was grinning at Charlie.
‘Minnesota, America? Wow! Yeah, I’d give that a go. Yeah, that’s cool, I’ve heard of that place,’ Charlie said enthusiastically.
‘So that’s that settled,’ Justin concluded. ‘Now, for God’s sake, can we have some breakfast?’
William gripped Justin’s elbow and drew him aside. ‘Stay clear of my son, Justin. Do you understand me? You stay away from him.’
‘Yes, sir. Now can we have breakfast?’
By three thirty Michael had arranged a five-month stay for Charlie in the high-powered American clinic, the finest rehabilitation clinic in the world. As Justin had said, a queue of movie stars and ex-presidents’ wives were waiting to be dried out and the cure rate was amazing. Charlie was frightened. It had all happened so quickly, but he agreed to leave England immediately.
The three arrived at Heathrow in good time for Charlie’s flight. Justin and William waved him through the gate, then walked back to the car-park.
‘Justin, if you’d like me to drop you off somewhere... I’ve been trying to contact my ex-wife all day to give her the news about the kids, but I can’t rouse her. As we’re on the motorway here, it wouldn’t take me long to whizz up to her place. But I don’t want to bore you.’
Justin put his arm round William’s shoulder. ‘What else would I do? Sit in front of the TV?’ He clicked the remote control to open the car. ‘Think of me as your chauffeur today. We can chat, listen to music. It’s a good system you’ve got here.’ Justin sat in the driver’s seat and buckled up. ‘So, William, fire away with the directions and off we go.’
It was dark when the car rolled up the drive of Katherine’s Buckinghamshire home, splashed through the pot-holes, and drew up outside the porch.
‘You wait here, I won’t be long,’ said William, and climbed out of the car. In the semi-darkness the house looked run-down. William noticed broken panes of glass in the stained-glass door. ‘Katherine?’ he called, as he opened it. ‘Katherine.’
He made his way first to the kitchen, which was a shambolic mess of dirty cutlery and blackened, greasy pans. ‘Katherine!’ he called again, as he walked towards the drawing room.
The door was ajar, the room a mess, the fire burned out in the grate. He was worried.
He made his way slowly up the creaking staircase. Even though he presumed she would be in the old master bedroom, he glanced into his children’s rooms. Charlie’s was still full of cricket bats and skateboards. Sabrina’s was papered with Spice Girls posters and there was an array of Barbie dolls. The spare room was dusty, unused and cold. He realized that the whole house was damp, and when he felt one of the radiators on the landing, it was cold. He sighed. The stupid woman hadn’t turned on the heating — in this weather. The master bedroom door was ajar and he could hear the soft sounds of a radio turned down low. Again he called his wife’s name.
She lay on her side, with a cashmere shawl draped around her shoulders. An empty sherry bottle lay on the floor beside the bed and a half-full one sat on the bedside cabinet amongst numerous sticky glasses. As he drew nearer William knew, from her grey complexion, that she was dead. The lamp gave a soft pink light through the frilly lampshade over her peaceful face. The remains of the sleeping tablets she had taken were spilled over the rose-pink satin-covered duvet. William checked her pulse, but her wrist was cold. Her eyes, half open, were glazed in an expressionless stare. A white envelope was propped against a silver racing trophy on the mantelpiece. William ran his finger beneath the flap, which opened easily. ‘To whoever reads this: I am very tired, and not very well. So I have decided to go without bothering anyone, in particular my husband. I have made a mess of a lot of things, so forgive me. That’s all really. Katherine.’