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“Please, just for once listen to me, your husband.” Louise opens her mouth to protest. “Louise!”
36
In the living room, I pin myself on the edge of the armchair as Gerry talks me through what happened.
Nick met Francesca one night at their house after our fall-out. They were all drinking, except Francesca who’s teetotal. Nick was knocking them back like there was no tomorrow. Gerry was worried, said he’d make up a bed for him on the sofa, keep an eye on him. But Nick wouldn’t have it, of course. At around twelve- thirty, they decided to call it a night. Obviously, Nick was in no fit state to ride his bike. Francesca offered to drive him home in Gerry’s car, she’s insured, she often uses it when she’s over. They didn’t see her again until the next morning when she strolled in during breakfast.
“It wasn’t all her fault, Audrey,” he goes on. “She was in a bad way too. Her marriage was on the rocks. Jean-Pierre made some investments that went belly-up. They were on the brink of bankruptcy.” He runs a hand over his tired face, eyes red. “It was just a one-night stand with Nick, they didn’t see each other again. Several weeks later I got a tearful call from Francesca telling me she was pregnant and that Nick was the father. We didn’t know what to do for the best.” He rubs the back of his neck, a car swishes by outside; it’s turning dark, gloomy.
“Go on,” I say.
“Lou and I were stuck in the middle of it all. We didn’t know whose side to take, my sister’s or yours?” He smiles sadly, shaking his head. “Then Jean-Pierre found out she was pregnant and threw her out. She turned up on our doorstep with the kids, bar Marcel, in floods of tears. What were we supposed to do, Audrey? She’s my sister.” He looks up at me then, but I don’t say anything. “You and Nick were back together, planning your wedding. In the end, Fran decided to have an abortion.” So Nick was telling me the truth about that. “She’d spoken to Nick, they agreed. It was all settled. We decided there was no need to tell you. What you don’t know can’t hurt, right?” I shrug my shoulders and stare at my nails like a petulant teenager. “Then Louise had this brainwave - why don’t we adopt the baby ourselves? I told her it was too close to home but she just wouldn’t listen. That woman is unstoppable when she gets an idea into her head.”
“But don’t leave out the important bit, will you?” Francesca is at the door tying the belt of her purple raincoat fast and furious.
“Francesca,” Louise warns, appearing behind her. She must’ve been in the doorway, listening.
But Francesca ignores her. “That you dissuaded me from having the abortion on the promise of fifty grand to have the baby for you on the quiet.”
“Oh God, no.” I close my eyes. I can’t believe this. This only happens in episodes of EastEnders, surely.
“Francesca, stop. This isn’t helping anyone,” Gerry says wearily. Slipping past Francesca, Louise tiptoes into the room and quietly slides into the seat next to Gerry.
“No,” I say in a tired voice, “let her finish. Go on.”
“You had it all planned out, didn’t you?” She glares at Louise before returning her attention to me. “I’d have the baby and they’d adopt it. But then, sod’s bloody law, she only goes and gets pregnant herself, doesn’t she? And whoosh.” Francesca throws her hands up theatrically, “the deal’s flipping off!”
“You don’t understand.” Louise closes her eyes, hand out. “I couldn’t…I didn’t…”
“What the fuck was I supposed to do now, hey? I had no money, no husband, children to feed. Of course, I had to turn to Nick, it’s his responsibility too, you know.” I look from Gerry to Louise, their heads are bowed. They can’t even look at me. “There was no way in hell I was going to agree to bringing up this kid on my own.”
“So, wait a minute, if you didn’t get pregnant,” I say to Louise, “you’d have gone ahead with the adoption, and she,” I point at Francesca. I can barely look at her, let alone say her name, “wouldn’t have gone to Nick with her threats and demands. We’d have been married now.”
“Yes, thank you, DCI Fox,” Louise retorts. “But you’d have been lied to and manipulated. You still wouldn’t have known about the baby.”
“He was going to tell me,” I claim, “he was just waiting for the right moment.”
“And you’d have been fine with that, would you?”
“I might’ve been,” I snap. I wouldn’t have been, but that’s not the point.
“Yeah, right,” Louise hits back, folding her arms.
“Louise,” Gerry says through gritted teeth, “we’re supposed to be explaining everything to Audrey, apologising, for heaven’s sake! Stop behaving like a flipping knob!”
“Well, I won’t be cross-examined, this isn’t Midsomer Murders. All I wanted to do was save a life. Give us a family.” She raises her hands then drops them heavily in her lap, “How does that make me the bad guy, eh?” I shake my head. Louise has always had the knack of coming out smelling of roses. She should’ve been a bloody defence lawyer, not a chef. But she’s not going to wriggle out of this one.
“Yes, but you’re forgetting one vital thing,” Francesca pipes up. “Nick may have told you about Thomas and you may have even agreed to get married, but…” She nods at Louise and Gerry sitting side by side on the sofa like two naughty children. “They’d have been bringing up his sprog.”
“Oh, stop it, Francesca, you’re making matters worse,” Louise says impatiently, then looks at me with her puppy eyes. “He wasn’t right for you, Audrey. I told you that from the start. He’d have strayed again and again.”
“He was perfect for me!”
“Oh, really?” She leaps to her feet. “Is that why he fucked Gerry’s sister the moment you fell out?”
“Excuse me! I am still here, you know,” Francesca barks.
“So you thought you’d play God, did you?” I hit back, getting to my feet.
