AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Edie and Bobbie
‘It was December, I was sixteen and Gran was at work. When I came home from school I decided to surprise her by getting our tree decorations down, so we could put it up later that night. I never went in the loft because I’m scared of spiders and Gran always came down with cobwebs in her hair. On this occasion I forced myself to be brave, thinking it would be worth it, save her a job so we could get stuck in as soon as she got in. That’s when I found my mum’s old suitcase, the one that’s upstairs that I take everywhere with me. It used to belong to Gran.
‘It was pushed right under the eaves, secured with a belt. I knew as soon as I saw it who it belonged to, there was an airline tag on the handle, and it had Mum’s name. Curiosity got the better of me and I was so excited. I can remember unclipping the belt, unzipping the lid, and lifting it to see what was inside. It was full of lovely clothes, make-up and hairbrushes and this book.’ Edie tapped the treasure she held firmly to her chest.
‘I dragged everything to my bedroom and sat there for two hours, reading it all. It wasn’t a diary as such, more scribblings, very random handwritten notes and thoughts covering every spare page, in the margins or wherever there was a blank space, but it was one in particular that caught my attention.
‘When my gran came home I took it downstairs and asked her to explain what it meant. I’d never seen my gran cry, not like that, only at soppy films but right there and then she broke down and for the first time since you said goodbye to her, she said your name out loud, admitted who you were and told me the whole story about my mum.’
Joe had wrapped his arms across his chest, his voice cracking as he spoke. ‘What did she say?’
Edie wasn’t ready yet to tell him about that, the hardest part of the whole story. ‘I’ll come to that in a minute but first I want to answer your other question, about why I’ve done what I’ve done.’
She paused, forcing herself not to cry. ‘Yes, when I knew who you were, I could have asked Gran to get in touch with you, or done it myself, it would have been easy enough. But then I remembered how Mum had been rejected by Martin and how that must have felt. To know she wasn’t really wanted. And I thought of my friends at school. One only saw her dad at weekends and hated it because it felt like she was his chore, someone he had to put up with and take out for tea and be nice to. Like a spare part in his new family. And my own dad, who I don’t really know, who got bored of making the effort and having a forced relationship with a kid he barely knew. And I didn’t want that to be the case with you.
‘Yes, you are a good man, I know that now, but the Joe Jarrett in all the papers was a stranger to me, and that’s all I had to go on, second-hand versions of my grandad. And I have no doubt that if we’d got in touch, you’d have done the honourable thing, be it in the form of a pay-off, or you may have wanted to meet me, we will never know.
‘What I do know is that like my dad and even like Martin with my mum, you’d have felt obliged, and that’s fake and I didn’t want fake. I wanted you to see me for who I was. Like me for me and at the same time I’d see you for who you really were. No pretence, no protocol, just Joe Jarrett. Then I could make up my mind if I wanted you to be my grandad, part of my life. Once I knew if you were a good guy or not.
‘You see, I was so angry with you, for leaving Gran and making her sad and for what she went through. Remember when you showed me your photos? I desperately hoped that there’d be some of her in there and you’d point her out and tell me she was the love of your life, like you are hers. She has loads of you two together and I can tell how much in love you were. But it all went wrong, and I blamed you. All I wanted was a fairy-tale ending, or just the real story, the real you, to be part of a family. And then I was scared that you might not have room for one more.’
Ignoring the muted sob from Jenny, Edie pointed to the scrapbooks. ‘And yes, they might look really weird, but I had no family album to look through, so I made one for myself. It was just me and Gran. Looking at images and press stories on the screen is impersonal, anyone can see.’ Edie pointed at the scrapbooks. ‘They are mine, my albums, my personal connection to a family I didn’t know, and who didn’t know I existed. Which is why I chose Manchester University, because it took me to your roots and, in a way, mine and Mum’s. And yes, I hold my hands up and confess I was obsessed with you and that’s what led me to Ace.
‘It was purely curiosity at first, chatting to him online was a tenuous connection to you. And then it all got out of hand, when I began to have feelings for him. So I tried to separate it in my head, what I felt for my mysterious grandad and this lovely guy called Ace.’ It was at this point she dared glance at him, the man who had stolen her heart and she thought she saw a glimmer of understanding in his eyes, before Joe broke the moment.
‘Edie, kid, I wish you’d just come and found me. I get why you did what you did but, Christ, what a way to go about things. And what about Bobbie? What does she think about you coming here?’
When Edie shook her head Joe’s eyes went wide. ‘She has no idea. She knows I’m in France but thinks I’m staying with my friend Lana and her family. They have a holiday home here in Brittany. I’ve been sending her lots of photos, just not with you lot in. Some I lifted from Lana’s Facebook page, so it looks like I’m with her. It’s getting tricky though, because there are none of me and Lana together and I can’t fob Gran off forever, even she’s not that gormless.’ She received a smile for that, Joe’s crow’s feet crinkling at the corner of his eyes. ‘In fact, I’ve been terrified that you’d ask to see a photo of her, but thankfully you’re not nosey and you’re too easy going, and not fussed about stuff like that.’
‘What would you have done if I had?’
‘Apart from panic, I would have showed you one of some old biddy off Google Images. I’d saved one just in case. The photos I showed Ace and Nanou are real though.’
Joe shook his head and laughed. ‘You had it all worked out, didn’t you?’
Hearing mirth in his voice for the first time made Edie’s heart sing, only for a second because knowing it made her look even more conniving, she felt the urge to explain.
‘I thought I did. But I was wrong. Right from that first contact with Ace, when I realised how talented and clever and lovely he was, and that if I could have chosen him for a friend at uni, I would have, I should have stopped then, but I couldn’t.’ She dared to look his way and saw he’d lifted his head to look. ‘I was so besotted with you, Ace, in the truest sense of the word, and I put what I felt for you in a box and kept it there, well away from everything else so nothing could contaminate it.’ Edie hoped he’d get what she was trying to say.
‘The times we met up, that was just a girl meeting a boy. Me and you, real and pure. The rest, well that’s a mess and I do regret the way I’ve gone about it and as soon as I got here I realised, but it was too late to go back. My silly plan was going wrong, and I didn’t know what to do.’
She addressed her next comment to Jenny who had also raised her head to listen. ‘I’ve only known you about a week, Jenny, but this morning I realised I’d had enough of it all and if anyone would understand and be able to help me, it was you. And I’m sorry if I’ve disappointed you in any way and on my life, I swear I would never hurt your son, or you, or any of you.’ Edie swept her eyes across them all and then flicked away more tears, her eyes stinging and sore.
When Joe spoke, she heard each note of sadness in his words, like the most perfect lyrics of all time. ‘Oh, Edie, love. I’m so sorry, kid…’ And when he began to make his way around the table, to her side, her heart went wild.
As he reached her chair, Joe held out his arms and without having to be asked, she placed her book on the table and stood. Laying her cheek against her grandad’s chest, Edie let him hold her tight while she sobbed into his T-shirt and he kissed her head, wetting her hair with his tears.
‘Welcome home, Edie, you bloody crazy woman. And know this, know it always. Your old grandad loves you exactly as you are, and from this day on he will take care of you and never let you go. You got that, kid?’
Edie couldn’t speak. All she could do was scrunch her eyes tight, nod and squeeze him so hard it hurt her arms, and while she listened to Jenny’s quiet sobs she heard a chair scrape on the tiles, and then another and the gentle weight of hands on her shoulders and two more bodies holding her close. When finally, she pulled away, Edie almost fainted with relief that Ace was one of them. Jenny was the other.
It came as no shock that Lance remained where he was, a tougher nut to crack and when he finally spoke, it was to make what sounded like a crowd-pleaser apology. ‘I’m sorry Edie, for going through your things. What I did was wrong, but I hope you can see I was worried about Dad. It was a shitty thing to do, I get that.’ Lance looked so uncomfortable, not even looking towards Joe who still had his arm around her shoulder while Ace stood close by, his hand resting on her back.
‘It’s okay, Lance. I understand why you did it. I hope you can forgive me too.’ She could see he was mulling it over, very likely trying to work out the best thing to say so he didn’t look heartless.
‘Well, if Dad and Ace can forgive you, then I suppose so can I.’ Lance held Edie’s gaze and it told her that was the best she could expect, so she replied with a nod.
He had more to say though. ‘I dread to think what the press will make of it, though, and Dad’s Wiki page is going to need a tweak… especially when they try and explain that his son is going out with his granddaughter. Whichever way you pitch it, it sounds weird. As if things weren’t bad enough already…’
