caught in her throat. It was from her dad and he was close. Gemma looked up. There were two white vans in the road, parked one in front of the other, and a gap of three yards between them.
Gemma headed towards them and as she got closer she could make out the ‘Delivery Devils’ logo on the back door. Walking slowly, she tried to decide what to do for the best. It was confusing, her head swam. She loved Vassili and wanted the life he promised her, a grown-up life by the seaside. But going home to Ennerdale Close where there would be clean sheets, her little sister and hot water on demand, it would be so cosy. The memory of school life pawed behind her eyes, when all she’d had to worry about was writing essays and meeting her friends.
Gemma approached the vehicles and could make out the shape of her dad’s head in the driver’s seat. Her heart lurched and her stomach flipped. Daddy… She smiled.
Suddenly the passenger door of the first van opened and the driver leant across. ‘You working, love?’
The man was in his mid-thirties, not badly dressed. He was holding a roll of bank notes.
Gemma was rendered immobile, unsure which path to take: back to safety and boredom or onwards on her adventure with the man she loved, a man who loved her.
‘I said, are you working, love?’
~
Neil indicated and steered the van into the driveway. He put his key in the lock and watched as Jackie twisted her body towards the sound.
‘Any news?’ she asked in her usual strained yet hopeful tone.
Neil stood for a second in the doorway, casting his eyes around the room as if it was strange to him. He walked past her and reached down towards the lamp on its little table by the side of the sofa.
‘What are you doing?’ Jackie’s voice was accusatory, incredulous.
‘I’m turning off the lamp!’
‘No you are not! You can’t, you know how she feels about the dark, we need to keep it on just in—’
He shook his head, as his finger and thumb clicked against the little black bar. ‘No, no we don’t, not anymore.’ He placed his finger over her lips. ‘She’s not coming home. She’s never coming home, Jacks.’
Neil knew that he would take the image to his grave; his little girl climbing into the seat of the van behind him, looking like any other tart. A part of him had died.
He fell onto the sofa, too defeated to cry. Jackie wrapped him in her arms. He buried his head in her lap, gripping her clothes, clinging on for all he was worth, a man silently drowning in his sorrow. Jackie stroked the hair away from his forehead.
She spoke softly and slowly into the darkness that enveloped them.
‘I wonder what I did wrong, y’know. I think about it all the time. I try and think about what I should have done differently, but the thing is, if you don’t know that you are doing anything wrong, then you just keep doing it, don’t you? I thought it was all about making her comfy, making her feel special, but I don’t know anything any more. I keep thinking, Neil, about that night. All those people clapping and going crazy. I never knew I could be so proud. It was incredible, wasn’t it?’
Neil sniffed and raised his head. ‘It was, Jacks. She was unbelievable.’
Jackie smiled. ‘Yes she was, unbelievable.’
The two sat in the dark, enjoying a closeness that had been missing for some time. They must have dozed off eventually and were woken by a small voice that cracked the darkness.
‘Why are you sitting in the dark?’
Jackie gasped as a sob leapt from her throat. She reached out and clicked on the lamp and there she was, as if magicked from the night, looking thin and bone weary, haunted and lost, but home. Home where she belonged.
If you haven’t already read the other stories in Amanda Prowse’s gripping No Greater Love sequence, read on or click the links below for previews of
Poppy Day
What Have I Done?
Clover’s Child
and
A Little Love
Poppy Day — Preview
Read on for the first chapter
Gemma headed towards them and as she got closer she could make out the ‘Delivery Devils’ logo on the back door. Walking slowly, she tried to decide what to do for the best. It was confusing, her head swam. She loved Vassili and wanted the life he promised her, a grown-up life by the seaside. But going home to Ennerdale Close where there would be clean sheets, her little sister and hot water on demand, it would be so cosy. The memory of school life pawed behind her eyes, when all she’d had to worry about was writing essays and meeting her friends.
Gemma approached the vehicles and could make out the shape of her dad’s head in the driver’s seat. Her heart lurched and her stomach flipped. Daddy… She smiled.
Suddenly the passenger door of the first van opened and the driver leant across. ‘You working, love?’
The man was in his mid-thirties, not badly dressed. He was holding a roll of bank notes.
Gemma was rendered immobile, unsure which path to take: back to safety and boredom or onwards on her adventure with the man she loved, a man who loved her.
‘I said, are you working, love?’
~
Neil indicated and steered the van into the driveway. He put his key in the lock and watched as Jackie twisted her body towards the sound.
‘Any news?’ she asked in her usual strained yet hopeful tone.
Neil stood for a second in the doorway, casting his eyes around the room as if it was strange to him. He walked past her and reached down towards the lamp on its little table by the side of the sofa.
‘What are you doing?’ Jackie’s voice was accusatory, incredulous.
‘I’m turning off the lamp!’
‘No you are not! You can’t, you know how she feels about the dark, we need to keep it on just in—’
He shook his head, as his finger and thumb clicked against the little black bar. ‘No, no we don’t, not anymore.’ He placed his finger over her lips. ‘She’s not coming home. She’s never coming home, Jacks.’
Neil knew that he would take the image to his grave; his little girl climbing into the seat of the van behind him, looking like any other tart. A part of him had died.
He fell onto the sofa, too defeated to cry. Jackie wrapped him in her arms. He buried his head in her lap, gripping her clothes, clinging on for all he was worth, a man silently drowning in his sorrow. Jackie stroked the hair away from his forehead.
She spoke softly and slowly into the darkness that enveloped them.
‘I wonder what I did wrong, y’know. I think about it all the time. I try and think about what I should have done differently, but the thing is, if you don’t know that you are doing anything wrong, then you just keep doing it, don’t you? I thought it was all about making her comfy, making her feel special, but I don’t know anything any more. I keep thinking, Neil, about that night. All those people clapping and going crazy. I never knew I could be so proud. It was incredible, wasn’t it?’
Neil sniffed and raised his head. ‘It was, Jacks. She was unbelievable.’
Jackie smiled. ‘Yes she was, unbelievable.’
The two sat in the dark, enjoying a closeness that had been missing for some time. They must have dozed off eventually and were woken by a small voice that cracked the darkness.
‘Why are you sitting in the dark?’
Jackie gasped as a sob leapt from her throat. She reached out and clicked on the lamp and there she was, as if magicked from the night, looking thin and bone weary, haunted and lost, but home. Home where she belonged.
If you haven’t already read the other stories in Amanda Prowse’s gripping No Greater Love sequence, read on or click the links below for previews of
Poppy Day
What Have I Done?
Clover’s Child
and
A Little Love
Poppy Day — Preview
Read on for the first chapter
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