Read Online The Other Child by Charlotte Link - Free Book Online Page B

living room. Outside it was completely dark, but between the clouds over the South Bay a star shone now and then. Sometimes even the moon came out. With its light you could just about see the dark, turbulent mass of the sea.
    â€˜And what’s your impression of Gwen?’ asked Leslie.
    Fiona lit a cigarette, the fifth since her granddaughter had turned up and moved into the guest room with her bags.
    â€˜She seems quite overwhelmed by what’s happening. And happy? I don’t know. She’s tense. I don’t think she really trusts her fiancé.’
    â€˜How do you mean?’
    â€˜Maybe she doubts his seriousness. She wouldn’t be the only one. Her father does. Me too.’
    â€˜Do you know Dave Tanner?’
    â€˜Know – not exactly. I’ve met him a few times at the Beckett farm over the last few months. And once I invited Gwen and him to come here. He didn’t enjoy that at all. He doesn’t like meeting the people around Gwen – not that there are many of us. He’s probably afraid that they’ll see through him.’
    â€˜See through him? You’re talking as if he …’
    â€˜Were a crook? That’s just what I think he is,’ said Fiona forcefully. She took a nervous drag on her cigarette. ‘We can be frank with one another, Leslie, between ourselves. I like Gwen. She’s friendly. Sometimes she’s a little too anxious to please people, and that can get annoying, but it’s certainly not a sign of a bad character. She’s thirty-five and, as far as I know, never yet in her life has there been a man who has had a real interest in her, and we both know why!’
    Leslie made as if to object. ‘Well, she’s …’
    â€˜She’s as plain as it gets. She bores people to death. She sometimes looks like a real country bumpkin. She wears the most unbelievable clothes. She is hopelessly old-fashioned and marked by those trashy novels she always reads. She lives in a world that doesn’t exist any more. I can understand why men give her a wide berth.’
    â€˜Yes, but why can’t there be someone who can see how she is inside and—’
    Fiona gave a scornful laugh. ‘And what would he find there? Gwen isn’t stupid, but she hasn’t tried to learn anything new since school. She hasn’t really been interested in the wider world. Wait until you meet Dave Tanner! I just can’t imagine that he could, for long, bear to be with a woman he could practically not talk to.’
    â€˜You mean …’
    â€˜He’s educated, intelligent and interested in everything in life. What’s more, he’s good-looking and would have many doors open to him. But he’s made a complete mess of his life. And that, I’d say, is the nub of it.’
    â€˜You mean …’ Leslie said again.
    â€˜Do you know how the man makes ends meet? He gives adult education language courses for housewives. But he did A levels and he studied Politics, even if he did drop out. Instead of finishing, he got involved in the peace movement and did a whole lot of stupid things that didn’t lead anywhere. Now he’s forty-three years old and lodges in a furnished room, because he can’t afford anything else. And he’s bloody well fed up with it.’
    â€˜You know a lot about him.’
    â€˜I like to ask direct questions. And from the answers I get, and the ones I don’t get, I can put together a picture, which is often not too far from the truth. University drop-out, pacifist, eco-warrior, that might all feel good when you’re still pretty young. It might be a kick, certainly more exciting than a middle-class life. But at some point things swing around. When you get older. When living in a shared flat and endless protest marches are no longer “you”. I bet you Tanner has been unhappy for a good while, but now he’s got a classic midlife crisis on top of it all.