Читать книгу Hush Hush - Mel Sherratt - Страница 24

Kathleen watched as Grace reversed her car and drove out onto the lane. She stood in the window for a long time after the detective had gone, watching the leaves falling from the trees as they were taken away in the wind. Her shoulders drooped but her anger continued to rise. It had been such an effort to be pleasant to the bitch, but she had a reputation to uphold and if that meant being nice to her face, then, well, she’d have to do her best for the sake of appearances.

Because she hated Grace, and her mother, in equal measure. They had left her at the hands of George. She’d known about the girl and Martha Steele, long before they had moved to Manchester. If she was truthful, part of her had wanted them out of the equation so she could have George all to herself. But she hadn’t realised how terrible things would get for her and the kids once they had gone.

If Martha Steele hadn’t left with Grace, then maybe things would have been different. At the time, Kathleen had been fine living in her flat with the children, their father sleeping over two or three nights a week, even if it was a tight squeeze.

But George wanted them all to move in with him when he’d found himself alone. On his own territory, he became even more predatory. And then he became obsessed with getting married. He’d managed to track Martha down and got her to agree to a quick divorce, on the grounds that he had committed adultery. To this day, she had no idea why he’d wanted to do that, rather than go and drag Martha back because his pride had been dented. Maybe it was all about saving face. Replacing Martha with Kathleen made it look as if it was George’s choice to end his first marriage.

Kathleen hadn’t wanted to marry George straight away. She would have preferred to see how things panned out. She’d always hoped that one day he would change, but like a lot of people whose lives were blighted by abusive partners, she had been taken in by sober George. Drunken George didn’t give a stuff about anyone but himself. So she lived for the days of sober George.

He’d said he’d change if they moved in together on a permanent basis. But it was all lies. Living at the hands of a monster was not just degrading, it was debilitating. He had not only beaten her down with his hands, he had beaten her mentally. Saying she was never good enough, never able to leave because she didn’t have anywhere to go, no one would want her. He’d given her no money, she had been dependent on him for everything. What did her children know about real hardship?

George had mellowed in his later years; he wasn’t quite the bully he used to be, and Eddie and Leon had taken his place in the respectability chart. Since George had been murdered, things had improved drastically for everyone. There was no longer that sense of fear, and no anticipation that things could erupt at any time. Now Kathleen had to make sure her children didn’t get into too much trouble instead.

It was a ceaseless battle. Half the time they never listened to her. They still blamed her for their suffering. How wrong they were when they said she could have got away from him.

Her shoulders drooped again, thinking of her daughter, and her granddaughter. It wasn’t entirely Jade’s fault, but she did play the victim card far too often. Although, to be fair, Kathleen didn’t mind so much; Jade had all but left her to look after Posh Gloss since her last boyfriend had deserted her and she had moved back to Stoke, and it was Kathleen’s first chance at running a business; during the past few months she’d found she’d really enjoyed it. Being around people was a joy compared to having to stay cooped up in the house all day, waiting for George to come home from wherever it was he’d been, figuring out what mood he was in as soon as he came through the door, as she had for so many years. And it was all because of Martha and her daughter.

So, despite putting on airs and graces, that woman coming to the house had annoyed her. What if Grace Allendale saw through her act and began to pry? There were secrets in their family, things no one was ever going to find out. She’d need to think what to do next, to keep everyone safe.