“What? Why?”
“Because if I don’t, he’ll knock down the theatre.”
“But there must be another way.”
“There isn’t. Can you draw up the paperwork?”
“I’m not a lawyer, George.”
“Then get me one. I’m sure you can sort it out. Just make it happen.”
“Right, all right.” He reached into his drawer and brought out a file with my name on it. “We better go through this.”
I spent an hour with him, running through all the deeds, all the maps, everything he needed to know, I told him. Within a month, it would be gone. I’d have nothing left of my home, the place I’d lived all these years, the one place where I felt at peace.
TWENTY-EIGHT
DONNA
Joshua was looking at me strangely as we rehearsed. It had been a fortnight since Darren had tried to drag me back and George had been right. I’d not heard a thing from him. I had heard instead from a detective in Leicester who wanted me to fill in a statement for him but that was it. I was still waiting for the form to come through the post. He’d been charged with everything George said he would. Daddy was right about that as he had been about so many things.
We’d been making our way through the play night after night, getting the stage directions sorted ready for our grand opening performance. Tickets were already sold out. News that About Last Night was going to be performed for the first time in twenty years had spread across the country. I was more than a little bit nervous as the days passed.
“What?” I asked, looking across at Joshua who stood on the side of his stage, smiling at me. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“No reason,” he replied, turning away and flicking through his script.
After the run through was finished, we sat on the stage in a circle, Erica congratulating us all.
“That was a silver star day,” she said. “Well done.”
“Yay,” Nigel said sarcastically. “A silver star day.”
“And I’ve got some good news,” Erica continued, ignoring him. “You might have heard the rumours that the theatre was up for demolition and you might or might not know that I’ve been fighting very hard to make sure it doesn’t happen. It’s with Joshua’s help that we’re able to confirm that the threat is over. The theatre is safe.”
I looked around the group, frowning as my eyes reached Joshua. “How did you help?” I asked.
“Well,” he grinned back at me. “Since you ask, it was my uncle who was going to redevelop the town centre.”
“Your uncle?”
He nodded. “And he isn’t going to anymore. His new development will be out on Westcott Lane instead. You’re welcome.”
“Hang on. Westcott Lane? That’s where George lives.”
“Not for much longer.”
“What? Why?”
“Because he’s agreed to sell to my uncle.”
“But he can’t sell. He wouldn’t sell.”
“You should be grateful. If it wasn’t for him selling, the theatre would be history.”
I was up and off my chair before he could say anything else. I ran all the way to George’s house, not stopping until I got there. Out of breath, I hammered on the door.
“Donna,” he said, looking surprised. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”
“Don’t sell,” I wheezed. “You can’t sell your house to him.”
“What? Who told you?”
I slumped into the hallway, taking several minutes to recover before I was able to talk normally. I looked at him as he stood over me, his face a mixture of concern and anger. “There has to be another way,” I said.
“There isn’t,” he replied. “If I don’t sell up, he’ll demolish the theatre.”
“So let him. Why does the theatre matter so much?”
He shook his head. “It just does.”
“Remember our contract?” I asked. “No lies. Tell me.”
“It was my daughter who died on stage,” he said, his eyes fixed on the wall above my head. There was no emotion in his voice, he sounded cold and empty.
“You had a daughter?”
He nodded slowly. “No one knew she was the mother of my child. She’d made me swear to keep it to myself. It was a one night stand. It just happened during rehearsals.” His voice lowered to a whisper. “She died because of me.”
“It was an accident,” I said, getting to my feet. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“I wrote the scene. I could have done it differently but I didn’t. I…he can’t knock the theatre down. It’s all I have left.”