The Birds and the Bees(66)

       
           



       

Stevie had only guessed that Jo would have done that to Colin, but from  his small cough, she knew she had guessed right. Colin seemed to pale  before her very eyes. She felt quite guilty that she was the one to bear  the news that would probably break his heart.

‘I understand you've had a recent loss,' said Stevie tentatively.

‘Ms Poll … I don't see … '

‘Sometimes when we're in pain, we'll snatch at anything that promises to stop it. Hope makes us see what we want to see.'

‘I really must end … '

‘All I'm saying is that if something appears too good to be true, it's probably because it is.'

Colin Seed gulped. That was one of his mother's sayings and as such, it resonated loudly within him.

‘I won't take up any more of your time, Mr Seed. I thank you for  agreeing to meet me. Please think about what I've said,' and with a  gentle, caring smile, Stevie added, ‘And good luck.'

There was a nerve ticking in Colin's neck, Stevie noticed. He nodded  goodbye as if his throat was constricted and held his hand out towards  her. Stevie shook that hand, warmly with both of hers, and then she left  and closed the door quietly behind her.

As she walked out of the building via the revolving door, Jo MacLean  came in from the opposite side. As if in slow motion, they turned to  stare at each other. For once, Jo's eyes had none of that victorious  haughtiness in them. Stevie's cocksure presence in her workplace  unsettled her greatly. She hadn't bargained on Matthew finding a  champion after her claims, because no one wanted to stick up for a sex  beast. Least of all a disgruntled ex!

Stevie fought down the impulse to double-back, grab the bitch by the  hair and proclaim it to the busy atrium of people just what a  life-wrecker Miss Gorgeous Body really was, but instead, she held onto  her dignity, turned her head away and walked out into the fresh air of  the day. Let someone else clear up the rest of this mess now; she was  done with it.

Outside, sitting in his car, Matthew watched Jo MacLean strut towards  the offices like an arrogant peacock. He almost didn't recognize her,  for there was little resemblance to the soft and fragile woman he had  met that day in the car park. She looked cold and proud and hard. He  didn't even think her very beautiful any more; she was a stranger to  him. Then, seconds later, he saw the familiar unchanging form of Stevie  emerge from the building and he automatically smiled. The sunlight had  lodged in her hair and she looked like an angel coming towards the car.  That's what Stevie was, an angel. A lovely, sweet, golden-hearted angel.

He drove home, unable to stop beaming gratefully over at Stevie and  saying that he couldn't thank her enough. Stevie nodded, but didn't say  much. She just wanted Matthew to stick his foot down and for her to be  home. With Adam.



When she got to Humbleby Cottage, Adam was gone, and so were his  clothes. There was a note on the table that said Dear Stevie, We both  need some time to think. I will be in touch. Love to Danny,  goodbye – Adam.

Her eyes bloomed with tears, as once again she thought, How final goodbye sounds.





Chapter 53




Of course, Adam had lied. He didn't need any time. He knew what he  wanted but he had to get out of the way and not complicate things for  Stevie. She had waited so patiently for Matthew to come back to her and  now she had him. So how could he upset all that for her by declaring his  feelings now?

He pushed the door open to his house – only a house, never his home. It  was so chilled and without heart, warmth, laughter or little boy's mess.  There was no Mr Greengrass Head on the windowsill, no comfy clutter of  pens or books with clocks-and-moons motifs on the covers. There were no  clouds of flour billowing from the kitchen and no monster pans of chilli  on the hob. He had never liked this house, but now he hated it. It was  big and bare and echoey, and the memories stored within its walls were  cold and hollow. He would ring the estate agent that afternoon and get  it on the market. Then he would award himself some time off work so he  didn't bump into Stevie.

Stevie.

Adam MacLean dropped himself on the cold leather sofa and thought of the  softness of her face as he held it, remembered how she had gulped as he  stared into her eyes and how his heart had trembled when her lips had  touched his. He had never loved anyone in this way before, with a depth  that made cheap parodies of all the other times he thought he had been  in love. Stevie deserved to be happy, and he so much wanted her to be  happy – with him or without him. And it looked as if it was going to be  without him.

At that thought, big fierce boxer-faced Adam MacLean's head fell  forwards into his hands. He didn't stop the tears when they came.                       
       
           



       





Chapter 54




Jo sat in her bedroom in the Queens Hotel staring into her compact  mirror as she applied a slick smear of lipstick. Was that a line  appearing under her eye? she wondered. It was becoming more and more  urgent to hook a rich fish who would be able to finance her fight  against the ravages of time. Beauty was a talent on a timer.

Suddenly Jo lauched the compact across the room, smashing it against the  wall. She didn't even think of clearing it up. Any mess outside the  boundary of Jo's clothes was of no consequence. She was interested in  nothing but the fulfilment of her own needs.

‘Damn you, Stevie Fucking Honeywell,' she snarled. Had it not been for  that short, fat cow she would be in Colin's lovely oak-panelled house  now, being petted and fussed over, and not in the cheapest room in a  glory-faded hotel paid for by pawned jewellery. Or better still, she  would be with Adam. He wasn't as rich as Colin, by far, and no one was  more surprised than her to realize that it didn't seem to matter. Jo  MacLean's mantra had always been, ‘Happiness doesn't bring you money.'

There was a two-day Porsche business convention going in the hotel, and a  wealth of suits spilled into the large reception area, the wine garden,  the bars and restaurant. Jo slipped on a plain black dress that  emphasized her long, slim body, the cut of it adding the illusion of  curves. She had never failed to ‘pull' in that dress.

But before she explored the potential downstairs, there was one final  thing she needed to do. She couldn't just leave it there with Adam and  Stevie. If she couldn't have what she wanted, then why the fuck should  they?

Jo MacLean picked up her pen.





Chapter 55




On the last day at work before his self-imposed break, Adam's hand  stilled on the envelope in the middle of the pile of post in his office  at Well Life. There was no stamp on it, so it had obviously been  hand-delivered for maximum effect. He knew the beautiful precise writing  with the artistic loops well. He should have thrown it out, but  curiosity got the better of him. It was Jo at her manipulative best.

Dearest Adam, whatever you think about receiving this from me, grant me one final kindness and read it to the end, I beg you.

They were iron words, cushioned in a velvet glove of girly curls. I'm so  sorry I hurt you … I will always care for you … I have to say this … He  didn't want to read it, but the masochistic part of him couldn't rip his  eyes away from the hypnotic soft swirls of ink.

She put it oh so beautifully, how he could never be right for Stevie  because he would never conform to her dull, vain type … and you deserve to  find someone who will love you for the strong, selfless, unique, big  personality that you are. She said that playing happy families with  Stevie and Danny was a mere illusion, because Stevie's own horrid  experiences with step-parents would never allow him to be really  accepted unless he were perfect. She was saying this to be kind, of  course. Darling Adam, you were the best thing that ever happened to me  and I shall always regret my stupid mistake at falling for the lies of  another. I still love you and if you ever change your mind, I will drop  everything and come to you. Be happy, you wonderful man. Jo x.

He read the letter through to the end and the words continued to sting  him long after he had ripped it up and thrown it into the bin. Adam  MacLean might have known his basic psychology well, but Jo MacLean was a  past master.



Stevie found the letter on the welcome mat. It had been hand-delivered  and bore her name in extravagant script on the front. There was a  friendly little smiling face drawn in the final ‘e' to lend it  affection. Stevie didn't want to open it, but its very presence gave her  no choice.

Dearest Stevie, I know you will never forgive me but please allow me  this one act of genuine friendship and read this letter to the end …

The words were exquisitely put, needles embedded in cotton wool. She  knew this, but still she read on. Adam is using you … he never stopped  loving me … He invited me to the gym to talk about a reconciliation … He  told me evil things you had said about me … I so regret believing him and  scratching your car in temper …