Chapter 3
Alice
Decorating the artificial Christmas tree in the foyer with Jamie wasn’t something Alice had expected to do.
It was a little strange, but Jamie looked relaxed, while she wasn’t quite sure how to feel.
She hoped she’d made the right decision about letting him stay at the B&B.
It was a lot easier when they would just talk about his release, but here he was, out.
She needed to remind her heart to be still around him.
And that helping him out was one thing — being too involved with him again was another.
She would simply show some support and be the good friend she was.
‘Customers will be in for lunch soon.’ Alice glanced at the door. ‘We could go for a walk afterwards. I’ll show you what’s what around here now. Although, I do need to speak to my mum first.’
Jamie raised his brow. ‘Tell her I’m here, you mean?’
‘Yep.’
‘How much of a problem is this going to be for you?’
Alice shrugged. ‘It’s their problem. I’m getting on with my life, and so are you. We’ve got no problems.’ She hoped.
He took the red bauble she handed him. ‘Hmm.’
‘I’ll take you to see the Happy to Help Hub. Finally get to show you our setup there.’
‘I’m looking forward to that. I liked hearing about your success there.’
Alice smiled. ‘We all pitched in, so it’s more a success story for the community. It may be small, but it sure helps a lot of the locals, especially the food bank part.’
‘I’m surprised you have time to volunteer.’
‘I don’t have that much time since owning the B&B, but Demi has been brilliant around here which means I still get to put in a shift or two each week. Even Benny staffs the reception at times.’
‘I take it he’s in school.’
Alice nodded. ‘Yeah, and I want you to know that even though I didn’t mention you to Mum, I did talk to Benny about you staying here. I just thought it would be in the new year. Anyway, he was okay about things, so he won’t be any trouble.’
‘But your mum will?’
The thought alone made Alice grimace. ‘She won’t be best pleased, but she’ll come around. Listen, Jamie, not everyone is going to expect you to be the same person you were eight years ago. We all change.’
Jamie gestured at the dining room as they placed the last of the tree decorations onto branches. ‘Do you want my help in there?’
‘No, that’s fine. But I do want to give you something before I get back to work.’ She waved him towards her living quarters and invited him inside.
Jamie glanced at the kitchenette. ‘It’s quite nice back here.’
Alice nipped to her bedroom and pulled a white envelope out of a top drawer. ‘It does the trick.’ She met him by the wood burner, her favourite spot in the B&B.
‘What’s this?’ he asked, taking the envelope.
‘Money for you.’
‘Whoa!’ He quickly handed it back. ‘I’m not taking your money, Angel.’
‘It’s not from me. It’s from Mabel. She had it stashed with her will and other important documents. Strict instructions for me to give this to you on your release.’
He peered inside, flicking through the notes. ‘Bloody hell, there’s about five hundred quid here.’
‘Yeah, it’s so you can replace your clothes she gave to charity.’
His face was filled with amusement. ‘She gave my clothes away?’
Alice thought it best to be honest. ‘It was after you were sent away. She had a moment where anger took control, so she gathered your things and, well . . . Erm, you do have a couple of boxes of your other stuff in the storage room. She felt bad afterwards. Anyway, she wanted you to have that.’
He was staring at the notes. ‘I hadn’t expected her to leave me anything. I know she hated me for so long.’
Alice reached for his hand. ‘She never hated you.’
‘Both Shannon and I weren’t good to her. I caused trouble, and Shannon was, well, Shannon. I never know which word fits her best.’
Alice had quite a few to describe her, but she remained silent.
Jamie raised the envelope. ‘I’ll take this to my room. Let you get on with your day.’
‘I won’t be too long, then I’ll come find you.’
‘You won’t need to look far. I’ll be the one finishing off your Christmas decorations.’
‘Oh, I don’t expect you to do that. I can sort it later. It takes so long, doesn’t it?’
Jamie shrugged. ‘First time I’ve helped.’
‘Really?’
His head dipped a touch, then he made his way back out to the foyer.
Alice went to say something but froze on seeing her mum’s beady blue eyes glaring at her from the other side of the reception desk. ‘Mum!’
‘Hello, Lizzie,’ said Jamie politely — not that it mattered. Lizzie’s glare remained firmly in place.
‘A word,’ she said flatly to Alice.
‘Not now, Mum.’ Alice gestured to the lunch customers starting to enter the dining room.
‘Kitchen,’ said Lizzie through gritted teeth.
Alice watched Jamie head over to the stepladder as she walked away with her mum.
Lizzie huffed, ignoring Demi who glanced up from the stove to see what was going on. ‘Have you lost your mind?’ she whispered urgently to her daughter. ‘Were you even going to let me know?’
‘I was coming to tell you after lunch.’
‘Well, the Port Berry grapevine beat you to it, girlie.’
Demi bit her lip. ‘Sorry, that might have been my fault. I told Robson.’
‘Who told Spencer, who told me when he came to the shop for some chocolate. Assumed I knew. You know, what with me being your mother.’ Lizzie shook her head in annoyance.
Demi went out to the dining room to take some food orders.
Alice took a calming breath, wishing her mother would do the same. ‘Mum, this is his home,’ she said quietly.
‘Not anymore.’
‘Well, I told him he can stay.’
‘Tell him you’ve changed your mind.’
Alice clenched her fists behind her back. ‘No.’
‘That boy has been nothing but trouble since he was fourteen years old. I never liked you hanging out with him. You know that.’
‘You know his story, Mum. You know why he ended up that way.’
Lizzie sat at the table, taking Alice with her. ‘Now you listen to me. Plenty have a rotten old drunk of a dad, but they don’t grow up committing crimes left, right, and centre.’
‘It wasn’t just his dad.’
‘Don’t you bring the excuse of him losing his mother to cancer when he was six, because our Benny lost his mum to the same thing when he was seven, and do you see him tearing up the town? No, you don’t. Our Benny is a good boy.’
Alice sighed. Keeping her voice low, she said, ‘It was a combination of things for Jamie, but mostly his own cancer. Mum, he was in and out of hospital from the age of eleven thanks to leukaemia. He never had a proper childhood. Hardly attended school for a good couple of years. He was messed up in many ways, then that Gregg came along with his gang, making Jamie feel like he was part of something, and that’s why it all went wrong. ’
‘Oh, love, listen to yourself. You make it sound like Jamie had no mind of his own. He had a good nan, a solid enough home — once his loser of a dad kicked the bucket — and he was cured. He did what he did because he wanted to.’
‘It’s not as black and white as that, Mum. Everyone knows psychology plays a part. And anyway, that was in the past. He’s been punished, and now he’s back to rebuild his life and just find some peace and quiet.’
Lizzie pointed at the doorway. ‘And I’m sure he can do that elsewhere.’
‘He has nowhere to go.’
‘This isn’t on you, Alice.’
‘He’s been my best friend since primary school. I’ve been making his life part of mine since he got sick. The other kids stopped bothering with him after a while, but I stuck around.’
‘Fat lot of good it did him. Shame your ways didn’t rub off.’
Alice held her mother’s hand, wishing she would understand the bond she had with Jamie, even if it was a little unusual. ‘Mum, I know he’s changed. I’ve been witnessing it happen over the years.’
Lizzie frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
It was now or never, and seeing how Alice was obviously helping Jamie, she figured she might as well tell the truth.
‘I’ve been writing and visiting him all these years.’
Lizzie sat back, eyes wide and mouth gaping.
Alice waited for the information to sink in.
Demi came back to plate some orders, keeping herself to herself.
The silence was unnerving, and it wasn’t long before Alice found herself saying something.
‘I know you don’t like him, Mum, but I know him better than anyone. I’m telling you he’s changed. And he’s staying here in the B&B.’
‘With you?’ Lizzie sounded deflated.
‘No. He has his own room.’
Lizzie slowly got up to leave.
‘Mum . . .’ Alice reached for her arm, but Lizzie moved away.
‘You’ve got lunch to sort.’ Lizzie stopped by the door, her expression having switched to anger again. ‘But I’ll tell you this, girlie. If one bit of trouble comes here, no matter how tiny, I’ll be taking our Benny home with me, because there’s no way I’ll have him subjected to that.’
Alice’s blood was boiling. ‘I would never do anything to harm Benny.’
Lizzie closed in on her. ‘No, but you’re fool enough to let a scumbag into his life.’
‘That was one time, and I didn’t know Alan was a narcissist, did I?’
Lizzie stabbed a finger towards her. ‘You’re too soft, Alice. Makes you an easy target for these losers.’
‘Jamie is not a loser, and Benny will be perfectly safe around him. Just give him a chance. He’s a thirty-one-year-old man. He’s changed.’
Lizzie waved off the comment and left.
Alice flopped back to the chair, placing her head in her hand.
Demi sat by her side. ‘Hey, Al, don’t be too hard on your mum.
She’s just worried. My family were, too, when I got out.
Assumed I’d go straight back on drugs, start robbing shops again.
What I’m trying to say is, it takes time to build trust, but if Jamie is serious about starting a new life, he’ll show them. Trust is all about action, not words.’
Alice looked up and smiled weakly. ‘Thanks, Dem.’
‘No worries. Now, best get these lunches out.’
Alice stood to help. ‘Yes, sorry about all this.’
‘No apology needed. I’ve had plenty of rows with my lot, but you know what? I believed in myself, and that’s what really counts. Do you think Jamie is at that stage?’
‘Yes. The first couple of years he was inside, he got into all sorts of trouble, but then he started having therapy and had a mentor. Everything changed after that. He even took up studying.’
‘And you really believe in him, don’t you? I can see that clearly enough.’
Alice nodded. ‘I do. I always have. I know he has a huge heart, and I know he’s sorry for the trouble he caused around here.’
‘Was it that bad?’
‘Yep. Theft, fights, vandalism, racing stolen cars.’ Alice shook her head.
‘He was drinking heavily, missing for days on end, served a shorter sentence before this last one. But there were times when he’d take me up to his room and just hold me and .
. .’ She didn’t want to tell Demi about his tears, breakdowns, his moments of tenderness with her.
The memory of them laying in each other’s arms, not doing anything but holding each other, hit hard. Every single time she would try to stop him leaving her arms, going back to that gang, being someone he wasn’t.
Demi rubbed her shoulder. ‘It’s okay, Alice. It’s all okay now.’
‘Give me one sec to wash my face, then I’ll get serving.’ Alice dashed to her quarters, avoiding Jamie in the foyer.
The cool water gave some respite, and the soft towel was a good place to hide her face for all of a minute. A warm presence came from behind, followed by a soft voice.
‘Angel, are you all right?’
She pressed the towel harder against her cheeks, then, straightening, took a silent breath and pasted on a smile. ‘Sure, just got a bit hot in the kitchen.’ Turning, she met curious eyes.
‘I don’t want me being here to cause you stress.’
‘I’m not stressed,’ she lied.
He lightly brushed back a piece of her hair that was stuck to her lip. ‘Tell me what to do. I should have listened to you years ago. I should have stayed with you.’
Alice glanced at his mouth, her heart pounding in her ears. ‘Put the fairy lights up out front.’
His smile was small, but as beautiful as ever. ‘I can do that.’
‘I’d better get back to Demi.’
Neither of them moved for a moment, only the scrunched towel between them.
Alice swallowed hard, lowering her gaze. ‘See you in a bit.’ She quickly headed to the kitchen, his touch still very much with her.