Chapter 40
‘It’s a bit cold and dark for a walk along the promenade, Bridie,’ Kate complained.
Bridie clutched the shoebox and held her hood up against the wind.
She didn’t have to show Kate the theatre straight away, but she had a feeling that if she didn’t, she’d change her mind and bottle out.
Bridie didn’t want to do that, even though it was possible her sister would find out soon enough anyway, now their mum knew about the theatre.
She wanted Kate to hear it from her, rather than discovering a secret Bridie had kept from her.
They arrived at the old theatre. Kate was surprised when Bridie showed her the key and opened the door, ushering her inside. She’d never been inside the theatre before.
Bridie paused in the foyer, telling her all about the solicitor’s letter she’d received out of the blue, and the visit to the solicitor’s office in Ipswich, where she’d been given the keys, and her secret benefactor’s wishes was for her to stage a play.
She watched Kate walk around the foyer, taking it all in while Bridie explained that Jack had agreed to invest and would be sending in some tradesmen the next week to start fixing the roof and the electrics.
Bridie didn’t tell her sister that she’d signed a contract with Jack to do the work without consulting a solicitor. Kate didn’t ask. She was just shocked that Bridie had been given a property.
Bridie hoped it wouldn’t come between them – the fact that she’d had this property just fall in her lap, and it was worth quite a bit of money, with its location on the seafront.
Kate wasn’t envious – far from it. She surprised Bridie by telling her that she deserved a bit of good luck after Julian had cheated on her and ruined her stage career. She was genuinely happy for her.
Bridie said, ‘I think it was me who ruined my own career – quite spectacularly, really.’
Kate touched her arm. ‘Don’t think that. It was Julian’s fault. Just remember that he ruined things – not you.’
Kate had her husband, and the children, and a house, albeit with a mortgage, but they could always sell up and downsize. Bridie was well aware that her circumstances were very different; she had nothing to show for her fifteen years with Julian.
Kate rolls up her sleeves. ‘Now, where do you want me to start?’ she asked. ‘I want to help.’
'You want to help me get the theatre in order? You do know I’m intending to stage a play? I thought you didn’t like the theatre.’
Kate replied, ‘That’s because Mum and Dad discouraged it, and you know what I’m like – always doing as I’m told, even as an adult, wanting to please them.
But now I’ve lost my job in London, and I’ve decided I don’t want to return, it’s made me think about a lot of things.
Why did I tell Layla she couldn’t join the drama club at school? ’
‘Because of me,’ Bridie replied. ‘You didn’t want her to follow in my footsteps and work in a precarious line of work when you never know if or when you’ll get another show.’
‘Yeah, well, there was that,’ said Kate, ‘although look at me. I was in a well-paid job in London, thinking it was secure, and they let me go. No job is secure. But it was more than that.’
Bridie nodded knowingly as she said, ‘Mum and Dad.’
‘Exactly,’ Kate replied. ‘They always hated the theatre. You were very brave going into a line of work they despised. It was because of them that I wanted to discourage Layla, my own daughter, from doing the one thing she loves.’ Kate looked at Bridie.
‘This is the secret you asked Layla to keep. Somehow she found out your secret, and I bet she promised not to tell if she could come here and help out in the theatre.’
Bridie nodded. ‘Yes, exactly. But there’s something more. Something even Layla doesn’t know about.’
Kate looked at the shoebox Bridie had fetched from her flat before they left – the box she’d clutched close to her chest during the blustery walk along the promenade to the theatre.
Kate said, ‘It’s got something to do with that shoebox, hasn’t it?’
‘I’ll show the contents, but first, let’s go into the auditorium.’
Bridie opened the door and showed her inside the theatre with the leaky roof, dodgy electrics and broken chairs.
Kate looked stunned.
Bridie watched her as she slowly walked down the aisle, taking in its size, the old velvet chairs and the chandeliers, and the intricate plasterwork in the ceiling; all of it harking back to another era. She turned to Bridie. ‘Oh, Bridie, I never imagined … I love it. It’s just …’
‘What is it, Kate?’
‘I hope Jack knows what he’s doing. This place needs careful restoration.’
Bridie stared at her sister. Kate knew what she was talking about. Her house had been quite the project. She’d spent thousands on specialist tradesmen to restore her period property.
‘We did have words about that,’ admitted Bridie. ‘Our vision is a little … different.’
‘But ultimately, you own this place, so you have the final say.’
Not for the first time, Bridie had a little wobble over signing a contract she’d hadn’t actually read. Jack had said it was just a formality. But she didn’t even have a copy of the contract. She was too embarrassed to tell her sister this. She thought it best not to say anything.
‘So, Mum and Dad don’t know anything about this?’ Kate asked.
‘Mum knows.’
‘You told her?’
‘No.’ Bridie explained about her mum bumping into Oliver that morning.
‘Oh, so Oliver knows as well as Jack.’
Bridie nodded. ‘Oliver doesn’t want Jack involved.’
‘I’ll bet. He wants you all to himself.’
Bridie ignored that comment. ‘Apparently, Jack has always wanted to get his hands on this theatre, so I get the impression he thinks Jack is going to screw me over. He didn’t actually say that, but I know that’s what he’s thinking.
’ Bridie wished the contract she’d signed didn’t keep popping into her head.
‘But you clearly don’t think that.’
‘Not at all. In fact, I think Jack is—’
‘Is what, Bridie?’ Kate looked at her wide-eyed. ‘You don’t think he’s your secret benefactor – do you?’
Bridie didn’t say anything, which unfortunately said it all.
‘You think he did get hold of the theatre, and hearing about what happened to you, he’s gifted it to you, for old times’ sake because you were best friends. Well, you were more than that, weren’t you?’
Bridie smiled.
‘The thing is, Bridie, if I were in his shoes, and someone I was in love with had dumped me, choosing their career on the London stage over me, I don’t think I’d get over that in a hurry.’
Bridie frowned. ‘That was years ago, and besides, we were just kids. It wasn’t serious.’
‘Wasn’t it?’
Bridie bit her lower lip.
‘Have you asked him how he felt about you leaving like that?’
She didn’t have to ask him. He’d already told her, surprising her with his strength of feeling over what had happened.
‘You don’t think it’s him, do you?’ Bridie said flatly.
‘He’s married, Bridie.’
‘I know!’ Bridie recalled her mum saying that too. Why did everyone think there was something more going on between them than just the theatre?
‘And from what I’ve heard,’ Kate continued, ‘his wife is very money-orientated. Married couples make decisions together – certainly financial ones.’
‘You mean like you and Andy did when you lost your job and chose not to take up the job they’d offered you,’ Bridie said sarcastically. She immediately regretted it. ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that.’
Kate shrugged it off. ‘No, you’re right.
It’s true. But that was a big mistake. That’s obviously why we had a massive row, as you know, because I went ahead and made that decision without discussing it with him first. Look where that’s got me – back living with Mum and Dad while we patch things up. ’
Bridie pursed her lips. ‘Sorry.’
‘Don’t be. But that is my point. I don’t see Jack’s wife agreeing to him just handing over a prime property that would be worth a lot more money if he developed it.’
Bridie stared at Kate, really wishing she didn’t have a point.
‘And besides, why would he give you the theatre? You haven’t been back five minutes, and it’s not as though you’ve exactly kept in touch over the years, like old friends.
I know you’ve had some bad luck, having to leave your stage career in London.
But really, why, if he’s been after getting his hands on the theatre for years, like Oliver said, would he just hand it over – to you, the person who walked out on him? It would be very strange indeed.’
Bridie was starting to get very concerned over just what she’d signed. She desperately wanted to change the subject, but she had to ask, ‘If it isn’t him, then who do you think it is?’
‘Honestly, Bridie, I haven’t got the faintest idea. I mean who do we know who had connections with this theatre? Nobody.’
Bridie looked down at the shoebox in her hands.
Kate noticed. ‘Bridie?’
‘There’s something else … follow me.’ Bridie started towards the stage.
Kate stood rooted to the spot. ‘Something else besides someone appearing out of the blue and handing you a theatre?’
‘Yeah, I’m afraid so.’
Bridie came to a stop when she noticed Kate wasn’t following. She turned around.
Kate said, ‘I get the impression I’m not going to like it.’
Bridie thought, that’s putting it mildly. Bridie waved her sister to follow. ‘Come on.’ Bridie walked to the stage and up the short wooden flight of steps to one side. She checked Kate was following.
‘You know, I’ve never, ever set foot on a stage before.’ Kate stood there staring into the auditorium. She looked at her sister, her expression one of awe. ‘I could never do it. Takes some guts and talent to entertain people.’
Bridie smiled. ‘Yes, I know.’ She was just so happy that for the first time in her life, someone in her family had acknowledged this.
She said, ‘It’s not easy, being a theatre actress.
I’m not going to lie, it’s been in the back of my mind what happens when I get too old to dance and sing and have the energy to work in West End shows. ’