Page 65 of Before You Say Goodbye

“It was a man we all trusted,” Emma said. “A man who’ll be at the ball on Saturday night.”

Autumn looked at her. “I’m not going then.”

“Yes, you damn well are,” Bluebell said defiantly.

“I’m not.” Autumn shook her head. She couldn’t believe any of them were even thinking of going.

“Listen first,” Maddie said gently. “And then tell us you won’t go.”

Autumn nodded. Emma paused for a moment, watching her daughter closely. Bluebell gestured for her to continue.

“He was a family friend, a member of the theatre group we sent the children to. They all went, almost from the second they were old enough to walk, so he’d known Bluebell since she was a baby. His kids played with our kids, and he and his family would come to our house for dinner. We even went on holiday with them—”

“OK, I get it.” Autumn’s words sounded harsher than she’d intended. “Sorry, Emma. I just can’t bear the focus of this conversation being on him.”

“You’re right.” Emma paused. When she spoke again, her words came out in a rush, as if she had to get them out of her as fast as she possibly could. Autumn wasn’t sure if it was for Bluebell’s sake or her own. “Vincent began abusing our daughter when she was thirteen but, with hindsight, he’d been grooming her for years before that. By the time we found out, four years later, he was woven intrinsically into our lives, an investor in Ben’s business who’d convinced Bowie to drop out of university and helped him get a scholarship at the music school where he was a patron. Bluebell and Marley had both been given lead roles in his latest production. And when our son walked into a dressing room and found that monster having sex with his seventeen-year-old sister, I think the arrogant bastard really didn’t expect Marley to try to kill him.”

Autumn closed her eyes, sure she knew instinctively where this was going and that it was going to break her heart.

“Marley made a real mess of him. He was lucky to survive, to be honest. Marley was arrested and charged with assault. He’d been blowing away audiences night after night with his performances all season and he really was the next big thing, but he lost his part in the play and no one would even consider hiring him after that. Even those who knew him, who knew that Marley would never have hurt anyone without cause, wouldn’t defend him, because they were too afraid that getting involvedwould jeopardise their own careers. Marley was twenty and his reputation was already utterly destroyed. His dreams had been ripped to pieces.”

“What happened to that man?” Autumn asked, fearing she already knew the answer.

“Nothing. He was arrested and released without charge. He told the police that their ‘relationship’ hadn’t begun until Bluebell was old enough to legally consent and she loved him so much at that time that she told the police he was telling the truth.”

Bluebell sobbed, dropping Autumn’s hand to cover her face, and Autumn started to cry, too. She had always been aware of an unspoken tension between Bluebell and Marley, and it made so much more sense to her now. Bluebell’s lies had ended his career and he had never felt fully able to forgive her. It seemed she had yet to forgive herself.

“I thought he loved me,” Bluebell said. “And I thought I loved him. I was devastated when Marley attacked him and I swore to Marley, like a fool, that I’d never forgive him for it. It’s such a fucking cliché. I was just a child and I was utterly manipulated.”

“That’s why Marley moved to New York.” Emma passed her daughter a napkin to dab her eyes with. “He wanted to start again. Bowie went with him, of course, and Bluebell followed them almost straight away. Bowie found work right away and he hoped that, after a while, he might be able to use his influence on the casting directors he was working with to get auditions for Marley, but the theatre world is tight-knit and Marley’s reputation had followed him. He gave up trying completely three or four years ago.”

“I can’t believe it,” Autumn said.

“Larry Ross loves Bowie enough that he’s prepared to risk his reputation. He’s the first person to allow Marley onto aprofessional stage in thirteen years,” Emma said. Autumn closed her eyes and sighed. There was no way she could refuse to go to the ball now.

“Marley has always lived for two things,” Maddie added. “Bowie, and the stage.”

She knew what they were trying to tell her. This might be Marley’s only shot. It could be the only thing keeping him from following through on the drunken promises he’d made to end his own life. If he had even a glimmer of hope in his heart that he might be allowed back into the world of theatre, this might just give him something to live for.

“I need you there, Autumn,” Bluebell added. “And so will Marley.”

“OK, OK.” Autumn held up her hands. “I’ll be there.”

Emma smiled gratefully across the table. Autumn could not bring herself to smile back at her. She felt like she might never smile again.

“There’s something else,” Emma said, looking sheepish. “I fear you’re going to be furious about it but there was no other way, I’m afraid.”

“What is it?” Autumn asked. She wasn’t sure she could bear much more.

“You don’t have to tell her,” Bluebell said, cautioning her mother.

Maddie spoke up. “Yes, we do. Everyone else knows except Autumn and Marley, and there’s no reason not to tell Autumn now. It isn’t fair to her, Bluebell.”

“What do you all know?” Autumn asked again, impatiently.

“Bowie knows, Autumn,” Emma said. “About the medley.”

“What? How?” Disappointment flooded through her. They had done everything they possibly could to keep it from him. She had been so looking forward to surprising him.

---