Page 82 of Gold Digger
“Do you know where Lottie spent the three hours that Hayley was with you?”
“How is that any of our business?”
“Did Hayley ask you if her sister could come too?”
Brenda looked away at that. “I don’t remember.”
“It was below freezing on Christmas Day last year. Did you know that?” Ollie turned to me. “Lottie, where did you spend those three hours?”
“In the park round the corner,” I said.
“Right, because everything is shut or fully booked on Christmas Day, isn’t it?”
“We should have asked the girl in,” Tony blurted out. “Hayley begged us, and we…” he looked up at me then. “I’m sorry, love. We should have asked you in. We should have?—”
“Tony, for God’s sake,” Brenda snapped. “What are you doing? She’s nothing to do with us! She’s?—”
“She’s Hayley’s sister. Bloody hell, woman. Can’t you see what he’s trying to point out to us? She’sfamily. Maybe notby blood, but we should have treated her like family. We didn’t deserve the effort she made to include us in Hayley’s life.”
A hush fell over the table, Tony’s words still hanging in the air, and for a moment no one spoke. Then, at last, I broke the silence.
“Apart from your attitude to her therapy, you’re good grandparents to Hayley,” I said eventually. “Of course I wanted you involved in her life. The more family she has, the better.”
Brenda shocked me then when her eyes filled with tears. “Oh,” she managed before she turned onto Tony’s shoulder and started sobbing.
“Er… right,” Denise said, sounding unsure. “So, I’m not sure if we should?—”
“I’m sorry,” Brenda interrupted, her gaze fixed on me, completely ignoring Denise. “Your young man is right – Tony’s right. We should have treated you like family, and we didn’t. We lumped you in with her, and we were so very, very angry that…” She started crying softly again.
“The last weekend we had Hayley, we upset her so much that she stopped speaking again,” Tony told everyone. “And we’re sorry. We thought Lottie was part of the problem, and we were too blind to see what was really going on. Of course, Hayley should be with Lottie. We’re sorry that we suggested separating the girls.”
“Okay,” said Laura slowly. “So what custody arrangements are we going to have moving forward? I see there were concerns here about lack of support and stable home?” Laura glanced briefly around at my entourage and hid a small smile. “I’m not sure that is ahugeconcern. Wouldn’t you say?”
“Accommodation-wise, Hayley and Lottie can choose between my three UK residences, my villa in Tuscany, my apartment in New York or my chalet in Verbier,” Ollie said. Laura snorted again but managed to smother it with her hand.He took my hand in his, lifted it to the table so that the ring was showing, catching the light from the bulb overhead.
“I have also secured another rental property in Kensington. It’s a garden flat which we are due to move into in two weeks,” I told them.
“You aren’t living together?” Laura asked with a confused frown.
“I am not a married woman yet,” I told her. “Until that time, we will have our own property separate from the Buckingham Estate.”
Denise sighed, slammed her file on me and Hayley shut with a decisive thump and turned to stare at Brenda and Tony.
“I deal with a lot of child protection cases,” she told them. “Our caseloads, as you can imagine, are unbelievably full.” Her eyes flashed. “I’m sorry, but this is beginning to look like a waste of our time. Is it really your assertion that this child is unsafe in the care of her sister?”
Tony looked down at his hands, and Brenda swallowed as she met Denise’s furious gaze.
“Do you have contact with your son currently?”
Both Brenda and Tony shook their heads.
“Other children? Other family?”
Another head shake.
Denise cleared her throat. When she spoke again, her voice was softer. “Might I suggest then that a better plan would have been to make room in your family for not only your granddaughter, but also her sister?”
The silence stretched out after that statement until Tony looked up and caught my eye.
