Page 107 of Thick as Thieves
“It’s over,” she says snippily. “I’m seeing George Newsome,” she adds proudly.
“Much more suitable for Isobel than the Greystone boy,” Chrissy pompously chips in.
“A lot poorer,” states Marcus. “Are you sure you can afford to downgrade? Newsomes are as poor as church mice. He asks me every quarter for money.”
Chrissy chokes on her food, as does Rowena. “Marcus, you should not cast lies about our friends,” his mother chastises.
He looks at her incredulously. “Tell him to sue me then, and I’ll produce every begging text and email he sends me. He has more sick grandmothers than anyone else on this earth. They must be medical phenomenons, they keep coming back from the dead.” Levi and Tim have tears coming out of their eyes, and are pretending their coffee has gone down the wrong hole.
Issy sits like we just turned her to stone. She didn’t know. I bet old George has been splashing Marcus’s cash. The Newsomes probably need Isobel’s big, but not huge, private income. But more importantly, they likely covet her perceived ‘connection’ to Marcus. Easier to tap up if you think you have an insider in your corner.
Marcus turns his attention to Bettina. “So, Betty, what are you doing here?” Marcus stares at her unblinking. I can see he’s had enough of the charade. She flinches a bit under the spotlight, and Marcus raises his eyebrows at her when she doesn’t speak.
Rowena interjects, “I asked Bettina to come. She has information I need you to hear. But to be honest, darling, I think we should do this in private.” Again the dramatic eyes and hands. “Some of this stuff is hard to hear, and you may not want everyone to know.” She looks furtively around the table as if no one can hear her.
“What, sort of information?” Marcus sounds bored, while Rowena’s caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. She doesn’t want to reveal her hand and talk about me. Just yet.
“Well, it’s very sensitive,” she proclaims, again giving her minions knowing looks.
“What? Like Xander, Evie, and I being together,” he says, directly and loudly, to his mother.
The whole table is silent now. No clattering of knives and forks, no low chatter. Total silence. I hear Dad choke on his steak. To her credit, Rowena does not look ruffled or flustered. She is a pro.
“Well, yes, just like that.” She looks over at Chrissy, who is looking a bit more uncomfortable and less confident. They were going for shock tactics.
“Well, it’s nothing that anyone here doesn’t know. We live with these men, they’re my bandmates. You may not know that we’re all together, but surely you saw the gossip from months ago. And she”—he points at Bettina—“saw it first-hand in Scotland. Not sure why she’s spilling the beans to you or anyone else, though, seeing as she signed an NDA.”
He turns his stare from Bettina to Tim. “Tim, can you call Patrick?” He then looks back at Betty. “That’s our lawyer, in case you’re not sure.” She looks horrified, and at Chrissy. Clearly they thought Marcus would be so shocked, he wouldn’t sue her for her breach of confidentiality.
“Darling Marcus, before you start calling lawyers, we need to explain to you what’s happened.” Rowena brings the conversation back to her, cool and calm. “Then you can decide about suing.” Betty and Chrissy look at her like she’s lost her marbles. But Rowena will never be cowed. “Everett,” she starts, and I close my eyes and count to ten in an attempt not to stand and shout at her. I’m just about to open my mouth when Dad puts his hand on my arm and shakes his head. I see Marcus look at me, with much the same expression on his face.
“Call her that again. I dare you, Mother.” He says it so quietly, with so much menace, she visibly shrinks from him.
“E, Evie has been seeing Xander, as apparently you know. But you may not know she was also seeing lots of other men. She was going on lots of dates from when you met her at Christmas right up until your birthday party.” She goes for the dramatic pause. Letting us have a chance to process her words and accusations. “Those twins ‘came early.’” She rolls her eyes for emphasis. “It’s a well-known trick Marcus, saying they’re early when in fact they were full term.”
Again she lets her venomous words have time to percolate. Her entourage are hanging onto every syllable, as if it’s the first time they’ve heard it. She carries on building up to her dramatic ending. “Which would put theconceptionwell before your birthday.” She sits back, triumphant in her deductions.
I can see Chrissy and the gang all agree with her, their faces smug, their heads nodding in the affirmative. And Isobel is positively smirking. Their eyes fix intently on Marcus, waiting for his reaction. And they’re all disappointed tonight, as his face is blank.
Rowena ploughs on, unaffected. “I invited her here, Evie”—she’s going for gold now—“for lunch. I also invited some doctor friends of mine to come and do a harmless test on the twins.”
I flinch at the tale she’s telling. She’s getting into her stride, still oblivious of the effect she’s having on Kell. A story, her version to be told.
“But she went mad when we asked her any questions.” Her arms are flapping crazily around. “Stole a book from Betty that had all the information about her in it. Smashed the place up. Assaulted both the doctors. Well, her man did one, she did the other. Attacked us all with a poker”—she points theatrically to exhibit A in the clock—“and forced Oisin to attack a doctor with a spoon.”
She pauses for dramatic effect. She’s elated, her colour high, she has the full attention of the room. It’s absolutely silent. Rowena assumes this is because we all agree with her at how terrible Evie is, and goes on.
“None of the Purcell boys would do what their grandmother Niamh asked of them. Now she’s lost her son and her grandchildren. No one is talking to her.” She’s raising her voice now. “Can you believe it? They all stood in front of Evie and those children, defending them against us. US!” she screeches. “Colm picked the lock on the toilet door and let out Orla, who we’d popped in there for her own safety. We’d heard about Evie smashing up a house in Devon, and then there was your car she flattened, so we needed her out of the way for her own protection.”
She actually believes this load of bunkum she’s spewing, and looks suitably indignant and proud of her actions.
I’m watching this woman sign her own death warrant with each tale against Evie, and she’s signing it in blood.
“I told her she was not to bring those, thosechildreninto my home again.” She flops back into her chair, as if reliving it was all too much. “She told me I would never see her oranyof her children again. And now James is ignoring me. In fact, he’s blocked me.”
She takes a deep breath. “You need to tell him, Marcus, hemustcome and see me. As his grandmother, I’m inundated by requests for appearances with him.” She looks at her friends, a gloating look on her face. “Everyone at my club is asking me for his autograph, for their children and grandchildren. So popular, so good looking,” she says with pride in the grandson she threw out of her home thirteen years ago.
I smirk at that. Marcus sits and stares at her as if he can’t believe the tale he’s just been told. With his eyes focused on his mother he speaks to my dad.
