Page 57 of The Last Love Song
Helen nodded silently. She was on the verge of tears and did not trust herself to speak.
‘Are you going back up there?’ Tony indicated the open door.
Helen shook her head.
‘Right, well, nor am I. Funnily enough I’m not in a party mood either, but I had to show my face. How about finding a pub or a bar somewhere and having a drink to cool down?’
‘I...’ Helen looked at him, a little surprised. ‘Okay then.’
‘Good.’ Tony stood up and offered his hand to Helen. She took it. He pulled her upright, then tucked her hand into his elbow and patted it. ‘Let’s go.’
They found a pub a few hundred feet away, up the King’s Road. Tony went to get the drinks while Helen secured a seat.
‘There.’ Tony put down the pint and Babycham on the table. ‘Here’s hoping you get this in your mouth rather than on your shoes.’ He smiled. ‘I don’t know how long everybody had been drinking in there, but I should think most of the afternoon. Anyway, cheers, here’s to the summer holidays.’ Tony’s voice was full of false cheeriness. ‘You look as pleased to see them arrive as I am,’ he smirked, taking a sip of his pint.
‘Don’t you like holidays?’ ventured Helen, still feeling ridiculously tongue-tied.
‘Yes, I do. But it just so happens that the lady of my dreams will be spending a large percentage of them miles away.’
‘I see.’ Helen’s misery accelerated. ‘Can’t you go with her?’
‘Oh, Helen, if only, if only,’ Tony sighed. ‘Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. My life never seems to be.’
‘Nor does mine,’ she agreed, sipping her drink.
‘Well, we are a pair, aren’t we?’ he smiled, before slappinghis hands on his thighs. ‘Now, I’ve told you what’s wrong with me. So...what’s wrong with you?’
‘Oh, nothing really, just a boy at the party making a hurtful comment, that’s all.’
‘Really? My, my, what are lads looking for these days? I would have thought you’d pretty much be their ideal woman. Beauty and brains all rolled into one.’
Helen blushed. ‘It’s kind of you to say so, Tony, but—’
‘I’m not just saying it, Helen.’ She confirmed that his eyes were earnest and sincere. ‘Learn to take a compliment when it’s given. To be truthful, I’ve always been fascinated by you. It’s not often one gets to meet a person such as yourself.’
‘Don’t I know it.’ Helen raised her eyebrows.
Tony sighed. ‘Honestly, Helen, where did you get your enormous inferiority complex from? You take everything anybody says as a criticism.’
‘Well, you are criticising me, aren’t you?’
Tony laughed. ‘Lord, no. I’m saying you’re unique. I’d venture that was a compliment. Put it this way: if someone told me I was ordinary, I’d be devastated.’
‘As a matter of fact, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to be.’ Helen drained her glass.
He stood up. ‘I’ll get another round in and then you can tell Uncle Tony what on earth made you have such a nonsensical ambition. Don’t go away now.’
Helen watched him as he made his way across the pub. Whoever the girl was who had stolen Tony Bryant’s heart, she was the luckiest person in the world.
Six Babychams later, Helen had done an awful lot of talking. Tony now knew more about her than any other human being she had ever encountered.
‘Well, well, well,’ said Tony. ‘You poor old thing you. And here I was feeling sorry for myself.’
‘I don’t want sympathy,’ said Helen abruptly.
‘Nor am I going to give it. Listen, Helen.’ Tony took her hands in his. ‘I want to say something to you now and I want you to think about what I’ve said to you later. You are nineteen years old. Yes, you’ve had a rotten deal through life, but now things are starting to work in your favour. You have a large inheritance to make the most of, and you are better placed to do that than many others because you have a gift.’
Helen gave a small hiccup. ‘What “gift”?’
