Page 25 of Lessons in Life

‘Oh? How’ve you ended up here, then?’

‘The people I lived with moved to Sheffield when I was nine or so.’

‘The people you lived with?’ Fabian pulled a face. ‘That sounds a strange way of talking about your adoptive parents. I mean I know you were adopted, Lisa – Robyn told me when she and I first met.’

‘Hmm.’ Lisa picked up her cup once more, draining the contents. ‘I know the second cup is never as good as the first, but I’m having another. You?’

Fabian nodded, catching the eye of the waitress. ‘And Beddingfield?’

‘Jayden was based in Leeds. I met him in a club in Bradford when I was seventeen. After several years out on the road with him…’

‘Really?’ Fabian interrupted. ‘You were a sort of roadie?’

‘Yep. I did the bookings, made appointments, made sure he and the band were fed and watered even if some nights we could only afford to sleep in the van.’ Lisa laughed. ‘I even joined him on stage sometimes; you know, if his backing group had disowned him because they hadn’t been paid.’

Fabian stared. ‘I feel like I’ve had a very staid life compared to you.’

‘I was rubbish.’ Lisa grinned. ‘Kept coming in on the wrong note at the wrong time. And then I realised I was pregnant with Jess. I’d had enough of constantly being on the move – almost five years in total – and, to be honest, I think Jayden had had enough of me cramping his style. We were often abroad, particularly in Denmark, Sweden and Copenhagen.’ She laughed. ‘I remember throwing up over the side of the North Sea ferry and knew I was totally fed up with it all. I wanted a place of our own and not the horrible rented flat in Harehills in Leeds. We were on our way back from somewhere and heading straight for the flat after being away for a month. The van blew a gasket and we ended up looking for a garage, smoke billowing from the exhaust, in the prettiest village I’d ever seen…’

‘Beddingfield?’

Lisa nodded. ‘I knew straight away I’d found where I wanted to live; a village with a duck pond, a pub and gift shops and a village school where I’d be able to send this baby I was expecting.’

‘What, as soon as it was born?’ Fabian grinned at her over his coffee cup and, not for the first time, Lisa knew exactly what it was Robyn saw in this man.

‘You know what I mean,’ she tutted. ‘I wanted to put down roots, give the baby a home, give it a stable upbringing where it would be totally loved and wanted.’

‘And your upbringing wasn’t like that?’ Fabian was insistent, obviously wanting to know more.

‘I wanted my baby to know who it was, where it came from. Who its parents were.’

‘Of course you did.’ Fabian stopped speaking as the waitress placed their fresh coffees in front of them.

‘Obviously it didn’t work out quite the way I wanted. Thelastthing Jayden wanted was to be stuck in a quiet Yorkshire village – however pretty – with a wife and new baby.’

‘You got married, then?’

‘Nope. Jayden never asked me. I don’t suppose he believes in marriage. Oh, I certainly asked him more than once to put a ring on my finger; to give Jess and me some sense of belonging. Some security. To be fair, I wanted a family. Not Jayden’s fault if that wasn’t what he wanted as well. I should have left him before I tried the old “coming off the pill without telling him” trick.’ Lisa air-quoted the words. ‘I celebrated my twenty-third birthday in a beat-up old white van on board a ferry somewhere between Portsmouth and Bilbao. The Bay of Biscay, when pregnant, is not an experience I ever want to repeat. So, we rented a cottage in the village and then, when it came up for sale, Jayden bought it.’

‘You were left by yourself a lot of the time?’

‘Well, with Jess. I adored her and I was actually really happy. Then, when she was only ten months old, I found I was pregnant again. This time with Robyn. I thought two little girls would be more than enough to tie Jayden down. But, I had absolutely no right to tie anyone down. To curb anyone’s freedom when they’re still only in their late twenties and trying to make a name for themselves. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, Fabian, it’s that.’

‘And your own parents? They must have been around to help you with two babies?’

‘I told you; they’re not my parents.’

‘I’m sorry. I’m going on a bit, aren’t I?’ Fabian obviously didn’t know how to answer this. ‘But are they still alive?’

‘I’ve really no idea. I’ve had no contact with the Foleys since I walked out the summer I finished A levels.’ Lisa gave a short laugh. ‘I didn’t even know if I’d passed them or not for a year or so.’

‘What? Passed your parents in the street?’ Fabian looked shocked.

‘No.’ Lisa laughed again. ‘I didn’t know if I’d passed my A levels. I’d been offered a place at Warwick to study biology, but I walked away from it all.’

‘And had you?’

‘Passed?’ Lisa nodded. ‘Four A’s. Adrian Foley made sure of that.’

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