Daddy’s Little Princess and Will You Love Me 2-in-1 Collection. Cathy Glass

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      Chapter Twelve

       Very Upset

      ‘Beth won’t be visiting her father this evening,’ Jessie said evenly. ‘Would you tell her, please?’

      ‘Yes, but why? What’s the matter? Is Derek unwell? Beth will be so disappointed.’

      There was a pause before Jessie replied. ‘Reassure Beth that her father is well, but tell her my manager and I have made the decision to cancel her visit. I’ll explain the reasons why when I see her. That’s all you need to say.’

      An uncomfortable tightness settled in my stomach. ‘Is there something wrong?’ I asked, all manner of thoughts flashing through my mind.

      ‘I’m not in a position to say any more at present,’ Jessie said flatly. ‘I need to make some more enquiries. Did Beth telephone her father yesterday?’

      ‘Yes. She does every evening.’

      ‘How long does the call last?’

      ‘At least thirty minutes. Sometimes longer.’

      ‘And what do they talk about?’

      I was being questioned, but why? I felt my heart starting to race. ‘I can’t hear much of their conversation,’ I said. ‘Beth uses the telephone in my bedroom while I bath Paula. From what I’ve heard they talk a lot about what Beth wears – she always changes into a dress when she arrives home from school. They tell each other that they miss each other and sometimes Beth tells her father about school, but not often.’

      There was a pause, as though Jessie might be writing down what I was saying. ‘Can you hear Derek’s replies?’ she asked.

      ‘Not from the bathroom. No. I used to sit on the bed next to Beth, and I could hear his replies then.’

      ‘So why did you stop sitting with Beth while she telephoned her father?’

      ‘After you told me you didn’t have any concerns about their relationship, I didn’t think there was any need to. Also, I have to get Paula ready for bed. Derek and Beth talk for some time and if I waited until they’d finished Paula would go to bed late every evening.’

      There was another pause before Jessie asked, ‘Does Derek call Beth his little princess?’

      ‘Yes. It’s a term they both use quite a lot,’ I said, not understanding why she was asking. ‘Beth often says, “I’m Daddy’s little princess.” I’m sorry, have I done something wrong?’

      ‘No,’ Jessie said flatly, then added, ‘Beth isn’t to telephone her father until further notice.’

      ‘What? Not at all?’ I asked, shocked.

      ‘Not for the time being.’

      ‘She’ll be so upset,’ I said. ‘She looks forward to the telephone calls, and on top of having her visit cancelled she’ll be devastated.’

      ‘I appreciate that,’ Jessie said. ‘But I’m afraid it can’t be helped. I’ll let you know if and when telephone contact can resume, but it won’t be for a while, so don’t give her false hopes, please.’

      I was struggling to make sense of what I was being told, and so too would Beth. She was being stopped from seeing and speaking to her father for no obvious reason. ‘And you can’t tell me any more?’ I asked.

      ‘Not at present,’ Jessie said. ‘Is there anything more you can tell me about Beth’s telephone calls to her father? Why does she use the telephone in your bedroom?’

      ‘Because Adrian is usually watching television in the living room at that time. So it saves him being interrupted, and it also gives Beth some privacy. It’s a routine we’ve got into.’

      There was another small pause, then Jessie asked, ‘Is there anything else you can tell me about Beth?’

      It would have helped if I’d known in what connection she meant. ‘Not really. She’s been coping well. There was an incident of bullying at school, but I saw Miss Willow and she dealt with it. Beth saw you in school yesterday.’

      ‘Did she?’ Jessie said without surprise. She didn’t elaborate. ‘I’ll arrange an appointment to see you when I know more. Thank you for your time.’ She wound up the conversation and said goodbye.

      I slowly replaced the handset and stayed where I was on the sofa. Whatever was going on? What had happened to end contact so abruptly? What could I tell Beth?

      Paula looked over from where she was playing on the living-room floor. ‘Was that about Beth?’ she asked.

      ‘Yes, love, it was.’

      ‘You look worried, Mummy,’ she said sweetly. Then standing, she came and sat beside me on the sofa. I put my arm around her and held her close. We were both silent for a while. Paula seemed to appreciate the enormity of what I’d just been told and that I needed time to think.

      Suddenly my thoughts were interrupted by the telephone ringing. I reached over and picked up the handset. As I did it crossed my mind that perhaps it might be Jessie able to give me the reason for her decision, or possibly even saying the decision had been reversed and Beth could telephone and see her father as planned. But it wasn’t Jessie.

      ‘Is that Cathy?’ a slightly familiar female voice asked.

      ‘Yes. Speaking.’

      ‘It’s Marianne, Derek’s friend.’

      ‘Oh. Hello.’

      ‘I hope I haven’t interrupted anything, but I need to speak to you urgently.’

      ‘Yes, go ahead.’

      ‘Derek phoned me a little while ago and he’s very distraught. He says he’s been stopped from seeing Beth and speaking to her on the phone. He didn’t seem to understand why. He said something about a meeting. I’ve tried to telephone the social worker, but she’s not available. I wondered if you knew what had happened?’ Marianne spoke quickly and I could hear the anxiety in her voice.

      ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Jessie has just telephoned me, but all she said was that Beth wouldn’t be seeing her father this evening and she wasn’t to telephone him until further notice. She didn’t say why.’ I wondered if I should tell her about the questions Jessie had asked me about Beth and her father, or that Jessie had been into Beth’s school, but decided it was confidential and if Jessie wanted her to know she’d tell her.

      ‘Jessie didn’t give you a reason?’ Marianne asked.

      ‘No. She just asked me to tell Beth. She’s going to be so upset.’

      Marianne gave a heartfelt sigh. ‘I don’t know what’s going on. I’ve told Derek I’ll go to the hospital as soon as I finish work. I can’t do anything now, I’m at work. He said something about a meeting he’d had to attend yesterday with Jessie and the psychologist, but I couldn’t understand what СКАЧАТЬ