I watched as he climbed back into the cab and tried to settle Bruce. He looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and I wished I knew what I could do to make it all melt away.

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

More than aware that my assumptions had led me to making a mess of things, I decided to stay out of everyone’s way and lay low for a couple of the days. I had upset, angered and disappointed both Sam and Joe, and let Hope down to boot, so the best thing I could do was bide my time and let the dust settle. It didn’t feel good to have cocked up so badly and I didn’t like myself very much. I had steamed in like a bull in a china shop and had consequently scuppered my chance to act as intermediary between the two men I had become friends with. That is, assuming they still wanted to be friends with me.

I constantly thought back to what Sophie had said just a few days before – ‘before you decide that you have discovered something isn’t true or real, and act on it, make sure you’re in full possession of all the facts and that you have them in the right order.’ I had been in no doubt that Joe had heard some gossip in the pub, but I certainly hadn’t gathered ‘all the facts’ about it or checked their order before reacting to them.

Mulling all this over led me back to Mum’s diary again. For a while I had been utterly convinced that I had interpreted everything correctly, but now, having made such a silly mistake and upset my friends in the process, I was doubting the evidence typed out in front of me.

There was nothing specific to keep nudging my belief in what Mum had written into disbelief, but there was something niggling away nonetheless and this involved my last living relative so I really couldn’t afford to get it wrong. If I unjustifiably acted on the information and confronted Dad with it, then the implications could last for the rest of my life.

I daresay some people would have said that what went on in my parents’ marriage was nothing to do with me and, now that Mum had gone, I should let it all lie, but there was more to it than that. What Mum had written about Dad’s behaviour made a mockery of everything he claimed to believe in. If what Mum had recorded was true then he was the biggest hypocrite and his whole ethos about life, as well as business, was a sham and, as I was still (for the moment) his most senior employee, that made it a lot to do with me. These weighty accusations had the potential to be about more than just my parents’ marriage, they were calling Dad’s whole character into question.

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