Joey ended his phone call and walked into the kitchen. ‘Me dad said don’t do nothing till he gets there. He’s on his way.’

CHAPTER EIGHT

Eddie Mitchell rang his trusted solicitor Larry, then hit a ton as he zoomed along the A13. Gina announcing she was pregnant had been a big enough bolt out of the blue, but finding out that his grandkids had run away and turned up at Joycie’s had literally knocked him for six. What was God trying to do? Give him a fucking heart attack?

Hearing his dad pull up outside, Joey opened the front door and ran outside to greet him.

‘How are they? Are they OK?’ Eddie asked, concerned.

Joey nodded. ‘Nan’s just made ’em sausage sandwiches and given ’em a hot bath. They was in a right state when they arrived though, Dad. Their clothes were soaked and they were frozen stiff. They could have been snatched by some pervert or anything.’

Eddie nodded, then put an arm around Joey’s shoulder. ‘Have they said why they ran away?’

‘Yeah, they wanted to see Frankie. They said they missed their mum.’

As tough a man as he was, Eddie felt his eyes well up as he walked into the lounge. Georgie and Harry were sitting either side of Joycie. They both had big white bath towels wrapped around them and were munching on a bowl of crisps that was positioned on Joycie’s lap.

‘Look, Grandad Eddie’s here. Go and give him a cuddle,’ Joyce urged them.

Harry loved a cuddle, so he immediately stood up, and held his arms wide open. He didn’t care that his towel dropped to the floor.

Eddie picked up Harry’s naked little body and swung him around in the air. ‘Hello, me little bruiser, Grandad loves you, you know,’ he said, planting kisses on his face.

Georgie sat motionless on the sofa. She knew she had a Grandad Stanley and a Grandad Jimmy, but she didn’t really remember her Grandad Eddie. She was sure she had heard her mum mention him, but he didn’t look familiar to her.

‘Give your Grandad a kiss, Georgie,’ Joyce ordered.

Eddie sat Harry on the sofa next to his sister, then knelt down in front of the pair of them. Apart from a quick glance when he’d knocked at O’Hara’s house, he hadn’t seen Georgie for well over a year, but still felt hurt that she didn’t seem to remember him. He spoke gently. ‘I know neither of you really know who I am, but that’s my fault because I had to go away somewhere. I’m your mum’s dad, your Grandad Eddie.’

Georgie and Harry glanced at one another. Within seconds, Georgie had worked it all out. ‘What, like my dad is Jed and you are Eddie, Mummy’s dad?’

Eddie smiled. ‘That’s right, and being your mum’s dad makes me your grandad.’

Georgie smiled and then hugged him. If this man was her mum’s dad, then she liked him.

‘Can we see Mummy now?’ Harry asked again.