Page 45 of The Good Girl

Chapter Forty-Four

Nancy led Molly away from the pebble-dashed bench and through the park, her arm wrapped protectively around her shoulder. As they paced, putting space between them and the mess they’d left behind, all Molly could think about was the one she had to face.

‘Come on, we’ll go and sit in the car. It’s more private and then I can answer any questions you have, and I have a bottle of water, too, should help with the sickness.’

Molly was in a daze, as if shuffling through a post-anaesthetic mist and some kind nurse was helping her back to bed which was why, when they got back to the car, she let Nancy fold her into the passenger seat where she waited like a doped-up rag doll.

As Nancy opened the driver’s door, Molly looked at the interior of the car – her mum’s that Nancy was borrowing while she was here.

A shiny blue Audi convertible, her pride and joy that she’d drive fast with the roof down, her blonde hair blowing in the wind as she zoomed down Cheshire country lanes.

Molly touched the gear stick where her mum’s hand had been, then opened the glove compartment where her spare make-up still lay.

Her emergency kit, as she called it. She took it out and opened the zip, inhaling the scent of the Chanel make-up that lingered on the brushes.

Molly clutched it to her chest and let the tears roll freely down her cheeks. I’m sorry, Mum. I’m so sorry.

Nancy was fidgeting in the driver’s seat, opening a bottle of sparkling water that she passed to Molly, her voice becoming an intrusion when she asked, ‘Do you want a sip of this. It might settle your stomach.’

Molly shook her head. ‘No, I want answers. I want you to explain everything to me right from the start… and don’t leave anything out because after today, I swear I don’t want to talk about this ever again.’

‘Okay, I get that, but it might not be as easy as you think to just wipe it all out, Molly, or avoid the truth, or having a conversation with Shane. I’m surprised he’s stayed quiet for this long to be honest but I made him promise to respect my parents and let us bury Julia before he wreaked havoc. ’

‘You made him promise, when?’ Molly wiped her eyes and stared at Nancy.

‘Before the funeral, not long after I arrived. We had words one morning in the kitchen and I more or less warned him to keep his mouth shut. It was a kind of threat I suppose because, as your guardian, and Dee’s, I have certain legal powers that I can use to stall things and make it harder for him to get his hands on the cash he’s expecting.

But I suspect any day now he’ll want his big hurrah, hence why I had to meet you today. ’

At that, Molly wanted to throw her head back and laugh, because if there was thing she was sure of, Shane wasn’t going to have the I’m your daddy conversation with her anytime soon and if he dared, she’d stick a knife in him.

‘Can you just explain, please, because otherwise my head is going to explode.’ Molly didn’t want to sound narky, because she knew this was hard for Nancy but she had to know it all.

Molly watched as Nancy rested her head against the seat, staring ahead as if picturing it all, rewinding back to the start so she could find the right words to trample all over Molly’s life one more time.

‘Okay, I’ll just tell it like it was, fact by fact, then you can fill in the blanks or ask me if there’s something you don’t understand, and like I said before, I’m so sorry you had to hear it like this or at all.’ Nancy placed her hands on the steering wheel, then began.

When she heard that Shane had come back to town and also wangled a job at ClearGlass, Julia had been horrified and rang her go-to adviser, Nancy.

They agreed there was no way she could get him sacked so the best thing to do was stay out of his way and hope that their ‘thing’ had been consigned to the murky mists of time, or with luck, dissolved by too much vodka.

A couple of months went by and amongst the female members of staff, the offices were full of chatter about the hot guy who was working in the marketing department.

Word of his popularity reached Julia’s ears and she was also surprised to learn that Shane was actually good at his job and his manager was impressed.

She’d been expecting him to hook up with one of his admirers but juicy gossip didn’t flow her way. Julia reported to Nancy that it looked like she was in the clear and that in his time away Shane had grown up and appeared to be acting maturely and had kept his distance.

His first contact occurred in Julia’s favourite wine bar in Alderley Edge.

She was with friends and spotted him alone at the bar chatting to the guy on the other side.

It gave her time to observe, his demeanour, the clothes he wore which blended in with the broker-belt clientele around him, the drink he sipped, the way he engaged with the barman.

He looked different, mature, polished and even more attractive than she hazily remembered.

When he turned and saw her looking, she flushed pink and he smiled warmly and by the end of the evening they’d shared a meal at the bistro opposite and he’d dropped her home in a taxi.

By the next month they were seeing each other in secret and by the time she’d rung Nancy and told her all about it, she was smitten.

Nancy couldn’t believe it, that she’d be so stupid and stated all the obvious pitfalls.

But it fell on deaf ears. Julia was adamant that he would never find out about Molly, how could he?

It had been the worst time because Shane did what nobody else ever could – test the bond between the sisters, but something told Nancy to hang in there.

That Shane would love it if he caused a rift and left Julia minus a confidante.

So no matter how much he grated on Nancy, and no matter how much she despised the way he fawned over her nieces and schmoozed her parents and friends as he flipped burgers on Ronnie’s beloved gas barbeque, Nancy gritted her teeth and stood firm.

She wasn’t surprised when he proposed. Nor was she surprised when Julia accepted, and, eventually, he won everyone round including Moody Molly.

And for a time Nancy started to believe that praying worked, because on the face of it, marriage suited Shane, as did the wealth he’d married into.

Cynicism aside, Nancy hoped for the sake of her sister and nieces that she’d been wrong and they would find their happy ever after. For almost four years, they did.

‘So when did he tell Mum he knew about me? On their honeymoon? I don’t understand,’ Molly said.

‘He told her after their marriage began to collapse.’

‘And when was that?’ Molly asked.

Nancy tutted. ‘When Shane started playing away. Your mum suspected he was using dating apps for hook-ups while he was on business trips about the same time as his interest in her waned. She told me it was like he’d slowly checked out of their marriage emotionally and was using it and the house as a platform and a base.

He’d also started dropping the ball at work, resting on Julia’s laurels and shirking off like he didn’t have a care. ’

‘I remember the arguments, Mum going mad because he was showing her up at work but I still don’t get why he’d never said anything to Mum about me. You said he realised on their honeymoon when he saw my birthmark, so why wait all that time to say something?’

Nancy had the answer ready. ‘He was biding his time. Shane probably knew he’d fuck up and piss Julia off, get caught with his pants down, so he kept his discovery for a rainy day and when Julia finally confronted him, you were about fifteen at the time, and suggested a trial separation, he pulled the DNA test out of his back pocket. ’

‘Was Mum shocked?’

‘Horrified. She felt betrayed and was livid about him going behind her back and having the test done, the whole deceitful way he’d behaved sickened her.

’ Nancy shook her head sadly. ‘And you know what he said? That it takes one to know one because she’d deceived him and kept him from his daughter all those years, lied to her husband and family and to you.

It was definitely a checkmate, touché moment, that’s for sure. ’

‘What happened then?’

‘Julia begged him not to tell you, said it would break your heart to find out Ronnie wasn’t your natural father and that after losing him once, it would be like doing it all over again. You were happy and had accepted Shane as your stepdad, so was that not enough?’

Molly already knew the answer but asked anyway. ‘And he agreed. Just like that. He didn’t fight Mum. Demand I knew he was my father?’

‘He did at first, put up a bit of resistance, made it look like he gave a toss, but your mum talked him round and played on his emotions so in the end, he agreed to leave things as they were as long as…’

Molly finished for her. ‘As long as Mum toed the line and didn’t get rid of him.’

Nancy nodded. ‘More or less. She made him burn the letter, with the DNA results. They agreed to try to mend their marriage and he promised not to sleep around – but it was broken by then. After a while Julia gave up and asked him to move out. He refused and reminded her of the consequences so they compromised. That’s why he’s in the guest suite and your mum stayed upstairs.

They agreed to get on with their own lives but share the house and show a united front for you and Dee, and anyone else. ’

‘What I don’t understand is why Mum changed her mind and was going to divorce him. Why all of a sudden did she risk me knowing the truth if she kicked him out?’

Nancy turned and faced Molly. ‘I think that was more my doing than anything. Remember in April, when Granddad got sick and she flew to France with Dee? She confided in me then what had been going on and it broke my heart, that she’d been held to ransom and so miserable for years.

We talked it all through and I convinced her that she had to tell you.

That you were old enough to know the truth and she couldn’t sacrifice her life and mental health for a secret.

‘But she was adamant that nothing was going to derail your A-levels or your chance to go overseas. In her head, she was removing you, a pawn, from the battlefield and she’d only have Dee to worry about, because let’s face it, sometimes your sister can be trickier than mine ever could.

’ Nancy smiled weakly but received nothing in return, so continued.

‘I pointed out that Shane had kept the truth to himself simply because it kept him in a life of luxury, not out of any kindness to you. Money and status was what mattered to him so maybe, if she freed up an asset, he’d take a hefty settlement in return for continued silence and just go.

‘Julia wasn’t sure at first, but she was desperate and at her wits’ end and wanted out.

So much so she was prepared for everything to blow up in her face, as long as it was after she’d got you settled at Princeton and out of his reach.

Yes, there was a chance he’d tell you, get a flight over or contact you but she was ready to take that chance.

I said I’d help her get everything organised and stand by her.

If you needed me, I’d be close by in Toronto, less than two hours by air and it reassured her, gave her courage.

You know what happened next, she ran out of time…

’ Nancy flicked away a tear that had escaped, the silence that followed a welcome pause after information overload.

Molly closed her eyes, craving privacy while she thought it through. It was all starting to make sense. Of course Shane was never going to demand his rights because he had other plans for Molly… and it made her sick to even think it. He wanted to take what was his in another way.

Shane, her father, was a paedophile of probably the worst kind. He’d groomed her, no doubt had his sights on her since the day they met, and once he discovered the truth, saw a way to live his perverted fantasy right under everyone’s nose.

Even when her mum decided to call it a day, all the time Molly was sleeping with him, the last thing he ever wanted was for the truth to come out.

So while her mum thought she was protecting her from the truth, the truth would have actually saved her from making the biggest, most disgusting, shameful and humiliating mistake of her life.