‘Oh sweetie, someone a bit more famous than you.’ Sally gave him a consoling hug. ‘Never mind, maybe one day you’ll be doing proper photos too.’
Gabe half smiled, because there was no point in taking offence. It was the truth; half the people he photographed were prepared to tolerate him briefly, to spare him a few seconds as they emerged from a restaurant or paused on their way along the red carpet. The other half covered their faces or ran off in the opposite direction the moment they clapped eyes on him. It was fantastic that Savannah had used the photos he’d taken of her, but disappointing that she couldn’t have given him the credit. Especially as she had promised he could be the one to take the shots of her big ‘reveal’.
Gabe shrugged. Oh well, that was life. He’d hurt her feelings; what did he expect?
‘It’s so brave of her,’ Sally was still gazing at the photo. ‘I mean, she’s Savannah Hudson. Poor thing, she looked amazing with hair. It must be awful to lose it.’
Gabe felt compelled to defend her. ‘She still looks good.’
‘Pretty good,’ Sally conceded, tilting her head as she traced the outline of Savannah’s ears. ‘But you have to admit, these stick out a bit. A drop of Superglue might have helped. She does look a bit like a wing nut.’
Chapter 53
Nick stood by the mirrored doors at the entrance to the Savoy’s Lancaster Ballroom. Everyone had enjoyed an excellent dinner and the babble of voices was deafening. Scanning the room, he spotted Doug Tennant at one of the circular tables close to the stage. Presumably those around him were the work colleagues who had given Lola such a hard time on New Year’s Eve.
Nick weighed up the situation. Should he be doing what he was about to do?
Sod it, why not?
Doug was leaning to one side, laughing at something the girl next to him had just said, when he saw Nick making his way towards the table. Recognising him at once, Doug straightened and said, ‘Hello there. On your own tonight?’
‘Yes.’
Doug raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly. ‘Don’t tell me your daughter’s got you following me now’
‘Is that what you think? Not at all,’ said Nick. ‘She doesn’t even know I’m here.’The blonde girl at his side must be Isabel; oh well, couldn’t be helped. Keeping his tone light, he went on,
‘Anyway, she’s given up on you. You had your chance and you blew it. It’s your loss. I just hope you don’t live to regret it.’
‘Excuse me.’ An older woman who’d only just begun paying attention put down her wine glass and demanded, ‘What’s going on? Who is this man?’
‘My name’s Nick James.’ If this was one of Doug’s employees she was knocking on a bit. ‘My daughter knows Doug. I just came over to say hello, and to tell him that in my view he’s made a big mistake. Sorry,’ Nick added, addressing the girl at Doug’s side, ‘but it’s something that needed to be said. I can’t help myself; I think she’s had a rum deal.’
‘Doug?’ The older woman was sitting there, stiff-backed like a judge, clearly dissatisfied with the answer. ‘Who’s this person talking about?’
Doug said flatly, ‘Lola.’
‘What? Oh, for heaven’s sake!’ The woman stared at Nick in disbelief. ‘You’re the father?’
Instantly Nick realised his mistake. ‘I am. And you’re Doug’s mother. How very nice to meet you at last.’
They both knew he didn’t mean it. Adele Nicholson looked as if she’d swallowed a pickled chilli. ‘And you seriously think my son made a mistake?’
Nick flashed her his most charming smile. ‘I do.’
‘The only mistake he made was getting himself involved with your daughter in the first place,’
Adele flashed back. ‘Do you know what that girl did to him?’
‘Yes, I know exactly what she did. And she made a mistake too, I’m not denying that. But she had her reasons. My point is, we all make mistakes,’ said Nick, ‘but there’s such a thing as forgiveness. I made a huge mistake twenty-eight years ago, but Lola’s forgiven me. So has her mother. And we’re all heretonight for the same reason. To help. people who’ve made mistakes.’
Noting the look of incomprehension on Adele’s carefully made-up face he picked up one of the glossy embossed programmes from the table. ‘This is a charity dinner in aid of the Prince’s Trust. Some of the money raised this evening will go to help former prisoners who are being rehabilitated into the community.’
Adele clearly hadn’t thought this through, had only come tonight because of the royal connection. She now looked as if she’d swallowed a frog.
‘Anyway, lecture over. It seems that some people are more easily forgiven than others. I’ll leave you in peace.’ Nick looked at Doug. ‘As I’ve already said, Lola’s accepted that you aren’t interested and she’s moving on. Personally, I still think you’re making a mistake. I may not have known Lola for long but she’s an amazing girl, loyal and generous, one of a kind. And I’m proud to be her father.’ He paused then said evenly, ‘One last thing. I wonder if you’ve ever asked yourself why she needed that money?’
Nobody spoke. Up on the stage the MC was preparing to introduce the band.
Nick nodded fractionally at Doug. ‘I’ll leave you to enjoy the rest of the evening. Bye.’
He was upstairs in the bar when Doug appeared beside him twenty minutes later.
‘I thought you’d left,’ said Doug.
‘Just had to get away from that bloody awful music. Not my thing.’ Nick signalled to the barman. ‘Can I get you a drink?’
‘Scotch and water. Thanks. I was rude earlier,’ Doug dipped his head, ‘and I apologise. I shouldn’t have made that remark about Lola sending you here to follow me. That was below the belt.’
‘Look,’ said Nick, ‘I love my daughter to bits, but I can admit that she’s done her fair share of chasing after you. Up until a few weeks ago she might well have tried that trick. But it’s over now.’ He paused, paid for the drinks and said, ‘I’m sorry too. It probably wasn’t very sensitive of me to say all that stuff in front of everyone.’
Doug smiled slightly, shrugged it off. ‘Never mind. It’s this business with the money that I’m interested in.’
Thought you might be.
‘Did you ever ask Lola why she took it?’ said Nick.
‘Of course I did. She said she couldn’t tell me.’ Doug waited, took a sip of his drink, then said with a trace of impatience, ‘Well? I’m assuming she told you.’
‘No. I asked her but there was no way of getting it out of her. She said she was sorry, but she could never tell me.’
‘Same here.’ Doug looked disappointed; he’d clearly thought he’d been about to find out the truth.
‘Sorry. But something interesting happened last week. You know Lola never ever wanted her mother to find out about the money thing?’ Nick waited for Doug to nod before proceeding.
‘Well, Blythe did find out about it.You can imagine how shocked she was. She even called me to tell me about it. She couldn’t believe Lola had done such a terrible thing to you.’
‘And?’ Doug was gazing at him intently.
After a pause, Nick said, ‘Blythe asked Lola what she’d spent the money on and Lola told her. A fancy Jeep, apparently. Which was stolen a week later. She hadn’t insured it, so that was it, the money was gone.’
‘Really? A Jeep?’ Doug frowned.
‘That’s the story.’ Nick held his gaze for a long moment before knocking back his Scotch in one go. ‘Think about it,’he added, ready to leave and wondering if Doug Tennant was smart enough
— surely — and cared enough — hopefully — to work it out. ‘Then ask yourself whether you think the story Lola told her mother was the truth.’