Billie Jo by Kimberley Chambers Read Free Book Online Page A

the feeling was mutual, but for the first
time in her life she was glad to see the miserable old bat.
    Helping his mother onto the sofa, Terry nodded at
Chelle to follow him into the kitchen. Now that his old
man had snuffed it, he decided not to mention the wedding
farce. That could keep. 'My dad's just died, Chelle. Mum
can't go home on her own, so I want her to stay with us
for a while until she feels up to facing the world again.'
Terry knew the fat bitch hated his mother. He also knew
that Chelle would be so desperate to get back into his
good books that she would be likely to agree to anything.
    'Of course she can stay, Tel, she's more than welcome.
We'll take good care of her and I'm so sorry to hear about
your dad.'
    Lying cow, Terry thought to himself. He knew she'd
hated both of his parents. Biting his tongue, he turned to
face Michelle. He could see the relief in her eyes that the
old boy had chosen today of all days to snuff it. 'Go
upstairs, Chelle, sort her out some nightclothes and make
a bed up in one of the spare rooms.'
    Bounding upstairs, Chelle thanked God for the lucky
escape she'd just had. Knocking back the last drop of
wine she'd taken with her, she held her glass aloft.
'Cheers, Paddy, you old bastard, you couldn't have picked
a better day to go, mate. In fact for once in your sad,
miserable life you've done something useful.' This situation
was absolutely brilliant. Not only was she needed
at the moment, it also gave her an excuse to behave like
the perfect wife. Whatever old tart Terry had on the go
certainly wasn't going to look after his miserable old
cow of a mother, she was certain of that.
    No, for the moment she was needed, and being needed
made Michelle a very happy woman indeed.

FIVE
    In the days that followed his father's funeral, Terry was
stressed out beyond belief. He couldn't understand how
anybody could hate the sight of their old man and become
upset the moment he kicked the bucket. After barely
speaking for years, he now felt guilty that he hadn't tried
to bury the hatchet while Paddy was still alive. His mother
was becoming another headache; Terry had fully expected
that Pearl would want to move back into her own home
once Paddy's funeral was over and done with, but much
to his dismay, she hadn't.
    'I can't go back to that bloody house on my own, there's
too many memories,' Pearl had said adamantly. Terry
didn't know what to do about the situation. He could
hardly sling her out on the street, could he?
    His relationship with Jade had recently begun to
suffer. Babysitting his mum in the evenings, he only got
to see Jade at work and the situation was driving him
mad. Jade also seemed distracted, as if she had something
on her mind and Terry was really worried about
her. She'd called in sick on numerous occasions, which
was really unusual, as Jade would normally have to be
dying not to make work. Terry had begun to think that
she was getting pissed off with the whole caboodle and
was trying to avoid him. He decided there and then to
turn up uninvited at her flat that evening and find out
what the bloody hell was going on.
    Flicking through the TV channels, Jade tried but was
unable to concentrate. She knew she had to tell Terry the
news, but the thought of broaching the subject filled her
with dread. What if he dumped her, called it a day? Even
worse, he may swear blind that she was trying to trap
him. Why, oh why did this have to happen now? They'd
planned their future so precisely and this hadn't been part
of the plan. Everything was ruined now and it was all her
fault. Feeling the tears roll down her cheek, she angrily
snatched at the tissues. The thought of losing him was
too awful to contemplate and all she could do was pray
that he understood the predicament she found herself in.
    Billie was having her own problems with the new lodger
and had temporarily decided to stay at Tiffany's. Ever
since her grandad had died, her nutty nan had started
taking an interest in her, asking her