The School Gates by Nicola May Read Free Book Online Page A

for her best option – Ron Collins, ten years her senior.
    Ron had always worked hard at a car plant, making his way up from tea-boy to production supervisor, and becoming a good provider. The guilt of taking advantage of Mo when she was seventeen had always stuck with him, and when she told him he was the father of her child, he questioned nothing and insisted they marry that month.
    The relationship ticked along nicely but Mo wasn’t in love with Ron. It was her son’s happiness in a secure family environment that was paramount, and Mo’s sacrifice to this end was all that mattered to her.
    It was when her son, Charlie, had grown up and was away at university, that Mo had decided it was time to leave Ron. She didn’t want a fuss. She would just say goodbye and up and go. However, the timing was not good as it happened to be the same day the car plant had decided to make her husband redundant.
    Mo was just packing the final items into her case, when the bedroom door was flung open by her husband telling her his devastating news.
    ‘It really knocked him hard, Ffion. Work was his life. Once the redundancy money had run out, he struggled to find a job. He felt a constant failure and didn’t know where to turn. I couldn’t leave him then.’ Mo sighed. ‘It was when he turned to the demon drink that our life became progressively worse.’
    Ffion bit her lip as Mo gave a sigh and continued.
    ‘I tried to help him but he wouldn’t listen. I eventually plucked up the courage to go, but he caught me packing my case, and fuelled by anger and drink he raped me. I became pregnant with Rosie, so what could I do? I had to stay, and here I am now. Unhappy and fat, in a loveless relationship with an alcoholic layabout husband, and nowhere to go.’
    When she finished, Ffion had tears rolling down her cheeks.
    ‘You poor, poor cariad.’
    Mo tried to return to her usual upbeat self.
    ‘Listen to this moaning minnie, woe is bloody me. I just need to pull myself together. I’ve got my lovely lad Charlie, who’s got a good job now, and that little darling Rosie to think about. She is the most loving and beautiful child and I intend the rest of her formative years to be happy.’
    ‘And happy she will be,’ Ffion stated. ‘I tell you what. How ’bout you take over my three afternoon shifts. I’m starting an evening hair and beauty course next month and I could do with the free time to prepare case studies.’
    ‘You’re not just saying that?’ Mo frowned.
    ‘I’m not that nice, Mo. I do need to think about my career path. It’s just encouraged me to do something about it sooner, that’s all.’
    ‘You’re such a lovely girl, Ffion.’
    ‘Maybe, sometimes.’ Ffion smiled and raised her glass of lemonade. ‘Cheers to the Mo Collins’ Freedom Fund.’
    As Dana delivered the order to the corner table, she was sure that she recognised the plumper lady of the two from the school gates.
    She loved the freedom that her new job brought, and by dealing with customers all of the time, her shyness had almost disappeared. She hadn’t received any pay yet, but just knowing it was coming filled her with joy.
    Her biggest problem when she had first got together with Mark was not having any of her own money. It felt alien to her to have to ask if she needed anything.
    From day one of their affair seven years ago, Mark had told Dana that once he left Carole, she was to have anything she wanted. He was adamant that he didn’t want her to have to go to work. All she had to do was ask for money and she could have it. As an impressionable teenager she was taken in by the glamour of this older man and all that a life with him offered. However, it was quite a transition going from a freedom-loving au pair to his partner, obviously not helped by one very disgruntled ex-wife and a very precocious ten-year-old step-son.
    The divorce had come through quickly, which was lucky as Tommy was already on the way. Dana hadn’t planned her life