Did I Mention I Won The Lottery? (13 page)

It was Thursday
and Rebecca hadn’t spoken to Daniel since Saturday night. Other
than the brief notes they had left for each other on the Sunday
there had been no communication between them at all. Rebecca stared
at her phone. Perhaps he didn’t want to speak to her. Perhaps he
would never contact her again. She could stay in Leeds and she
never had to tell him about the money, the house, the lies. She
would just never hear from him again. She would have to tell Gwen
and the children of course, how else could she explain living in a
grand house such as Beech Grange but she didn’t have to tell Daniel
if he wasn’t speaking to her.

Sighing Rebecca
put down the phone. It wouldn’t work, she had to go home and
confront him. But not today, not right now and she pushed aside the
feeling of dread and turned on the range cooker to warm up her
croissant and spent 15 minutes trying to understand the amazingly
complicated coffee machine that eventually produced a cappuccino
that tasted exactly as though she had bought it from a café.

After using the
rain shower in her ensuite, Rebecca dressed and went downstairs,
padding into the kitchen which never failed to give her a shot of
happiness.

She decided to
phone Helen. She hadn’t spoken to her for a few weeks. In fact,
Rebecca worked out, she had last spoken to her the Friday she had
bought the winning lottery ticket. Helen had lived in the house
opposite Rebecca and Daniel in Greyshott Lane. She and Rebecca had
hit it off the moment they met and with children almost the same
age they found their lives matched each other’s in more ways than
one. Helen had been devastated when Rebecca moved, almost as upset
as Rebecca herself and the two had stayed in touch and met whenever
they could. Helen had fallen pregnant unexpectedly a year before
Rebecca had moved away which curtailed her freedom to visit Rebecca
quite as much as she would have liked but the two friends always
tried to fit in a lunch every few months.

‘Hi Helen, it’s
Rebecca.’

‘Rebecca,’
squealed Helen. ‘I was just thinking about you. Your old house has
just come up for sale again and it reminded me of how much I cried
the day you moved out!’

Rebecca felt
her heart jump. Her old house. Her beloved old house where her
children had grown up and she and Daniel had actually been happy.
Maybe she had been wrong to go for a big expensive house. Maybe she
should have just gone back to the old village and picked up the
life she had enjoyed so much. But did that work, going back? Was it
ever the same?

‘Where are they
going?’

‘Oh somewhere
bigger and better,’ answered Helen dismissively.

Rebecca’s old
house had been bought by a young couple who had children almost the
exact age as Toby and Sarah and Rebecca had convinced herself that
pretty soon Helen would have a new best friend in Greyshott Lane.
But although there was nothing wrong with the new couple, Helen had
never really taken to them and they seemed happy to keep themselves
to themselves.

‘I wonder who
we’ll get next. Shame it couldn’t be you!’ laughed Helen.

Rebecca’s heart
was still fluttering. What would Helen say if she told her it could
actually be Rebecca. That Rebecca had won 15.7 million on the
lottery and had just bought a new house back in Leeds. That Rebecca
could, if she wanted, buy her old house in Greyshott Lane.

‘Actually,’ she
started then brought herself up short. Not yet, not until Daniel
knew.

‘Actually
what?’

‘We might come
back to Leeds, in fact I’m certain that I - we’re coming back to
Leeds. Not Greyshott lane but we are coming back.’

Helen’s squeals
almost deafened Rebecca and she had to hold the phone away from her
ear laughing.

‘Oh Bec that
would be absolutely wonderful! Really? Really! I never thought
Daniel would give in and let you come back but how fantastic! Do
you know where you’ll be living? Oh don’t make it too far away
Bec.’

Rebecca thought
about where she was standing, less than 4 miles from Helen’s
house.

‘I’ll make sure
it’s not too far away,’ she promised wondering when she had become
so adept at lying, ‘don’t worry!’

Helen brought
her up to date on all the news, including that their other great
friend Emma was currently on holiday.

‘In the
Dominican Republic would you believe!’ said Helen. ‘How the other
half live.’

Rebecca thought
of all the brochures she still had secreted around the house in
Darlington. There were a few there for the Dominican Republic.

Emma’s husband
had been promoted over and over again at the small law firm where
he worked in Harrogate and as a result he and Emma had moved out of
their house on Greyshott Lane a few years ago and into a bigger
house, a wonderful old property full of charm and character but
still almost within walking distance of the old village and their
friends. Emma wasn’t at all changed by the improvement in her
circumstances and spent her husband’s money freely and with a smile
on her face. Helen would openly admit to both Emma and Rebecca how
jealous she was.

They chatted
for a good half hour before Helen had to go and still smiling
Rebecca put down the phone. What a relief it would be when she
could stop pretending and tell her friends of her good fortune.
Helen may be jealous of Emma and she would undoubtedly envy Rebecca
her good fortune but she would still be delighted for her and
Rebecca had every intention of sending some of her money in the
direction of her friends once everything was in the open. She
stretched out on the settee. She would be able to invite all her
friends around for Sunday lunch. They could all sit around the huge
kitchen table and inhale the smell of roasting beef while they
drank wine and laughed and chatted. Rebecca couldn’t wait.

Rebecca spent
the next few days visiting Gwen, thinking about buying a car and
doing yet more shopping. She had wandered around each room of Beech
Grange making a mental note of what she needed. It hadn’t occurred
to her that a lot of the things she was planning to buy she could
have collected from the Darlington house. Or rather, it did but she
disregarded the idea. She didn’t want anything from that house. She
wanted to start again with bright, new things, nothing to remind
her of the unhappy years of her life. She intended to go back on
the Saturday morning train. She couldn’t bear the thought of
leaving her house but she knew that she had run out of time. To
move on with her exciting new life she had to tell Daniel. He had
to know everything, about the money and the house.

So come
Saturday morning she made sure that everything was secure, that the
alarm was on and she called for a taxi to take her to the train
station.

It was almost
lunch time when Rebecca opened the front door of the house she no
longer thought of as home. Her heart was hammering and her throat
was dry but she was determined that this time she would tell her
husband.

The house was
quiet. Walking into the kitchen Rebecca could tell Daniel had been
living on takeaways by the countless empty boxes that were stacked
next to the bin. The sink was full of plates and cups were all over
the work surface interspersed with beer cans. Daniel didn’t
actually tidy up after himself at all. He always expected to come
home to a clean kitchen but Rebecca had noticed years ago that he
just presumed that she would clear away his mess. If he buttered a
piece of toast the knife covered in butter would be left on the
surface as would the crumbs from the toast. When Rebecca suggested
that he use a bread board, he had shrugged and taken no notice.

The door
slammed and with a thumping heart Rebecca turned around as Daniel
came bursting into the kitchen.

‘Bec! Where on
earth have you been?’ and then he brushed passed her to pick up the
post that Rebecca had brought in and placed next to the kettle.

Rebecca stared
at him open mouthed. ‘Where have I been? You know where I’ve been,
I left a note and you haven’t bothered...’

Daniel waved
his hands in the air impatiently. ‘Yes, yes. I know where you’ve
been but why have you been so long? I expected you home days
ago.’

Rebecca watched
as he flicked through the post not even sparing her a second
glance. Her anger started to boil over.

‘I’ve been with
my mother,’ she snapped. ‘My mother who was taken into hospital and
you didn’t....’

‘Yes!’ Daniel
almost yelled. ‘I know all that. But why have you been away so
long? Gwen’s fine and I expected you to come back days ago.’

‘Yes she is
fine but…’ Rebecca stopped. ‘How do you know she’s fine you never
rang me to see how she was.’

Daniel seemed
inordinately interested in the post but having finally looked at
every envelope and finding nothing he flung it down on the surface
amongst a pile of crumbs and for the first time looked Rebecca in
the eye.

‘I phoned the
hospital of course. They told me what had happened. Then I phoned
the next day and they said she was ok. I phoned Parklands on
Wednesday when you didn’t come home and they said Gwen was fine so
I’ve been expecting you ever since. Is that a new coat?’

Rebecca shook
her head. It was whirling and her heart was still pounding, partly
in anger and partly in confusion.

‘You phoned the
hospital? But why didn’t you phone me? I left you my mobile
number.’

Daniel stared.
‘That was your number? I didn’t even know you had a mobile and you
didn’t tell me where you were staying. The coat?’

Rebecca looked
down. She was wearing the trench coat she had bought the week after
winning her money.

‘Er, yes it’s
new. It was cold in Leeds.’ she said defensively.

‘Nice.’ Daniel
said and then walked out of the kitchen to the living room.

Rebecca
wondered if she was dreaming. This was not the conversation she had
been expecting.

She followed
him into the living room.

‘Daniel I need
to tell you…’

‘I wanted you
to come home because I’ve got some news,’ said Daniel.

‘News? OK well
I have some too and I need to tell you...’

‘It couldn’t be
better news really Bec.’

Daniel was
smiling. Actually smiling and Rebecca realised that she hadn’t
looked at her husband properly since she arrived back. His eyes
were bright, his face relaxed, he looked almost cheerful.

‘News?’ she
asked.

‘Great news
Bec. Our problems are over! It’s a new life for us, no more money
worries. No more worries in general.’ He was grinning as he spoke,
watching Rebecca for her reaction as he rubbed his hands in
glee.

Rebecca grabbed
the back of the settee to stop herself falling. Oh dear God, was
Daniel about to tell her he had won the lottery?

‘What is it?’
she asked faintly.

‘Peter sodding
Thompson that’s what Bec,’ he paused to make sure he had her full
attention. ‘He’s leaving!’

Rebecca was
struggling. She was trying to tell Daniel that she had won over 15
million pounds on the lottery. She was trying to tell him that
their lives had changed for ever and he was telling her about Peter
Thompson.

‘Right,’ said
Rebecca uncertainly. ‘Well that’s news but Daniel I have something
really important to …’

Daniel reached
out and grabbed Rebecca’s shoulders. ‘Listen to me Bec! Peter
Thompson is leaving.’

Rebecca
wriggled free. ‘I know Daniel but…’

‘He’s left his
job. The job he stole from me. He’s left.’

‘Yes Daniel but
I need…’

‘And who do you
think is going to replace him Bec?’

Rebecca stood
very still.

‘What?’

‘He took my job
Bec, everybody knows it. That was my job and I didn’t get it
because we were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But now he’s
going and I’m in the right place at the right time, Bec. This time
I’m here when I need to be.’

Rebecca sank
onto the settee pulling at the trench coat still wrapped tightly
round her body.

‘Where’s Peter
going?’ she asked

‘Peter! Who
cares where that little shit’s going!’ Daniel raked his hand
through his hair. ‘He’s got some fancy job down South somewhere,
what does it matter. The fact is - he’s going!’

His face was
ablaze with excitement. More excitement than Rebecca had seen in a
long, long time. His eyes were bright and his mouth was grinning as
he looked at her.

‘And they’ve
offered you the job?’

‘Yes! Well, not
officially, not yet. But the thing is,’ Daniel couldn’t stop
laughing now, ‘I heard them talking. Old man White was going on
about how this time they would recruit from within. This time they
didn’t need to go elsewhere to find someone for the role. This
time,’ Daniel reached forward and grabbed Rebecca’s hand, ‘this
time they had someone right in their midst who was perfect for the
job.’

Rebecca stared
at him. ‘And you think...’

‘I don’t think,
Bec! I know! This time the job is mine!’

And he laughed,
throwing his head back and laughing out loud with pure joy.

Rebecca was in
a dilemma. Standing up she pulled off her coat throwing it
carelessly over the back of the chair. There was no doubt that
Daniel was convinced he had the job, although Rebecca couldn’t
imagine in a million years that White’s would actually want Daniel
for the role. Peter Thompson hadn’t stolen Daniel’s place. Although
it was a subject that was never discussed, Peter lived in
Harrogate, only a few miles north of where Rebecca and Daniel had
lived. He had been given the job on his merits and he had done a
superb job, taking White’s Packaging Corporation forward and
developing a reputation for them as an innovative and eco minded
packaging company. He had re-educated the sales force, put a whole
new spin on their advertising and improved their sales figures by a
record amount. And the sales team had taken on board Peter’s new
direction with enthusiasm and confidence as evidenced by the
increased amount in their pay packets each month.