Chapter 37

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Maddy

D ad was clearly troubled by the sudden appearance of his own father. He was trying to act like he didn't care, but I knew he did. He'd taken time off from the bar, saying it was to spend the day with Maya, but I was sure it was in case his dad turned up again.

When I got home, they were both sitting on the sofa, Maya pushed up against his side, reading something on his laptop."

"Hi," I said, flopping down in the armchair.

"Hey." Dad looked up and frowned. "You're early. I thought you and Zak were going out for tea after school."

I shrugged. "I thought you probably needed me more."

Maya's hand went to her chest as a smile lit up her face. Dad exhaled and shook his head.

"Sweetheart, I'm fine. You didn't need to worry about me."

"I do, though, Dad. It's a big thing. What are you looking at anyway?" I pointed at the laptop.

He glanced at the screen, then Maya, and then brought his gaze back to me. "Research."

"Research for what?" I frowned, pulling my legs under me and getting comfy.

"Trying to find out more about Steven Brownlow."

"I thought maybe your dad should know more about him," Maya said, pulling the sleeves of her jumper down over her hands. "What do you think?"

"I think it's a good idea." We'd only had a handful of chats about his father over the years, but they had always been the same vein. Dad didn't care about him because he clearly didn't care about Dad. He had a preconceived idea that he wasn't a good man, seeing as he was about to get married when he'd got my grandma pregnant, but that didn't mean he wasn't curious to find out what his father was truly like. "What have you found out?"

"He's a car salesman," Dad scoffed. "Or at least he was. He recently sold his business to some big franchise."

"A car salesman," I repeated. "Nothing exciting like a spy or a forensic scientist then?"

"No." Dad rolled his eyes. "Probably explains how he talked my mum into getting into bed with him."

"Also explains your silver tongue," I offered, and it didn't go unnoticed that Maya blushed and shifted in her seat. I shuddered, really not wanting to think about what that meant—because I could guess.

Dad coughed and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I am pretty good at getting a good deal from suppliers."

"Yeah, exactly." I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. "Anyway, apart from him selling cars, what else have you found out?"

"He has a wife—or did. She died. Breast cancer."

"He has a Facebook profile, believe it or not," Maya added. "Open to everyone."

"Maybe he thought you might do this." I nodded at the laptop on Dad's knee. "Go snooping."

"Research," he corrected with a raised eyebrow. "Maybe." He sighed heavily. "And I have a brother."

Gasping, I leaned forward at the waist. "A brother!"

A shadow passed over his face, but he soon replaced it with a tight smile. That had to hurt, knowing that his dad had an active part in his sibling's life.

"He's the same age as me. Three months younger."

Shit, that had to hurt more. "Just three months."

"Hmm. Seems he got Mrs Brownlow up the duffer on their honeymoon."

"Dad," I groaned. "You can't say up the duffer."

"No," Maya agreed, nudging him. "That is so wrong."

"Okay, okay. He impregnated her on their honeymoon and produced Cameron Brownlow, my brother, who is also a car salesman."

"Does this make us Brownlows?" I asked. "Maddy Brownlow." It sounded strange. Felt strange on my tongue. "Nah, I prefer Maddy Newman."

"Yeah, well," Dad scoffed. "Me, too. We won't be changing our surname. I'm very happy with Newman, thank you very much. I vaguely remember your grandma telling me that her dad Bill Newman, was a great man, which is why she called me William. After him."

"He died when she was ten, didn't he?" I asked.

"Yeah. It was him she inherited the heart condition from."

"Do you know what happened to her mum?" Maya asked, turning her body to dad's. "I know she kicked your mum out at sixteen."

Dad shrugged. "No idea. She might be alive, but I have no idea. Don't want to know either." He flashed Maya a smile, and I gave a little sigh. He really liked her, and I was so happy for him. "Neither of her parents had siblings, and neither did Mum, so that's why it was just me and her and I ended up in care."

I hated when he talked about his childhood. It was awful thinking about him being all alone. Having to live with people he didn't know and who rarely wanted him, must have awful. He'd never hidden his time as a child from me, but had only gone into detail once I hit thirteen. I'd cried for ages. Sobbed, in fact. I hated to think of my dad being lonely or sad. I loved him so much, and the idea that he would have to live like that broke my heart. He didn't deserve a life like that. He was lovely. He was my daddy.

As I looked at Maya, it was obvious it hurt her heart, too. She was worrying her bottom lip, and her eyes were fixed on Dad. She opened her mouth and I thought that she was about to say something, but she quickly closed it and grabbed his hand. Dad glanced at her and smiled and then shrugged his shoulders.

"It is what it is, and nothing is going to change the past." A thin lipped smile acted as a full stop to the conversation, and he slammed the laptop shut. "Right, who fancies a takeaway."

"Are you staying another night, Maya?" I asked, just about stopping myself from bouncing in my seat due to the excitement.

"Is that okay?" she asked.

"Of course. No problem at all." I mean, I knew they'd had sex the night before, but at least they'd tried to be quiet. The gentle thud, thud, thud of the headboard had told me enough. "What takeaway are we having?"

"You choose," Dad said and then sighed. "And you can get Zak over if you like. Seeing as you were supposed to be with him."

My heart leapt. I had wanted desperately to spend more time with him after school, but I just thought I should go home. "Are you sure that's okay?"

He shook his head. "I wouldn't have said if it wasn't. I'll order a few dishes. The Chinese is always quicker, so tell him to hurry up." Dad stood up and fished his phone out of his pocket. "He's not a veggie, is he?"

"No. He doesn't like fish, though."

"No king prawn then." He bent down and kissed Maya's cheek. "And no mushrooms for you."

The way she looked at him, just because he remembered she didn't like mushrooms, made my insides feel all squidgy. Anyone would think he'd just told her she was the most beautiful woman in the world, which, as an aside, I think he thought was true. She was gorgeous, though. Gorgeous and stylish, and I really wouldn't have minded her as a step-mum, but that was jumping way ahead.

"I'll go and call Zak." I jumped up out of my seat. "I'll get him to get here as quick as he can."

Leaving my Dad on the phone ordering food, while Maya gazed up at him, I ran up to my room and bounced on the bed. My blinds were still closed, and my bed still unmade and there was a wet towel on the floor. It wasn't like me, but I'd been in a rush to leave the house that morning. My hot boyfriend was waiting outside in his mum's car to take me to school. As his number rang out I made a mental note to tidy it all up before Zak came over.

"Hello gorgeous. Missing me already?"

God, yes. I missed him even if I'd only seen him a few of minutes before.

"Nah, not really. My dad is, though. He wants to know if you want to come over for takeaway, seeing as we didn't get to go out after school." I heard something bang in the background and the clinking of a glass. My heart dropped. "Oh, are you already eating?"

"Just a snack, babe. I can eat don't you worry about that."

"So, you'll come over then?"

"On my way."

He laughed, and the richness of it warmed my blood. "See you soon."

"See you soon." I sighed and quickly set about tidying my bedroom just in case Dad let me bring Zak up there. Like that would happen!

"I hear you want to be a vet, is that right, Zak?" Maya asked, forking a piece of chicken.

Zak nodded, chewing the food in his mouth. After swallowing he said, "Yeah. Hopefully I'm going to Edinburgh. If I get the A-level grades I need."

"You never wanted to be a doctor or dentist like your parents?" Dad snagged a prawn cracker from the dish in the middle of the table and popped it whole into his mouth.

"Dad!"

He shrugged and turned back to Zak, waiting for his reply.

"Not really," Zak replied. "I don't ever want to be compared to either of them. I'd rather make my own path."

I could see that Dad was impressed by his raised eyebrow and slight nod of his head. The fact that he was, and that he seemed to like Zak, was the best feeling. I remember Ana having a boyfriend, Alfie, in year ten, and her parents hated him. It wasn't anything particularly serious because we were only fifteen, but they still made it difficult for her. In the end, he finished with her because she was never allowed out and when she was had to be home by eight-thirty. She was so sad most of the time when she should have been enjoying it.

"I can't imagine doing anything so academic," Maya said.

"Yeah, but software development isn't easy," I told her. "I'd never be able to write code."

She screwed up her nose. "It's easy once you know how." She looked at Dad. "I certainly couldn't run a bar or a pub. How on earth do you act pleasant all the time as well as making sure you have the right amounts of everything you need?"

"Same, the more you do the easier it is. As for being nice to people all the time, I'm not sure I am."

"He's right." I laughed. "You should hear him talking to some of the reps. He's really rude."

"Yeah, because they deserve it," he grumbled. "They're a bunch of pushy tossers half the time."

Zak chuckled and shoved more food into his mouth. Whether he'd had a snack or not earlier, he could seriously eat. He was on his second plateful of food, and I was glad Dad had ordered too much, as usual.

"What are your plans after we've eaten?" Dad asked. "Homework?"

I looked at Zak, knowing full well he hadn't brought any books with him. "Maybe listen to some music or watch TV in my room, if that's okay."

Dad contemplated it while he chewed his food and, after glancing at Maya, nodded. "Yeah, no problem."

Beaming at him I was startled when my phone pinged with a message. I looked down at it to see it was Ana's mum.

I frowned at Zak. "It's Ana's mum."

"Her mum ?"

"Yeah." Fear spiked because my friend's parents only ever messaged any of us if we were in trouble, or they wanted to know ideas for Christmas presents.

I opened up the message and frowned as I read it.

Susan (Ana's Mum)

Hi Maddy. Sorry to bother you but can I ask if Ana was at school today?

I read the message out, wondering why on earth she was asking.

"Was she?" Dad asked, pouring more wine into Maya's glass.

"Yes. She was with you last lesson, wasn't she?" I asked Zak.

"Yep. Definitely. She sat in front of me." He peered at the text. "I wonder why she's asking?"

I typed out a reply to say she was. "Should I call Ana?" I asked the three people watching me.

"Maybe wait until her mum replies," Dad said.

"You don't want to cause trouble between them." Zak stroked a hand down my back. "Or is it normal for her to ask?"

I shook my head. "We only have each other's parents numbers for emergencies, and they have ours for the same reason."

"And when I need to know what size bra to buy you for Christmas," Dad quipped.

I slapped at his arm. "Dad!"

Zak laughed, but Maya bit back her smile. We were quite the happy little circle around the dining table.

"The point is," I stressed, "it's not usual for her to ask something like that."

As soon as the message went, I quickly got a thank you back, but I couldn't shake the worry that something was wrong.

"Maybe I'll call Ana and say it's about school or something."

Zak nodded, leaned in, and kissed my cheek. "Good idea."

I loved that he wasn't embarrassed or too scared to show me affection in front of my dad, despite claiming Dad petrified him. He was respectful of him. He was respectful of me.

When Zak and Dad then started to discuss football, Maya and I rolled our eyes and my concern about Ana was forgotten..