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It wasn’t perfect, but it was a workable solution.

      ‘Here you are, Mum,’ Kevin said as he returned with a cup of tea.

      ‘Right, sit down and let’s talk. Firstly, I don’t want people to think that you’re to blame, so keep your mouth shut about Pearl being a virgin. It won’t hurt to cultivate the idea that she threw herself at you.’

      Kevin’s face reddened. ‘All right, Mum.’

      ‘Now, like it or not, you’re gonna have to marry the girl.’

      ‘Marry her! But—’

      ‘Shut up, Kevin. You’ll do as I say, and this is how we are going to handle it …’

      Bernie came into the room a little later, his face blanching when he heard that Kevin was the father of Pearl’s baby.

      ‘I’m ashamed of you,’ he spat. ‘How could you take down that nice, innocent girl?’

      Dolly reared to her feet, face suffused with colour. ‘Don’t you dare say that! Pearl threw herself at Kevin, and when it was so easily offered, how was he supposed to resist?’

      ‘Yeah, well, I didn’t, that’s for sure.’ As soon as the words left his mouth, Bernie stepped back, but Dolly was already advancing towards him. Christ, he was so upset about Pearl that he’d spoken without thinking, but he was too late to avoid Dolly’s huge hand, the slap across his face making his ears ring.

      ‘Don’t put me in the same class as Pearl Button,’ she yelled.

      ‘Sorry, love,’ Bernie placated as he rubbed his cheek, knowing that if he didn’t defuse the situation more of the same would follow. He should stand up to her, and should’ve done so from the start of their marriage, but she’d been pregnant with Kevin and, anyway, he couldn’t hit a woman. Oh, there had been times when he’d been tempted over the years, but despite everything she’d laid on him, he just couldn’t do it. Instead he found it easier to allow Dolly to rule, preferring the quiet life. ‘I shouldn’t have said that. You’re nothing like Pearl Button.’

      ‘Huh, I should think so too.’

      Bernie exhaled with relief as his wife sat down again, secretly thinking that the girl’s qualities were far superior to his wife’s. In the short time Pearl had been working for them he had come to admire her soft, gentle nature. She’d had a rotten life so far but she wasn’t bitter, yet as he listened to the plans that Dolly had made, his heart went out to the girl. Dolly would get her own way as usual, and Pearl didn’t stand a chance.

      Unable to resist, he said to Kevin, ‘So, Pearl threw herself at you?’

      ‘Well … yeah. She fancies me and made it plain.’

      Bernie eyed his son with distaste. Since childhood, Kevin blinked rapidly when lying, a dead giveaway, and he was doing it now. ‘I wouldn’t fancy being in your shoes when Derek Lewis finds out.’

      ‘Mum’s going to sort him out.’

      ‘Yes, you leave him to me,’ Dolly said. ‘I’ll go round to his place as soon as the market closes, but for now my head’s splitting and I’m off to have a lie-down. In the meantime, Bernie, it’s about time you dusted this room.’

      As the door closed behind his wife, Bernie saw the look of scorn Kevin threw at him. ‘Don’t look at me like that, son. After all, this shows you ain’t any better than me. Instead of facing Derek Lewis, you’re letting your mother fight the battle for you. I reckon you’re more a chip off the old block than you realise.’

      ‘I’m nothing like you! I wouldn’t let a woman lay a hand on me, and that’s something Pearl Button will find out.’

      Bernie swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. He didn’t doubt that Pearl would suffer at Kevin’s hands, and when she did, it would be his fault. Kevin had seen too much – witnessed him being beaten and humiliated, so much so that he was determined not to suffer the same fate. His eyes closed. Oh, Pearl, what have I done?

       Chapter Twenty-Three

      ‘What do you want?’ Connie Lewis asked when she opened the door to see Dolly on her doorstep.

      ‘I’d like a word with Derek.’

      Connie’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. Derek had come home from the market in an awful state, and she cursed Pearl Button. Just as she had feared, the girl had broken his heart, but even she’d been unprepared when he told her that Pearl was pregnant by another man. Now Dolly Dolby had turned up wanting to talk to Derek, and astutely she knew there could be only one reason.

      ‘I can guess why you’re here. Pearl’s pregnant and I reckon your no-good son is the father.’

      ‘Watch your mouth, Connie Lewis. That girl threw herself at my Kevin.’

      A voice roared from behind Connie and she nearly jumped out of her skin.

      ‘What did you say?’ Derek demanded, thrusting his gran to one side.

      ‘Look, I ain’t having a slanging match on the doorstep,’ Dolly said, imperiously pushing her way past Derek and into the small hall. She looked around swiftly before marching into the kitchen, Connie scurrying after her and Derek following with his fists clenched at his side.

      ‘If Kevin’s the one who got Pearl pregnant, I’ll bloody kill him!’

      ‘It takes two, Derek, and as I said, Pearl threw herself at my son.’

      ‘I don’t believe you.’

      ‘Did she say he forced her?’

      ‘She didn’t tell me who the father is.’

      ‘That isn’t what I asked, Derek.’

      His eyes glared, but then he sighed heavily. ‘All right, Pearl said she wasn’t forced.’

      ‘Well, there you are then. If you ask me we’ve all been taken in by Pearl Button and she isn’t the innocent she pretends to be. You should count yourself lucky.’

      ‘Lucky?’

      ‘Yes, lucky. After all, she could have named you as the father and then you’d be raising another man’s child.’

      ‘She’s right, Derek,’ Connie said.

      ‘Leave it out, Gran. She couldn’t have named me. We never …’ His face reddened. ‘Well, you know what I mean.’

      Connie sighed with relief. ‘Thank Gawd for that.’

      ‘As I said, she fooled us all,’ Dolly said bitterly. ‘I think the girl was looking for a meal ticket and thought my Kevin would be a better catch. He soon sussed her out and told her he wasn’t interested.’

      ‘Huh, how come he got her pregnant then?’

      ‘She invited him up to her room, threw herself at him,’ the lies tripped off Dolly’s tongue, ‘and told him she intended to give you the elbow.’

      Derek’s face stretched with shock. ‘Pearl said that?’ He slumped onto a chair, face in his hands for a moment, but then his huge head rose, anger in his eyes. ‘He still shouldn’t have slept with her. It ain’t right.’

      ‘Oh, Derek, you can’t blame Kevin. With Pearl saying she was going to break things off with you, he thought the coast was clear. He’s a man and, all right, maybe a weak one, but now he’s got to face the consequences and marry the girl.’

      ‘Marry her! He’s gonna marry her?’

      ‘She’s carrying his child so he doesn’t have much choice. I came round here to explain the situation and hoped to allay any nastiness between you and Kevin. I would hate you to fall out over Pearl Button.’

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