Brick by Brick

Part Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen

"He said WHAT?!"

Sammy chuckled at Corinne's expression of amazement, but then she'd been as stunned herself at Daniel's behaviour and revelations.

"That Eleanor isn't the only grandchild." She nodded as she reached for her coffee, "I'd never been happier than the moment I walked out of there."

She didn't add to her friend that the first person she'd called on departing had been Joel, but it had gone straight to answer phone. Who could blame him? He'd tried to tell her more than a dozen times that Daniel was out of control, unstable, but all she'd done was tar him with the same childish brush. All he'd done was try to warn her.

All the way back to Cornwall on the train she felt horrendous. But now as she debriefed with Corinne, as she held her daughter, she felt a little less responsible. Distance in this instance was a great thing for her guilt levels.

"So Daniel has a child? How has he kept that quiet?"

Sammy shrugged, "who knows? I'm just sick of all that now. I just wish I hadn't been so awful to Joel. He said that there was something going on, that Daniel was up to something. I don't know what, or why I was a part of that."

"SO have you spoken to him? Joel?"

She shook her head, "I left him an answer phone message, but I don't think he'll want to talk to me, I don't really deserve it." She shook her head, "if you'd seen Daniel though Corinne...he was livid, like a man possessed. I hope he didn't hurt anyone."

Corinne laughed sipping her cappuccino, "I'm not one for saying I told you so..."

"...but he was a perv at my wedding."

Corinne nodded enthusiastically, "defo. Now. Twenty five grand, what are you going to do with THAT?"

Sammy leaned back in her seat for a moment, "I should invest it, be sensible. But I fancy a holiday, some sun and fun with Eleanor. Then maybe buy a small place for us to live. I can't keep living with Monica, regardless of how good she's been the last six months."

"A holiday sounds amazing...I'd join you but since Mike and I booked this trip to Australia..."

Sammy placed a hand over Corinne's, "you've done far too much for me, this has been a one-way friendship for too long. And you KNOW I'll salon sit for you when you're away."

Her friend's eyes widened, "You will?"

She nodded, "the least I can do. That's if your clients will let me cut their hair."

"They ALL love you, Sammy...you sure?"

"A hundred percent. I am officially letting go of the past, I'm out of my mourning, and I'm stopping feeling sorry for myself. Marcus would hate to know that I've moped around for so long. And I'm holding things back for Eleanor. We are going to start living. Do you think Mike will help me organise my finances? I have to work out what I do and don't have."

"He'd love to." Corinne smiled as she leaned back in her seat, "you are back aren't you? I can tell!"

It was mid November so the next morning was crisp and cold, so Sammy took a stroll along the headland, pushing Eleanor, stopping to point out ships on the horizon, or a sheep grazing on the scrubland. Mike had taken all her financial details the previous night and was going to look into mortgage offers and advise her as soon as he could. that was a relief, she had never been so passive in her life before, but the combination of finally finding someone who wanted to care for her, and his financial security, as well as the pressure of having had so much responsibility on her shoulders from such a young age, meant that she had buried her head in the sand and that had left her in such a precarious position. But now with her regular income from Marcus, and the money from his grandmother, she was able to take control again.