Josephine Cox 3-Book Collection 1: Midnight, Blood Brothers, Songbird

‘What was my father like . . . really?’

For a moment, the old man was taken aback. It seemed an age before he answered. ‘I don’t rightly know what yer mean, lass.’

‘I just wonder, that’s all, because I can’t remember much about him, as I was only three when he left us. I do remember Mum crying a lot, I think – and Dad yelling at her. Beyond that . . . nothing at all.’

Thomas put her mind at rest. ‘As far as I know, yer Dad were no different from many another bloke on the street. He worked hard, and I dare say he had a bet on the football pools, and a few bevies of a Friday night, but other than that, he and yer Mum got on all right . . . as much as any married couple get on.’

‘Thank you.’ She was grateful for that. ‘I suppose what you remember as a small child can get a bit twisted. I mean, it would be a strange couple that never argues, wouldn’t it? And Mum obviously loved him. Otherwise she wouldn’t be sneaking out in the middle of the night trying to find him, would she?’

Libby pondered for a moment. ‘Thomas, can I ask you something else?’

‘’Course yer can.’ Uncomfortable at her questions, he prepared himself.

‘If my Dad loved my Mum, why would he go off with some other woman?’

Thomas explained as best he could. ‘Unfortunately, it happens, lass. Sometimes a man begins to get bored with life – especially if he works long hours, like your Dad did. So, he starts to wander, looking for a bit o’ fun to spice up his life. It doesn’t mean he’s fallen out of love with his wife. But then one day, he meets a woman who’s different from the others. She worms her way into his life. She’s never going to be happy with a two-night fling. She’s looking for someone to set up with, and once she sets her sights on a particular man, she usually gets him in the end – even if he’s married with children. Women like that are home-wreckers wi’ no conscience.’

When she was growing up, Libby had heard the gossip about her father and other women. ‘That must have been so hard for Mum,’ she said now. ‘I don’t know how she put up with it.’

Thomas gave a knowing smile. ‘Ah well, she put up with it because she loved him and she didn’t want to lose him. But in the end, she did lose him, and she’s never really got over it.’

‘Do you think she expected him to come back?’

‘Oh, I’m sure she did. But when someone goes like that, there’s not an awful lot can be done about it.’

Libby’s anger bubbled over. ‘Why would he do such a terrible thing, when he had a woman at home who idolised him?’

Thomas had no answers. ‘Aw, now, lass, yer can’t ask me that kind of a question. What can I tell yer? I just don’t know.’

‘Sorry. It was wrong of me to draw you in like that.’ She sipped her cocoa, and changed the subject. ‘Just now, when I went up to her, Mum was talking clear as a bell.’

‘I know, and it’s wonderful when she’s like that, like her old self. But as the doctor told you, there will be days when she behaves normal enough, and other times she’ll be lost . . . her mind wandering here and there.’