Free Fallen Angel by Kevin Lewis Page B

puts food on the table. And the work I do is important because –’
    Sophie spun round at the top of the stairs. This time her eyes held fire as well as tears. ‘More important than me?’
    Stacey hesitated a moment too long. Sophie spun back around and continued to make her way towards her room. ‘And the worst part of it is that none of this would matter if we were a proper family,’ Sophie muttered under her breath but still loud enough for Stacey to hear. ‘None of it would matter at all if …’
    Stacey knew what was coming next: the words that cut her to the quick every single time she heard them. Andin recent months she seemed to have heard them more and more.
    ‘None of it would matter,’ Sophie said again, ‘if I had a dad.’ And with that she slammed the door of her room behind her.
    Stacey fought to compose herself, closing her eyes and taking deep breaths as she closed the front door behind her. When she opened them again, her mother’s face was peaking out from around the doorway to the living room. Penny Collins said nothing. She didn’t have to. Her disapproval of the situation was written all over her face in giant capital letters.
    When her mother finally made to open her mouth, Stacey held up a hand to silence her. ‘I don’t have time for this, Mum,’ she snapped. ‘I’ve got to get back to work.’
    The evening traffic as she headed across South London was heavier than she had expected, and Collins found herself watching the clock on the car’s dashboard and wondering if she would make it on time.
    It was almost an hour before Stacey turned into the narrow driveway that led to the vast, uneven patch of scrub and woodland that was her final destination. She was almost twenty minutes late.
    She parked her car and gingerly made her way along a footpath on the common, until she came to the ruins of a medieval manor house. All that remained was a scattering of worn red bricks marking out the floorplan of the once grand residence. In the centre of it all stood Jack Stanley.
    ‘I was beginning to think that you were avoiding me.’
    Jack was tall and physically impressive, with thick jet-black hair and sparkling, piercing green eyes that shone like diamonds. He was dressed in designer jeans and an expensive linen shirt that fitted him perfectly. Two days’ worth of stubble clung to his chin, and a large unlit cigar was clenched between his fingers. He struck a match as he moved towards her and lit the end, blowing out the first puff of smoke in her direction.
    ‘How long has it been, Stacey? A year? You haven’t changed a bit. You’re looking good, very good.’
    Stacey said nothing but felt uncomfortable as his eyes looked her up and down. Jack began to close the gap between them, finally coming close enough for her to smell his cologne over the cigar smoke that lingered around him. ‘How’s your dad?’ Jack continued. ‘And how’s that little girl of yours? Susie, isn’t it?’
    ‘Her name’s Sophie,’ Collins replied. ‘She’s good. And my dad’s as well as can be expected. But I’m pretty sure you didn’t call me every day this week to catch upon old times. What’s all this about? I mean, even by your crazy standards you’re acting pretty desperate.’
    Stacey knew all about Jack Stanley’s standards. She had known him for just about as long as she had known anyone in her entire life. As a young girl growing upon the Blenheim Estate, Jack had been a leading figure in the small gang of oh-so-cool older boys who hung around in the shadowy corners at night smoking cigarettes and passing around cans of cheap cider.
    He and his friends had pretty much ignored her back then. It was only when puberty kicked in and Stacey made the transition from schoolgirl and gangly teenagerto stunningly attractive young woman that the eyes of Jack and his mates began to follow her around whenever she came into view. Then he would whistle and call out ‘All right, Princess’ every time she