Free First and Only by Peter Flannery

three hundred thousand pounds
that represented every last penny of their assets.
    ‘That’s not possible,’ said
Steve, unwilling to accept what she was telling him. ‘I spoke to the bank
manager only last week… it’s not possible.’
    Christine rounded on him, the
bitterness etched on her tear-streaked face. ‘This is Paul we’re talking about.
Believe me it’s possible.’
    Steve felt as if the ground had
been torn from under his feet. The room seemed to suddenly tilt around him.
‘But that’s all the money we have,’ protested Steve.
    ‘I know,’ said Christine.
    ‘That’s the money my father left
me…’
    ‘I know,’ said Christine in a low
moan.
    ‘That’s the house, Christine… we
borrowed money against the house.’
    ‘Steve!’ shouted Christine in
frustration. ‘I know!’
    ‘Sshh!’ said Steve in response to
the raised voice. ‘We’ll wake Sally.’
    He pushed the living room door to
but it never stayed closed and even as he turned back to the room it swung open
several inches.
    ‘Oh God’ said Christine raising a
hand to her mouth and turning away.
    ‘Jesus,’ swore Steve softly as
the enormity of what she was telling him sank in.
    They were four weeks away from
signing a deal that would see the bank matching their money; four weeks from
the start of production on the first of nearly two hundred orders, and each one
worth the best part of five thousand pounds. They were four weeks away from
ensuring the financial security of their family and proving that Steve could do
something worthwhile in life other than fighting for Her Majesty’s armed forces.
    ‘What are we going to do?’ said
Christine sinking into a chair.
    ‘But how?’ asked Steve still
wondering how Paul could have gone through three hundred grand in less than a
week.
    ‘Oh, you name it…’ said Christine
angrily.
    Steve shook his head, the shock
giving way to anger.
    ‘I knew we shouldn’t have trusted
him.’
    ‘So this is my fault!’ challenged
Christine. ‘For talking you into it…’
    ‘No,’ said Steve somewhat taken
aback.
    ‘But if I hadn’t talked you into
it…’
    ‘That’s not it at all,’ protested
Steve.
    ‘But I did Steve. I did talk you
into it.’ Christine was back on her feet. ‘Oh, he’s fine for a night down the
pub. Great for a laugh… great with Sally…’
    ‘Christine, don’t,’ said Steve
taking a step towards her.
    ‘No!’ snapped Christine pulling
away from him. ‘You never trusted him, not really. If I hadn’t persuaded you
that he deserved a second chance… that the responsibility would do him good…’
    ‘You didn’t talk me into it,’
said Steve. ‘We made the decision together.’
    He made another attempt to
comfort his wife but she just kept turning away from him. ‘I like Paul… I
always have. I knew the way he was… I just never believed he was capable of
something like this.
    ‘But maybe I did,’ cried
Christine and the guilt in her voice was more than Steve could bear.
    ‘Christine, please…’ he began but
she cut him off.
    ‘Steve, what are we going to do?’
    Now it was Steve who turned away.
He could not believe that Christine was blaming herself after all that she had
done.
    ‘Enough…’ he said quietly. ‘Just
let me think.’
    ‘We have no money…’
    Steve sighed wearily. As much as
he had always liked Paul, he hated him at this moment. He hated him for his
selfishness, for his weakness… he hated him for what he had done but most of
all he hated him for what this was doing to his family. He and Christine never
argued, not really, and he hated to see his confident, resourceful wife reduced
to self-doubt and despair. Steve raised his hands to massage the growing ache
in his temples, while behind him Christine paced back and forth sounding off
the miseries that lay ahead of them.
    ‘The mortgage is due next week
and we’re already three months behind…’
    Steve could hear the blood
rushing in his ears. ‘ How could he do