Read Billie Jo for Free Online Page B

think he'll care.' Billie gave her mother a
nonchalant look. 'Anyway, me and Dad won't be here
when you get back. He's taking me out for the day.'
    Grabbing her handbag, Chelle bolted out of the front
door.
    Billie ordered a cheeseburger, filled up her salad bowl
and sat facing her father. The Harvester was the venue and
Billie wanted some answers. 'Come on then, Dad, what is
it that you want to tell me?'
    Terry felt a surge of love rush through his veins as he
sat facing Billie. He decided there and then that he was
going to be totally truthful with her.
    'You know my secretary, Jade?'
    'Of course I know her, Dad.'
    Billie had met Jade quite a few times over the years
and although she'd never spent any time alone with her,
she'd always quite liked her. 'Well, Bill, over the last
couple of years Jade and I have become more than just
workmates, we've sort of become very close. You know
life hasn't been easy for me living with your mother. Well,
me and Jade have sort of got it together, if you know
what I mean?'
    Billie could feel bile rising in her throat and knew she
wouldn't be able even to nibble the burger that had just
been placed in front of her. 'Cut the crap, Dad. You mean
you're having an affair with her. That is what you're trying
to tell me, isn't it?'
    Terry clocked the look of shock in his daughter's eyes
and immediately regretted his decision to tell her. Even
though Billie acted way beyond her years, she was still
only fifteen and he should have known better. He should
have waited till he had left Chelle and then broken it
to her gently. Deciding it was too late to pull the wool
over her eyes, he carried on. 'It's not just an affair, Bill.
I love her and she loves me.'
    Billie looked at her dad as though she was staring into
the eyes of a local pervert. 'Isn't she a bit young for you?
She's not much older than me, is she, Dad? Please, tell
me, she's not going to be moving in with us when we
move house?'
    Terry cursed himself for opening his big mouth. 'Of
course she won't be moving in with us. It'll just be me
and you, I promise, babe.'
    Not realising her father had just lied through his teeth,
Billie breathed a sigh of relief. She had enough grief with
the mother she'd inherited without being lumbered with a
new one.
    The conversation for the next half an hour was stilted
and neither of them ate their food. Billie excused herself
from the table and went to the toilet. Desperate to get out
of the restaurant she rang Tiffany and asked if she could
stay the night.
    Terry smiled at his daughter as she sat back down at
the table.
    'What do you fancy doing now then, Princess? We can
go to the pictures, bowling, it's your call.'
    'Actually, Dad, I want you to drop me off at Tiff 's
house. I'm staying there tonight, we arranged it yesterday.
I'm sorry, I must have forgotten to tell you.'
    Terry knew his daughter was lying and that the sleepover
had been arranged in the last five minutes, but he
guessed that deep down she needed someone to talk to
and tonight that someone wouldn't be him. He could
understand her not jumping for joy when he'd dropped
his bombshell, but what he couldn't handle was her
looking at him like he was some kind of nonce case.
    'Can you take me home to collect my stuff for school
tomorrow and then drop me round Tiff 's after?'
    'No problem, babe,' Terry said, switching his phone
back on. He'd turned it off earlier so he could talk to
Billie without any distractions. Terry dialled his answerphone
and was shocked to hear his mother's frantic voice
on the other end.
    'Terry son, why haven't you got your bloody phone
switched on? Your father has collapsed, and I've just called
an ambulance. I'm so frightened, son, I don't think he's
breathing. I should imagine he'll be taken to Oldchurch,
or King George's. Hurry up, boy, I'm in pieces and I don't
know what to do.'
    'Right, Bill, I'll drop you home, then you'll have to
sort yourself out. Get your mother to drop you off or get
a cab or something.