37) A Secret And Some Money
No one knew anything about Grandpa Pete's heart condition so it was a great shock to all of the Thompson's and the McQueen's when he passed away in his sleep one Wednesday morning a few months after his reconciliation with Myra. The kids were all devastated, as were John and his family, but Myra was totally taken aback by how hard losing Pete hit her herself.
In the past, before she'd fallen out with the Thompson's, Myra'd always shared a special bond with Pete, especially when they'd helped each other working through their grief over losing Michael. Even in the years they didn't speak, she'd often thought about him fondly and missed not being able to seek advice from him with everything that went on with her kids and her relationships, and those few months after she received his letter had really been wonderful.
The funeral was difficult. Myra's parents joined her, both out of respect for Pete and to help her with the kids. Carmel and Michaela cried throughout the whole service and as she tried to soothe her sisters, Tina quietly started sobbing as well. Even Jacqui shed a few tears when the priest had reminisced about her grandfather's generosity, something that Jacqui had personally experienced two years earlier.
Yes, Jacqui and Pete shared a secret. The only time Jacqui had been caught shoplifting, she'd been at the shop without Michaela and her buggy, as Myra'd been at home with her youngest daughter. John Paul was with his sister in the shop, but was oblivious to what was going on. As the security guard in the shop stopped her and asked her to show what she was hiding underneath her jacket, Pete appeared out of nowhere and offered to pay for whatever it was that she'd taken and slipped the security guard a fifty pound note so that he wouldn't call the police. At the time, Jacqui didn't have an idea who this man was, but when she saw him that first Saturday, she recognised him right away. He just winked at her conspiratorially and later when they were on their own in the living room, he asked her not to mention any of this to her mum, which Jacqui eagerly agreed to.
After the service, Myra's parents took the kids to her flat so she could go and have a drink with John and Linda and a few other friends and family. John and Myra were sat next to each other in the pub, and after a few drinks, they started talking about Michael and Pete, and how great things had been in those last few months. That's when John brought up the issue of Pete's will.
He told her that his dad had told him after his mum's death that despite Betty's pestering, he'd never made any great changes to his will back when they'd fallen out with Myra, but only added both of their children when they were born. So John and Myra were inheriting twenty-five per cent each, and the rest was to be split evenly between all their children, but kept in trust funds until their twenty-first birthdays.
Myra didn't completely believe John's words, but a few days later, the Thompson's solicitor contacted her to confirm all the details. It wasn't a fortune Myra was inheriting, but enough so that she was able to cut down on her hours in the pub. In fact, she really just continued working there because she liked most of the punters, and to be totally honest, after working in the pub all those years, the idea of not having an excuse to be somewhere else than home once in a while, wasn't all that appealing.