Chapter Seven

"How is he?" Steph inquired as she made her way into the kitchen, yawning as she spoke. She looked over at Jake, lying on the sofa, with a blanket over his body before turning away and facing her mother, who was making coffee.

"I don't know love to be honest. He said that stuff in the pub but nothing else since. Maybe they've had a row or something?"

"Mum, you don't think what Jake said about Becca and Justin is true do you? I mean he was so, so upset you know, and Becca did visit Justin several times when he was up for murder"

"I don't know, Steph" Frankie began, pouring coffee into the three mugs that she had placed on the counter top. "I mean Becca having an affair? She's just not the type, now your father is the type to have an affair. You have to be good at lying, deceiving…" Frankie trailed off, noticing Steph's look of annoyance at her changing the subject of conversation to her cheating ex-husband. "Beccas just not the type, love. Beccas too…" she paused for a moment before continuing, "She's too nice. She'd never do anything that risky and deceiving. And anyway look at how upset she got over the whole Lisa Hunter thing, she wouldn't do it to Jake, she knows how it feels"

"Yeah but Mum, Jake was really up…"

"Let's just leave it for now, love. I'll talk to Jake later. It's probably just a big misunderstanding. Becca and Jake love each other. They were going to try for a baby, remember. Jake will be back home before you know it" Frankie interrupted, in a pseudo calm and confident voice. She hoped so anyway. She remembered the damage that Johnno's affair had done to the family, to her. She didn't want it happening to Jake.

"Alright, I'm coming" Sophie shouted as she made her way down the stairs, almost tripping over her long dressing gown as she went.

"Russ!" she exclaimed, trying to hide her happiness that he had come to see her, especially so early in the morning.

"Hi, Soph. Can I come in? Is your mum in?"

"My mum?" Sophie queried, confused. Why did he want to know if mum was in?

"Soph? Your mum?" Russ repeated, frustrated at receiving no answer the first time of asking.

"She's in the bath. Why does it matter?" Sophie replied in a deadpan voice, her attempt at subtly informing Russ of her annoyance.

"Because I need to talk to you and I don't want your mum interrupting us" Russ explained as he entered the house, brushing closely past Sophie as he did so.

"Talk to me about what?" Sophie questioned, blushing ever so slightly. She and Russ had been getting closer over the last few weeks and she felt a connection with him, especially after everything that had happened. She could talk to him about things that she couldn't talk to anyone else about. Mum was always busy at work, Mel was always drunk and they had fallen out over recent weeks, and Justin…well Justin was Justin. He was too busy living the life of a typical teenage boy. She cast her mind back to the day when she had accidentally knocked over Justin's open schoolbag, which had been left on the sofa. What fell out was evidence that Justin was no longer an innocent little boy, but a man.

"It's difficult. I don't know…" Russ stuttered, nervously looking around and avoiding Sophie's gaze.

"Look no offence but I'm tired okay. I had a row with Mel last night and I'm really not in the mood for guesswork, right now" Sophie retorted, growing irritable at his hesitance to reveal all to her.

"Okay, okay. It's about your family. It's about…"

"If it's about Mel, then I don't want to hear it!" Sophie interrupted, raising her voice to levels that Russ had hoped would not cause her mother to come down the stairs to enquire about the shouting was about.

"It's not about Mel. It's about Justin"