Cathy Glass - Daddy’s Little Princess

‘She’s a bit shy with anyone new,’ I said. ‘Come through and have a seat in the living room. Would you like a tea or coffee?’

‘A coffee would be lovely, thank you.’

‘Milk and sugar?’

‘Just milk, please. Thank you.’

I showed Marianne into the living room and Paula came with me to make the coffee. Marianne was an attractive woman who I guessed was a few years younger than Derek – in her mid-forties. She was smartly dressed for the office in a black pencil skirt and light-grey jumper. She clearly looked after herself; her hair was cut in a stylish bob and her lacquered nails were without a chip. I glanced at my own nails as I made the coffee and thought that I should really make an effort to lacquer them, but somehow I never had the time, unless I was going out for a special occasion. I set the two cups of coffee on the tray, added a few biscuits on a plate and carried the tray into the living room with Paula beside me. I placed the tray on the coffee table and handed Marianne a cup and saucer and offered her the plate of biscuits.

‘Thank you so much,’ she said appreciatively.

‘Thank you,’ Paula said, helping herself.

Marianne smiled. ‘How old is she?’

‘She’ll be three in April.’

‘I’m guessing your son is about Beth’s age?’ Marianne asked, glancing at Adrian’s most recent school photograph on the wall.

‘Yes, he’s a year younger than Beth,’ I said. ‘Coincidentally, they both go to the same school.’

‘That explains it,’ Marianne said. ‘I thought you looked familiar when you answered the door. I drop Beth off at school sometimes on my way into work, when Derek is on an early shift. I’ve probably seen you in the playground.’

‘Very likely. I’m there every day. What does Derek do?’

‘He works in the warehouse at –’ and she named a large electrical store on the edge of town.

‘And you work locally?’ I asked, making conversation.

‘Yes, at Gilford Accountants on the high street. I’m a book-keeper. Not very exciting, but it pays the bills. I’ve been doing the job a long while.’

‘Thank you so much for bringing Beth’s swimming costume,’ I said as we sipped our coffee. ‘Beth did very well in remembering to pack most of what she needed.’

‘Yes, she would,’ Marianne said. ‘She’s very self-sufficient.’ Her comment should have sounded like a compliment, but it didn’t. ‘So how is Beth?’ Marianne now asked, setting her cup in her saucer and looking at me. ‘I visited Derek at the hospital yesterday evening and he said she’d phoned.’

‘Beth’s fine,’ I said. ‘She’s obviously missing her dad a lot, but I think it helped speaking to him on the phone. We’re ringing him again tonight. Derek has asked us to telephone every evening.’

‘He would,’ Marianne said bluntly.

I looked at her as the words hung heavily in the air, but Marianne didn’t elaborate, so I took a chance and shifted the conversation to a slightly more personal level. ‘Have you known Derek long?’ I asked.

‘Over ten years,’ Marianne said. ‘I was friends with him and his wife when she was there.’

I nodded and looked at Paula, who had quietly helped herself to another biscuit. ‘Two is enough,’ I said. Paula grinned sheepishly.

‘When his wife left,’ Marianne said, ‘Beth was only small. I stepped in and helped Derek when I could, juggling it around my work. Everything seemed fine when Beth was little and while I was just a friend of Derek’s, although it’s true that she was always a daddy’s girl. But when our friendship grew into a relationship and I began staying some nights, Beth turned on me. The situation became intolerable, until Derek finally ended our relationship. He didn’t have any choice really, with the way Beth was behaving.’

‘But Beth’s only a child,’ I said. ‘How could she be responsible?’

Marianne held my gaze. ‘Beth can be very manipulative, especially when it comes to her father. But I blame him as much as her. It was the two of them against me. Their relationship really isn’t healthy. Not at all.’

A chill ran down my spine as Marianne concentrated on the cup and saucer she held in her lap and continued. ‘I expect that sounds like a horrible thing to say, but I’m not the only one who has concerns. Beth’s teacher asked me why Beth wasn’t allowed to go on any school outings. I had to explain that her father wouldn’t let her and that Beth wasn’t allowed to go anywhere without him, apart from school. Miss Willow thought he was far too possessive and I agreed. If it had been my decision, of course Beth would have been allowed to go on the outings, and to play with other children in the neighbourhood.’

‘When you said their relationship wasn’t healthy, what did you mean?’ I asked.

Marianne frowned. ‘It’s difficult to explain. But Beth and her father are far too close, and not like a father and daughter should be. In many ways, Beth is more like a wife to him. She even sleeps in his bed.’ Marianne looked at me. ‘Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.’

‘I know Beth sleeps in the same bed as her father,’ I said. ‘She told me on the first night she was here. She wanted to sleep in my bed, but I didn’t think it was appropriate, or fair on Adrian and Paula.’

‘Exactly!’ Marianne said forcefully, meeting my gaze. ‘So why is it that you and I think that, but Derek can’t see it? How did you make Beth sleep in her own bed? She always kicked off something awful when I tried to make her. She has a nice room at home, but she won’t use it.’

‘On the first night I gave her a cuddly toy, which I said would help her sleep, and since then she’s been sleeping with a photograph of her father under her pillow. It seems to work.’

Marianne gave a small half-hearted nod. ‘Derek was never firm enough with Beth. He’s petrified that she will leave him as her mother did. He worshipped Beth’s mother and when she ran off with an old boyfriend he was devastated. In some ways he never got over it. I think he sees Beth’s mother in Beth, and clings to her memory through her. I don’t know, it’s all so confusing.’ Marianne toyed with the rim of her cup, deep in thought. I waited, for clearly she needed to say more.

‘Beth would never let me sleep with her father,’ Marianne said after a moment, looking up at me. ‘If I stayed the night, I had to sleep in Beth’s bed. It was like I was the child and she was his wife. She threw a tantrum if I didn’t agree to this, or anything else connected with her father. She knows how to get what she wants. I know it sounds pathetic, but the two of them stopped letting me go in the kitchen to prepare meals. They started cooking together and they were all over each other, kissing and cuddling like a couple of lovebirds. If I tried to show Derek any affection, Beth would push me away or push herself between us, so he had to kiss and cuddle her. Derek thought it was funny and just laughed. I never knew if it was for my benefit – that they wanted to show me how close they were – or if they were always like that.’ Marianne shook her head. ‘I don’t know. I still help them. Derek needs my help, and as long as I don’t show him any affection Beth tolerates me.’ Marianne stopped and looked at me, her brow creased in anguish and confusion. ‘Sorry, I don’t know why I’m dumping this lot on you,’ she said.

‘I can understand why you’re so worried,’ I said. ‘None of this sounds right to me either. Have you discussed it with the social worker?’

‘No. I thought about it. But I couldn’t think of what to say. It made me sound pathetic, as though I was jealous – of a seven-year-old girl! Perhaps I am. I wouldn’t mind some of the affection Derek shows Beth. But he doesn’t need me emotionally. He has all he needs in Beth. Though I worry about her and what is really going on.’