She nodded.
“Then he was committing sexual offences at the very least.” Jerome Stewart wore a very concerned frown.
“At the very least,” Tasha replied to confirm the suspicion her lawyer seemed to hold.
“As I thought. So, if he tries to go public we will point that out to him. Sex with a minor not to mention the rape and/or sexual assault charges. If he continues in spite of the restraining order being issued I will write to him, advising him of our intention to look at criminal charges relating to his relationship with you. We’ll do that before we involve the police for breach of the order, but the order was only issued today so it may not have been served on him yet. I will chase it up.”
“Thank you,” she said sincerely.
“I will advise Mr Maybury of any progress and I will call you when I come out of court tomorrow, but I don’t anticipate any problems,” he assured her.
She found her grandparents, Dan and Pippa waiting for her in reception.
“We thought we could take you all to dinner,” said Celia.
“I don’t know, I’m very tired,” replied Tasha, thinking all she really wanted to do was to go home and crawl into bed.
“Come on, Nat, you need to eat, especially if you’re taking pain relief for your bruises and bumps, or we could phone that bloke of yours and tell him you’ve gone on hunger strike. See what he says,” teased Paul.
“That won’t be necessary, but just dinner and then I would like to go home to bed.”
“Deal,” said Paul, hugging her. “If it’s okay with you, Philippa and Daniel want to stay with you as planned until Sunday.”
“Of course.” She was happy for them to remain with her for a few more days, but was unsure just how she felt about them not living with her beyond that.
****
The weekend passed uneventfully. Jerome contacted Tasha to let her know her grandparents had been granted the residency order for three months and then a full hearing would be called for them to make a permanent application. Jim had insisted on retaining Jerome as Tasha’s family solicitor. The restraining orders had been served and Liam had made no further contact. Her father had accepted a police caution for his assault on her and had made no attempt to contact any of them. Tasha had made sure Mr Mason had all of the legal paperwork at school and when Dan and Pippa left with their grandparents on Sunday afternoon she was a little sad, but also relieved. Lucy was staying with Ryan overnight so she had the flat to herself. She wasn’t meeting Jake until eight o’clock and as she hadn’t slept very well whilst sharing a bed with fidgety Pippa and injuries she was still struggling with, she went back to bed for a couple of hours.
It was half past five when the phone woke her up.
“Hi baby, how are you doing?” asked Jim.
“Fine thanks, you?” she replied groggily.
“I am counting down the days to seeing you.”
She heard nothing but sincerity in his voice. “Mmm, me too.” The realisation that she really was caused her lips to curl into a full smile.
“I was wondering if you’d opened your parcel from me?” he asked quietly.
“No. As I was sharing a room with Pippa I left it securely packaged and hidden at the back of my wardrobe.”
“Have Pippa and Dan gone to your grandparents now?”
“Yeah, and Lucy is out so I have been in bed most of the afternoon.” She stretched out like a cat and released a small yawn.
“Oh, Tasha. I miss spending time in bed with you. Maybe I should have video called and you could have opened your present,” Jim suggested salaciously.
She heard herself moan at the thought of it.
“You like my idea, baby?”
“I love your idea, but I have to get showered and dressed for dinner.”
“Dinner? What dinner?” Suddenly he sounded annoyed at her plans.
“I told you I was going out with Jake tonight.” A pout formed on her lips and she knew a loud sigh was barely a word away at the change in his mood.
