Finding Stevie: Part 3 of 3: A teenager in crisis. Cathy Glass

      

      

       Copyright

      Certain details in this story, including names, places and dates, have been changed to protect the family’s privacy.

      HarperElement

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      First published by HarperElement 2019

      FIRST EDITION

      Text © Cathy Glass 2019

      Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019

      Cover photograph © Mark Owen/Trevillion Images (posed by a model)

      A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

      Cathy Glass asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work

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      Source ISBN: 9780008324292

      Ebook Edition © February 2019 ISBN: 9780008324346

      Version: 2019-01-10

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

       Copyright

       Chapter Twenty: A Dreadful Mistake

       Chapter Twenty-One: Waiting for News

       Chapter Twenty-Two: Angry and Upset

       Chapter Twenty-Three: Prosecute

       Chapter Twenty-Four: Lost

       Chapter Twenty-Five: Life’s Not Worth Living

       Chapter Twenty-Six: The Letter

       Chapter Twenty-Seven: Moving On

       Chapter Twenty-Eight: Proud

       Suggested topics for reading-group discussion

       Cathy Glass

       If you loved this book …

       Moving Memoirs eNewsletter

       Praise for Cathy Glass

       About the Publisher

      Chapter Twenty

       A Dreadful Mistake

      I checked on Stevie after everyone had left his review. He was in his bedroom, more angry than upset. There wasn’t much I could say to him about Fred beyond what I’d already said – that he loved him, but he didn’t think before he spoke. Stevie knew his grandfather far better than I did. Having made sure Stevie was OK, I told him not to sit alone brooding and to come down when he was ready. He didn’t come down until I called everyone for dinner. He was very subdued at the table, didn’t contribute to the conversation and just shrugged when Lucy asked him how his review had gone.

      After dinner, as we were clearing away the dishes, I suggested to him again that he might like to invite a couple of his friends back from his class at the weekend, or go out with them – bowling, swimming, cinema or similar. Some months ago he’d mentioned he had two good friends in his class and I thought he needed to socialise, which would give him something to think about other than the police investigation. I did see the irony in what I was doing – trying to persuade Stevie to go out. When he’d first arrived, going out, staying out and ignoring his grandparents’ boundaries had been an issue, but now he wasn’t going out socially at all. He didn’t seem keen on my idea, but agreed to think about it, then spent the rest of the evening in his room. I kept a close eye on him, for while Stevie maintained he didn’t need to see a counsellor or doctor, I was worried his anxiety was building, which could spiral into a deep depression or worse. I think it is easy for teenagers to allow problems to escalate and dominate their thoughts so they can’t see a way forward. But there is always a way forward, hope and a solution, whatever the problem, which is why I wrote Happy Adults.

      It was no great surprise that once Peggy had put Kiri and Liam to bed that night, she telephoned me. I took the call in the living room where – not unusually – I was alone.

      ‘Fred just can’t keep his mouth shut,’ she began. ‘But he doesn’t mean any harm by what he says. He loves the kids.’

      I felt that excusing Fred like this was starting to wear a bit thin now and that he needed to channel some of that love he felt into accepting Stevie for who he was, and stop making snide remarks, or he’d never have a positive relationship with his grandson. I thought Fred would benefit from a self-awareness or emotional-intelligence workshop, but I didn’t say so.

      ‘You see, Cathy,’ Peggy continued, ‘Fred can get his head round supporting Stevie in the police investigation, but not the other stuff. His dad did something similar for Fred when he was a lad and got caught trying to hotwire a car him and his mates were going to steal. But a boy wanting to be a girl he can’t hack.’

      ‘I realise that, Peggy, but Fred might have to get his head round it if he wants to be part of Stevie’s life in the future. It can’t be so difficult