Winter on the Mersey(106)
Now the project had finished at last and he was due to start back at his regular post in Derby House on Monday morning. He had the weekend to settle back in and had got up early, unable to sleep in, even though it was Saturday, and had gone to the shop for a paper. He’d bumped into Sarah as he’d left and invited her round to join him for his morning toast, though really he wanted to check she was as well recovered as she’d claimed she was.
The April sunshine was streaming through the kitchen window as they sat at the well-scrubbed table. Danny produced a small pat of butter and a jar of home-made jam, which Sarah immediately recognised as Dolly’s, made from fruit from the victory garden. Dolly had been feeding Tommy more than ever, as he was now deemed a hero for saving Georgie, and had sent across a whole box of goodies for Danny’s return. She wasn’t going to turn down the offer, and hurriedly buttered her toast while it was still hot, so that the golden liquid soaked through it. She smiled broadly in appreciation, but inside she was apprehensive. To think that she’d sat at this table with Danny, day in, day out, and never thought anything of it. Today, though, she had butterflies in her stomach. It had been ages since she’d seen him and still longer since they’d been alone together. She cast her mind back to the last few times they’d spoken and knew she was blushing at the memory.
‘Where are Kitty and Tommy?’ she asked, thinking that the house was quiet.
Danny helped himself to a big dollop of jam. ‘Tommy’s still asleep and Kitty has a day off and left to go into town just before I went to the shop,’ he said. ‘Didn’t say what she was doing. It was a relief to see her last night, though – I didn’t like the sound of her getting caught up in that V2 strike. I kept thinking she was badly hurt and putting a brave face on it – you know what she’s like. Well, you’d know exactly.’ He caught her eye with a meaningful glance. ‘You’re just as bad. Saying you’d had a bit of a fright, when in fact Alfie Delaney broke in and beat you up.’ He put down his toast and his expression changed. ‘Sarah, I’m so sorry. I feel responsible. I should have been here, protecting you. Instead you had to endure all that. I can’t say how badly I wished I was here.’
Sarah didn’t quite know how to take this. Was it loaded with the meaning she’d suspected at Christmas, or was he simply sad he’d been away and unable to fight off Alfie? ‘Well, you know why she’s gone into the city centre,’ she said, trying to change the subject. ‘Has she said anything to you? She’ll be meeting Frank. Ever since they got trapped by that collapsed building, there’s been no separating them. They’re both floating on air, full of the joys of spring. The funny thing is, nobody’s in the least bit surprised.’
‘Sarah …’ Danny shook his head. ‘All right, no, I’m not surprised either. She did hint at something in her letters, and then when I reported back to Derby House last night straight off the train, Frank was there. He didn’t exactly ask me if he could court my sister, but as good as. I said to him, if he thought I had any control over what Kitty did, he had another think coming.’
‘Talk about falling for the boy next door,’ said Sarah, trying to keep her face neutral but knowing she’d let some of her true feelings show.
‘Nothing wrong with that, is there?’ Danny met her gaze full on.
Sarah didn’t back down. ‘No, nothing.’ She paused. Even now, there was one question that had been plaguing her. ‘Danny, I knew for ages that Alfie had some kind of dodgy business going on with you. What was it all about? Is that why he came round? I really want to understand.’
Danny sighed and bit on his toast to put off the moment of explanation. ‘It goes back to when we were all getting called up,’ he said finally. ‘He knew I had a bad heart – well, everyone found out after the fire at the docks. So he kept putting pressure on me to take his medical test for him, knowing I’d fail, so that he’d be exempt for the whole duration of the war.’
‘The coward,’ Sarah spat. ‘You could have got into a whole lot of trouble if you’d been caught.’
‘I know. But I hadn’t been totally on the straight and narrow when I worked on the docks myself, and he kept threatening to put the word out about me. He used pressure on all fronts – he got Tommy a pair of football boots one Christmas so we’d be beholden to him. He kept on asking even when I said no. Then I started at Derby House and he had to flee after he sold everyone that poisoned meat he got from the black market.’ Danny sat back and screwed his eyes shut. He’d come to hate the man, no doubt about it. ‘But that wasn’t why he beat you up though. He’d always had a hankering for Kitty. He’d hang around, hoping for a glance of her, make horrible comments to me about her.’
‘Yes, I know he’d come to the house expecting her to be here, and then he lost his temper when he realised it was me instead,’ said Sarah thoughtfully. ‘I don’t know what was in his mind. He was drunk – I could smell it on him. I didn’t know who it was at the time, but it all fell into place after. I’m glad it was me, not Kitty. Who knows what he might have done.’
Danny impetuously reached forward and took her hand. ‘Don’t say that, Sar. I’d have done anything to have stopped him hurting you. You were doing us a favour keeping an eye on Tommy and yet that happened – it’s not right.’