Winter on the Mersey(67)
‘That’s what they say,’ Violet huffed. She’d seen her own mother carry four children, and she didn’t remember her ever being as big as this, but then again Violet was much taller than her mother had been, so perhaps it followed that her bump would be bigger too. She didn’t know. Dolly, Rita and Sarah kept reassuring her that she had no need to worry, and so she tried to take comfort from them. Between them they’d carried eight babies and tended to more births than they could count, so they should know what they were talking about. All the same, she could do without the nights of interrupted sleep and constant heartburn. It made her uncharacte?ristically tetchy.
Ruby crouched down to try to shift the big box on the floor. She was not used to doing much of the heavy work around the shop, as Rita and Violet had always done everything between them. Even during the recent stages of her pregnancy, Violet had managed, as Rita was back at the hospital most of the time, but now it was physically impossible for her to get her arms around a bulky box as her bump was always in the way. Ruby tried to lift the box before her in the way she’d seen Violet do it, but nothing happened. Her arms were shorter and weaker. She hadn’t had a lifetime of building up her muscles, and the sheer weight of the box defeated her.
‘Oh, Violet, what are we going to do?’ She began rubbing her hands again. ‘We can’t leave it there, someone might trip over it.’
Violet sighed. She should have known Ruby wouldn’t be able to move the box. It wasn’t the young woman’s fault; she’d just never had the practice. The spirit was willing but the flesh just wasn’t up to it.
‘We could see if anyone’s around in the street,’ Violet suggested. ‘Maybe Pop or Tommy.’
Ruby shook her head of blonde hair, so pale it was almost white. ‘No, they left already. I saw them earlier this morning.’ She looked on the verge of tears, distraught at failing to help.
‘We could open the box and move the contents tin by tin,’ Violet said. ‘It might take a long time, but we’ll get there in the end.’
Ruby looked dubious. There were a lot of tins in the box, but she couldn’t come up with an alternative. ‘All right.’ She struggled to open it, and Violet could do nothing but watch.
Ruby had managed to rip back half of the lid when the door jangled. She looked flustered at being interrupted, but then her expression changed when she saw who it was. Reggie James stepped around the end of the shelves and saw what was going on.
‘Hello, Mr James,’ said Violet brightly. ‘Chilly morning, isn’t it? Don’t tell me you’ve got vegetables to sell after last week’s frost.’
‘It’s good for the parsnips,’ he smiled. Then he turned to Ruby and her predicament. ‘Now, what is the trouble?’
Ruby shrugged. ‘It’s this box, it’s too heavy for me to lift,’ she said, ‘and Violet can’t do it any more.’
‘Allow me,’ said Reggie. ‘Where do you want it?’
‘But your leg …’ protested Ruby.
Mr James ignored her, bending and lifting the big box with ease. ‘Do you want it back in the stock room?’
‘Yes please,’ said Violet, swinging open the internal door, realising that Ruby’s fear was groundless. If the man could work an allotment he was probably safe to lift a box, she reasoned. She certainly wasn’t going to turn down the offer.
Mr James manoeuvred the box out of the way as if it contained nothing but feathers. As he took it through, Violet could see his muscles working through the fabric of his coat, stretched tightly across his back. She’d never really noticed before but, even though one of his legs was damaged, there was obviously nothing wrong with the rest of him. He was fit and strong, and had come along at just the right moment.
Ruby was beaming with pleasure. ‘Thank you, thank you,’ she said as he came back into the shop, wiping his hands on a handkerchief. ‘Would you like a cup of tea?’
‘And we could break open a packet of biscuits to show our appreciation,’ Violet said. ‘Tell you what, Ruby, why don’t you take Reggie through to the kitchen? I’ll hold the fort here. I don’t want any biscuits now I come to think of it, they’ll just make my heartburn worse.’
‘That’s very kind of you,’ said Reggie, but his eyes kept straying to Ruby. ‘I only stopped by to take orders for Christmas vegetables. We’ll have plenty if you are interested.’
‘Why don’t you sort that out with Ruby; she knows more about ordering than I do,’ Violet admitted honestly. Adding up figures had never been her strong point and now she was getting by on just a few hours’ sleep a night, she was worse at them than ever. ‘I trust her to make all the right decisions, you know.’
‘I’m sure you’re right,’ said Reggie, his eyes alight as Ruby led him back through to the little kitchen.
Violet sighed as she gently shut the door on them. They deserved a bit of privacy. He really was a very pleasant man and he seemed genuinely fond of Ruby. She felt mean that she’d made fun of him a little before. If he brought Ruby happiness, who was she to mock him? Ruby came to life in his presence in a way she’d never seen before. Violet shut her eyes, cross with herself. The trouble was they’d all believed Winnie, who’d put it about that Ruby was simple and wrong in the head. Even when they’d seen for themselves that it wasn’t true and Winnie had been saying it out of meanness and as a way of putting everyone off the scent to cover her own sin, the damage had been done. Yet Ruby was a young woman who deserved love as much as any other. Perhaps Reggie James was just the right man for her.