Winter on the Mersey(68)
The door bell went again and in came Mrs Mawdsley, obviously in a hurry. ‘Good morning, dear. I won’t keep you, just let me buy a paper.’
Violet smiled and then grimaced as a twinge shot through her. She rallied and tried to sound cheerful as she handed it over. ‘Here you are. Chilly out, isn’t it?’
Mrs Mawdsley regarded her carefully. ‘Yes, Christmas isn’t far off now. When are you due, my dear? Not long to go now, by the looks of you.’
From anyone else, Violet might have bristled at the intrusive comment, but she knew the woman’s heart was in the right place. ‘Early January,’ she replied. ‘Dolly says first ones can often be late, but that I’m doing well.’
‘And she should know,’ Mrs Mawdsley agreed. ‘All the same, you must take care, my dear.’ She shook her head. The poor young woman looked as if she was going to pop at any moment.
‘Oh, I will,’ Violet assured her, keeping her smile in place until her customer had left. Then she collapsed back on to the stool with a groan. January couldn’t come soon enough for her, Christmas or no Christmas.
‘Don’t you think you’re asking a bit much of Tommy?’ Sarah demanded as Nancy breezed through the kitchen of their parents’ house. ‘He’ll have done a full day’s work, he’ll be tired, though he’d never admit that to you. But you have to remember he’s only fourteen.’
Nancy shrugged. ‘Don’t be such a killjoy, Sarah. He’ll love it. He enjoys looking after Georgie. And Georgie loves it, don’t you?’
The little boy nodded. ‘Can I stay with Tommy?’ he asked.
‘It’ll only be for a couple of hours, and then he can take you back to Granny Kerrigan and she’ll give you your tea,’ Nancy assured him.
George’s face fell. ‘Don’t like Granny Kerrigan’s tea.’
Nancy couldn’t very well say that she knew exactly what he meant. ‘Don’t be silly, there’s nothing wrong with her tea. If you’re good she might give you a treat.’ Even as she said it, Nancy knew there was fat chance of that, but she had to get away with this somehow.
George made a face as if he knew it too.
‘So, Gloria’s back in town on one of her whistle-stop tours, then?’ Sarah tried to sound as if she wasn’t impressed, even if she was secretly pleased that she had a connection to one of the nation’s favourite entertainers.
‘That’s right,’ Nancy gushed. ‘She’ll do one big concert before Christmas, then go up to Scotland, and then do one more in Liverpool on her way back to London. After that she’s off on some ENSA trip and I don’t know when I’ll see her again. So it’s tonight or never, really.’
Georgie looked up. ‘Can I see Auntie Gloria?’
Nancy bent down to his level. ‘Georgie, you’d be bored silly. Mummy and Auntie Gloria will just be sitting and chatting and there’ll be nothing for you to do. You’ll have much more fun with Tommy.’ She felt a little guilty but not enough to make her change her plans.
George didn’t look too unhappy about being told no. He was used to it, after all. He scuffed his shoe along the edge of the rag rug and wondered if Tommy might let him have a go on the back of his bike. He decided to keep this idea to himself.
‘Well, it’s certainly put you in a good mood,’ Sarah observed, picking up her warm scarf and looping it around her neck as she got ready to set off for the hospital. She was in a good mood herself; Kitty had told her that Danny would be coming back for Christmas. She was full of anticipation at seeing him again, and yet it was tinged with dread, wondering if he would be different, or if he’d have met someone else. She couldn’t even say that they were a couple though, so it wasn’t a question of ‘else’. It was too complicated to think about. She had to concentrate on being ready for whatever her next shift might throw at her.
Nancy nodded cheerfully, and kept smiling broadly as her sister let herself out. The thought of seeing Gloria always pepped her up, that was true. But it wasn’t the only reason for her happiness. Tonight she had two tickets to the show, and she’d be going there with Gary. She closed her eyes for a brief moment, remembering the electric connection between them when he’d got back a few days ago. She’d made an excuse to miss her WVS shift and had gone with him to a discreet hotel room. It had been everything she’d dreamt of and more. The separation had made things even better between them, and the long, passionate afternoon had filled her with delight and a keen desire for more. The illicit nature of their meeting just added to the excitement. She knew she shouldn’t set too much stock by promises made under such circumstances, but the flame of hope had been relit, that she might escape her gloomy life as her in-laws’ tenant, break free of the whole grey, depressing existence she led now. How or when she didn’t know, but that hope buoyed her up, made her tremble with emotion every time she got a quiet moment to think about it. Very occasionally she felt a flash of guilt, such as the rare occasions when one of Sid’s clumsy and brief letters tumbled through the letterbox, but usually she managed very successfully to overcome it.
Tonight she was going to introduce Gary to her best friend. They would share the evening, and then with luck they’d have time to run back to the hotel room and spend some proper time together before she had to sneak back home and avoid the baleful gaze of her mother-in-law. She shivered with the thrill of it all.