Winter on the Mersey(80)

‘Yes, he said it’s all about seeing patterns, and I can do that,’ Ruby said, growing more assured by the minute. ‘I’m really looking forward to it.’

Rita nodded in astonishment but in admiration too. ‘Make sure you get out the special Christmas biscuits that Kitty made,’ she said. Impulsively she leant forward and gave Ruby a hug. ‘I hope you have a lovely evening. I’ll take Michael and Megan over to Mam’s and then go straight to the hospital. I’ll see you in the morning.’

Ruby smiled, even though she had never really taken to being hugged. ‘Happy New Year, Rita.’

Sarah drew her nurse’s cloak around her as she headed along the dock road, battling against the wind. Just when she could have done with getting off shift early, there had been an emergency and she’d had to stay late. It was thankfully nothing to do with the war, but a young boy who’d come in with appendicitis. The surgeon had caught it in the nick of time. Then again, she thought, even this relatively common incident had been affected by the war after all, as the boy’s father was away fighting in France, his mother had been killed in the Liverpool Blitz and the aunt who was caring for him had had to find somebody to look after her own two younger children before she could come to visit. So it had fallen to Sarah to sit with the young patient as he regained consciousness, and reassure him that he would soon be well again and that a familiar face would be with him any minute.

As she neared her front door, Tommy and Danny emerged from theirs.

‘Happy New Year, Sarah!’ Tommy called, his new scarf blowing behind him in the strong breeze. Dolly had knitted it for him for Christmas, as he’d confessed to losing his other one. ‘I’m coming over to yours for the evening. Aunty Dolly said I could.’

‘Of course you are,’ said Sarah. ‘How about you, Danny? Where are you off to?’ She hadn’t seen him to speak to properly since that incident in the kitchen on Christmas Day, what with working at the hospital and helping with the chaos the twins’ arrival had brought. ‘Are you going to see in the New Year with us?’ She tried to keep the hope out of her voice. She didn’t want to sound desperate, and it was a perfectly reasonable assumption that he’d come with Tommy, after all. She grinned at him; she’d make time to see him on his own, and find out if he was still in the same frame of mind as on that momentous night.

Danny looked at her, and she was sure that she wasn’t imagining it when he took a second longer than usual to reply. ‘No, I’ve got to go into town,’ he said.

‘Big party, is it?’ she asked lightly, trying to mask her disappointment. Who would have asked him? Who would be there?

He laughed. ‘No, not quite as exciting as that,’ he said. ‘I’ve got to go to work. Something’s up and they need me overnight. Not quite what I’d planned, but nobody else can do this particular task and so they’ve asked me.’

‘Oh, of course you have to go,’ said Sarah, at once sad that he wouldn’t be with them for the clock striking midnight, relieved that he wouldn’t be spending it with an unknown group of friends, and proud that he’d answered the call of duty without a quibble.

‘I’d rather spend it with you folks,’ Danny said, but it was impossible to read his face in the near-darkness. Did his voice carry an extra layer of meaning, or was it wishful thinking on her part? She couldn’t tell.

‘Come on, our Danny, it’s perishing out here.’ Tommy was all but jumping up and down on the spot.

‘All right, you go on in then,’ said Danny. ‘Er … how are the twins? I’ve scarcely had a chance to ask.’

‘They’re doing well. Violet’s managing to feed them and we got a special delivery of goodies from Joan and Seth, so she’s able to eat as much as she likes herself. She’s going to call the little girl Barbara.’

‘Oh, that’s a new one,’ said Danny. ‘Is that after anyone in her family? You haven’t got any Barbaras, have you?’

Sarah shivered in the cold air but tried not to let it show. ‘No, we haven’t, and Violet hasn’t either. She said she wanted something different, sort of a new beginning. But the middle name is to be Rita. Isn’t that lovely?’

Danny chuckled. ‘Well, that’s only right. She and Rita have been thick as thieves. Barbara Rita. Has a nice ring to it.’

Again, from the dim outline of his face, she thought he was gazing at her in a new way, but she couldn’t be sure, and wouldn’t put herself out on a limb by asking. She found herself tongue-tied. Part of her said this was ridiculous – here was the person she’d been able to tell anything, with whom she’d been totally relaxed for as long as she could remember. But suddenly the words just wouldn’t flow. ‘I’d … I’d best get in, they’ll be wondering where I am,’ she said. ‘Will I see you tomorrow?’

He shook his head. ‘Afraid not. I’m due back at Bletchley so I’ll have to start out first thing. One of the others whose parents live over in the Wirral is giving me a lift.’

‘Oh.’ Sarah didn’t know what to say. What was foremost in her mind felt too big, too important, to be rushed in a few seconds on a freezing cold street.

‘So, anyway, Happy New Year,’ said Danny, stepping towards her a little.