Authors: Ellie Dean
She put down her suitcase and eased the handbag and gas-mask box straps from her shoulder and made a fuss of the welcoming Harvey. ‘I wasn’t sure if you’d be here,’ she said, ‘but I’m glad you are. This place wouldn’t be the same without you and this old rogue.’
Ron longed to sweep her into his arms and kiss the breath out of her, but he was suddenly uncertain about how she might react to such ardour after they’d been apart so long. He took a tentative step towards her. ‘Welcome home, Rosie, me darlin’ girl.’
Her blue eyes glistened, and without another word she abandoned Harvey and stepped into his arms and clung to him. ‘Oh, Ron, I’ve missed you so very much,’ she murmured against his cheek.
His arms willingly encircled her and he felt the rounded softness of her breasts press against his chest as her sweet perfume engulfed him and roused his senses. ‘I’ve missed you more than words can say,’ he whispered. ‘Oh, Rosie, I’ve waited so long to have you in my arms again.’
She took his face in her hands and brought her lips to his in a lingering, sweet kiss and then stepped out of his embrace. ‘We’d better stop now before things get out of hand,’ she said, her voice choked with emotion.
‘But, Rosie . . .’
She put a soft finger on his lips. ‘I’m still not free,’ she said, her eyes bright with unshed tears. ‘My husband is extremely sick, but he’s alive, and as long as he is, then you and I must respect that.’
‘But you still love me, don’t you?’ he dared to ask.
‘Oh, yes, Ron. I love you – nothing has changed that.’
He felt helpless, for he loved the bones of her and would have married her in an instant if it had only been possible. But her husband was locked away in an asylum and divorce was out of the question according to the law – and Rosie was not the sort of woman to break her marriage vows and give herself to another man while he was alive.
He cupped her lovely face in his rough old hand and resisted the temptation to kiss her again. ‘’Tis proud I am to be your closest, dearest friend, my sweet Rose,’ he said gruffly, ‘but if you keep looking at me like that, I shall not be answerable for my actions.’
She giggled and stepped away from him. ‘You haven’t changed, you old rapscallion,’ she teased as she gathered up her handbag and suitcase and headed for the door that led to the upstairs rooms. ‘I’ll sort myself out and make us a pot of tea while you change the barrels and tidy up down here.’
She turned in the doorway and gave the bar an appreciative glance. ‘Though I must say, the old place looks very well looked after, even though it seems to have been turned into a nursery.’ There was a teasing light in her eye as she raised a brow. ‘Not yours, I hope, Ron?’
He chuckled and winked at her. ‘Go and make that tea and I’ll explain everything when you come back down,’ he said.
She shot him a naughty grin and went upstairs, and Ron wasted a bit of time just listening to her walk back and forth, imagining her in her little private domain above the bar. Then he got to work and quickly changed barrels, brought up crates of bottles from the cellar and made sure everything was polished to a gleam by the time she returned, looking very businesslike in her black skirt and frilly white blouse.
He took the tea tray from her and placed it on one of the low tables. ‘That’s my granddaughter, Daisy,’ he said proudly as Rosie leaned over the pram to inspect the sleeping baby. ‘Peggy had her on the same day the Japs bombed Pearl Harbour, but I’m sure I wrote and told you that.’
‘Yes, of course you did. I was only teasing.’ She softly touched the dark curls. ‘She’s absolutely lovely,’ she breathed. ‘I hope Peggy knows how very lucky she is.’
Ron saw the wistful expression and the sadness in her eyes before she quickly masked them with a smile, left the pram and busied herself by pouring the tea. ‘Aye, she does that, but things have changed at Beach View these past two weeks, and at the moment she doesn’t feel particularly lucky at all.’
Rosie listened as she drank the tea and fed biscuits to Harvey, her large blue eyes widening as Ron told her about the bombing raid, the emergency operation and Doris’s arrival. ‘Poor Ron, what a nightmare – and on top of all that, you’ve had to keep this place going and carry on with your Home Guard duties too. You must be worn to a frazzle.’
‘I might be past me best, but there’s plenty of life in this auld carcass yet,’ he said with a chuckle.
She laughed. ‘I don’t doubt it. But what I really want to know is what happened to my nefarious brother. You never did explain, and my sister-in-law hasn’t answered my letters.’
‘Tommy was caught with black-market booze and cigarettes hidden in the cellar,’ he explained, carefully avoiding the fact that he’d been the one to inform the police so he could be certain that the slippery Tommy Findlay got his just deserts and was put out of action – and distanced from Cliffehaven for a very long time.
‘He’d been running this pub like a bawdy house and there had been numerous complaints to the police,’ he continued. ‘When he was arrested, I took over with Brenda and Pearl, and you’ll find the books are up to date and the profits have grown.’
Rosie gave a deep sigh. ‘I might have known Tommy would let me down, but at the time I had little choice but to ask him to take over.’ She placed her hand over Ron’s as it rested on the tabletop. ‘Thank you, Ron. I don’t know what I’d’ve done if this place had fallen to rack and ruin.’
He knew she’d invested all her savings into the Anchor, which was why he’d stepped in so quickly to rescue it and get rid of Tommy. ‘It was the least I could do,’ he said modestly.
Rosie’s gaze turned to the pram as Daisy began to burble and wave her arms and legs about. After a questioning look at Ron, she gently lifted the baby out and sat her on her lap. Resting her cheek on the dark curls, she held her close and played with the tiny fingers. And then she looked up at Ron, her expression earnest. ‘If I ask you something, will you answer me truthfully?’
It was a startling question and Ron was cut to the quick that she should think he’d ever be dishonest with her. ‘Of course,’ he said rather stiffly.
‘Did Tommy let Eileen Harris in here?’
‘He had lots of women in here, but I don’t think Eileen was one of them.’ He regarded her steadily. ‘Peggy saw them together once outside. According to her, Eileen was giving him a piece of her mind and he was arguing back. It was quite a heated exchange by all accounts, but Peggy was too far away and, much to her fury, couldn’t catch what they were saying.’
Rosie grinned. ‘As long as they weren’t a cosy twosome, then that’s fine.’ She returned to playing with Daisy’s fingers. ‘The thought of that woman in my home makes me go cold.’
Ron was concerned about this change in her mood and the turn in the conversation. Eileen Harris worked for the council, and there had been rumours many years before that she and Tommy Findlay had had an affair. Tommy was married, and when he wasn’t roving, lived with his wife and children a bit further down the coast, but he was a regular visitor to Cliffehaven, and was usually involved in some shady deal. If there had been an affair, it was long over, and yet, in some inexplicable way, Rosie seemed to have been tangled up in it – and whatever had happened, it had left deep scars.
He’d broached the subject once, but Rosie had simply told him that Eileen Harris had betrayed her in the worst possible way, but refused to elaborate. Puzzled by her vehemence and her determination to keep this past betrayal secret, he’d asked Peggy if she knew anything. Peggy, the fount of all knowledge when it came to the truth behind rumours, had remained tight-lipped and told him to mind his own business.
‘You never did explain what happened between you and Eileen all those years ago,’ he probed.
She regarded him evenly. ‘No, I didn’t, did I? And I’m not about to now. It’s almost opening time and this baby needs changing and feeding.’ She got up with Daisy still in her arms. ‘Do you have clean nappies and a bottle I can give her?’
Ron dug about in the basket beneath the pram and found everything Daisy would need to make her comfortable. ‘I’ll see to Daisy while you sort out Brenda and Pearl – they’re due any minute.’
‘I’d prefer to deal with Daisy,’ she said with a soft smile for the gurgling baby. ‘You carry on, and I’ll see you when this sweet little flower is all fresh and fed.’
Ron was so amazed by Rosie’s unexpected maternal streak that he couldn’t think of a thing to say. He watched her carry Daisy out of the bar and then shook his head. ‘T’be sure, Harvey, I’ll never understand women – God love ’em. They’re a different species, so they are.’
As Ruby walked past the station she caught a glimpse of Stan, who was watering his pot plants at the far end of the platform and chatting to an old man sitting on a bench nearby. He was engrossed and didn’t see her, so she carried on up the hill towards the factory.
Lucy was already waiting for her outside the gates. ‘You must have been up very early to manage a walk down to the seafront and back before eight – and what’s happened to your face?’
Ruby had realised this moment could be awkward, but she knew Lucy deserved at least part of the truth. ‘I tripped on the stairs and bashed me face on the carpet in all the excitement of moving into Beach View Boarding House with the Reilly family,’ she said.
The blue eyes widened. ‘But you never said anything about moving yesterday.’
‘I’m sorry, Lucy, I would have told you, but it was all a bit last minute,’ she replied.
Lucy frowned. ‘But why? I thought you were happy with the Frasers?’
‘Ron and Peggy Reilly invited me to move in with them, and with all the other girls living there, it’s much more lively,’ she said carefully. She linked arms with the other girl and grinned. ‘I know it’s a longer walk to the factory every morning, but it takes me less than two minutes to get to the promenade – and I can’t get enough of the sea.’
Lucy still didn’t look overly convinced. ‘But how do you know the Reilly family?’
‘Remember I told you about how Stan looked after me on my first night here? Well, he introduced me to Peggy and things just went on from there,’ she replied. Unwilling to continue this awkward exchange, she changed the subject. ‘Do you fancy going to the pictures tonight? Only they’re showing
Lady be Good
, with Eleanor Powell, Robert Young and Red Skelton.’
Lucy shrugged off her curiosity and smiled. ‘I’ve heard it’s really good, and some of the tap dancing is supposed to be amazing – Eleanor apparently does a whole dance routine with her dog.’
‘That’s settled then,’ said Ruby. ‘But we’ll have to go to the late showing, ’cos I need to pop in and visit Peggy first.’
Lucy regarded her with unveiled curiosity. ‘You look different today,’ she said.
Ruby laughed. ‘I put on a bit of make-up for a change.’
‘Yes, I noticed that, but it’s not the make-up – there’s a sort of glow about you this morning.’
‘That’s because I’m happy,’ she replied. She caught a glimpse of Flora bearing down on them, and tugged Lucy’s arm. ‘Come on, Flora’s gaining on us and we’re in danger of being late to our workbenches.’
They were both giggling as they scampered through the milling women to avoid the other girl, and Ruby felt a lightness of spirit that she hadn’t experienced in a long while as she and Lucy clocked on and headed into the heart of the gloomy factory to begin another long shift. She was young and free and safe for the first time in years. Life was definitely on the up.
Chapter Seventeen
PEGGY HAD BEEN
fretting over Ruby, for she hadn’t seen Suzy at all, and Fran had only just come on duty and had been occupied with one of the other patients. Restless and worried, she’d done her four circuits of the ward and was feeling a bit tired and out of sorts as she waited for her visitors to arrive that Wednesday afternoon. She was definitely getting stronger by the day, and now the stitches had been taken out, she was determined to be out of here by Friday evening at the latest. All she had to do now was convince Alf the butcher to help her, and then run the gauntlet of Matron. This last hurdle would be the toughest, but Peggy’s mind was made up and nothing would change it.
She plucked the latest of Jim’s letters from her dressing-gown pocket and tried once again to make sense of it through the judicious pruning by the censor. It seemed he still had no idea that she was in hospital, which was puzzling – but he’d been sent to yet another barracks, which could explain why the telegram hadn’t got through.
Folding the letter back into the envelope, she held it to her lips and tried very hard not to give in to the yearning to cry. She missed him so very much, and she hated the thought of him being so far away and out of reach. If only he could get some leave, just a few days, or even an hour or two. It would make all the difference.
Fran bustled over, saw her woebegone face and squeezed her hand. ‘To be sure, Uncle Jim will come home on leave when he can,’ she soothed. ‘Don’t upset yourself, Peggy. Just concentrate on getting better so that when he does come home, you’ll be able to enjoy the time you have together.’
‘I know it’s silly to worry about him,’ said Peggy, ‘but we’ve been together almost every day since we married, and it feels so strange not having him around.’
‘’Tis the same for thousands of others,’ Fran murmured, ‘so you’re not alone. I expect it’s just the effects of the operation that are making you feel low. Once you’re home again, you’ll be amazed at how much more cheerful you’ll be.’
Peggy blinked back the tears and didn’t dare catch Fran’s eye, for her planned escape must be kept secret, and Fran was very astute at picking up things. ‘Yes,’ she murmured. ‘I expect I will.’
Fran smoothed the sheet, tucking it in as tight as a tourniquet over her hips. ‘I’m sorry about this, Peggy, but Matron insists everyone has to be trussed up like mummies before visiting time.’
Peggy grimaced. ‘How are things at home? Did Ron bring Ruby back with him last night?’
Fran smiled as she plumped the pillows with rather unnecessary vigour. ‘To be sure, Peggy, ’tis life as usual at Beach View. Ruby has settled in just fine, and she and Rita have hit it off straight away, so you’ve no need to worry about her.’