Daughters of the Mersey (42 page)

‘Of course, if you prefer. You’ve got a lock for your bike?’

‘Yes, thank you.’

‘It could be needed. Take your usual sandwich and bottle of milk with you for your lunch. You will sit a maths paper in the morning and English and Welsh in the afternoon, with an hour and a half break between them.’

On Wednesday, Mrs Roberts marked her homework and wished her well in the exam. ‘Do your best and I’m sure you’ll be fine. You’re well up to the required standard.’

The thought of the exam hung heavily over her. But the next morning, Amy found once she settled down and looked at the questions that they weren’t too bad. It was just like doing the homework that Mrs Roberts had
been setting her for the last eight weeks.

Despite all the wartime difficulties, Leonie felt life had suddenly taken a turn for the better. She couldn’t forget Steve, she never would, she’d shared too much of her life with him, and the fact that he’d died a hero made her put the bad times to the back of her mind. It was getting back with Nick that was making all the difference.

That first weekend they spent together they didn’t go out and they didn’t speak to anybody else. They had so much to catch up with but Nick had to return to Chester on Sunday night. Elaine came to work on Monday morning and swept her into a big bear hug. She’d already heard the news from Nick.

‘Congratulations,’ she said. ‘At last you’ve both seen sense. You’ll be good for each other. I know you will.’

‘It’ll mean big changes.’ Leonie had been giving them some thought.

‘Of course it will,’ Elaine enthused. ‘Marriage usually does, but think of what you had to do to move your home to the flat upstairs. You achieved that in no time at all, didn’t you?’

‘That job isn’t finished, the hens are still down there. I’ve walked down this morning to feed them and let them into their outside pen. Milo’s going to ask his friends to help him bring them up.’

‘Oh gosh, what a job. Are you going to put them in the yard here?’

‘Where else? We’ve got to make looking after them more convenient than it is now.’

Leonie looked out of the
window at the courtyard effect they’d made in the backyard. It was a quite a pleasant place to sit out on fine days and it had improved the view from the back windows.

‘We’ll have to find a henhouse from somewhere first. We can’t move their present shed, it’s built on to the side of the house. I’m afraid it’ll spoil the courtyard.’

‘Oh dear,’ Elaine was frowning. The window of her office looked over the back of the premises. ‘I was wondering whether they’d be better in our garden, but with the Anderson shelter and Tom’s attempt at digging for victory, there isn’t much space left. He’s put most of it down to growing vegetables.’

‘I’ll ask Nick what sort of a garden he has and whether he’d be willing to have them.’

‘He has a big garden with apple trees. He’s growing vegetables too, but I reckon he has space for a henhouse at the bottom end.’

‘I’ll ask if he’s willing.’

‘Where are you going to live, Leonie? I mean, if you’re going to marry him, you’ll be going there, won’t you?’

‘Yes, but I’ve got this business and travelling from Chester every day would reduce the time I’d have here. Unravelling my life after all this time is very complicated.’

‘I know, Tom and I have talked about it and wondered what you’ll do.’

‘Nick and I have talked about it too but we’ve not made much progress on that.’

‘Leonie, I would be willing to buy you out if that’s what you want. I’m getting better at sewing but a long way off you yet. But Ida is settled here and she’s a reliable worker. I’d need to take on
another full-time seamstress and then I could handle pretty much what goes through the business now. I’d aim to expand my side, provide high-class designs and fit. It’s a good time to do it, there’s nothing but utility clothes in the shops and very little choice in styles.’

‘That would solve my main difficulty. Let me think about it because there’s Milo too, he has nowhere else to live and he needs to stay near his job.’

‘We’ve already talked about that, haven’t we? I won’t want to live in the flat.’

‘Unless you get bombed out of your house.’

‘Heaven forbid, but I’m not even going to consider that. I’d be willing to rent it to Milo, I know him well enough to trust him. I couldn’t rent it to a complete stranger because there’s no way I can lock away any of the stuff in the shop.’

‘If you explain that you don’t want him to touch your property, I know he’d respect your wishes.’

Elaine smiled. ‘I’d want his bed out of my office but he’d only need one bedroom.’

It was Leonie’s turn to deliberate.

‘Milo is twenty-four now, isn’t he?’ Elaine asked

‘Nearly twenty-five.’

‘He’s more than old enough to take care of himself, and he’ll have everything he needs, use of kitchen and bathroom and a decent size bedroom to himself. He’ll probably enjoy it.’

‘He’s not terribly tidy, Elaine. You’ll have to lay down the law about that and about keeping the place clean.’

‘He’ll be on his own in the evenings and at weekends because I’ll be using it only for business. With so many families bombed out he won’t get a better deal than that.’

‘He’ll be over the moon and
with the bus stop only fifty yards from the front door, it’ll be easier for him to get to work.’

‘What’s that lorry doing outside?’

‘Oh! I’m expecting a Morrison shelter to be delivered. Is it that? Yes, I do believe it is.’

The front door pinged and Leonie rushed down to find a burly workman in the shop. ‘We’ve brought your shelter,’ he said. ‘Where d’you want it erected?’

‘In here.’ She ushered him into the back room where their customers were fitted.

‘You’re not going to be left with all that much space.’ He stamped on the floor. ‘You’ve no cellar under here?’

‘No, it’s solid.’ Leonie went back upstairs to see Elaine. ‘Milo will even have his own shelter,’ she said.

T
HE WORKMEN WERE LEAVING
. They had slid the mattress she’d kept
under the stairs inside the shelter for her. She was tossing in the pillows and blankets on top of it as Elaine prepared to go. Leonie thanked her for her offer. ‘Think about it,’ Elaine urged. ‘Talk it over with Nick.’

Leonie sat down to scribble a note to Milo, reminding him to feed the hens and bring up a lettuce from the garden at Mersey Reach. ‘
Sorry
,’ she wrote, ‘
I’m going to Chester, you’ll have to make your own supper tonight. Help yourself to anything you can find. There are tins and oddments we brought up earlier
.’

Then she rang Nick at his office and told him she was about to leave. Feeling on top of the world, she ran out to catch the Chester bus that ran along the main road outside.

Nick had asked her to come and said he’d run her back in the car later. She was excited at the thought of spending the evening with him and looking forward to seeing his house. She laughed to herself that she’d agreed to share it with him without even seeing it. Nick was about to turn her life upside down. She felt he was giving her back her youth.

When the bus drew to the stop in the centre of the city, she could see him waiting, his gaze sweeping through the passengers. A smile lit up his face when he saw her. His kiss on her cheek was as light as a butterfly’s but he pulled
her close and threaded her arm through his as they walked to his car.

As he drove out to the suburbs, all his attention was on the road but Leonie couldn’t take her eyes off him. His well-groomed hands moved expertly on the wheel, his profile was calm and handsome.

‘We have so much to decide,’ he said, ‘that I’ve asked Lily Bales, who cleans up for me, to make us a meal. It’s easier to think calmly at home and talk things through, so I thought it better not to go to a restaurant tonight.’

Leonie’s heart was racing as he pulled into the drive of a modest modern house. ‘This is it.’ He took her into his arms as soon as the front door closed behind them. ‘Come and see.’ He took her by the hand and led her from room to room. Leonie couldn’t take it all in. ‘Really, it’s nothing special. I was looking for bachelor’s accommodation when I chose this. Will it be big enough for us?’

‘Of course, Nick.’

‘There are three bedrooms but it’s a bit tight when Tom and Elaine come with their twins.’

‘I like it. It’s very smart.’

‘That’s Elaine’s influence. She helped me furnish it.’

‘You’ve made it very comfortable. It’s lovely.’

‘It’s easy to keep warm and clean – at least that’s what she tells me.’

‘Elaine will be right about that.’

‘If you want to change anything, I’ll be quite happy to—’

‘No, I can’t improve on this, especially not now. Elaine’s better at this sort of thing than I am.’ Leonie told him of her offer to buy her business and also rent the flat to Milo.

‘That solves our problems
for us.’ He laughed. ‘I hope you jumped at it.’

‘I told her I’d think it over. Goodness! Where was my head?’

He gave her a hug. ‘You’ve had a lot to think about. Ring her now and tell her it’s exactly what you want.’ He pushed her towards the phone. ‘Tell her it’s what I want too. It’ll make everything possible for us and take you away from the air raids.’

Leonie was heading towards the phone when he caught her hand. ‘Am I being selfish? Do you want to keep your business? You’ve worked hard at building it up.’

‘No, what I want is to be here with you.’

‘You could start another business here, if that’s what you want.’

Leonie nodded and picked up the phone. ‘Perhaps, but right now I’m too excited about getting married to think about that.’

Elaine sounded over the moon. ‘It’s exactly what I want too,’ she said. ‘I’ve already had a word with Ida. She met a woman in Woolworths who once worked with her. She’s local and she’s looking for a job. On Monday, I’ll ask Ida to get in touch and tell her to come and see me.’

Nick gave her another delighted hug. ‘All you need to do now is to agree a price and I’ll do the rest.’

‘Since it’s going to Elaine I don’t much mind.’

‘We’ll have it independently valued,’ he said. ‘That’s what she’d want. Leonie, let’s fix the soonest possible wedding date. We don’t need to wait for months. I want us to be together, we’ve waited long enough.’

It was what Leonie wanted
too. ‘But we need to think of Amy. She missed June’s wedding and Steve’s funeral. I don’t want her to feel excluded from . . .’

Nick kissed her forehead. ‘We must have her here for our wedding. That’s important for me too, I want her to accept me as her father.’

‘Of course we must.’ Leonie gave a little hiccup of joy as she had another thought. ‘Amy could stay on here. Live with us from now on, I mean. You’ve seen very little of the Luftwaffe in Chester. She’d be safe enough here.’

‘That’s true, but don’t you think it would be wiser to wait until we get her exam results? She’ll reach secondary school age next September and whether she gets a scholarship or she doesn’t, she’ll need to start a new school then. I suggest she goes back to Wales after our wedding and has the summer term at her present school.’

‘Of course,’ Leonie agreed rather reluctantly. ‘That would be the best thing for her. She’s happy there with Auntie Bessie, and there’s no sense in snatching her away when she’d have to go to a strange primary school here for a couple of months.’

Leonie stayed with Nick that night. ‘I don’t approve of the young doing this before marriage,’ she said. ‘But we are well on in life and we’ve already had a child.’

‘And been parted for eleven years,’ Nick said. ‘You’re very sensible. There is no point in waiting any longer.’

Leonie returned to the shop early on Tuesday morning feeling rested and settled in her mind. She was going to stay for a few days to wind things up and pack her personal possessions. She had a lot of preparations and
arrangements to make for her wedding.

Nick came to spend the evening with her. ‘I can’t bear us to be parted,’ he said. He, too, had been making arrangements. ‘To be married on a Saturday is the most convenient day for us all and Saturdays are pretty well booked up, but the curate of my local church has agreed to marry us at ten on a Saturday just over six weeks from now.’

Leonie smiled. ‘Six weeks, that’s great. We can wait that long can’t we?’

‘Yes. We have to allow three weeks for the banns to be called first.’

‘Once I’m sorted here, I’ll move in with you.’

‘I’m going to borrow and beg petrol coupons from everybody I know so we can bring Amy home for the occasion on the Friday evening and take her back on the Sunday afternoon.’

Leonie wrote to Auntie Bessie to let her know what she was planning and when Amy rang her at the shop a few days later she told her all about it. She was fizzing with excitement. ‘I want to be your bridesmaid and wear a long frock and flowers in my hair.’

‘It’s not going to be that sort of a wedding, sweetheart. I’m not going to wear a long white bridal gown.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I’ve been married before and there’s a war on. It’s going to be a very quiet wedding, just the family and Nick’s family, but you can be my bridesmaid in a short dress.’

Amy hesitated. ‘Then it’ll have to be a very special dress, won’t it?’

‘Yes, I’ll make you a special dress,’ Leonie immediately bit her lip. Amy had
been noticeably taller when she’d last seen her and she had no up-to-date measurements for her. ‘How did you get on in your exam?’

‘All right, I think. I’m glad it’s over and I don’t have to do homework any more.’

Leonie was kept very busy. She’d decided to make her own dress for the wedding, and was choosing some pretty blue shantung from amongst the fabrics her business allowed her to keep in the shop when Elaine said, ‘Let me design something special for you. It’ll be my wedding present to you. And I’ll make a dress for Amy from the same material. She’d like that, wouldn’t she?’

‘Elaine! You’ve done so much for me already.’

‘Nonsense, I want to. In fact, I insist.’