Shelter from the Storm (37 page)

Authors: Elizabeth Gill

Vinia turned from where she was busy slicing cold boiled eggs on to plates. She was not altogether surprised at the question.

‘And if I did, would you take me to church?’

Only she would have detected his split-second hesitancy and known it for reluctance.

‘I’d be proud to.’

‘But in fact you would rather I had a little house somewhere tucked away discreetly so that you could come over when you had time and take me to bed, yes?’

‘It’s an alternative,’ Dryden said, making her laugh. And when she had stopped laughing he said, ‘I’ve had women like that before and I don’t think it’s ever the answer.’

‘Whatever makes you think I would?’

‘Because you want me.’

Vinia had to stop chopping; she feared for her fingers.

‘But you won’t mind if I marry Joe.’

‘I couldn’t bring myself to stop you from having a bigger house and a richer husband than any other woman in the area.’

‘I should think not!’

She stopped there, pulled a hand across her eyes and went out the back into the yard and farther into the lane to where the road reached out beyond the pit and beyond the village. Dryden followed her and looked uneasily about him.

‘Here, don’t cry. People will think I’ve smacked you one.’

‘I never wanted you like that and you … you shouldn’t …’

‘Never?’

‘Only once.’

‘I’ve always wanted you,’ he said.

Vinia kept her eyes on the road. It was such a warm evening that a haze obscured the horizon.

‘Joe says that he would be happy for me to keep the shop on.’

‘That’s nice.’

In the quiet of the early evening, from inside the house, Vinia could hear his son begin to cry.

‘Mary says the baby looks just like you.’

‘She didn’t want to give him away, then?’

‘Esther Margaret says you might call him Tom.’

‘It seemed fair. Will you come in now? I’m starving,’ and he walked back inside.

Later that evening Vinia took some flowers to the churchyard to put on Tom’s grave. The stone had been removed from what was supposed to be Esther Margaret’s grave, and the headstone where Joe’s mother was buried had fallen over some time since and been propped up against the outside wall of the church. Tom’s gravestone stood out all fresh and newly carved. Usually when she came to the churchyard she would feel a rush of guilt because of all the times they had quarrelled and the fact that she had taken up the shop again and was going to make a success of it. Tom would have hated that. She didn’t feel guilty this time, even about her love for Dryden. She thought of what it would be like being married to Joe, what fun it might be and how she would have a lovely big house and be wed to the pit-owner and be Missus Forster. It sounded good. Perhaps they would even have a child. Joe would like that.

She looked briefly at the grave that had been Esther Margaret’s and stood for a few seconds, wondering who was in there. Somebody lost and lonely or some poor soul, as Esther Margaret had been, running away. She shivered in the warm air and decided that she would walk over to Joe’s house and surprise him. It was a still night, and as she walked a great big bright round orange harvest moon rose in majesty before her, so perfect that it seemed unreal.

The lights were on in Joe’s house, suffusing the area in pale yellow. When he answered the door she hugged him. Joe kissed her. She imagined herself standing in the church porch on a bright sunny day, wearing a pale-coloured wedding costume and with her hand through Dryden’s arm before they went inside. It was not an easy picture.

Joe led her through into the drawing room, where the portrait of his mother hung on the wall. She was wearing a
pale blue dress and a deep blue cloak and seemed to cast a glow over the whole room. There was a secret expression in her eyes. Vinia knew how she felt.

‘So,’ he said, sounding doubtful, ‘did you decide whether you want to marry me?’

Vinia took a deep breath and turned around. She looked him straight in the eyes.

‘I would like to but I’m not sure how much I care about you.’

Joe looked down and said after a few moments, ‘He’s married and has a child.’

Vinia went on looking at him.

‘How did you know?’

‘It’s exactly how I felt about Esther Margaret for a very long time. I think he thought, when Tom was killed and Esther Margaret didn’t come home, that you would be married.’

‘Tom is still in the way,’ Vinia said, not realising until she said it that it was true. ‘I see him in Dryden so many times. You’re quite different.’

‘Can I consider that a “yes,” then?’

‘I want us to come home to one another in the evenings.’

‘I could come to the shop and collect you.’

‘I could come to the pit and collect you.’

‘And when we get home there will be a big fire burning in here and a lovely dinner ready in the kitchen. I’ve never belonged to anybody before and I really would like to, properly.’

She came to him and kissed him and then she said, ‘Have you got any more of that champagne in the cellar?’

‘Why don’t we go down and have a look?’ Joe said. And they did.

Also Available

The new book by Elizabeth Gill

A terrific, turn-of-the-twentieth-century saga.

When a tragedy shakes Emma Appleby’s ordered existence in New England, she escapes to the little town in North East England where her father was born. While pub landlord Mick Castle is pleased to see her, others are not so thrilled with her arrival. When Emma opens an academy and sets herself up in competition with the local school, she provokes a savage response from the community. But she will not be deterred – even when her past catches up with her and Mick is forced to choose between family and love.

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