Led by an incredulous Dora, and with Lily following behind, Sam was hustled indoors. In the back room, Jim was on his feet, grinning widely. Working out who it was from the voices in the hall, and with unusual tact, Beryl had gathered up her things and left.
Sam dropped his suitcase and threw his hat onto a chair. He shook Jim by the hand, then, with a ‘what the hell!’, clasped him, then Lily, then finally Dora, in a hug.
‘I can’t believe I’m here!’ he said.
‘You can’t believe it?’ exclaimed Lily. ‘How do you think we feel?’
‘Never mind that,’ said Dora. ‘Sam, you must be gasping for something to drink. And have you eaten tonight?’
Sam threw back his head and laughed.
‘Some things never change!’ he said. ‘You know what you are, Dora? A one-woman feeding station! I’ve eaten, thanks.’
Jim was already reaching for his jacket so he could go to the off-licence.
‘What you need is a beer,’ he said. ‘Don’t go away, I’ll be back in a jiffy!’
‘Oh, I’m not going anywhere,’ Sam assured him.
‘No, you’re not,’ scolded Lily. ‘Not till you’ve told us everything!’
But Sam made them wait until Jim came back with three bottles of beer and one of lemonade – a beer each for him and Sam, and one to make a shandy for Lily and for Dora if she wanted it. For once she did. She only touched a drink on high days and holidays, but as high days went, this one was up with the stars.
Beer in hand, Sam sat back and explained.
‘You remember my pal Marvin?’ The name meant nothing to Lily or Jim, but Dora remembered. She’d met him, and a few of Sam’s other Army friends, when they’d bumped into them when they were out. ‘Well, he stayed on here after I left, and started going out with a local girl. They got quite serious, and after he left for home, they carried on writing to each other. He was coming over to see her when he got what we call a ‘Dear John’ letter – you know what I mean?’
‘She was breaking it off,’ said Lily.
‘Right. She’d met someone else. Poor Marvin, huh?’
They all nodded.
‘So, what was he going to do with a useless ticket to England now?’ He saw light dawn in their eyes. ‘Exactly! He offered it around a few of us who’d been stationed over here and I thought – why not?’ He took a sip of beer. ‘I hope I did the right thing?’
‘Look at our faces!’ said Lily, looking at her mum’s. Dora was transformed. Her eyes were so bright she seemed almost illuminated from the inside. She hadn’t stopped smiling since she’d first set eyes on Sam, and that alone would have made Lily smile, and Jim too. ‘There’s your answer!’
‘But why didn’t you write and tell us?’ Dora asked.
‘Yeah, I’m sorry about that, but there was no time,’ Sam explained. ‘The ship was sailing in a few days, I had to get right across the country from Alberta to Halifax, Nova Scotia—’
‘And what about your shop? The ironmongers – er, your hardware store?’
Ever practical, Jim raised the point.
‘My uncle’s taking care of it for me. He retired last year, and he’s bored out of his tiny mind. He jumped at the chance.’
‘Well!’ That single word from Dora was freighted with a whole cargo of disbelief, delight – and anticipation. Lily asked the key question.
‘And what now? How long are you staying?’
‘Six weeks. That’s when the return is booked for.’
‘Six weeks!’
‘Don’t worry, Dora, I won’t impose on you here. I’ll find myself some lodgings—’
Dora looked scandalised at the thought.
‘No, you will not – not tonight, anyway! I’m not turning you out into the street! Not when there’s Jim’s old room standing empty!’
‘Look, I never intended—’
‘I won’t hear a word against it!’
Sam gave in.
‘I must say, I’m pretty beat. So, yes please. Just for tonight.’
Honour was satisfied. Lily and Dora made up the bed, Lily noting that Dora made sure to use her least-darned pillowcases, sheets and blankets. Then Dora took the eiderdown off her own bed to make sure Sam would be warm enough – the unused room was chilly on this late spring evening. Jim came up with the hot-water bottle Dora had requested, followed by Sam, who was suddenly looking tired, even though it was barely nine o’clock.
‘You look all in,’ said Dora kindly. ‘You get your head down.’
‘Thanks, Dora. I will. And I’ll see you in the morning.’
They smiled at each other and, behind her mum’s back, Lily smiled at Jim.
Later, in the privacy of their bedroom, she snuggled into Jim’s arms.
‘I’m so happy for Mum,’ she said. ‘Sam leaving the way he did always felt like unfinished business. Even if it’s only for a visit, it’s so lovely that he’s here.’
Jim kissed the top of her head.
If Dora was happy, Lily was happy; and if Lily was happy, he was happy.
‘I love you,’ he said.
Lily turned towards him.
‘What brought that on?’
‘Do I need a reason?’
‘Of course!’
‘Because … because … why is it now?’ Jim pretended to think. She couldn’t see his face in the dark but she could hear the smile, and the love, in his voice. ‘Oh, yes. Because you’re you.’
Next morning, Jim and Lily had to leave for work before Sam was up. Beryl was waiting impatiently for them as they turned into the alley that led to the store’s staff entrance.
‘I can’t open up till you’ve told me everything!’ she cried, as excited as a child at the pantomime. ‘Did Dora know he was coming? She never said! She’s as close as an oyster, your mum! How long’s he staying? Is he going to stay at yours? If so, in whose room, eh?’
She gave Lily a nod which was as good as a wink.
‘Beryl!’
‘Well, you’re not telling me he’s come over to see the sights! In Hinton? What, the gasworks and the civic buildings? Give me a break!’
‘He’s come to see us – well, Mum, obviously, but beyond that I don’t know what his plans are,’ said Lily with dignity. ‘He’s here for six weeks, but he might be going on a tour of the Outer Hebrides in that time for all I know.’
‘Well, he’d better not take your mum with him!’ said Beryl in reply. ‘Wedding Belles hasn’t just invested in a proper sewing booth with a semi-industrial sewing machine for nothing!’
With that, she was gone. Lily knew she was only speaking in jest, but now Beryl had put the idea into her head she found herself wondering about Sam’s plans – or his intentions – herself.
Back at Brook Street, Sam had just come downstairs. Dora had laid the table with a fresh cloth and set a place for him, but she had no thought of asking him anything about his intentions. It was enough for her simply to see him there, washed and shaved thanks to the jug of hot water she’d taken up and left outside his door when she’d heard him moving about. She set a plate of scrambled egg and bacon – sacrificing her own meagre ration, but he was more than welcome – in front of him. Sam looked at her.
‘I’m taking the food out of your mouth,’ he said. ‘I can’t do that.’
‘Don’t be silly, I’ve had mine!’ She’d had a piece of toast with dripping, and with the excitement of Sam being there, she’d had trouble getting that down. ‘Now, I’ve only got Camp coffee, I’m afraid – that’s coffee essence, you remember. Or there’s tea.’
‘Tea, please!’ Sam rubbed his hands. ‘When in Rome, as they say …’
Dora used fresh leaves for him, of course; they’d do without later in the week. As Sam cleared his plate (‘Just what I needed!’) she poured them each a cup. Then it was time for a proper catch-up to fill in some of the blanks that their letters to each other had missed out.
Dora asked gently about his wife’s sad death; about his shop; more about this uncle she’d never heard him mention. Sam asked how she really felt about Reg and Gwenda being so far away, about Sid in London, and how it felt to have Lily, her youngest, married. And there was someone else on his mind, too.
‘Isn’t it about time I got reacquainted with Buddy?’ he asked. ‘He’s still got his kennel out back, I take it?’
‘You took the words out of my mouth,’ smiled Dora. ‘It’s time for his walk. He’s sensed something’s up, though, he’s been whining at the door.’
‘Let’s put him out of his misery.’ Sam stood up. There was no need to help Dora up but he held out his hand anyway. She took it and felt the firmness of a male clasp, the slight roughness contrasting with the fine hairs she could see on the back of his hand. But he didn’t hang on to her hand and she was pleased. Sam had never overstepped the mark. He recognised she wasn’t the type to want it, and he wasn’t the type to try it on. That was the hallmark of their relationship. It was warm and friendly and fond. But it was also respectful and it was all the more meaningful for that.
They didn’t even have to set foot in the yard. Buddy must have smelt Sam through the gap between the back door and the frame where the draught whistled through, however much they tried to fill it with newspaper. As soon as Dora opened the door he leapt up like a coiled spring, his shaggy spaniel face alive with joy at seeing his old master.
‘Anyone’d think we’d been mistreating him!’ smiled Dora as Sam crouched down and let Buddy jump all over him and lick his face. ‘You can see we haven’t been, I hope!’
Sam had opened a special Post Office account in Buddy’s name and arranged for monthly payments to keep him. He’d realised there wouldn’t be many scraps from the table – the British were having enough trouble keeping body and soul together themselves.
Off the three of them went, just like old times, to walk in the park. Buddy allowed himself to be put on the lead, but he kept stopping and turning round as if to check it really was Sam on the other end of it. Dora knew how he felt. When Sam crooked his arm for her to link hers through, she almost had to blink away a tear. When he looked at her and smiled, she knew the next six weeks were going to be something to treasure.
Gradually, over the next few days, things sorted themselves out. Sam agreed to stay one more night in Jim’s room, then insisted on moving to a small B and B on the Tipton Road. Dora went to inspect the room with him and found she knew the landlady vaguely through the WI, which reassured her that the sheets would not be too thin and Sam would be well fed at breakfast. His evening meal was optional, because he promised he’d be taking Dora, Jim and Lily out for a ‘slap-up feed’ at least once a week. (‘I have the money, Dora, please let me spend it!’) Dora smiled to herself. He had something to learn about what constituted a slap-up feed in these hard times, but it was a kind offer, and she knew he’d be offended if they refused. She was grateful, too; their rations at home wouldn’t stretch to feeding another person.
When Lily next caught up with Gladys, she was able to relay all this information, and Gladys, when she’d finished clucking about how nice it was for Dora, had something to tell Lily too.
‘Sam’s not the only one. We’re having a holiday too,’ she said. ‘Well, a few days, away, anyhow.’
‘Are you? Where?’
‘Weston!’ Gladys beamed.
‘How lovely!’ Lily exclaimed, but she was surprised. Florrie must have left enough money in her will to cover this treat, anyway. ‘You had such a good time before!’
‘I know,’ smiled Gladys. ‘Bill can’t believe it. He’s so happy!’
‘You’ll have a wonderful time there,’ said Lily.
‘Oh, we will,’ said Gladys. ‘I know we will.’