The day of the party drew nearer. Sam presented Dora with a small diamond cluster, and Dora took off the wedding ring she’d worn for almost thirty years to put it on. The next day, she made a special trip to the churchyard where the children’s father was buried.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF ARTHUR COLLINS
said the headstone.
DEVOTED HUSBAND AND FATHER,
DEPARTED THIS LIFE 27TH MARCH 1927,
NEVER FORGOTTEN.
Dora knelt and arranged the flowers she’d brought with her in the little vase at the headstone’s base.
‘And you never will be, love,’ she said softly. ‘But I know you’ll understand. I’ve waited a long time for this, but Sam’s a good man, just like you. I know he’ll look after me, just like you did. And I know you’d want that for me. And the children.’
She stayed a while by the grave, with the smell of cut grass and the pigeons murmuring soothingly in the swaying evergreens. Before she left she pressed her fingertips to her lips and held them against the rough stone.
‘Night night, love,’ she said.
With that done, Dora felt free to begin to think about what Sid would keep calling her engagement party, and even to look forward to it.
On Lily’s insistence, she put in some extra hours at the shop on her own behalf, to run herself up a dress of dusty pink crêpe. It was a copy of a model gown in one of the fashion magazines that Evelyn arranged artistically on the sales desk, pretty much her sole contribution to the running of the business – which kept everyone happy.
Lily, meanwhile, badgered the salesgirls on Dress Fabrics in Marlows for something for herself till they came up with a suitable remnant – deep blue with a pattern that looked like feather fans or, to Lily’s eye, seashells – very appropriate for a reunion with a naval brother. Dora made it up in a style Lily liked – short-sleeved, square-necked and button-through. When she modelled it for Jim on the night before the party, she found he liked that style too: there were no fiddly fastenings, so Lily could slide out of it quickly. It was their anniversary weekend, after all.
Next day, at twelve noon exactly, Lily and Jim, Dora and Sam arrived at the White Lion. Never thinking he’d need one, Sam hadn’t brought a suit with him to England, but Dennis knew someone who, like Bill, had decided to sell his demob suit, so Sam was nattily attired in a grey pinstripe with a cream shirt and a maroon spotted tie; Jim was in his best work suit. In the little function room, the doors were open to the garden once again and Sid, in his naval uniform, was there to greet them, tall, straight-backed, blond hair slicked smooth. Maybe Lily was biased, but if anyone was like the dashing Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, whose engagement to Princess Elizabeth was surely imminent, it was Sid!
She hung back while Sid hugged their mother, then held out his hand to Sam.
‘Pleased to meet you at last,’ he said. ‘Thanks for writing like you did. And welcome to the family.’
Sam pumped his hand.
‘That’s very generous of you,’ he said. ‘I’ve heard so much about you, I was beginning to be scared this would be some kind of inspection drill!’
‘No need,’ Sid grinned. ‘I trust my mother’s judgement. And I know my fierce little sister wouldn’t have let you near Mum if she thought badly of you!’
‘Fierce?’ Sam winked at Lily, recalling their encounter in the yard. ‘Too right, I’ve certainly heard her roar!’
With an arm round each of their shoulders, Sid led the pair off to a side table stocked with bottles and as Sam accepted a small whisky, Lily could tell they were going to get along.
Gladys and Bill and the twins arrived next, then Beryl, Les and Bobby. Lily had known they were expected, but when she glanced at the long table, the starched white linen already laid with silver and glassware, she noticed there were more places set.
She pulled Sid away from the throng and into the garden.
‘What’s this?’ she asked. ‘Extra places … you’re not … don’t tell me Jerome’s flown over from America?’
Sid shook his head. ‘Sadly not,’ he said. He glanced back into the room to make sure no one else was within earshot, then added: ‘I’ve got some news too, but it’s not for general consumption, not today, which is all about Mum and Sam. He seems a really good bloke, by the way.’
‘He is,’ said Lily. ‘Very much so. But what’s this news of yours? You can tell me, Sid. You know I can keep a secret when it’s important.’
A bee blundered past. They both watched as it settled on the well of a lupin and began to drink deeply.
‘OK, then, I will. Brace yourself.’ Sid went to reach in his pocket for his usual prop, his cigarette case, then changed his mind. ‘Mum may not be crossing the Atlantic, Lily, but I am. I’m going to America.’
Lily felt her eyes stretch wide.
‘No!’ she gasped. ‘I know you hoped you could, to be with Jerome, but how have you managed it?’
‘I’ve spent the last six months trying to work out how.’ Sid was deadly serious now. ‘I knew I needed a work permit, so I had to get there in some official capacity, find a job that came with one attached. So I’ve been applying for jobs that would get me to America and finally it’s happened. I’m joining the Diplomatic Service – the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.’
‘The Foreign and Commonwealth … the Diplomatic Service? Oh, Sid!’
The idea of her brother Sid – her own brother – having risen so high, having gone so far, and going so far – Lily hardly knew what to make of it. But Sid carried on matter-of-factly:
‘There was a job at the Embassy in Washington that I didn’t get, then one at the Consulate in Chicago that I did, but America’s a big place. The Yanks might think nothing of travelling hundreds of miles, but if I’m going there to be with Jerome, I want to be with him, and he’s on the West Coast, back working in films, so in the end I turned it down.’
The bee, as unsteady as if it had been swigging wine, backed out of the cup of the lupin. It hovered for a moment as if getting its bearings before zigzagging shakily away. They watched it go, gaining confidence as it went.
‘So …?’ Lily prompted.
‘So finally a vacancy came up for a clerk in the Consulate in Los Angeles. I applied – and I got it. I’ve dropped a grade to go, but I don’t care about that. I just want to be there.’
‘Oh Sid!’ said Lily again. She was devastated at the thought of losing him, but at the same time … if Jim had been half a world away, she knew she’d have moved heaven and earth to join him, and it was no different for her brother with the person he cared for. ‘I – well, I’m very happy for you, even if I’m sad for me!’
‘You’ll have to come and visit,’ he said. ‘In time, I might even get a job in films myself, you never know.’
‘What?’ gaped Lily. ‘You haven’t been taking acting lessons?’
‘Not in front of the camera!’ scoffed Sid. ‘I mean a job on the production side.’
Sid had always had a thing about the cinema: Dora still kept a stack of his old Picturegoer magazines. She used them for inspiration sometimes, if she got hold of a length of material, to make a dress for the shop.
‘Can’t you just see me in a loud suit, smoking a fat cigar?’ Sid went on with a grin. Then, putting on a cod American accent, he drawled: ‘Hey baby, wanna be in pictures? I can make you a star!’
Lily shook her head in exasperated affection.
‘You’d do great in Hollywood, Sid,’ she laughed. ‘You always did know how to shoot a line!’ Then, more serious: ‘But no thanks. I’m very happy where I am. And I want you to be as happy too.’
Sid gave her a look of intense gratitude.
‘Thanks, Sis. I know you understand.’
Lily and Jim were the only ones who’d met Jerome and knew the truth of his and Sid’s attachment. Jerome’s name would never be mentioned to Dora – Sid’s new job would be presented as a good career step, with the suggestion that it was a temporary move, and not a permanent one.
In fact, Dora was well aware that her second son was not the marrying kind. Though she worried for him, because his way of life was illegal, she was grateful that Sid had tactfully conducted his affairs well away from Hinton. As a result, even Jean Crosbie was indulgent about Sid’s bachelor status – with his good looks, she proclaimed, why would he settle down when he could have his pick of the girls? Dora would smile to herself when Jean, usually such a hanging judge, delivered this verdict. If only she knew!
‘When do you go?’ Lily asked. ‘You’ll still be here for Mum’s wedding, I hope?’
Sid pulled a face.
‘That’s the only snag. I’ll have to leave sooner than that, I’m afraid.’
‘Oh, but Sid!’ Lily exclaimed. ‘You can’t! She was expecting you to give her away. Who’ll do that now? I mean, Jim can do it, of course, but it won’t be the same without you!’
Sid held up a wagging forefinger.
‘As if I’d leave Mum in the lurch! I shall arrange a very suitable substitute,’ he said.
‘How could anyone substitute for you?’ puzzled Lily.
‘It’s a tough call, I know,’ said Sid, with his best swagger. ‘But I think I’ve found someone who’ll be up to the job.’
‘Who? Have you asked Jim already? What are you talking about?’
The chief waiter who’d be looking after them emerged from inside the hotel and lingered nearby. Sid stepped aside to talk to him. Lily looked around. She breathed in the scent of the summer flowers, the lupins, the stocks and the roses. Before they were over, her mother would be remarried, Gladys and Bill would be gone, Sid would be gone. It really was all change.
Sid reappeared at her side.
‘Food’s ready,’ he said. And, crooking his elbow: ‘May I escort you in to luncheon, madam?’
They all took their places, Dora and Sam in the middle on one side of the long table, with Sid, Jim and Lily opposite. Before the others sat down, however, Sid asked for a place to be kept free on either side of Sam and Dora. The rest of the party took their seats, the children were settled, and, standing up, Sid said he had an announcement to make. Lily knew it couldn’t be about his own plans, so what on earth had he come up with now?
‘Oh, here we go,’ called Bill, who knew Sid loved being in the spotlight. Sid ignored the banter.
‘The first thing I said to Sam when I met him today,’ he began, ‘was to welcome him to the family. But the family’s not complete without everyone being here. So, fresh from the aerodrome – well, not quite, they’ve had time for a wash and brush-up, I hope—’ He turned towards the door and called, ‘You can come in now!’
And in walked Reg and Gwenda.
‘I can’t believe it!’ Dora kept saying all through lunch, and it was the same when they got up from the table. With Sam at her side, she couldn’t take her eyes off her elder son and his wife, nor stop reaching out to touch them, as if she really couldn’t believe they were there.
‘It’s all right, Mum,’ grinned Reg, small and wiry as ever, with a new pencil moustache and a deep tan from his years in the African and Middle Eastern sun. ‘You can take your hands off us! We’re not going to disappear!’
‘Oh, leave her be, bless her!’ chided Gwenda, Reg’s wife. She was petite and pretty, and tanned too, even on the back of her neck since her dark hair had been cut shorter. ‘It’s been long enough, Reg.’ Her slight Welsh accent was as musical as ever.
Gwenda had served with the Military Transport Corps in the war. She’d carried on working, though in a clerical role now, during their time in Palestine while Reg, a sergeant, had overseen transport and logistics all around their base near Jerusalem. But they weren’t going back – and suddenly Sid’s idea of a ‘substitute’ to walk their mother up the aisle began to make sense.
‘The extremists aren’t going to let up,’ Reg explained. ‘They hate us Brits being there.’
‘You never know where they’ll strike next,’ Gwenda added. ‘It’s why I switched to a desk job. You don’t feel safe when you’re off the base. And to be honest, we didn’t always feel very safe there.’
‘We knew about the attacks and riots from the news, but you always played it down!’ Lily objected.
‘No point worrying you, was there?’ said Reg easily. ‘Especially when we were digging our escape tunnel anyhow.’
‘What do you plan to do now?’ asked Sam. ‘Are you settling back in Hinton, or …’
Sam knew about Gwenda’s dad’s garage in Welshpool, and that Reg was well qualified for a job there, if there was one. And it seemed there was.
‘My dad’s going to take him into the business,’ beamed Gwenda. ‘The petrol ration’s about to go up again, so there’ll be more car journeys, see.’
‘Is it going up?’ Jim asked.
‘Yup, by almost a hundred miles a month by the end of the summer,’ Reg replied, confiding that he had a bit of ‘privileged information’ about oil supplies due from the Middle East. ‘That’s a lot more pleasure trips. A lot more petrol to sell, a lot more punctures, and a lot more bumps and breakdowns.’
‘But we’ll only be an hour or so away,’ Gwenda put in, worried that Dora might feel disappointed. ‘A lot nearer than Palestine, so you’ll be seeing plenty of us!’
Sid joined them in time to hear this last remark. He put one arm round his mother’s shoulders and the other round his brother’s.
‘And the best is, Mum, I shan’t have to fight our Reg for the honour of giving you away. The job’s his – I did the honours with Lily, after all, and I concede to his superior position in the family!’
Sid shot Lily a look and she smiled back. She alone knew that Sid would be on the other side of the Atlantic by the time Dora and Sam were married. He’d be building his own new life just like they would be, like Reg and Gwenda in Welshpool, like Gladys and Bill in Weston and like herself and Jim rather closer to home in April Street. And there seemed a rightness about all of it.