‘Nice to meet yer at long last,’ Pearl said as she pulled a pint of bitter and put it on the bar. She grabbed a cloth from under the counter and quickly dried her hands of overspill.
‘I’ve heard a lot about yer,’ she said, her voice gravelly. She coughed to clear her throat. ‘Glad yer made it back in one piece.’ She stuck her hand out. Tommy noticed her fingers were stained yellow with tar.
‘Nice to meet yer too, Pearl,’ Tommy said, shaking her hand. Bel’s errant ma was exactly as he had imagined. Polly had described her well. He smiled. For some reason he felt sorry for her.
‘Bet yer glad this place was left standing,’ Tommy said, looking around the pub.
Since being discharged from hospital he had walked past the bomb site at the end of the street on a number of occasions. Seeing it with his own eyes had made him realise, even more than he already had, just how incredibly lucky Polly and Arthur and the rest of the Elliot household had been to escape unscathed.
It had strengthened his resolve.
‘Yer right there, pet. Could just be a pile of bricks here now.’ Pearl’s face was unusually serious for a moment. She would never admit to the sheer panic she’d felt that night, fearing the worst for her daughter and granddaughter. ‘Good job it’s still here. I’d ’ave been out of a job otherwise.’ She forced out a bark of laughter.
‘Welcome back, lad!’
Pearl turned to see Bill, who had come back up from the cellar, where he’d been changing a barrel. He stretched out a large hand that was as rough as sandpaper.
‘Pleased to meet you,’ he said, shaking Tommy’s hand vigorously. ‘I’m Bill – the landlord of this revered establishment. For my sins.’ He smiled. He’d been eager to meet Tommy, not just because he was Polly’s fiancé, but because, in his books, anyone who put their life on the line to win this war was a hero.
Polly felt someone nudge her and turned to see that Ronald had sidled up and was stretching out a bare, tattooed arm along the bar.
‘Ronald.’ A fag was dangling from his mouth as he spoke. He grabbed Tommy’s hand. ‘Honour to meet yer, lad. Pearl here’s told me all about yer ’n what yer’ve been deeing ’oot there.’
Polly sensed Tommy’s unease.
‘Oh, look!’ She took her port and lemon off the bar. ‘There’s a free table. Best grab it.’
Tommy paid for the round, in spite of Bill’s objections.
‘Nice to meet yer all,’ Tommy said. ‘And thanks, Bill, for allowing us to take over half yer pub after the wedding.’
‘Our pleasure, pet,’ Pearl said, edging in front of Bill. ‘Least we could do, isn’t it?’ She looked up at Bill, who was nodding his agreement.
‘Blimey,’ Polly said as they made their way over to the free table, ‘I think that’s the most civil I’ve ever heard Pearl. And I mean ever.’
Tommy laughed.
‘I think that might be due to the large glass of whisky I noticed she had stashed by the pumps.’
Tommy took a swig of his Vaux bitter, wiping away the creamy froth from his upper lip.
‘So, Ronald’s your neighbour out back?’ Tommy said.
‘And Pearl’s suitor.’ Polly rolled her eyes.
‘And what about Bill?’
‘Another suitor.’ Polly took a sip of her drink.
Tommy cast a look over at the bar to see Bill and Pearl serving customers and Ronald sitting there, a pint and a whisky chaser in front of him.
‘So, it sounds like Bel’s getting on better with her ma these days,’ Tommy said. He had always liked Bel from first meeting her at the Elliots’.
‘She is.’ Polly thought for a moment. ‘They still enjoy sniping at each other, but I think that’s just how they communicate.’
She took another sip of her port.
‘Having said that, Bel doesn’t seem as angry towards her ma as she used to be.’
‘Oh, aye?’ Tommy asked.
‘Well,’ Polly dropped her voice, ‘I think Pearl’s told her about her real dad, but Bel’s not said anything to me.’
‘That surprises me.’ Tommy knew Polly and Bel were close. Always had been.
‘I know,’ Polly said. ‘Bel can be a closed book at times. I’m sure she’ll tell me when she’s ready.’
Tommy took another sup of beer.
‘So, is there anything else I need to know about the wedding? Or anything I need to do? I don’t feel like I’m being much help.’
Polly chuckled. ‘That’s because there’s nothing much to do, really. The joys of having a simple wedding. The church is booked. The banns are being read – which reminds me, we should go tomorrow. Just to show our faces.’
Tommy nodded.
‘Kate’s making my dress. I don’t even have to be involved in the design. She’s doing it all.’
Tommy smiled. He was so glad that Polly was at least going to have a special dress to wear.
‘Ma’s doing a spread,’ Polly continued, ‘but that won’t need to be done until the night before. And Arthur’s getting me some flowers from the allotment on the actual morning and Bel will be making them into a bouquet. So really, it’s all sorted.’ Polly paused. ‘Oh, and Rina and Vera are going to see what they can do about making us a cake. I’ve told them anything will do, and to use one of those cardboard toppers I’ve seen in the shops instead of icing. With the way rationing’s getting, I’m just thankful we’re to have a cake at all.’
Tommy looked at Polly’s face and listened to the tone of her voice, but could not pick up any regret that their wedding day was going to be a very modest one. She didn’t seem to harbour any regrets about spending the gratuity money.
He didn’t care how they got married – whether it be in rags at the local registry office or some grand affair like the one Lily and George had planned. As long as Polly married him, everything else was incidental.
The pair chatted away, oblivious to those around them and unaware that they were gradually having to raise their voices to be heard as the pub became full to bursting. When Tommy went to the bar for another round, he was stopped by those he didn’t know, slapped on the back and offered a drink. Word had got round that Tommy, who most knew as either ‘Arthur’s lad’ or ‘the dock diver’, was back.
Polly watched Tommy as he refused all offers of a drink. Saw his discomfort at being the centre of so much attention. And the relief when he’d made it back to their table.
‘So, anyway,’ Tommy said, ‘I went to see the doc the other day.’ It had actually been an entire week, but Tommy had been putting off telling Polly.
‘Really?’ Polly was surprised he hadn’t mentioned he’d had an appointment.
‘We had a good chat.’ Tommy took a breath. ‘And the doc thinks I’m well enough to do what’s called a “medically supervised” dive.’
Polly felt herself stiffen.
‘Really? That surprises me.’ She looked at Tommy. ‘But what about your ruptured spleen? Wasn’t there a question mark over whether or not it would be safe for you to dive again?’
Tommy shuffled on his chair.
‘Ah, well, I asked the doc to look into that fer me …’ His voice trailed off.
‘And?’ Polly could feel her heart starting to beat faster.
‘He says there’s nothing to say I will come to any harm—’
‘—and nothing to say that you won’t,’ Polly finished his sentence.
Tommy leant forward and took hold of Polly’s hand.
‘Please, Polly. I need yer support in this.’ His eyes pleaded. ‘I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone ever before in my life. Or ever will.’
Polly saw the love in Tommy’s eyes. Heard it in his voice.
‘But you know my other love is diving. I can’t imagine life without being able to dive. I need to know if I can still do it.’
Polly looked at Tommy.
‘I know, Tommy, I know.’
‘And,’ he added, ‘I really need to know that I can keep on being of some use to the war effort.’
Polly looked at Tommy.
‘By going back to work at the yard?’
There was the tiniest of hesitations.
‘Aye,’ he said simply.
Polly looked at him. ‘I know I’m being soft, I just feel terrified that something will happen to you.’ She hesitated, unsure whether to carry on. ‘I sometimes feel so happy that I worry it’s all going to be whipped away.’
She felt her throat tighten.
‘That night after the air raid, when Helen told me you were in the Ryhope, I wouldn’t allow myself to believe it until I’d seen you with my own eyes.’
She took a deep breath.
‘I just couldn’t believe that you’d come back to me. That you were alive. I have never been so thankful, so incredibly relieved, and so, so happy. I can’t even put into words how I felt. I think I’ve spent every day since pinching myself to make sure I’m not dreaming.’
Tommy looked at the woman he loved. It brought him such pleasure but also such pain to hear her words.
‘I’ll be fine. Honestly, if there was any serious danger, I know the doc wouldn’t allow it. Come on,’ he said, looking at their empty glasses, ‘let me walk you home and you can ask me in for a cup of tea.’
Polly smiled.
‘Walk me home?’ she repeated. ‘All of ten yards across the road?’
‘Exactly,’ he said with a mischievous smile, ‘which leaves us more time to drink lots of tea.’
Polly laughed.
They stood up and Tommy grabbed her hand as they made their way through the packed pub and out the front door. Once outside, Tommy put his arm around Polly’s waist and pulled her close.
‘You know I’ve never done – and will never do – anything to cause you unhappiness?’
‘I know,’ Polly said. ‘I know.’
Later on, as Tommy made his way back to the Major’s flat, he argued with himself about whether or not he should have been more honest with Polly.
If he’d told her the whole truth, though, she’d have worried and he’d already brought enough anxiety and upset into her life without doing it again. Especially if it was unnecessary.
No, he’d done right.
He’d tell her only when he was certain he was able to do what he wanted to do.