‘Let me look at you, sweetheart.’ Rosie gazed down on her son, and her pride was so strong it was like a physical lump in her breast. ‘My! You look so grown up,’ she said, her smile enveloping him, ‘It’s hard to believe you’ve been at school for a whole year.’
During this past year he had taken on the appearance of a real little gentleman. Dressed in short grey trousers with knee-length socks, a smart dark blazer and a little cap adorned with the school badge, he was different somehow. Already she could see the man in him, and the realisation brought its own kind of regret. Somehow, Rosie couldn’t help but feel that in her son’s transition from bairn to boy she had lost something very precious to her, something that was gone forever and could never be recaptured.
‘Oh, Mam!’ Danny had acquired a habit of biting his bottom lip when he was worried. He did that now as he glanced at the mantelpiece clock and it told him they had only five minutes to get to the tram-stop. ‘Miss Jackson will only shout if I’m late again,’ he groaned.
Rosie feigned a look of horror, ‘And we mustn’t let that happen, must we, eh?’ In fact, Miss Jackson was a kindly soul who had brought Danny’s learning on in leaps and bounds, and Rosie viewed her with great respect, ‘Get your overcoat on,’ she told him, ‘it’s still snowing outside.’ The snow had come with the beginning of January, bursting from the skies with a vengeance. The next day it fell steadily, and now, two days later, had lessened to a slight trickle. But the wind had grown in strength, and Rosie was wakened that morning when the windows began rattling in their frames.
Danny put on his coat. ‘I don’t want my scarf on,’ he grumbled. ‘It tickles my neck.’
‘Sorry, love, but your mam wants you to wear it.’ Rosie wrapped the scarf round his coat collar and tied it securely at the front. ‘It’s freezing out there.’
‘Are you wearing a scarf?’ He fidgeted, tugging at the scarf and grimacing.
‘I’m not going out there without one, that’s for sure.’ Taking her long brown coat from the back of the door where she’d hung it the night before, she threw it on and quickly buttoned it up. Fishing a soft blue headsquare from the pocket, she wrapped it round her head, tying the knot tightly and tucking the ends beneath her coat collar. Next came woollen gloves. Now she felt ready to brave the elements.
Collecting a smaller pair of mittens from the sideboard drawer, she handed them to Danny. ‘Here you are, young man. ‘You’ll need these.’
She watched him pull the mittens over his fat little hands. Satisfied, she collected her handbag from the chair, glanced round to make sure everything was ship-shape, and, propelling the boy before her, went along the passage and out into a cold wild day. ‘We’d have done better to stay in bed,’ she said through chattering teeth. Danny would have gladly gone off snowballing, but she dragged him back. ‘There’s no time for that,’ she reminded him. ‘We’ve a tram to catch.’
Peggy’s voice sailed along the street. ‘Hey, you bugger! Wait for me.’
Rosie was astonished. Not wanting to stand in the howling wind, she slowed her pace until Peggy caught up. ‘I thought it was your day off?’
‘It was. Until your fancy man asked me to come in.’ Bending her head against the wind, she shivered and moaned, ‘If I’d realised how bloody cold it were, I’d have stayed where I was… nicely tucked up in a warm bed.’
‘Robert Fellows isn’t my fancy man,’ Rosie reproved. ‘Anyway, I didn’t know he’d asked you to come in.’
‘Well, you would have if only you hadn’t buggered off at half-past three of an afternoon, when the rest of us were still working,’ Peggy complained indignantly. ‘You don’t expect to know what’s going on if you ain’t there, do you now?’
‘Aw, give over, Peggy.’ Rosie said light-heartedly, ‘I start an hour earlier, so I’m entitled to leave an hour earlier.’ Lately, Peggy seemed to go out of her way to antagonise.
‘Oh, I’m sorry, gal,’ Peggy apologised. ‘Take no notice of me. I reckon I’ve just got out the wrong side of the bed. Besides, if I had a lad to take care of, I expect I’d rearrange my hours an’ all.’ Glancing sideways at Rosie, she explained, ‘There ain’t no real mystery about why I’m trudging in this morning when I should be abed. All of a sudden we’re one short at work, so I were asked to substitute.’
‘One short. How come?’
‘You know that silly little sod from stationery… Meg Withering, as big as a bloody ship an’ ready to drop any minute?’
‘’Course she’s not!’ Rosie argued. ‘She’s only five months gone… still got two weeks before she finishes at work.’
Aye, well, that’s what she wanted everybody to think, so she could earn a few more wages. Crafty sod.’ Shivering aloud, Peggy pulled her coat collar up. ‘The bugger’s eight months gone, and if your fancy man hadn’t rushed her to the Infirmary in his car, happen she’d have given birth there and then, on the floor behind her counter, in full view of everybody.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me this last night?’ Clutching Danny’s hand, Rosie quickened her steps. Peggy had made them lose a few minutes and if they missed the tram they’d have to stand in the freezing cold waiting for the next one.
‘I was about to. In fact, I were halfway down the street when it struck me that he would probably turn up any minute. I reckoned three would be a crowd, that’s all.’ There was just the slightest hint of envy in her voice.
Rosie still wasn’t certain whether Peggy had forgiven her for spending more and more time with Robert. ‘That’s nonsense, and you know it,’ she said sharply. ‘You’re always welcome in my house, whether there’s anyone else there or not. And anyway, he didn’t turn up, so I knew nothing about Meg Withering and her little drama.’ She chuckled. ‘Was it panic stations?’
Peggy giggled. ‘You could say that. Meg were just serving this big fat fella when she grabbed at her stomach and screamed out that the baby were coming. Honest to God, you should have seen his face! He went bright red, then he went a dirty grey colour and looked like he were about to throw up. Then he turned and ran. Well, he waddled at a fast pace anyway… his huge arse knocking all the displays over as he went. Cor! You should have been there, talk about a mess! Still, it ain’t surprising when he were as far round as the bloody gas works, and his belly hung over his shoes.’ She laughed aloud, then clamped her lips shut when the cold made her catch her breath. ‘Bleedin’ weather!’ she said through stiff lips. ‘I should’a stayed in me bed.’
She lapsed into a sullen silence, but Rosie chuckled all the way to the tram-stop. There was little said until the tram pulled up outside the school where Rosie saw Danny safely off. As he went through the gates with all the other children, she called out, ‘I’ll see you this afternoon. Wait inside the classroom now.’ He waved and nodded, and in a minute was lost in the playground amongst the other children. The teacher blew the whistle and the children quickly formed straggly lines outside the door. The tram trundled away and Danny was lost to sight. ‘It doesn’t seem possible he’s been at school for a whole year,’ Rosie said, shaking her head and thinking it seemed like only yesterday that he was a newborn in her arms.
‘A year, eh?’ Peggy nodded her head, blue eyes surveying Rosie with curiosity. ‘That’s how long you’ve been seeing your fancy man.’ When Rosie seemed preoccupied with her own thoughts, she went on, ‘I expect you’ll be announcing your engagement soon, eh? Then it’ll be off with the jailbird, on with the new, wedding bells and happy ever after.’
Turning in her seat, Rosie looked her in the eye, ‘What’s bothering you, Peggy?’
She blinked with embarrassment. ‘What d’yer mean?’
‘You still don’t like me going out with Robert, do you.’
‘It ain’t up to me.’
Rosie sensed the undercurrents and didn’t like what was happening. ‘Look, Peggy, you and me have always been able to talk things through. Why can’t you say what’s really on your mind?’ When Peggy remained sullen, she murmured, ‘Please. You’ve always been like a sister to me. Don’t let anybody spoil that. Not Robert, not anyone.’
Peggy looked into those troubled brown eyes and felt ashamed. ‘I’m sorry, gal,’ she said sincerely, ‘I don’t want to mar any happiness you might have found, because God only knows you deserve it. But, well, to be honest, I just don’t trust the bugger.’
‘It’s got nothing to do with you wanting him then?’ Rosie knew if she was to protect her close friendship with Peggy, it was cards on the table time. This wasn’t the first occasion they’d discussed Robert Fellows, but Rosie always felt that they had only ever skirted the real issue.
Taking a deep breath, Peggy sighed. ‘All right. Happen I do still fancy him,’ she admitted. ‘But he ain’t got the time of day for me. He never has had. So even if you were to finish with him tomorrow, it wouldn’t make no difference as far as I’m concerned.’
Rosie looked away. ‘I honestly don’t know what to do,’ she said softly, looking out of the window and watching the thickening snowflakes splash against the pavement. ‘I hate it being this way between you and me.’
‘Do you love him?’
‘I like him a lot.’ She met Peggy’s gaze honestly. ‘I haven’t really thought too much about it.’ Rosie had grown closer to Robert without even realising it. ‘But he’s good and kind, and Danny has really taken to him.’
‘I know all that. But you’re not answering my question. What I said was, do you love him?’
Rosie smiled, but it was a sad smile. ‘Happen I could learn to love him, but no, I don’t feel that way now.’
‘Still Adam, eh?’
This time Rosie smiled widely, but said nothing.
Peggy was relentless. ‘Would you wed Robert Fellows if he asked you?’
‘I’m married, Peggy. Don’t forget that.’
Something in Rosie’s voice made Peggy regard her more closely. ‘My God! He’s already asked you, ain’t he?’
Rosie turned away, her attention caught by a group of youths throwing snowballs at the tram. The day was grey and bleak, just like her heart. ‘He asked me a week ago, when we went to the pictures,’ she admitted softly, thinking it was a good job the tram was nearly empty. These days more people went on the buses. Soon the trams would all be gone, and that would be a terrible shame, she thought sadly.
‘Well, you little sod!’ Peggy cried in a hoarse whisper. ‘And you never even said.’
‘There was no point.’ The reason she hadn’t said anything was because she didn’t really know how Peggy would react. The last thing she wanted was to hurt her friend’s feelings, and anyway things were already delicate between her and Peggy. The thought of losing what she and Peggy had was a source of great pain to Rosie.
‘And what did you tell him?’ Peggy’s voice betrayed her disappointment.
‘I told him I already had a husband.’
And what did he say?’
Rosie was reluctant to answer, because if she did she would have to tell the truth. ‘Divorce him then,’ Robert had said. ‘I’m prepared to wait for as long as it takes.’
Peggy had guessed. ‘Don’t tell me. He wants you to get a divorce from Doug?’
‘Something like that.’
And will you?’ Her voice was low and cynical. After all, it’s over between you and Doug, ain’t it? I mean, he’s threatened to hurt you, and you ain’t got no feeling left for him anyway. So you might as well put an end to it, ain’t that right?’
Wisely, Rosie turned the tables. ‘What would you do, Peggy? I mean, if you were in my shoes.’
Peggy was taken aback for a second, then she laughed. ‘You know bloody well what I would do,’ she confessed. ‘I’d drop Doug like a hot cake, then I’d set myself up with Robert and look forward to a cushy life. That’s what I’d do. But then you ain’t me, are you? You’ve got values and a high-minded sense of right and wrong. I mean, look how you took care of that bloody old battle-axe Martha Selby, even after she made your life a misery. Me? I’d have laced her fried eggs with poison and danced on her bloody grave!’
‘No, you wouldn’t.’
‘Hmh! You’ve got a better opinion of me than I have of meself, gal.’ She sniffed. There was an awkward silence between them, before Peggy cuttingly remarked, ‘So? I expect you’ll be dumping Doug for Robert, eh?’
Before Rosie could answer the tram pulled in to the kerb. In a minute the two of them were tumbling off and rushing through the cold towards Woolworths main doors. The warmth inside the building did little to melt Peggy’s hostility. ‘Well?’ she asked as they wended their way between the counters, Peggy to the cloakroom and Rosie to the bottom of the stairs which would take her up to the offices. ‘Do you mean to wed him?’ Her blue eyes were cold as the day.
‘I don’t know,’ Rosie answered truthfully. She had seriously toyed with the idea, but it was a complex issue, and always at the back of her mind was the fear that everything could go wrong.
‘You’ll be sorry if you do.’ Peggy whipped her coat off. Normally she would leave Rosie with a smile on her face, but not today. Today she was unhappy. ‘Like I said, I don’t trust the bastard.’
‘What do you mean, Peggy? Why don’t you trust him?’ Strangely enough, there were times when Rosie herself had her doubts, though she couldn’t say why.
‘Just a feeling, that’s all. Happen it’s ’cause I’m just a jealous bugger who wants him for herself, eh?’ With that she swung open the doors to the cloakroom and left Rosie feeling dejected. For a minute she was tempted to follow, but then decided against it. This was neither the time nor the place for a heart to heart with Peggy. Tonight, though, after work, it would be a different matter.
Rosie was the first to arrive in the office. She hadn’t been at her desk for more than five minutes when Robert came in. Striding across the office, he went straight to her and kissed her on the mouth. ‘How about a meal and a show tonight?’ he asked. ‘Afterwards, maybe we could go back to your house.’
He sat on the edge of her desk, looking splendid in his well-tailored suit and with his fair hair neatly parted. His wide smile as always was a sight to see and his eyes sparkled. Rosie couldn’t help but think about Peggy’s words just now. ‘I don’t trust the bastard,’ she had said. Now Rosie felt uneasy. ‘Not tonight,’ she replied.
‘You still haven’t given me an answer to my other question.’ His smile was gone and in its place was a look of expectation. ‘You promised to put me out of my misery in a week. Time’s up, my lovely.’ Leaning forward, he breathed in her ear, ‘When can we be married?’
‘There’s so much to think about. It won’t be easy. There’s Doug and everything.’ Rosie was shocked to hear herself using him as an excuse.
‘You’re not leading me on, are you?’ Robert was smiling again.
‘I wouldn’t do that,’ Rosie answered truthfully.
‘Good. Because I wouldn’t like it if you did.’ He took her in his arms, and she couldn’t help feeling it was good to be wanted.
The outer door swung to and in came Meg Benton, puffing and panting from the long walk up the stairs. ‘By! It’s cold out there,’ she complained. Having taken off her coat in the cloakroom, she was still wrapped up like an eskimo, with a high-necked blouse beneath a thick woolly jumper haphazardly tucked into the waist of her long tweed skirt. She was wearing ankle boots and blowing into her frozen fingers. ‘I’m getting too old to come out in this kind of weather.’ Seating herself at her desk, she put on her tiny rimless spectacles and stared at Robert Fellows, who was still perched on the edge of Rosie’s desk. ‘Good morning, Mr Fellows,’ she said in a loud bold voice. Judging by the look on her face, she obviously disapproved of the boss fraternising with the workers.
‘Good morning to you, Mrs Benton,’ he returned, at once clambering from the desk and straightening his tie.
The two men came in together. Mr Mortimer’s eyes were watering from the cold and he coughed all the way to his desk. Horace Sykes took a minute to rub the warmth back into his balding head, then glanced at Rosie, shifted his gaze to Robert and remarked rather loudly to Mr Mortimer, ‘Some of us are born to work, and some of us would rather play!’ With that, he went to the filing cabinet and slammed the drawers about.
Putting his two hands on Rosie’s desk, Robert Fellows leaned towards her. ‘I’ll pop round to your house this evening,’ he told her softly. ‘I promise you, my lovely, I won’t take no for an answer.’ He winked and hurried away, and she was left in a turmoil.
‘You want to be careful,’ Meg Benton warned quietly. ‘Men like that can get you in trouble.’
Rosie smiled and bent her head to her work. Strange, she thought, because Meg’s warning was the second of its kind today. She was beginning to wonder whether others knew more about Robert than she did.
As always when Rosie buried herself in her work, the morning was gone before she knew it. The telephone started ringing at nine o’clock, and it was still intermittently ringing at five minutes to twelve, when she thankfully made her way down to the canteen.
Halfway down the stairs she looked out of the window. The snow had stopped falling, and the watery sun was already breaking through. ‘Thank God for that!’ she exclaimed, running down the stairs. She was in a hurry to see Peggy. They had parted on bad terms, and it had worried Rosie all morning.
The canteen was always busy at this time of day, and there was already a long queue for the tea counter. Searching it for Peggy and realising she was nowhere to be seen, Rosie tapped one of Peggy’s work colleagues on the shoulder – a big girl with huge bosoms, and peroxide hair piled high on her head. ‘Have you seen Peggy?’ Rosie asked. The girl shook her head. But from further along the queue came the reply, ‘She’s up with Mr Fellows. Been up there over an hour now she has. And I’m bloody well fed up, because I’m having to cover her counter as well as my own. Where the bleedin’ hell is she? you ask. And that’s what I’d like to know an’ all!’
Rosie was astonished. What on earth was Peggy doing with Robert for over an hour? Surely to God she wasn’t in trouble? How could he reprimand her for anything when she had turned out ’specially today to cover for an absent colleague? On top of that Peggy was a loyal and conscientious worker.
As she neared Robert’s office, Rosie forced herself to be calm. It wasn’t unusual for one of the floor staff to be called into the office; often it was merely a matter of quality assessment, or something to do with holiday periods, and sometimes it was the member of staff who called the interview. But an hour! Rosie felt instinctively there was something very wrong here.
At the same moment as she reached the top of the stairs, Robert came out of his office. ‘Rosie!’ He came towards her, eyes glowing with pleasure. ‘Were you coming to see me? Have you decided to make an honest man of me then?’ He would have kissed her but she drew away.
Glancing through the open office door, Rosie was surprised to see that except for his secretary, who was preparing to leave for her lunch, the room was empty. ‘Where’s Peggy?’ she asked, turning to Robert with a puzzled expression.
He smiled, then gently ran his fingers down her face. Now he was drawing her towards the office. ‘She’s gone.’
‘Gone?’ Rosie was vaguely aware of the secretary passing them on her way out. ‘Gone where? Isn’t she well? Is she in some kind of trouble?’ She and Robert were facing each other and he appeared to be concerned by her distress.
‘No, my lovely,’ he said. ‘She is not in trouble, and as far as I know she’s quite well. Or at least she was when she left me.’
‘If she isn’t in trouble and she’s not ill, where is she?’ Rosie was growing impatient, sure in her mind that whatever was wrong with Peggy, it must have something to do with the conversation they’d had that morning. Certainly Peggy had not been in her usual bright mood when they parted. In fact, now that she thought more deeply on it, Peggy hadn’t been happy for some time. A sense of guilt spiralled up in Rosie. Maybe she should have been more tactful about her relationship with Robert? Happen it would have been better if she had tried to find another job? Whatever the reason for Peggy’s problems, Rosie somehow felt it was all her fault.
‘Sit down, Rosie.’ Robert Fellows stood over her while she sank into the chair then sat on the desk before her, his legs stretched out and his face concerned. ‘There’s nothing at all wrong with your friend,’ he assured her. ‘Peggy came to see me about a certain professional matter.’ He sighed. ‘All right, my lovely, in the circumstances I’m sure she wouldn’t mind my confiding in you. Peggy Lewis is a bright young woman who wants to better herself. Apparently she’s been toying with the idea of applying for a training post in London.’ He saw the light dawning in Rosie’s eyes and quickly prompted, ‘You know the one… a year’s intensive training in one of our bigger stores, with a view to management?’
Rosie nodded. ‘I pinned the details on the notice board myself,’ she recalled. ‘And you say Peggy’s applied for it? Funny, she never mentioned it.’ Something occurred to her then. ‘You’re not telling me she’s gone straightaway? I mean, how could she?’
‘She wanted to leave right away. I rang head office, told them she was the perfect candidate, and of course there was no objection. So, yes, she’s probably on her way home to pack. After that no doubt she’ll be travelling to London before the evening. As I say, it’s all been arranged, right down to her accommodation.’ He grinned handsomely. ‘If it’s handled right, these things can be done very quickly.’
Rosie was stunned. ‘Was it you? Did you encourage her?’ Suspicions were forming in her mind. He appeared too smug about the whole thing, too full of his own importance. Too pleased at the outcome.
‘Shame on you, Rosie!’ His eyes grew round with horror. ‘What are you saying?’ He came to her and placed his hands either side of her face. Expecting her to raise her face to his, he was shocked when she tugged away. Standing to confront him, she said angrily, ‘There’s something about you that seems too good to be true. I couldn’t see it before because I was too blind and too hungry for affection. But now I’m beginning to wonder. Peggy’s warned me about you all along. You can’t deny it would be better for you if she was a long way away from here, far enough away so she can’t come between us.’
Taken aback, he confessed, ‘No, I won’t deny that. It’s also no secret she’s made eyes at me in the past and I’ve made it clear I’m not interested. She’s never forgiven me for that, and you know it.’ His voice softened. ‘You can’t hold me to blame for whatever decisions she makes. And, as God’s my judge, all I care about is you and me, and our future together.’
‘I wish I could believe that.’ Rosie wasn’t altogether convinced.
Groaning, he declared, ‘Believe me, Rosie, I had nothing whatsoever to do with it. I was just as surprised as you are. Peggy asked to see me, and I honestly didn’t have a clue what it was all about until she requested to be transferred to London at the earliest opportunity. I did what she asked, and that was all there was to it, I swear.’ He sounded desolate.
‘I’d best get back to my work.’
‘Oh, look, Rosie, have you had your lunch? We could go out somewhere. What do you say?’
‘I’m not hungry. Besides, there’s a lot to do before I collect Danny.’ And a lot to do before she knew what was behind Peggy’s disappearance, she thought worriedly.
‘All right, my lovely. Have it your way.’ Putting his arms round her, he drew her from the chair. ‘I do love you, you know.’ His mouth was close to her face, and he stole a kiss. Though he regretted it when Rosie shrank away. ‘It’s clear you’re not in the mood for company,’ he said, releasing her. ‘But I will see you tonight, won’t I? You haven’t forgotten I’m still waiting for an answer?’
She looked at him then, at his forlorn face and bright eager eyes, and her heart melted a little. Perhaps she was being unjustly hard on him? After all, it wasn’t his fault if Peggy had decided to up and off. What was more, she must have sneaked out through the tradesman’s entrance or Rosie would have seen her leaving. ‘I haven’t forgotten,’ she said softly. ‘Make it around eight o’clock. I know Danny will want to see you before he goes to bed.’ She laughed, and he thought she was never more lovely. ‘You’ll be taken through every lesson he’s had today,’ she warned.
‘I’ll look forward to that,’ he promised. And she believed him. She wasn’t to know that on the stroke of three that afternoon, something would happen to betray to her the kind of man he really was.
Meg Benton bustled out of the office with a fistful of papers. Two minutes later she bustled back in again. ‘Honestly!’ Slamming the papers down on her desk, she groaned, ‘It’s no wonder the work never gets done around here. I’ve got a whole pile of queries which I want Mr Fellows to check, and there’s no sign of him.’
Mr Mortimer coughed and said, ‘That’s because he’s in consultation with the floor manager downstairs.’ Smiling irritatingly, he reminded her, ‘It’s almost three o’clock, my dear. Have you forgotten they meet every week at this time?’
‘Bloody management!’ muttered Horace Sykes, scratching his near-bald head. ‘I wouldn’t give a shilling for any of ’em.’
‘What about his secretary then?’ demanded Meg Benton. ‘She’s nowhere to be seen either.’ She glanced at Rosie, but looked away when the girl appeared too busy to hear.
‘You know what they say?’ interrupted Mr Mortimer sulkily. ‘While the cat’s away, the mice will play.’
Resuming her seat, Meg Benton put the papers aside. When the telephone began ringing, she warned, ‘If that’s a call that should be going through to his office, I’ll scream down the line!’ It was. And she didn’t. Instead, she spoke in a very refined and polite manner that made the other three chuckle. Though when she put the phone down, she had plenty to say.
For the next ten minutes, the phone constantly rang, and each time the call was for Mr Fellows. ‘That’s it!’ Flushed with anger, Meg Benton pushed her chair back and stood up. ‘I haven’t even had time to pick up a pen, and my work is mounting by the minute.’ Striding to the door, she declared, ‘I intend to find that secretary and give her a piece of my mind.’ With that she was soon gone and the others, including Rosie, couldn’t help but laugh.
Rosie was eager to be done and get home. She hoped Peggy hadn’t yet gone because there was a great deal she had to say to her. Feverishly she tore into the last pile of stock-sheets, moaning beneath her breath when the jangling ring of the phone interrupted her line of thought. ‘Good afternoon. May I help you?’ Pressing the phone to her ear, she tried to write with her other hand. It was impossible so she paid attention to the voice at the other end. It was a woman’s voice, soft and pleasant. ‘I’d like to speak to Mr Fellows, please?’ she said.
‘I’m sorry, but Mr Fellows is in a meeting right now.’
‘Oh!’ There was a pause. Then, ‘Who am I talking to?’
‘This is Rosie Selby. Would you like to leave a message for him? I’ll make certain he gets it the minute he returns to his office.’
‘Could you please put me through to his secretary?’
Rosie sighed. ‘I’m sorry, but she’s out of the office right now. She should be back any minute. Perhaps if you called again later?’
There was a sigh followed by a request that shocked Rosie to the core. ‘I have to go out in a minute so I’d better leave a message. Would you please tell him his wife phoned? Has he managed to acquire a house for us yet? Ask him to ring me this evening, would you? Oh, and tell him his daughter Sadie sends her love. Thank you so much.’
‘Good Lord, you’ve gone a pale shade of grey!’ Mr Mortimer peeped at Rosie from beneath his reading glasses. ‘An irate customer, was it?’
Even Horace Sykes was made to look up, mouth open to deliver some scathing comment. The fact that Rosie was sitting bolt upright, phone in hand and all the colour drained from her face, struck him dumb. Without a word he bent his head and resumed his work.
Just then Meg returned. ‘Would you believe she was downstairs chatting to the floor supervisor?’ Falling heavily into her chair, she explained, ‘Apparently, Mr Fellows has put his foot in it by allowing someone to leave at short notice, at a time when we’re desperate for floor staff.’ When nobody commented, she grunted, scraped forward her papers, and began scribbling. ‘Anyway, she’s back at her desk now, so we shouldn’t be bothered with any more of her calls, thank goodness!’
Rosie’s mind was preoccupied by the woman’s words… ‘Tell him his wife phoned… His daughter Sadie sends her love.’ She couldn’t think straight. It was impossible to settle her thoughts enough to continue with her work. When she glanced up at the clock, she was greatly relieved to see that it was almost three-thirty. ‘I’ll be away now,’ she said, collecting her belongings together.
‘What? There’s still a few minutes to go yet.’ Horace Sykes had found his tongue, and it was as sharp as ever.
‘You get off, my dear,’ Meg Benton said. ‘If the truth be told, you do more work than the three of us put together.’ Glaring at the little man, she silently dared him to say another word.
When Rosie was out of the door, however, a little argument ensued. It took only a few chosen words to silence the two men, and for the remainder of the afternoon the atmosphere was so thick it could have been cut with a knife.
All the way home, Rosie tried to reason with herself. Was it a mistake? Had the woman somehow got the wrong number? Did she really say ‘Mr Fellows’, and did she mean Robert? ‘You’re a fool, Rosie gal, she muttered as she looked out of the tram window. ‘Peggy was right about him, and you’ve fallen for the worst trick of all.’
Aware that she was talking aloud she glanced nervously about. With the exception of an old man who was buried in his racing paper, the tram was empty. Just as well, she thought, or they’ll have me locked away for being out of my mind. She chuckled to herself. She was out of her mind, or she’d have seen him for what he was months ago!
The bad feelings began to subside, and in their place came a calm and rational mood. He didn’t know she had spoken to his wife. So, as far as he was concerned, nothing had changed, and he was coming round to see her tonight. Want an answer to your ‘proposal’, do you? she thought bitterly. Stepping off the tram and on to the pavement, she went straight to the school gates. As she scoured the yard for a sight of her son, she forced all thoughts of Robert Fellows out of her mind.
The children were pouring out of the school doorway. Danny saw her and ran forward. ‘Mam, look what I’ve done today!’ Wide-eyed and excited, he raised a huge square of paper for her to see. It was a colourful drawing of nothing she could identify. ‘Why! That’s lovely!’ she exclaimed, her face wreathed in a smile. Taking the paper between her hands she turned it this way then that, and still she couldn’t understand what the coloured blobs were meant to signify.
‘It’s you!’ he told her, eyes shining.
‘Well, of course it is,’ she returned, giving him a hug, ‘I knew that all along.’
There wasn’t another tram for fifteen minutes, but the bus was waiting as they ran up the street. ‘I’m hungry,’ Danny moaned, clambering into the seat beside her. When Rosie produced a digestive biscuit wrapped in foil from her handbag, he sat back in the seat and contentedly nibbled at its edges all the way home. When they got off the bus at the end of Castle Street, he popped the last bit in his mouth and grinned up at her. ‘I love you,’ he said.
‘Only because I gave you a biscuit,’ she teased. Then she grabbed his hand tightly and hurried him away. The wind was as keen as ever, and the thought of a cosy fire grew more and more welcome the nearer they got to home.
Rosie’s first stop was Peggy’s house. ‘I need to talk with her,’ she told Peggy’s mam, who quickly ushered her and the boy in out of the cold. She would have taken them into the parlour, but Rosie graciously refused. Her instinct told her that Peggy was not here.
‘Pm sorry, luv, but she’s gone… been gone this past hour.’ The older woman chuckled. ‘By! That were a turn up for the books, eh? Our Peggy’s gone on a training course to London. The next thing you know she’ll be after the manager’s job.’ Her eyes grew round as two silver shillings. ‘She’s done her old mam proud, that she has.’
Rosie was disappointed to have missed her. ‘Did she say where she’ll be staying?’
‘Nope!’ She shook her head, frowning hard. ‘But I expect I’ll know soon enough. She’s promised that soon as ever she’s settled, she’ll write, and if our Peggy says she’ll write, then she will.’ Suddenly she was going into the parlour at a run. ‘I nearly forgot. She’s left a note for you.’
She disappeared into the far room. For the next few seconds Danny hid behind Rosie’s skirt when Peggy’s Mam could be heard shouting and bawling at one of the children, ‘Clean up this bloody mess, unless you want yer arse belted!’
It wasn’t long before she came rushing out again. Handing a long white envelope to Rosie, she explained, ‘Peggy said I was to give you this the minute you came round.’ She peered at Rosie through curious eyes. ‘You two fallen out, have yer?’
‘We had a few words,’ Rosie admitted. Waving the letter in the air, she added hopefully, ‘Happen this will put it right.’
‘Aye, happen. But I wouldn’t count on it, lass. I’ll not ask what’s come atween yer, but I know this much… our Peggy can be a stubborn little sod when she’s put out.’ She shook her head and saw Rosie to the pavement. ‘Get away in, luv. It’s enough to freeze the balls off a pawnshop sign.’ Without further ado she slammed the door shut and, even as Rosie and her son walked away, the dear soul could be heard threatening blue murder at one of her hapless brood.
Rosie would have opened the letter straight away, but Danny was shivering and hungry, and so was she. ‘Come on, sweetheart,’ she told him, reluctantly placing the letter in a drawer. ‘You lay the table while I light the fire.’
As always Rosie had already laid the paper and kindling wood before she went to work that morning, so the fire was quickly alight. Danny slowly but happily set about laying the table although he had the knives and forks round the wrong way, and brought out pudding dishes for dinner plates. But Rosie was grateful, and told him so. Besides, it took only a minute for him to rectify his mistakes.
Soon the living-room was warm as toast, and not long after the smell of meat pie and vegetables cooking in the kitchen permeated the air. ‘I’m hungry!’ Danny wailed, again sniffing the air.
‘Do you know, so am I!’ Rosie was surprised that she could even think about food after the shocks of the day. But she was even more surprised to discover she was oddly relieved that Robert was already married. This way she was off the hook. She even chuckled as she went about her work. Wait until she told Peggy! No doubt her reaction would be: ‘Told you so’. But Rosie wouldn’t mind a bit. In fact, she felt she deserved it.
Within an hour of arriving home, the meal was set before them, and they ate heartily. ‘What else did you do at school?’ Rosie asked with interest.
‘I spilled paint all over Bobby Dixon,’ he announced proudly. Seeing the horror on Rosie’s face, he giggled. ‘We all painted his picture, and Susie Lock got jealous and knocked my paint tray over, and it went all across my drawing.’ He pulled a face. ‘I don’t like her any more.’
‘Oh, Danny, I’m sure it was an accident.’
‘No, it weren’t. She did it because I wouldn’t kiss her in the playground.’ Picking up a piece of pastry he pushed it into his mouth and would have gone on muttering, but Rosie told him to finish his dinner and they could talk afterwards. Unable to speak, he nodded his head and forked another piece of pie into his mouth. When his cheeks bulged out and his eyes began to pop, Rosie warned him not to take such big bites or he might choke. He heeded her warning, and the meal was finished in silence.
Insisting he should help, Danny carried his own plate to the kitchen where Rosie was already running the hot water into the bowl ready for washing up. ‘After everthing’s put away, you can tell me what else you did at school,’ she invited.
‘Will you read me a story?’
‘If you like.’
‘Will you read me Auntie Peggy’s note?’
‘I don’t think so, sweetheart,’ she said solemnly.
‘Why did you and Auntie Peggy fall out?’
‘Who said we have?’
‘Her mam.’
She nodded. ‘Oh, so you heard that, did you?’ Dropping the dishcloth into the water, she wiped her hands and put them on his shoulders. ‘You know how you fell out with Susie Lock at school today?’
‘I hate her!’
Rosie smiled. ‘Do you really hate her? Do you think she meant to spill that paint over your drawing?’
He shrugged his shoulders. ‘I ’spect not.’
‘So she’s forgiven, eh?’
‘I ’spect so.’
‘Why?’
He looked astonished that she should even ask such a thing. ‘’Cause she’s my friend!’
‘That’s right, Danny. And Peggy’s my best friend. We did have a falling out, but I hope it won’t spoil our friendship either.’ She went to the sideboard. With trembling fingers, she took out the envelope and opened it. The note inside was short and to the point:
Dear Rosie,
You may think I had no right to say the things I said. And you may think I never stood a chance with Robert Fellows. All I know is he had started noticing me. Then you came along, and I had no chance at all.
By the time you read this I’ll be on my way to London. No doubt you already know all about it, seeing how close you are to him.
Don’t try and contact me, because I’ve got a lot of thinking to do.
Peggy.
‘Oh, Peggy!’ Rosie was desolate. It was so ironic, especially when Robert was already married and had no right to promise either of them anything.
‘Is she still friends, Mam?’ Danny came in, covered in suds and the front of his jumper soaking wet. ‘Has she gone away for ever and ever?’
‘We’ll see.’ Rosie’s bright voice belied her true feelings. Taking off his jumper and draping it over the chair in front of the fire, she told him softly, ‘Good friends don’t ever say goodbye, do they?’ She hoped not. Oh, she really hoped not.
At half-past eight, Danny was ready for bed. Rosie read him a story about a little boy who went on a great adventure, and before she reached the last page he was fast asleep. ‘Goodnight, son,’ she murmured, tucking the blanket about his shoulders.
She then dimmed the light and went on tiptoe into the bathroom. Here she bathed and put on her dressing-gown. She too was ready for an early night, and it was obvious Robert had changed his mind about calling. ‘More’s the pity,’ she said, glancing out of the window and down the street. ‘I was looking forward to passing on your wife’s message!’
Downstairs, she tucked herself into the big old armchair and settled down to read the book which she had bought a few days before. It was a romance, and somehow it only reminded her of Adam and what she herself had lost. Disillusioned, she dropped it in the drawer and re-read Peggy’s letter. ‘All I can do is wait for you to come to me,’ she said. After that, she sat in the chair, raised her legs beneath her chin, criss-crossed her arms round them and stared forlornly into the fire, watching the flames leaping and dancing, and wondering how poor folk ever managed to keep warm on a night such as this.
With the warmth fanning her face into a rosy pink glow, making her deliciously sleepy, and her far-off thoughts carrying her first to Peggy then to Adam, she didn’t hear the knock at the door. When it sounded again, this time with more determination, she sat up, startled. A glance at the clock told her that it was almost ten-fifteen. ‘Good God above, whoever’s that at this time of night?’ Springing from her chair, she drew her dressing-gown closer about her and went along the passage to the front door. ‘Who’s there?’ If Peggy had been home, she would have assumed it was her. Certainly it was too late for Robert Fellows to come calling.
‘It’s me… Robert.’ At once she recognised his voice. ‘I’m sorry it’s so late,’ he apologised in lower tones. ‘Let me in, my lovely. It’s freezing out here.’
The tiniest smile crept over her face as she opened the door, but when he looked at her the smile was radiant. ‘Robert! It doesn’t matter whether it’s late or not,’ she cooed coyly, ‘I’m just so pleased to see you.’ He would have taken her in his arms but she quickly closed the door and went before him down the passage. ‘I was just thinking about you,’ she fled, coming into the room and watching him take off his coat. ‘I’ve got the answer you’ve been waiting for.’ Now she let him take her in his arms and kiss her. She returned his kiss passionately and was secretly delighted when she felt him harden against her.
‘You’ve decided to marry me?’ he declared eagerly, gazing down on her with the look of a cat who’s got the cream.
‘How could any woman resist?’ she purred, and he kissed her again.
‘Why don’t we celebrate… let me spend the night?’ His hands were probing beneath her dressing-gown, exciting and repulsing her all at once.
‘Why not?’ she murmured. ‘Especially now that we’re to be wed.’ She opened her gown and he was shocked by her beauty; the taut pert breasts and the long shapely legs, the tiny waist and that dark enticing area between her thighs. Groaning, he gathered her to him. ‘I’ve been thinking about you all day,’ he whispered in her ear. ‘Wanting you until I’d go half-crazy.’ Quickly, he began to undress. He didn’t see her smiling to herself.
When the two of them were naked, she held him off a moment longer. ‘I’m so looking forward to being your wife,’ she said softly. ‘Mrs Fellows… it has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?’
‘Must you drive me mad?’ He was kissing her hair, her eyes and ears, murmuring words of endearment, while she was pushing at his chest with the flat of her hands, and rolling her lovely brown eyes with childish excitement. ‘I think I’ll have my dress hand-made… you can afford that, can’t you, Robert?’ When he groaned and nodded, she went on, still resisting when he would have pushed her to the floor. ‘And where shall we live? I’d like a big house in the country. Can you afford that too, Robert?’ He nodded again, this time succeeding in laying her beneath him. He was about to push into her when she said in a low trembling voice, ‘Of course, your wife won’t like it. I mean… hasn’t she been waiting for you to find a house for her… and your daughter Sadie?’ Her eyes darkened with anger as they looked up, meeting his horrified gaze calmly.
His face was stark white in the firelight. ‘How did you find out?’ His voice was harsh and broken as he shivered with fright.
Lowering her gaze, Rosie saw that his member, which had been large and erect, was now shrivelled. It gave her a curious sense of satisfaction. ‘I’m sorry if I spoiled your enjoyment,’ she said cuttingly, getting up to replace her gown, ‘I think you’d better go.’ Fastening the belt around her waist, she gazed down at him with contempt.
‘Bitch!’
‘Don’t come to my house ever again,’ she warned.
He quickly dressed. When he was ready to leave he boldly suggested, ‘Tomorrow, when we’ve both calmed down, perhaps we can talk this through? I could take you to lunch. I know a nice little place on the Preston New Road…’
While he was talking, Rosie was thinking ahead. It was obvious he’d had a great shock. It was also obvious that he would still pursue her for his own ends. Men like him never gave up their quarry. ‘I won’t be in tomorrow,’ she said. ‘Nor any other day. In fact, you can send me my cards and money owing.’
‘You’ll regret this, I promise you.’
‘I’m already regretting it.’ With that she opened the front door and pointed to the cold black night. ‘Like I said… don’t ever come round here again.’
As he brushed past her, he murmured, ‘You’re a fool, Rosie!’
‘No,’ she corrected him, ‘I’ve been a fool. Not any more though.’ That said, she physically pushed him out of the door and closed it against him.
While Rosie returned to her cosy parlour, Robert climbed into his car, his face like thunder and his heart as black as night. ‘You’ll be sorry, Rosie.’ He smiled, his white teeth shining in the moonlight. ‘You will be sorry!’ He started the engine, and was still smiling wickedly as he turned out of the street.
Rosie had made a bad enemy. The consequences of this night would turn her world upside down.