Molly could neither laugh nor cry; even to speak was challenge enough as the world went on around them. The earth neither opened up nor did the sky fall in, though with the shock of seeing Andy she wouldn’t have been surprised at anything. He was here, in the flesh, and she looked up into his face in disbelief.
‘Molly, Molly,’ he said, and holding her at arm’s length, he gave that almost shy smile – Cissy’s Jimmy Stewart smile – a slow parting of the lips and the sight of even white teeth; and the smell of him! Oh, the smell! Of the ocean, the wind and the waves embedded in his skin and hair. It took her to a place that she remembered when he’d kissed her that day before they parted.
‘Andy – I can’t believe me eyes!’
The smile widened then and he nodded. ‘Me too. There you was. In the street. Walking towards me.’
Molly felt the tickle of laughter in her chest. ‘Are you on leave? Why didn’t you write?’
‘I sent you a letter three weeks ago.’
‘It’s not come yet. But the surprise is better. Much better.’ She wanted to hold him again, to sink into his arms. And she knew he wanted that too, as his grasp on her was strong and possessive.
They both let laughter loose then, awkwardly standing apart and conscious of the people in the street.
‘You’ve had a good shave,’ she said, and he nodded, rubbing his smooth chin.
‘Docked at Portsmouth last night and stayed at the hostel. Had a good scrub. Caught the train this morning. And, well, here I am.’
‘The kids are at school.’
‘Funny, I thought they might be over at the Turners’. I was about to knock.’ He cleared his throat. ‘How are they?’
‘Never better.’
‘I dunno how to thank you for what you did at Romford.’
‘You don’t have to thank me. Listen, why don’t we go over to Jean’s? I’ve got something to tell them and I’d like you to hear it too.’
He lifted his kit bag to the other shoulder. ‘We’ll talk after, right?’
She nodded and together they made their way down to the Turners’, her steps light as they walked arm in arm.
‘Come here and give us a hug, stranger.’ Jean threw herself at Andy and Molly smiled as they embraced. Dennis took his hand and shook it and the two men slapped each other’s shoulders. During the multitude of questions Molly absorbed the changed appearance of the tall, broad-shouldered figure who hadn’t seemed quite real. As he’d stood in Roper Street, he had seemed so tall and upright, his bearing much improved from the sick man who had once been shipwrecked at sea and almost drowned.
His thick, dark hair was trimmed short and his sea-whipped skin was glowing and healthy. He’d filled out considerably. The close-fitting naval jumper showed a proud, broad chest squared off by strong shoulders. As he gazed at each of them, trying to answer their enquiries, he made light of what Molly knew must have been a dangerous year at sea. He described the battles of the Atlantic and the perilous convoys of merchant ships to and from Russia that were notorious in every headline of the newspapers.
But every so often his gaze caught hers, a light in his eyes that told her how relieved he was to be home. Sitting at the table in the Turners’ kitchen as Jean made tea, Molly was amused at Dennis, who thought of every excuse not to go out to work, as he listened enthralled.
The conversation then turned to all that had happened in his absence. Molly watched Andy’s face fill with pride as he learned how well Mark and Evie were doing at school. How they had made friends and had settled back into East End life after leaving Southend and saying goodbye to Len and Betty.
But his expression saddened as he learned of Cissy and Spot’s troubles, and Molly, not wanting to spoil his homecoming, quickly added that Spot had brought better news today.
‘Harry’s gonna make it,’ declared Dennis confidently. ‘With parents like Cissy and Spot, he’s got fighting blood in his veins.’
After yet more tea and gossip that could have gone on all day, Molly stood up. ‘The store won’t run itself, much as I’d like it to.’
‘You’ll both have a couple of hours to catch up before the kids get home,’ Jean said, giving Molly a sly wink. ‘And give us another hug, Andy. I want to make up for lost time.’
Everyone had a smile on their face as Molly and Andy left, walking slowly hand in hand up Roper Street, skirting the hole and the debris and passing the bicycle factory to amble up the little path at the back of the shop. But before Molly could push her key into the lock, he took her in his arms and, gazing into her eyes, whispered, ‘I’ve dreamed of this moment, Molly. Though I didn’t think it would ever come to pass. I wondered if that kiss we shared was just a figment of my imagination.’
‘I did too,’ she admitted, feeling the warmth of his body close to hers and realizing they were completely alone and unobserved. ‘You never said any more in your letters.’
‘Didn’t know if you felt the same.’ He lifted her chin. ‘Do you feel like me, Molly? I know how much you loved Ted. He was a good man and died for his country. I’ll never be able to fill his shoes.’
‘It ain’t about dying, Andy. I’ve learned that life is all about living. Yes, Ted was a loving and loyal husband and that part of me life has treasured memories. But I’m still here, and I have so much to be thankful for. Including you and the kids.’
He said no more, but this time sought out her lips with a fierce passion and she responded, knowing that from this moment onwards there was not only a future to look forward to, but most importantly, she understood the value of every precious moment.
Leading him upstairs and into her bedroom, she closed the door. ‘The shop can wait. I can’t.’ She drew him close. ‘The children won’t be home for a while.’
‘Molly, I’ve thought of you every day. Probably every hour.’ He bent his dark head and kissed her passionately. She felt as though she was spinning above the clouds as desire overwhelmed her and very soon they lay in bed, locked in each other’s arms.
Much later, they dressed and sat together at the kitchen table holding hands. They were hungry but decided to wait for Mark and Evie and share their first meal together.
‘I’d better go down and open up before they come home,’ Molly decided.
‘Thank you,’ he whispered, kissing her again. ‘That was wonderful.’
Molly thought so too and wished they could sit here together for the rest of the day. Instead she put on her overall and went down to the shop. As she served her customers she wondered if any of them could see the change in her. But no one mentioned the flush on her cheeks or her distracted manner. And when the rush was over, Andy appeared and pulled her into the glory hole. ‘I can’t wait till tonight,’ he told her. ‘Now I’ve started kissing you, I can’t stop.’ He ran his fingers through her hair and kissed her cheeks.
They giggled like children as someone walked in the shop door and the bell tinkled. Molly served her customer, and found Andy beside her once more.
‘Don’t worry, I’ll behave myself.’
‘It’s not you I’m worried about, it’s me.’ She smiled and pushed back her hair self-consciously. ‘I’m so glad you’re home.’
He looked at her longingly, then with hands in pockets, he reclined against the counter and studied her. ‘Tell me about Romford,’ he said quietly. ‘You made light of it in your letter, by but God, Molly, I’d have gone crazy if you hadn’t found them.’
She explained how she’d located Roger’s cottage and managed to prevent Mark and Evie from being evacuated on the coach. And how Roger had put her up for the night and driven them back to London the next day.
‘I don’t know what I would have done without you,’ he said, only to be interrupted by yet another customer. Molly saw how easily he spoke to the women and how warmly they welcomed him. The talk, though, always returned to war and their menfolk, who, like Andy, were serving on ships in the freezing cold north, or toiling in the deserts of North Africa. There were those, too, whose men had been taken prisoner or perished in Burma and Japan, and in Europe there were stories of the merciless atrocities in Jewish ghettos.
It was late in the afternoon when the shop door opened to reveal two young faces, both unaware of the surprise awaiting them.
It took Evie only a few seconds to fly into her father’s arms, and then Mark, close on her heels. After the initial surprise came the questions, and breathless delight when Andy opened his kit bag to give them each a small gift.
‘I made these for you,’ he said, his voice breaking slightly, ‘a little souvenir for both of you.’
Molly smiled as Evie examined the raffia horse made by her father and Mark the carved wooden submarine that Andy had sculpted from driftwood.
‘Has you got something for Molly?’ Evie asked and Andy nodded, presenting Molly with a small square box. Inside was a little silver anchor on a chain.
‘It’s beautiful,’ Molly said as Andy clipped it around her neck.
‘She’s a sailor now, ain’t she?’ said Evie, and Andy roared with laughter. Lifting Mark and Evie, one under each arm, to squeals of laughter, he grinned at Molly. ‘Reckon it’s time we got out of your way.’
‘I’m putting you two in charge of showing your father what’s for dinner,’ she told the children. ‘There’s yesterday’s mash and veg for bubble and squeak. And cold custard and apple pie for afters.’
‘Are you coming?’ Mark asked Molly as Andy lowered him to the floor.
‘I’ll close the shop first.’ She met Andy’s eyes as she fingered the anchor around her neck.
His smile told her he was thinking the same; they couldn’t wait to be in each other’s arms once more.
When the children were asleep that night, they sat together in the front room holding hands. They had shared so much happiness in the last few hours that Molly had almost forgotten Cissy and Harry. Now, as Andy’s fingers stroked lightly across hers, she almost felt guilty for that happiness and she suddenly wondered about the Denhams. ‘I hope you won’t worry about Betty and Len,’ she said softly. ‘I’m sure Roger would have found them a decent billet in Wales.’
‘Molly, it’s not the Denhams that worries me. It’s that copper who was hanging around you.’
‘Who? Detective Constable Longman?’ she said in surprise.
‘Has he been round?’
Molly’s cheeks flushed. Ted had never been the jealous type and she had never given him cause to be. But she could see by the look in Andy’s eyes that he was a different kind of man. ‘Only at Christmas to tell us that Ronnie Hook went to jail.’
‘Christmas ain’t the time to be calling on folk. Did he make a nuisance of himself?’
‘I didn’t give him a chance to. It was the day Dad stayed and the Turners and Cissy and Spot were here. I was polite but sent him on his way.’
‘I wish I had been here,’ he growled, pulling Molly to him. ‘He would have got a very different reception.’
‘Andy, he’s just a nosy copper.’
‘Don’t care if he’s nosy. Got nothing to hide. But I don’t want him pestering you.’
Molly laughed and held his face between her hands. ‘This is a very funny feeling.’
‘What is?’
She put her lips close to his. ‘Knowing that someone cares enough to say that.’
‘I care all right,’ he whispered. ‘You’d be shocked to know just how much.’
Molly silenced him with a long and tender kiss, then, leaning back against the settee, he said very slowly, ‘I want us to be together always. Do you?’
‘I think you know the answer to that.’
‘Then there’s something important I have to say.’ He looked down at their joined hands then slowly brought his gaze up. ‘Before the war, I took a course in signals. Was going to make something of meself as a signalman. But when I married Stella, me dreams all went out of the window. Until now, when it wouldn’t take too long to get myself up to scratch again – or so I’m told. The good thing is, I’d be in England for a while, at a signals training camp.’
‘Oh, Andy, that’s wonderful news.’
‘I might not pass the course.’
‘You will, I’m sure.’
‘I ain’t never had anyone show any faith in me before.’
She nodded slowly. ‘I have all the faith that’s needed.’
‘So you’re up for it?’ he asked uncertainly.
‘Of course I am. It must be safer than being on the guns.’
For a moment he looked away, but soon he was telling her what might be involved. ‘The story goes that our British boffins have broken the German naval code. For a while our Atlantic convoys have been getting through, a few losses but not as many as there were. Then in February, something must have happened. Ships started sinking again. So the code breakers went back to the drawing board. Meanwhile, we’re relying on flag signals or wireless telegraphy. And that’s where I come in.’
‘Do you have a choice in this, Andy?’
‘Because of my previous experience I’ve been asked to volunteer.’
Molly was silent as her ribs seemed to squeeze painfully together. Ted was a volunteer and now Andy was.
‘I’ll be on destroyers.’ He paused, letting this sink in. ‘If you was against it, I’d turn them down. This is all about us now, not just me.’
Molly’s thoughts were in a whirl. History was repeating itself. Her fear was that the same thing might happen to Andy as it did to Ted.
‘The decision’s not mine to make,’ she answered, recalling her conversation with Jean on the bus. And although it wasn’t easy, she nodded. ‘If it’s what you want I won’t stop you. There are no guarantees to anything in life, Andy. I’ve learned that.’
‘I can guarantee you one thing,’ he told her, a little choke in his voice. ‘Wherever I am, whatever I’m doing, and as long as I draw breath, you’ll be in my heart. I love you, Molly Swift. One day, when all this is over, I’ll marry you.’
He kissed her with a fierce hunger that she knew matched hers in every way, no matter what problems were posed in the future. Then, raising his eyebrows, he whispered, ‘Will you wait for me?’
Molly smiled, her brown eyes full of love. ‘I’ll wait, you know that. And I’ll take good care of Mark and Evie. Wherever you are, our thoughts will be with you.’
His eyes closed in momentary relief but as he was about to kiss her again, a noise disturbed them.
‘I’s ’ungry,’ said a small voice and they broke apart, turning to stare at Evie’s tiny figure standing in the doorway. Her nightie billowed out as she hugged her raffia horse and padded barefoot across the room to her father’s lap.
Andy kissed the wheat-coloured curls framing his daughter’s innocent face and soon there were some very wide yawns, until Evie held out her arms to Molly.
‘Hello, Curly Top, are you still awake?’ she said as Evie nestled against her chest.
‘I’s ’ungry,’ Evie mumbled again, promptly falling asleep. With the warmth of Evie’s body against her, Molly looked silently into Andy’s eyes.
No other words were needed.