Doris was in the same euphoric state as her sister, for like Peggy she’d been living with upheaval, dirt, dust and inconvenience for weeks, and now the work on the two bungalows was finished just in time for Christmas. She parked the car, but instead of retrieving her shopping and going indoors, she just sat there admiring the result.
There were dormer windows in the roof now, for the vast attic had been reconfigured into a double bedroom, bathroom and dressing room with a flight of stairs coming down into what had been the two entrance halls, and which now had a single front door. The walls between the bungalows had been knocked through and a graceful archway led into a spacious sitting room where John’s spare bedroom and bathroom had once been. Another two arches behind the staircase led into a kitchen that ran right along the back of the house and overlooked the combined gardens.
The front room and part of the spare bedroom on Doris’s side had been knocked through and was now an elegant dining room, and her old bedroom had been enlarged and now had an en-suite bathroom to cater for visitors. Deep cupboards had been built beneath the stairs to house John’s golf clubs, the Hoover, and all the usual junk one accumulated, and in her lovely new kitchen there was a washing machine, refrigerator and an AGA which heated the water and the radiators and kept the whole house cosy.
Doris sighed with pleasure, for the house had fulfilled the dreams she and John shared, and every time she walked through that front door she was reminded of how lucky she was.
As the rain drummed on the car roof and the wind buffeted against it, Doris snapped out of her thoughts and gathered up her shopping baskets and numerous packages. She was about to struggle out of the car hampered by the strong wind coming up from the sea when John came hurrying towards her with his large golfing umbrella.
‘I was looking out for you,’ he said, taking the baskets, and shielding her from the rain as they scurried up the garden path. ‘Let’s get you inside. You must be exhausted.’
They entered the quiet, warm luxury of their beautiful home and John took her packages and helped her off with her coat and hat. He kissed her damp cheek. ‘The kettle’s on. I thought you’d appreciate a cuppa after trawling round the shops most of the day.’
She took his hand and softly kissed his lips. ‘Whatever would I do without you?’ she murmured.
‘I sincerely hope you never have to,’ he replied, giving her a brief hug. ‘Come on, let’s have that tea and you can show me what you bought.’
Doris took off her wet shoes and left them on the doormat. Slipping her feet into her slippers, she followed him past the stairs and into the kitchen, which despite the gloomy day looked wonderfully bright and welcoming with its pale cream walls, white cupboards and the original blue and red floor tiles the builder had managed to match up with some he’d found in his shed.
She sat at the scrubbed pine kitchen table and lit a welcome cigarette. ‘The queues were horrendous, but I didn’t manage to get everything I was after,’ she said. ‘The shops are half-empty and there’s very little choice, so Christmas lunch will be very much a case of making do with what there was. But I found a wooden fire engine for Teddy, a smart tie and cufflinks for Anthony and a very pretty blouse for Susan. I splashed out a bit on the new baby and found a silver rattle for her in one of the antique shops. I’ll have to clean it thoroughly, of course – heaven knows the germs that might be on it.’
John was smiling as he stowed away the bread, vegetables and tins, and put the meat, eggs and fish in the fridge. ‘It sounds as if you had a successful day. I’m afraid I’ve been very lazy really and only managed to put together a vegetable pie for supper.’
‘It’s a shame the weather’s so awful. I know how much you enjoy your weekend golf,’ she sighed.
She sipped the tea he placed in front of her and relaxed. ‘The town’s looking pretty with lots of lights everywhere, and the shop windows all dressed for Christmas. The council workers were decorating the tree in the High Street, and having a hard time of it with the wind and rain. There hasn’t been one there since 1940, so it’s lovely to see it again. I expect Peggy will be taking Daisy down there once it’s all decorated – just as our mother used to take us when we were small. It became quite a Cliffehaven tradition over the years.’
‘Then we must take Teddy and baby Angela down to see it if the weather’s clement,’ said John. His smile was warm and full of love as he looked at her. ‘I’m really looking forward to Christmas this year,’ he said. ‘I’m sure Anthony and Suzy will be amazed by what we’ve had done, and there’ll be lots of room for Teddy to race about on the tricycle I bought him.’
Doris smiled although she dreaded the thought of her new parquet floors being scratched by a small boy on a tricycle. ‘It will be a real family Christmas for both of us,’ she said. ‘Christmas Day here, and Boxing Day with Peggy and all her brood. Bob’s due home today, you know, and Cissy might even come down from London.’
She stopped babbling when she noticed that John had stopped smiling and there was a terrible sadness in his eyes. She reached for his hand. ‘There’s always a chance that Michael’s had a change of heart, and will turn up sometime over the holiday.’
‘I doubt that very much,’ said John. ‘He might be my son, Doris, but after the way he’s behaved towards you, I have no wish to see him again. He’d have to have a radical change in character before I allowed him to step one foot in our home.’
Doris knew in her heart that this awful rift between father and son was not of her making, but she still felt guilty about it. However, if he did turn up unexpectedly it could cause a ghastly atmosphere and ruin everything they’d been so looking forward to. She silently hoped they’d seen the last of him.
It was now Christmas Eve and it had at last stopped raining. Thankful for the weak sun glinting on the puddles, Peggy looked out of her kitchen window to watch Bob and Charlie cleaning out the chicken coop.
Ron was busy digging up the rotten vegetables and turning over the ground of the vegetable plot, hoping it would dry out enough for him to plant his winter seedlings. Harvey and Monty were exploring the compost heap, and Daisy was getting in everyone’s way by tramping about in her wellington boots and issuing orders.
Peggy leaned on the new sink and rested her chin in her hand as she watched the activity. She still couldn’t get over the fact that Bob was a man – a tall, handsome man just like his father, with the strong arms and big, capable hands that a farmer needed, and the weathered complexion of someone who spent his days out of doors.
She bit her lip as she watched her sons leave the coop and start fooling about with the dogs. They were as tall as each other and had the dark hair and bright blue Reilly eyes, but as big and grown-up as they were, it seemed they still possessed their grandfather’s aptitude for mischief.
Ron stopped forking the ground to turn his back to the wind and fill his pipe, and she giggled as Bob surreptitiously removed the fork and hid it behind the coop. Ron began patting all his pockets, looking puzzled, for he’d left his tobacco pouch on the garden wall, and hadn’t seen Charlie slip it into his own pocket. Both boys were trying very hard not to laugh when a bewildered Ron stared at the spot where his garden fork had been and turned a complete circle in search of it.
‘Ach, to be sure, you’re a couple of wee divils,’ he roared, more for effect than from any real anger. ‘You wait until I get hold of you, then you’ll be laughing on the other sides of your wee faces so you will.’
‘You’ve got to catch us first, Grandad,’ said Charlie.
Ron made a grab for him, but he vaulted over the back wall, and Bob shot out of the gate. The dogs barked and chased after them, leaving Ron shaking his head as they disappeared up the hill. ‘’Tis grand it is you can run,’ he shouted after them. ‘But I’ll get me own back, you see if I don’t.’
Daisy was laughing so hard she lost her balance and plumped down onto the path.
Charlie’s cheeky face appeared round the corner. ‘Lost anything, Grandad?’
Ron just caught the roll of tobacco that came sailing over the wall, and shook his fist good-naturedly before settling his rump against the wall to fill his pipe and get it lit. He cupped his filthy hands around the match and caught sight of Peggy watching him through the window. Shrugging his shoulders and grinning broadly, he followed tell-tale Daisy to the back of the coop to retrieve his fork.
Peggy turned from the window and went to check on the chicken stew which was bubbling away in the slow oven. Ron and Bob had agreed that the hens were now too old to be productive, so they would use them for stews, soups and stock. This was the first of eight, and although it was sad to see them gutted and plucked, it did mean they’d provide good, filling meals for quite a while – and would be a welcome change from the usual rabbit.
She sat at the kitchen table with a cigarette, poised to stop them all coming into her lovely basement with their muddy boots, and wondered if it might be an idea to get a porch built over the back door where boots, wellingtons and wet coats could be stowed instead of bringing them into the house. She smiled at the idea and decided she’d tackle Ron and Frank about it tomorrow after they’d eaten and had a few drinks.
The weeks of worrying over how to feed everyone over the Christmas break had been allayed by Vi’s generous bounty and the three food parcels that had arrived this morning. There had been two from Australia, each filled with tinned ham, salmon and jam; bags of lemons, dried fruit and nuts, as well as sugar, tea and coffee, and Christmas cards from Sarah, Jane, Sybil, Rita and Peter – it seemed they were all planning to meet up over the holiday period.
Cordelia had received a parcel from her family in Canada, and this had been full of tins of gorgeous biscuits, shortbread, more dried fruit, knitting wool and neatly wrapped small gifts. Peggy’s cupboards were groaning with it all, and the turkey from Ron and Rosie was so large, it would probably feed everyone for a week.
The knowledge that Jim would miss yet another Christmas was sobering, but he’d sent a lovely parcel of presents for everyone, and a long letter to tell her how much he was missing her and longed to be with them all. It wasn’t the same as having him here, but his loving words had warmed her, and she could start to tentatively believe he would be home before another Christmas loomed.
The house was peaceful for a change as Daisy and the boys were outside with the dogs. Danuta was on duty and would be spending the evening with Stanislaw, who was slowly and painfully learning to walk unaided again. Cordelia had gone out with Bertie and would be home soon, for she didn’t want to miss Doris’s drinks party this evening and the chance to nose around the transformed bungalow.
Doris was very proud of the house, and Peggy knew her sister well enough to realise the drinks party was her chance to show it off. Peggy had already been round there, and had been amazed at the transformation, but she still preferred what she’d had done here, for the essence of the old house was still evident.
She stubbed out her cigarette and checked that Ron was still with Daisy, then wandered into the dining room. There was a large tree now gracing the bay window, bedecked with the tinsel, glass baubles and tiny coloured lights she’d found in her attic. A pile of presents would be placed beneath it once Daisy was in bed and asleep, and her stocking was already hanging from the mantelpiece waiting to be filled.
The table looked lovely with a white linen cloth set with brass candlesticks, home-made crackers and a centrepiece of holly and ivy laced with scarlet ribbon. She’d unearthed her grandmother’s heavy silver cutlery from a case in the attic and had spent an entire evening polishing it to a gleam, and it looked wonderful set against the scarlet placemats and napkins she’d made from the remnants of an old damask curtain.
There would be fourteen of them sitting down for lunch tomorrow, plus baby Joseph who would be using Daisy’s old high chair now he was big enough. She hadn’t heard from Cissy recently, and as she’d been reluctant to make a firm decision about coming down for Christmas the last time they’d spoken on the telephone, Peggy doubted she would come. She understood that it was probably a very busy time for the taxi company and the attractions of London would be far more tempting than a family Christmas in Cliffehaven.
Peggy gave a sigh, adjusted a fork and spoon and went back to the kitchen just in time to stop Ron and his muddy dogs from going into her basement.
‘Oh no you don’t,’ she said. ‘Get those dogs out of here and your boots off. I spent half the morning polishing the lino, and I don’t want to do it again.’
Ron puffed out his cheeks and looked at her mournfully. ‘To be sure, Peggy girl, you’re getting too house-proud. A bit of mud never hurt anyone and I’ll be cleaning up after them.’
Peggy relented, but very reluctantly as Bob and Charlie appeared in the doorway, mucky as mud-larks and grinning from ear to ear. ‘See that you do,’ she retorted. ‘And I don’t want any of you upstairs until you’re clean and that floor is spotless again. The mop and bucket are in the scullery cupboard.’
Daisy came excitedly into Peggy’s room at five o’clock on Christmas morning with the stocking Santa had left at the bottom of her bed. She clambered into bed with her and chattered away non-stop as she showed Peggy the spinning top, the set of doll’s clothes and the packet of sweets.
Peggy drew the covers around them both and groggily admired everything, until Daisy finally ran out of steam and snuggled up for a little snooze. Peggy drifted off again, but she was aware of the heavenly smell of the turkey she’d put in the oven to cook overnight, and the huge amount of work she’d have to get through before lunch could be served. But it was lovely cuddling her little girl on this special day.
They were woken by a knock on her door. ‘Yes? What’s the matter?’ Peggy called, quickly disentangling herself from Daisy and pulling on Jim’s dressing gown.
‘We thought we’d bring you breakfast in bed,’ said Bob, pushing the door open as Daisy scrambled off the bed to hug his legs. ‘And to take this one downstairs,’ he added with a chuckle, swinging her up onto his hip.
‘Oh, darlings, how lovely,’ she breathed as Charlie came in with a loaded tray.
‘I want breakfast in bed too,’ demanded Daisy, wriggling in Bob’s arms.
‘Yours is downstairs, pipsqueak,’ he said firmly as Charlie placed the tray on the bed. ‘And if you keep making a fuss, there won’t be any more presents.’
This threat had an immediate effect, and Daisy quietened.
Peggy looked in amazement at the breakfast. There was a plate of bacon, egg and fried bread, a big mug of tea and a sprig of holly bright with red berries in a small vase. ‘Gosh,’ she murmured. ‘That’s a man-size meal.’ She looked up at her two strapping boys, tears of love threatening. ‘But thank you, it’s such a lovely, lovely treat. You are good boys.’
‘We decided you needed feeding up, Mum,’ said Charlie, going a bit pink as she kissed him. ‘So you’ve got to eat it all.’
‘Happy Christmas, Mum,’ said Bob, planting a kiss on her cheek. ‘And don’t worry about Daisy, we’ll keep her busy until you’re ready to come down.’
They closed the door behind them and Peggy nestled against the pillows to tuck into the delicious breakfast, wondering if they’d given her this treat because they remembered their father doing the same thing every Christmas and birthday morning, and wanted to somehow make up for his absence.
She smiled at Jim’s photograph on the bedside chest. ‘Happy Christmas, darling,’ she murmured, blowing him a kiss and raising her mug of tea. ‘Here’s hoping we’ll be together long before the next one.’
Almost an hour later Peggy was bathed, dressed and ready to join the fray. She was wearing her favourite yellow dress with a thick white knitted cardigan, the gold filigree necklace and earrings Jim had sent her from India, and the garnet ring he’d entrusted to Ron to give her on the first wedding anniversary they’d had to spend apart. She’d added a dash of lipstick and some powder as it was a special occasion, and hurried down to see what was happening in her kitchen.
The turkey was very nearly cooked, and the boys had prepared all the vegetables. Cordelia was clearly in charge of the Christmas pudding which was now steaming nicely on the hob, and Danuta was instructing Daisy on how to wrap the sausages in rashers of bacon to put in with the roast potatoes and parsnips which would go in an hour before dishing up.
Peggy found that she had very little to do, so she lit a cigarette, made tea for everyone and then tuned the wireless in to the church service being transmitted from Winchester Cathedral. As the lovely sound of the choir filled the warm, deliciously scented room, it really began to feel like Christmas, and Peggy relaxed, determined to enjoy every moment so she could write and tell Jim all about it.
The morning sped past, with Stanislaw arriving by taxi armed with some of the bottles of champagne that Martin and Roger had smuggled over from one of their flights to France. Frank brought a huge pot of winkles and whelks for tea and looked very smart in a tweed jacket and twill trousers, and Peggy noticed he’d had a haircut and was looking rather chipper for a man whose wife had deserted him.
Betty and Brendon brought bottles of wine and had dressed baby Joseph in a scarlet and white knitted romper suit with a matching bobble hat which made him more adorable than ever. Bertie Double-Barrelled brought a box of cigars for the men, a lump of cheese and two bottles of very good port. Ron and Rosie arrived armed with beer and gin, the collars of the two dogs adorned with red and green ribbon bows. And last but never least, Jack Smith brought a cooked joint of beef for the Boxing Day buffet, a sack of potatoes and two pounds of carrots and two cauliflowers.
All the presents had been placed beneath the tree in the dining room, and Daisy was in a fever of excitement as she sat by them and tried to guess which ones were hers and what could be in them.
Ron had just begun to carve the turkey when the telephone rang. Peggy dashed into the hall and had to plug one ear against the noise coming from the dining room where Stanislaw was regaling them all with one of his tall stories.
‘Hello?’
‘Happy Christmas, Mum,’ said Cissy. ‘I’m sorry I can’t make it down, but I just wanted you to know I was thinking of you all.’
‘Oh, darling, thank you. We miss you, but do understand you must be very busy up there.’
‘It’s absolutely hectic,’ she replied. ‘With all the parties going on, we’re non-stop from morning until very late. I’m exhausted, if the truth be told, but it’s all so exciting, Mum. London really is spiffing at this time of year.’
Peggy smiled at her daughter’s plummy tones. ‘Did you get the present I sent? I’m sorry it’s not much, but there’s so little choice in the shops.’
‘The blouse is absolutely lovely,’ Cissy enthused. ‘I’m actually wearing it now with a black skirt and jacket.’ She paused for breath. ‘I’m terribly lucky, because I’ve had some really super presents this year, so really feel guilty about not being with you all. Dad sent me the most amazing red and gold silk wrap from Singapore which will look quite stunning with the new dress I bought in Harrods.’
Peggy raised an eyebrow. Harrods indeed. Her daughter certainly knew how to spend her hard-earned money.
‘Will you thank Grandad and Rosie for my lovely earrings – and Anne for the absolutely spiffing gloves. They’re all beautiful, and every time I wear them I shall think of you all.’
The pips started. ‘I have to go, sorry, Mum. Have a lovely day and give my love to everyone.’
Peggy smiled as she replaced the receiver. Cissy was happy with her new life – that was all that really mattered – and she’d cared enough to make the call, so she wasn’t lost to them, just on loan to the bright lights of London for a while.
The lunch was a noisy, very jolly affair as they ate the delicious food, drank copiously, pulled crackers and wore the paper hats Peggy and Danuta had made. Baby Joseph joined in the racket by banging a spoon on the high-chair tray, his paper hat over his eyes. Harvey and Monty had been surreptitiously treated to bits of turkey, sausage and ham by Ron, and when it was clear there would be no more, flopped down on the rug in front of Ron’s seasoned applewood fire which Bob had lit earlier.
After lunch the presents were handed out and soon the floor was littered with paper and string and bits of ribbon which Joseph crawled through in great delight. Daisy had been given a doll’s pram and she had to be forestalled from trying to put Joseph in it, and to avoid a temper tantrum, was distracted by Charlie showing her how to spin her top properly.
Bob and Ron pushed back the table and chairs and Frank started the gramophone so everyone could dance. Ron grabbed Rosie and swung her onto the floor, as Bertie led Cordelia in a stately foxtrot. Charlie jigged about with Daisy in his arms as Bob took Danuta onto the floor for a jive. Brendon danced with Betty, their son between them, while Frank and Jack kept Stanislaw company over the remaining cheese, crackers and port.
Peggy’s heart was full as she gazed with love and pride at the sons she and Jim had made together. Seeing them enjoying the first Beach View Christmas for years was something she’d dreamed about, and although Jim couldn’t be here, it was as if he was present in those two boys who looked so very like him.