Always in My Heart (22 page)

‘I’m going to miss this old place,’ he said as they sat on a stone bench and stared out at the sea. ‘Funny, isn’t it?’ he mused. ‘You don’t really appreciate things until you’re about to lose them.’ He put his arm round Peggy’s shoulder and drew her close. ‘I’ve not been the best husband in the world, but I do adore you, Peggy Reilly.’

She could feel the tears prick as she rested her head on his broad shoulder. ‘You’re the best husband I’ve ever had,’ she said lightly, ‘and I adore you too.’

He tipped back his head and roared with laughter. ‘And how many husbands is it that you’ve had, Peggy?’

She grinned up at him. ‘Just the one – but that is more than enough. You’re a handful, Jim, and always have been, but I wouldn’t change you for the world.’

They sat for a while longer and watched the waves roll like molten glass over the shingle as the gulls swooped and hovered on the wind and clouds
gathered on the horizon. Peggy shivered, not from the cold, but from sudden dread of what the future might hold for them both.

‘Are you cold?’ asked Jim as he pulled up her collar and kissed her nose.

‘I am a bit,’ she said. ‘We’d better get back before it starts to rain. Look at those clouds coming in.’

Jim pushed the pram up the steep hill and carried it back indoors. Peggy went into the kitchen to make a pot of tea and was surprised not to see Cordelia in her usual chair by the fire. And, as she made a couple of corned beef sandwiches for their lunch, she realised the house seemed too quiet altogether.

Jim seemed to notice it too. ‘I’ve never known the place so quiet,’ he muttered as he lit a cigarette. He shot her a crafty smile. ‘Perhaps we should take advantage of being alone for once – I need to check those repairs on the bedroom window.’

She slapped him playfully with a tea towel and would have taken him up on his offer if the kitchen hadn’t been invaded at that moment by Cordelia, Fran, Suzy, Rita and Ron, who were all looking suspiciously pleased with themselves. ‘What are you all up to?’ Peggy asked.

‘Well, now,’ said Fran, ‘as this is to be Jim’s last night at home, we thought you deserved a special treat.’

‘So we’ve got you tickets for the theatre matinee of Noël Coward’s
Blythe Spirit
,’ said Cordelia breathlessly.

‘And we’ve arranged for you to have a drink in the interval,’ added Suzy.

‘But you’re not to be stopping off anywhere on the way home,’ warned Ron. ‘We have a special treat for you here after the show – and you can’t be late.’

Peggy blinked away her tears as Jim tried to embrace everybody at once. Cordelia didn’t seem to mind being crushed and kissed, and she went pink as she giggled and slapped his arm playfully. Ron hugged his son, his eyes suspiciously bright, and Harvey tried to join in this wonderful new game and ended up with his nose being sharply slapped as it probed up Fran’s skirt.

Order was finally restored and Rita looked at the clock on the mantelpiece. ‘The show starts in three hours,’ she said, with a teasing light in her eye. ‘If you want to look handsome and debonair, Uncle Jim, then you’ve just about enough time.’

‘Ach, you cheeky wee girl,’ laughed Jim. ‘I’ll show you – see if I don’t.’ He grabbed Peggy’s hand. ‘Come on. Let’s get our glad rags on and leave them to whatever it is they’re planning. It’s clear they want us out of here.’

Peggy and Jim emerged from their bedroom almost an hour later to discover that the house was deserted – and that even Daisy had been whisked away. ‘But what about her afternoon feed?’ Peggy fretted.

‘They’ll give her a bottle, never you mind. She’s getting used to it, so she is, and with two nurses to look after her, she’ll not want for a thing.’

Peggy knew he was right, but it would feel strange not having Daisy with her – they hadn’t spent more than the odd hour apart since she’d been born.

Jim looked down at her appreciatively. ‘That colour blue really suits you, Peg. You’re a good-looking woman, so y’are, and I could eat you up.’ He closed in on her and threatened to muss her hair and smudge her lipstick. ‘As they all seem to have gone out, why don’t we risk a quick one before we leave?’ he murmured.

She playfully pushed him away. ‘You’re impossible, Jim Reilly,’ she said with a laugh. ‘I’ve not dressed in my best two-piece suit and hat for you to take it all off again.’ She giggled at his woebegone expression. ‘Now, pass me my overcoat and find your hat, and then we can be off.’

Peggy tucked her hand in his arm as they headed down Camden Road. Her heart was so full of love for him that it almost overrode the fear that curled inside her. Jim was such a handsome man – tall, straight and broad-shouldered in his best suit and smart overcoat, his fedora placed just so over his right brow, his dark eyes repeatedly looking down at her as if she was the most beautiful woman in the world. He made her feel special, treasured and cherished, and the thought that it could be many months, perhaps even years, before they would walk down this street together again made her want to cry.

Jim seemed to read her thoughts and he tucked her hand even more firmly into his arm and squeezed it. ‘This is our day,’ he said softly as they reached the bottom of the High Street, ‘and nothing is allowed to spoil it. D’ye hear?’

She nodded, unable to speak for the lump in her throat.

‘Good girl,’ he murmured. ‘Now, we’ve time for a wee drink in the Ship before the show starts. Come on, Mrs Reilly, best foot forward.’

The one drink turned into two as friends crowded round them to wish Jim well, and Peggy had to drag him out so they wouldn’t be late for the show. They just made it before curtain up, finding their seats in the stalls as the lights dimmed.

Peggy watched Jim’s profile repeatedly as the comedy slowly unfolded. She loved the way his eyes crinkled at the corners when he laughed, and was glad he was enjoying himself. It was rare for them to go to the theatre together, and it was a real treat – a very special and thoughtful gift from the others.

They enjoyed the drinks that were waiting for them in the bar at half-time, and held hands like two young lovers as the play continued. And when it was over, they stood with the rest of the audience and clapped enthusiastically.

‘That was fun,’ said Jim as he settled his hat back on his head and gave her his arm once more. ‘I never thought I’d like that sort of thing, but it’s as good as Laurel and Hardy any day.’

It was bitterly cold and they walked quickly through the blackout towards home, their footsteps echoing in the almost deserted street. Beach View looked as if it was all in darkness too, but then the blackout curtains would keep out even the smallest chink of light.

Jim put the key in the lock and frowned as they stepped into the hall. ‘Where is everyone?’ he asked. ‘And why are all the lights off?’

And then the lights came on and people poured down the stairs and out of the kitchen and dining room. ‘Surprise!’ they yelled in unison.

Peggy and Jim were stunned as they were surrounded by their friends and relations. There was Frank and Pauline, Anthony, little Sally and her husband John Hicks with their son Danny, Alison Chenoweth, Suzy, Fran, Rita and Cordelia, as well as Fred the Fish and Alf the butcher with their wives. And then, bounding down the steps in a flurry of frills and petticoats and straight into her father’s arms, came their daughter, Cissy.

‘Oh, me darlin’ girl, ’tis pleased I am to see you,’ Jim murmured as he held her tight.

‘Well, I couldn’t just let you go off, could I?’ she said, tossing back her fair hair and widening her big blue eyes in the theatrical way she’d always had. ‘And I’ve brought Martin along too, but he’s busy with Grandpa Ron at the minute.’

Peggy hugged her beautiful, vivacious daughter and noted she was getting too thin. ‘Aren’t they feeding you properly at the airfield?’ she asked.

Cissy laughed. ‘Of course they are, but I do so much running about after my Air Commodore that it doesn’t have time to stick to my bones.’

Peggy frowned, for Cissy had always been rather flighty. ‘Your Air Commodore? Not another conquest, surely?’

Cissy giggled. ‘He’s old enough to be my father,’ she assured her mother. ‘But he’s my boss now. I’ve been assigned to drive him everywhere and take notes when he has important meetings – and he’s the sort of man who’s on the go all the time. I have a really hard job keeping up with him.’

Conversation soon became almost impossible as everyone tried to talk at once, and Peggy began to wonder where Daisy was, and how on earth they would get everyone into the kitchen without it turning into a game of sardines.

And then the dining-room door was flung open and Ron and her son-in-law stepped into the hall. Ron was in his best suit and looked quite respectable for once, but Martin looked absolutely splendid in his RAF uniform.

He twirled his handlebar moustache and called for order. ‘If our honoured guests, Mr and Mrs Reilly, would please step this way,’ he said in his plummy tones, ‘there is a special surprise awaiting them.’

Peggy and Jim looked at one another and grinned excitedly before linking hands and stepping through the door. They gasped in delight, for the room had been transformed.

The excess furniture had been cleared, the floor swept, and the tables put together to form a T. There was a fire burning brightly in the hearth, and the curtains had been rehung to hide the ugly plywood which had been nailed over the broken windows. The
dust had been cleaned from the old paper chains, and a tiny Christmas tree stood in the corner, glittering with tinsel and baubles. White linen cloths covered the tables, candles flickered in jam jars down its length, and each place setting had a paper napkin tucked into a wine glass.

‘Oh, Martin, Ron,’ Peggy breathed, the tears almost blinding her. ‘How very, very lovely.’

‘To be sure, you’ve worked wonders,’ breathed Jim as he took it all in. ‘That has to be the hardest day’s work you’ve done in a long time, Da,’ he teased.

There was a muffled giggle from the other side of the room and a curtain twitched as someone hushed the giggler.

Peggy’s eyes widened. She’d know that giggle anywhere.

She ran across the room and flung back the curtain to be immediately swamped by Anne and her two boys. ‘Oh, Bob, Charlie, Anne. Oh, my darlings.’ She burst into tears as she tried to kiss all three at once. ‘How you’ve both grown,’ she managed as she held them close. ‘Bob, you’re taller than me, and Charlie, you’ve put on weight – and Anne, oh, Anne.’

‘Let the dog see the rabbit,’ boomed Jim as he swept the boys into his embrace and whirled them round. ‘To be sure you’re too big to be lifted any more,’ he panted as he set them down moments later. He looked at his boys with such love and pride that Peggy simply couldn’t stem the tears.

‘But how did you manage to get travel permits at such short notice?’ she asked Anne as she accepted a handkerchief and tried to dry her eyes.

‘We’ve got Martin to thank for that,’ she replied as her husband came to join them. ‘He pulled lots of strings and wouldn’t take no for an answer.’

Peggy looked up at the handsome flying officer and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. ‘I can never thank you enough,’ she murmured. ‘You’ve made this evening very special by bringing our family home to us.’

He looked rather embarrassed. ‘Not at all,’ he said. ‘It was a purely selfish gesture, as it meant I get to see my wife and daughter for a bit too.’ He grinned as the two boys raced off to the kitchen to get Harvey, who’d been locked downstairs. ‘And it’s good to see those scallywags back where they belong – even if it is only for a few days.’

Peggy was so emotional she could barely speak. The love they had all shown her and Jim was beyond price, and as Jim took her in his arms, she knew this day, this night, this moment would stay with her for ever.

Daisy was wheeled in from the kitchen so she could be a part of it all, and Anne’s daughter, Rose Margaret, toddled in with Cissy, all pretty in a pink frilly party dress. Neither Peggy nor Jim could believe how much she’d grown, for the last time they’d seen her, she’d been a baby in her mother’s arms. It was the same for the boys, and Peggy couldn’t take in how tall and grown-up they looked – especially Bob, who was now
wearing long trousers and had a suspicion of dark fluff on his top lip and chin.

There was a great deal of chatter and laughter as everyone got reacquainted and Ron went round with the sherry bottle. Cordelia sat in the one armchair and became quite pink in the face as Ron topped up her glass. Daisy and Rose were cooed over, Harvey got under everyone’s feet and Charlie managed to skid into the Christmas tree and bring it crashing down on top of himself.

Order was quickly restored and everyone finally took their places at the table. Peggy and Jim had pride of place at the top of the T, with Frank and Pauline beside them. Martin and Ron organised everyone else to their satisfaction and then went off to bring in the food which Anne, Cissy, Pauline and Cordelia had slaved over for half the afternoon.

There were tiny portions of delicious salmon to begin with, courtesy of Fred the Fish and his lovely wife Joan. A huge joint of beef was next – a gift from Alf and his wife, Lil – and this was accompanied by roast potatoes, tinned peas and Yorkshire pudding. To follow was a delicious chocolate cake, courtesy of Castle Hill kitchens and the cook who was trying to put flesh on Anthony’s bones.

Martin had raided the officers’ mess to provide wine and cordials, and Cissy had somehow managed to get hold of a very rare and precious box of liqueur chocolates to eat with the equally precious packet of coffee that Ron had somehow managed to acquire.

As the boys got to know their tiny sister Daisy, and Rose Margaret sat clapping her hands in the high chair, Harvey trotted back and forth between them all to make sure they knew he was there and of course in need of scraps. He soon worked out that the best place to sit was next to Rose’s high chair, for she seemed to enjoy throwing her food at him.

As Jim talked to the boys and made a fuss over his granddaughter, Peggy watched them all with a swell of love that threatened to overwhelm her. Anne looked beautiful, with her shining dark hair and eyes and her flawless skin – and for a moment Peggy wondered if she was expecting again. There was something radiant about her – but then that could just be love and the homecoming.