Copper to Red (The Dillwyns' Stories) (2 page)

Up until Robert
showed interest in her, as most boys in school only came up to her shoulders,
they just teased her, calling her all sorts of names.  Names and taunts which
usually left her crying into her pillow at night time.  After years of
tormenting, it took her along time to trust that Robert wasn’t joking about
liking her.  She was astounded that someone like him was genuinely interested
in her, tall, gangly Janet.  What she hadn’t realised, mainly due to the impact
of years of teasing, was that she was blossoming into a beautiful woman.

Her school
life changed, when she started to date the hot new boy.  Rob had taken one of
the taunting names, willow, and used it as her nickname.  It had instantly made
her feel interesting and glamorous, rather than trying unsuccessfully, to blend
into the background.  She no longer had to walk with stooped shoulders, trying
to be the same height as everyone else.  The teasing instantly stopping.  

Willow felt
as though her life was complete when he asked her to marry him when she was
nineteen.  How beautiful she felt on her wedding day a couple of years later. 
Her white wedding dress and her blonde curly hair flowing, threaded with spring
flowers, and Rob, so handsome, in his suit. 

Her married
life had been wonderful for three years.  They scraped together some money to
put on a small terraced house, with her parents acting as guarantors.  She
worked in the Red Lion for her parents, whenever she wanted, and Rob, worked at
the Grand Theatre.  They had just started to discuss her coming off the pill,
to start the much wanted family.  Willow felt her shoulders slump and heart
miss a beat.  As it turned out, it was
her
that wanted a family, Robert
wanted to leave her, to live with a showgirl he had met at the Grand Theatre.

Two years
later, divorce granted, Robert was goodness knows where, while she was back
living with her parents after struggling to sell their first home.  The tiny
little terraced house, which she had lovingly furnished with second hand furniture,
had to be sold to cover costs.  The rest was divided between them by solicitors,
just like her heart, split in two.  Her life was in tatters. After being in
hibernation for a long time, licking her wounds, she had eventually felt like
working at the Red Lion again.  She was thankful for the unwavering support of
her family and friends who had helped her through it. 

In
retrospect, selling their home had been liberating and coming back to work too,
had helped her get her life back on track.  Even though she had been back for a
while now, the odd customer who had enough courage, like Tom, still commented
on her situation.  She always smiled, but she was still raw even after thinking
at times she was healing.  What she did know, was that she never wanted to
trust her heart to anyone anymore.  She didn’t think she could survive having
it trampled on again.

A crash of
glass pulled her out of her day dream. Willow sighed, back to reality with a
crash, the story of her life. 

“Mam, don’t
bother making me any tea tonight.”  Tom looked up from the last spoonful of his
porridge and homemade blackberry jam that his mother had made.

Megan eyed
her eldest son, “You’re not gambling down the Red Lion again are you?”

Tom laughed
as he strolled to put his empty bowl into the sink.  “Mam, that is the same
line you have been giving me since I have been old enough to drink!”  He continued
to walk over to his mother, who was making a pot of tea, and planted a kiss on
her head. 

“As it
happens we have a big delivery coming tonight and I don’t know what time we
will be finishing.  So, everyone is going to the Red Lion after for a pie and a
pint afterwards.  Mrs Dawkins, the landlady, makes a lovely steak and ale
pie.”  He looked down onto his mother, who at a little over five feet was tiny
next to his six feet. “But obviously her pie isn’t as good as yours.”

Megan gave
her son a pretend shove away.  “Go on with you!  Always the sweet talker!  Do
you want a cup of tea before you go?”

“Ay, yes
please.  The kitchen is empty this morning, where is everyone?”  Tom enquired,
while listening for the normal household noise that usually filled the house.

“I’m waiting
for your father and Michael to come home from work.  They had to do an extra
shift down the mines as there are a lot off because of the flu. Anne and Sam
are
supposed
to be getting ready for school…”  Meg rolled her eyes at
this as she knew she would have to start raising her voice to hurry them up
soon. “..and…”

Tom’s eyes
flicked quickly to his mother, he didn’t miss her gripping the sink and wiping
a tear away.  Even though it had been nearly five years since his younger
brother Johnny had died, his death still affected them all considerably.  Johnny
had only been eight when pneumonia had finally got him after years of being
weak from his bout of measles when he as small.  It was the worst thing Tom had
ever experienced.  Even though, as a family, they knew the end was near, it
still ripped the hearts out of them all, the pain immeasurable. 

He remembered
immediately before, how pleased all the family were when his sister and her
husband announced they were expecting a baby after three years of marriage.  Everyone
was so happy for Ria and Morgan, they were all excited about a new addition to
the family.  Johnny had been especially pleased as he loved Ria unquestionably,
they had a special bond between them.  She always came to visit him even though
she was now married and lived further away.  When she had finished school, Ria
had unselfishly given up her dream of becoming a nurse to work in a factory, to
get the extra money the family needed for Johnny. 

A month
before their baby was due, Johnny succumbed to pneumonia.   Just after the
funeral, Ria had been so heart-broken that she went into labour a month early. 
Luckily, the little boy she delivered had survived and they called him Johnny
Templeton in remembrance of her beloved brother.   Fortunately, Morgan and
Ria’s boy, was now a strapping, normal, active five year old boy.

Tom could
recall everything as though it was yesterday, which is why he tried not to
think about it too much, it still hurt him deeply. Tom tried to change the
subject, it wounded him too much to see his mother so upset, and more so, because
he couldn’t do a blind thing about it. “Willow is back in the pub full time.” 
He shook his head, confused to why he just mentioned Willow.  He shrugged his
shoulders, he hadn’t even been thinking of her.

“Willow?”
his mother looked puzzled.

“Yes, you
know, Janet Dawkins.  Her parents run the Red Lion. She is a couple of years
younger than me.”

“Oh yes, I
remember, tall girl.  I think she was in the same class as Michael, or was it
Ria?  Pretty girl, lots of curly, blonde hair?”

Now Tom was
confused.  “Yep, I guess so.”  He rubbed his stubble, he had forgotten to shave
again.  He pictured Willow.  Yes, he supposed she was pretty, he hadn’t really
thought of her in
that
way as she had always been with Robert.  Now he
came to think of it, she did have glorious wavy blonde hair back in school. 
Now-a-days, it was usually tied up when she worked behind the bar at her
parents’ pub.  For reasons unbeknown to him, Tom suddenly remembered he had a
slight crush on Willow in school, when she had started filling out, but within
no time she was with Robert, so his attentions quickly turned elsewhere.  He
shook the thoughts out of his mind and changed the subject again.

“Is Ria
coming over this weekend with the kids?”

A smile
lifted Meg’s face once more, a strong pride surging through her as she clasped
her hands together.  “Yes, on Sunday.  The children are going to start
attending Sunday School.”  Her face beamed when she talked about her grandchildren. 
“Johnny is getting so big now, the image of his Dad too, such a handsome little
boy.  And my little Rose, such a sweetheart.  I love it that she has got Ria’s copper
hair….” Meg pondered, smiling, “…and her temper too!  I try not to laugh when
she stamps that little foot.”  She shook her head.  “She already has that Daddy
of hers wrapped around her finger.”    Meg laughed, memories of her own
children, when they were small, flittered through her mind. 

Tom downed
the rest of his tea as he rose up from the chair. “Not only her Dad.  I think
she has everyone wrapped around her finger!  I’ll be able to see them if they
come on Sunday as I’m off work.  I’ve got to have a kiss from my little niece.”

Anne, Tom’s
younger sister, came through the door into the kitchen and gave her brother a
wry smile. “You have enough kisses off women; don’t start counting pecks off
your niece too!”

“Good Morning
to you too, Anne.  Do I get a kiss on the cheek from you this morning, or just
cheek?” Tom jested.  With one hand, he picked up his warm, black work jacket,
as the April wind was still brisk, while using his index finger of his other
hand to tap his cheek.

“Ha, ha,
very funny!”  Anne swivelled around from her teasing brother.  She turned her
nose up when she saw the tea pot on the table.  “Why is it that we never have
coffee anymore, just because Ria doesn’t live here?”

“Why don’t
you go to work and earn money to buy your
fancy
coffee?”  Tom countered,
sometimes annoyed with his sister’s self-centeredness. “Which, by the way, is
where I’m going now.  Bye dear sister.  Love you Mam.”

He had
turned before he saw Anne poking her tongue out at his back and Megan rolling
her eyes at them both.

“Four pints
and four of your lovely steak and ale pies please, Mrs D.”

“Coming
right up.  David, come and pour these lads a pint while I get the pies.”  Shirley
looked toward David, her husband of thirty years and still felt the tug of love
when she watched his tall frame walk towards her, a smile on his mouth.  They
had plenty of ups and down during their marriage, money worries, miscarriages,
the birth of their only child, Janet, or Willow as she was now known.  Shirley frowned
slightly when she thought of her daughter.  It upset her to see what Willow had
been through in the last couple of years.  As a mother, she always tried to do
anything to protect her daughter, this time she could not help, which didn’t
sit well.  Robert’s betrayal had been a curve ball for them all; no one had seen
it coming.   Robert and Willow had seemed so happy, which made the sad
situation even worse.  Willow had even had a little chat with her a couple of
weeks before, she had told her that she was coming off the pill to start a
family. 

When Willow
had arrived at the pub, on that wet Wednesday morning, she was as white as a
sheet.   Shirley had been secretly jumping inside; she thought the whiteness
was due to morning sickness.  No, it had just been shock - shock that Robert
had left her for someone else.  She sighed, she knew her daughter still wasn’t
over him and she feared that she never would.  To put that much trust and love
in someone and then have it thrown back in your face must have been
devastating.  She looked towards David, she was so lucky to have met her
husband.  

David walked
towards her, cleaning a glass with his ever present tea towel. “Okay Shirley,
you go and sort out the pies.  How are things going Tom?” he enquired while
pulling the pint.

“Great.  We’ve
just had a big delivery at the market, which we had to unload.  So the rest of
the night is for relaxing as my muscles are killing me!”

“How is the
new market now?” The second pint was placed carefully on the bar.

“New?  It’s
been open since 1961, four years now.”  Tom chuckled.

“What, that
long?  Where does time fly?”  David turned to grab another glass.  “I still
remember when the market was devastated by the bombs during the Second World
War.”  David looked reflectively into space.  “They had a makeshift market
while the site was cleared.  They said the glass roof, which by the way, was
the largest structure of glass and wrought iron in the UK when it was built in
1897, had reflected so the bombers knew where to bomb.”  David shuddered at the
memory.  “Never mind, that was a long time ago.   Take these pints while I pour
the rest; the pies won’t be long.”

Tom went to
pick up the pints.  “Where’s Willow tonight?”  He cursed under his breath as
that was the second time he had mentioned her today.  What was wrong with him
and why did she keep popping into his mind?  He must be working too hard.  Never
mind, Jane was meeting him in the snug later on.

“Ah, she has
gone off with her friend, Emma, to that new hairdresser in town for some
pampering.  She will be in later.”

Tom turned
to walk back to his friends, as David served Hugh, the local milkman.  Willow,
once again, forgotten.

~~~~

Willow
smoothed down her new miniskirt, not that there was much material to smooth. 
Oh, gosh, her father was going to have a fit! 

She looked
into the mirror again, hoping it would give her some encouragement to go down
stairs into the bar.  Perhaps she shouldn’t have let Emma persuade her into
buying it.  Willow knew the skirt was the height of fashion, but it was the
first time she had ever worn a miniskirt.  She had been a married woman for
goodness sake.  She held her breath, well she wasn’t married now, and at twenty
six should be able to make her own decision on clothes and hair!  She almost
stamped her foot in agreement.