Nothing is Forever (12 page)

Ruth suggested they went to the church to see them coming out as man and wife but Tabs insisted she was working and had no intention of bothering her boss by asking for time off. In fact it was an afternoon when she would be at the antique shop and Henry had already offered to stay while she attended.

‘You can’t disappoint them,’ he’d said. ‘You’ll be given a place at the top table as daughter of the bridegroom. An empty chair would be an embarrassment and your father would be hurt. You have to go, Tabs.’

‘I haven’t had an invitation,’ she said, her voice quivering a little.

‘An oversight, surely. Come on, Tabs, it isn’t like you to be childish.’

‘No oversight. When I asked about the arrangements Martha didn’t tell me the date or the time and made it clear I wasn’t included.’

‘In that case, go and embarrass them, they deserve it!’

At lunchtime, a couple of hours before the wedding, she went into the park with sandwiches she had brought from home and sat on the seat in the sun. At least it could have rained! she thought. That was childish, but she didn’t care, just wishing for rain, hail, thunder and lighting made her feel better.

Jack came before she had started eating and he carried a flask. ‘I thought I’d find you here,’ he said, giving her a light kiss on her cheek. ‘Tea and a couple of doughnuts to extend the feast. Have you got a sandwich to spare for a starving man?’

‘There’s plenty,’ she said, opening the package wrapped in grease-proof paper.

‘Eat up and we’ll go and look at the dolled-up woman who you have to call Mummy,’ he joked.

‘I’m not going to the wedding,’ she said calmly. ‘I wasn’t invited and I won’t stand with the rest of the gawpers, watching and saying “oooh” and “aahh”.’

‘Just a peep? We could stand at the entrance to the sweet shop next to the church and no one would see us.’

‘I couldn’t go like this,’ she said, waving her arm at her long navy skirt and plain cream blouse.

‘You bought something to wear, didn’t you? When you were expecting to be invited?’

‘No, I did not.’

‘Not even a hat? With feathers and a couple of roses?’

‘Nothing.’

‘Then something better than what you’re wearing now. Tell you what, I’ll go back and fetch the suit you wore when we last went out. Green, I think it was. Tell me where it is and I’ll be back in half an hour and you can change in the shop.’

Encouraged by his enthusiasm, she agreed and handed him her key, with instructions about where to find her suit and high heeled shoes. She was smiling as he set off at a fast rate, stopping twice to wave.

At Ty Gwyn, Jack knocked and waited a while before letting himself in. He quickly found the suit and shoes then he looked around the other bedrooms. The suitcase from which letters and papers fell in a frozen waterfall was in the middle of one of the back rooms and he began to move them, his eyes skimming them without reading, in the hope of seeing the name Tyler. He glanced at his watch. This was hopeless, he had to look through them properly before abandoning the hope of there being a connection with himself. Reluctantly he gathered up the clothes and hurried back to the park, but on the way he stopped and had an extra key cut. It was certain to be useful one day.

Tabs and Jack watched as onlookers gathered. She saw Ruth and Aunty Blod, Mali and Mickie, and several people she knew from the antique shop and the newsagent’s. They hid in the doorway of the sweet shop and watched as cheers announced the appearance of the bride and groom coming out of the church.

Martha was dressed in pink. A dress reaching just below her knees, layered and decorated with sequins which sparkled in the sun. Her headdress was made of tiny feathers and she carried a bouquet which also included feathers. Tabs stifled a laugh when she head the voice of Aunty Blod carry across the heads of the crowd, ‘Pink’s too risky at fifty.’ A murmur of laughter echoed her own. Jack squeezed her arm as he, too, chuckled. Someone in the crowd added, ‘Duw, there’s a laugh! Fifty? She won’t see sixty again!’

That evening Ruth and Aunty Blodwen talked about the wedding, asking if Tabs had heard any reports about the reception.

‘No, but perhaps I’ll be sent a slice of wedding cake,’ she said with a smile.

To everyone’s surprise, a boy delivered a note signed Martha Bishop, inviting them all to go to a party a week later, on the newlyweds’ return from honeymoon. A chance to celebrate their wedding among friends, the note explained.

‘She’s hoping for a few more presents!’ Ruth said unkindly.

‘I’ll have to go,’ Tabs told Jack later.

Thinking of the empty house, with Ruth and the rest going to the party, Jack turned the newly cut key in his pocket and agreed.

The August evening was warm and still. ‘I’ll leave the windows open,’ Ruth said, as she began to close the doors. ‘We’ll be back in a couple of hours.’

‘I’ll see to the doors, leave them open for a bit,’ Aunty Blod said. ‘I’ll follow you later, our Bryn is giving me a lift in that old van of theirs. Sitting among the garden tools won’t hurt. It isn’t far and easier for me than the bus.’

Ruth, Tommy, Toni and Brenda strolled through the streets to where the newly weds were waiting and Blodwen dozed as she waited for Bryn to come. Jack was watching and, as he heard the van turn into the road he dashed into the house and ran softly up the stairs.

He listened as Bryn helped Blodwen from the house and into the van. He heard the key turning in the back door and the van driving away. Then he went to where the suitcase had been and it wasn’t there.

Frustrated, he looked in the other rooms then went back to the first room and looked inside the wardrobe. It was there and the work of only a moment to drag it out and open it. Carefully, he began looking through the untidy assortment of papers.

Tabs had been asked by her father to go to the house at four o’clock, hours before the guests were due to arrive and, as she had guessed, Martha was dressed in her finest, sitting on the armchair, waiting for her to set out the food. There wasn’t enough, Tabs could see that immediately, and glancing at the clock, she reached for flour and fat and other ingredients and began cooking. Scones, and sausage rolls and small cakes as well as sandwiches to add to the few Martha had prepared began to fill plates. Hot and flushed by her efforts, Tabs stood in the kitchen watching the last batch of cakes cooking, as they stood to receive their guests.

Many were people she didn’t know, friends of Martha and some of her father’s acquaintances from the club where he had always spent his evenings. No one introduced her and she stayed in the kitchen, handing people plates piled with food to take in, while her father dealt with drinks.

It was a relief when Ruth and her family arrived, closely followed by Aunty Blodwen and Bryn. Ruth stayed in the kitchen when it was clear that Tabs had no intention of moving. Then Henry turned up and pulled Tabs into the crowded room. The moment she was free from him she darted back into the kitchen. She reached for her coat and left.

‘Go after her, Henry,’ Ruth said, as she saw Tabs’s hasty exit. ‘She deserves better than this. I’d like to bang her father’s head against the wall.’

Henry ran out of the house and saw Tabs leaning against the wall of the house further along the street. He walked up to her and put an arm around her shoulders. She remained stiff and upright, unwilling to accept the comfort his arms offered.

‘What is it about me that I always settle for the role of idiot slave?’

‘Your father trained you too well. It was the way he brought you up, convincing you that you were unimportant. Just an unimportant addition to his life, accepting your exceptional skills and capabilities without thought. He should be so proud of you. You are a remarkable woman, Tabs, and it’s about time you realized it. Once you do, then others will too. I know how fortunate I am to have you for a friend.’

She didn’t reply but she relaxed from her stiff refusal to be comforted and he felt her fall softly against him. He put a second arm around her and they stood there without talking for a long time, his hands slowly stroking her back and shoulders, soothing his face against her hair.

‘Come on,’ he said at last, ‘I’ll walk you home.’

In Ty Gwyn, Jack was sitting on the bedroom floor surrounded by piles of papers. From what he could see they were mostly school reports and out-of-date receipts for things like coal, electricity and gas, plus a few accounts from the local grocer. None of it went far enough back to be any help to him. Nothing bore the name Tyler. If they had lived here once they were long gone and there was no way he could find out where.

Slowly he returned the papers to the suitcase, shuffling them about a bit from the neat piles he had made. He put the case where he had found it and, as he began to walk down the stairs he looked up at the entrance to the loft. That was the place where things no longer used were stored. Things that people hesitated to throw away were put up in the loft and forgotten. He needed to get up there, but how? He sat on the top stair feeling dejected but determined to check as carefully as possible before giving up and moving on. Another town, another family maybe called Tyler, it seemed hopeless, but he wasn’t going to give up while there was another place to search.

With Tabs’s help he had to make absolutely sure that these weren’t his people, before going back to a boring job and an abysmally low wage. Not when he might find his inheritance which his father referred to as his treasure. Well, it would be his now, if only he could find the family. Better try a while longer before giving up and moving on from this area. He had a strong feeling that this was the place where he’d find it. The memories passed on from his father seemed to be linked with this town. Certainly more than with any other town he had explored. Places he’d mentioned as he’d reminisced were recognizable: the house and the church, the pond and the tree – surely it was too much of a coincidence not to be the house he’d been looking for? But people moved and there was no certainty that the family living there was the one he wanted to find. Oh, how wonderful it would be to find them, claim his inheritance and have money in the bank. He wondered if he had missed his chance. So many years had passed and he had so little information. He couldn’t remember whether he had really heard his father mention the name Tyler, or if he had simply slipped into his consciousness from somewhere else and had lodged there, a false memory with no basis in fact.

It was as the town hall clock was striking ten that Tabs and Henry passed through the town square. ‘Will there be anyone home?’ he asked.

Tabs shook her head. ‘Not unless they invented an excuse to leave early and have overtaken us.’

‘I wouldn’t blame them, but I bet they’ll enjoy your food before that happens. You’ll be all right on your own?’

‘Of course. Thanks, Henry. You shouldn’t have walked all this way. I’ll be all right now. Will you go back to the party?’

‘Not unless you’ve changed your mind and want to stick it out until the others leave.’

‘No thanks! I might be an idiot but I’m not a martyr! A cup of tea, then I’ll go to bed with a book.’

‘A much better choice.’

They walked to the gate and she opened it and turned to him. ‘Thanks.’

He gave her a brief hug and turned to walk away. ‘See you tomorrow.’ He waved and was gone.

Jack heard the sound of the gate and jumped up in alarm. He ran down the stairs and out of the back door, not stopping to close it, and hid in the bushes. The August day had been bright and sunny and the late evening was still light. He held his breath. If she had turned towards him she was bound to have seen him, but she opened the door and disappeared inside. He released his pent-up breath and hurried away.

Tabs went in but she didn’t go to bed. She made herself a sandwich and a cup of tea and sat near the fire and waited for the others to return. She didn’t have to wait long. Just before eleven o’clock she heard the sound of laughter and happy voices. She opened the door and they came in chattering and laughing. Bryn and Tommy were singing in harmony. The tune she recognized but the words she did not. They were making up the words as they went, and her stepmother’s name featured prominently.

‘Where did you get to, Tabs?’ Toni asked, as she heaved herself awkwardly into a chair. ‘Any chance of a cup of tea? Bryn brought me back in that old van and I’ll never recover.’

‘Where’s your Aunty Blodwen?’ Tabs asked. ‘Surely she didn’t walk?’

‘Bryn’s going back for her,’ Ruth said. ‘When we left, Martha was trying to wake her and get her ready, but our Blod was unmovable and I think they might have to leave her there until morning.’

‘Mrs Martha Bishop won’t like that!’

‘Neither will Blod if she misses breakfast!’

Tabs went to the fire where the kettle simmered and began to make a pot of tea. Ruth took the pot from her and said she’d deal with it. ‘You’ve done enough today,’ she added. ‘The cheek of that Martha. Inviting you just so you could deal with the food.’ She turned then and asked, ‘Where’s Henry?’

‘He walked me back then I think he went home.’

‘He promised to walk me home later.’

‘I don’t think parties are his favourite way of spending an evening.’ Tabs said. ‘He likes people and gets on with most, but he’d rather see people individually and not have to make up false conversation.’

‘Me an’ him both.’ Tommy muttered.

‘Go back to sleep,’ Toni said.

With the twins being guided by their wives, they all finally left.

The house was quiet by midnight, and as Tabs locked and bolted the back door she frowned, suddenly remembering that the door had been open when she got back. Aunty Blodwen must have forgotten to lock it. Best not to tell Ruth; she didn’t want to get the old lady in trouble. And nothing had been moved, so far as she could tell. She checked the bag containing Ruth’s cash and payment book were still in the dresser drawer with the cutlery, but nothing had been disturbed.

Ruth went to see Henry the following day. She had been surprised that he hadn’t returned to the party after seeing Tabs home. He had always been most attentive and his abandonment of her was hurtful, even though she knew his concern for Tabs had been justified.