One Step at a Time (28 page)

John and Amy had watched the ‘mothers’ to see they didn’t get carried away, but they needn’t have
worried; they worked together in harmony with Mrs Dalton’s practical nature helping to curb Mrs Sterling’s more ambitious ideas.

Amongst all the turmoil, Amy spent as much time as possible in John’s calm company, and couldn’t wait to become his wife. She often gazed at the beautiful ring, not being able to believe this was happening to her. They loved each other to distraction, as John was showing in his time alone with her. But his lovemaking always stopped before they went too far, often to her intense frustration. The wedding was only weeks away now and she knew it was right to wait, but when she was in his arms it was so difficult.

The moment she began to dish up the dinner, everyone appeared as if by magic, including Mrs Dalton, who joined them even more often now, as she said that Amy’s cooking was better than hers.

‘Smells good.’ Ben ruffled her hair as he passed her to sit down. ‘I want to do another portrait of you, Amy. Can you make some time to sit for me on Sunday?’

‘John’s working, so I’ll be free.’ She cut the steak and kidney pie into six slices, popping one piece back in the oven, just in case John arrived. He would turn up any time he had a couple of hours to spare, and Mrs Dalton had given him his own key.

After putting the vegetables on the table, she handed round the plates.

‘Come up to my studio early.’ Ben helped himself
to potatoes. ‘I want to spend all day on the painting.’

Normally she would have sighed jokingly and said, Not another picture of me, but she didn’t this time, being only too pleased he was going to settle to his painting again. He had been spending more time at the shop, or out with Howard, only painting in short bursts. But for all his restlessness, his work was good, and getting better with each piece. Howard was the same.

She sat with them at the table, her expression troubled. ‘Don’t join up until after the wedding, please. We would be very unhappy if you weren’t there.’

Howard reached across and squeezed her hand. ‘We’ll be here, Amy. We wouldn’t miss your wedding for the world.’

‘Don’t worry.’ Ben’s smile was gentle. ‘We won’t do anything until we see you safely married to John.’

Her sigh was one of pure relief. They never lied to her, so she could relax now they had promised.

August was turning out to be a glorious month and they were hoping the weather would last for another three weeks for the wedding. Amy had the last fitting for her dress and was thrilled with it. She was slim but not very tall and had insisted on an uncluttered style. They had decided on a pattern that suited her petite figure perfectly. It had a heart-shaped neckline and short puff sleeves; the material was a lightweight white satin and fell from her narrow waist perfectly,
straight in the front and gathering into a small train at the back. Because of her abundant hair – she had been threatened with instant reprisals should she have it cut – the dressmaker had fashioned a circle of imitation roses and pearls. The veil was short and billowing. The effect was stunning, and Amy couldn’t believe it was her when she looked in the mirror.

‘Oh, my dear, that is beautiful.’ Mrs Dalton gave the veil a little tweak before stepping back to view the completed creation.

The dress was carefully removed and packed in layers of tissue paper. Amy paid for it and they left with their huge parcels, heading for home.

‘You can leave this in my wardrobe,’ Mrs Dalton said, as they crept indoors. ‘Then there won’t be any danger of anyone seeing it before the wedding.’

‘I want it to be a complete surprise to everyone.’ If the boys saw them they would insist on seeing the dress, but they were going to have to wait like everyone else.

After hanging it up, Amy hurried back to the shop.

There was a subdued atmosphere when she walked in, and she was surprised to see Ted there with Ben and Howard, and not a customer in sight. The men were in deep discussion about something.

‘You all look very serious,’ she said, still feeling elated about the dress. ‘Why the long faces, and where are the customers?’

‘Britain has just signed an assistance pact with Poland,’ Ben told her.

‘And what does that mean?’

It was Ted who answered. ‘It means that if Germany invades Poland we will have no choice but to fight.’

Her pleasure evaporated, but still she clung to hope. ‘That might not happen.’

Howard shook his head. ‘Hitler has his eyes on Poland. I believe we shall be at war in a matter of weeks.’

That was something she didn’t want to accept, but her family were no fools, they kept up with the news. As the wedding approached, she had tried to shut out the speculation. Reading the newspapers was still a rather wearisome task for her, and she had used that excuse as a reason for not keeping up to date with what was happening in Europe. If they were right then she wasn’t going to be able to do that for much longer. Wrapped in the comforting cocoon of her love for John and her family, she had pushed the talk aside. Now she knew she was going to have to face it just like everyone else.

Ted was sixty-eight, so he would stay at home, but there would be no chance of that for the boys. She gazed at them and her heart ached. They would go for sure. Thank God John was in a profession that would be needed here.

The shop door opened and the man filling her thoughts at that moment strode in. Rushing over, she kissed him. ‘Oh, John, have you heard the news? Is there really going to be a war, and will we have
our wedding before it begins? I’ll be so sad if our wonderful day is spoilt…’

He placed a finger on her lips to stop the worries pouring out. ‘Shush, darling, nothing anyone does will spoil it for us. Whatever happens we shall be married, and we’ll face the future together “for better or worse”, as the ceremony says.’

‘Of course.’ She smiled then. ‘I’m just being silly and selfish, aren’t I?’

‘No you’re not. Everyone’s worried.’ He draped an arm around her shoulders. ‘Ben, the vicar wants us to have a rehearsal for the ceremony, so can I take Amy away for the rest of the day? This is the only time I can get off to fit in with the vicar’s plans.’

‘We’ll allow it, even though she’s only just arrived.’ Ben gave her a teasing smile. ‘But don’t think you can make a habit of this flitting in and out.’

‘No, Ben.’ Her laughter was back. They were all worrying about nothing.

She had such an expressive face, John thought. It was easy to gauge her emotions, and the rapid changes in them. When he’d walked into the shop, worry had been etched on her face for all to see, yet with just a few encouraging words she’d been back to her usual happy self. Matters on the political front were looking grim and he was glad he’d pushed her into an early marriage. The boys had told him that they were going to join up immediately after the wedding, and if he hadn’t fallen in love with Amy, he would have been
doing the same thing. The army was going to need all the doctors and nurses they could recruit, but he wasn’t going to leave Amy. He had promised Ben he wouldn’t. Both the boys loved her like brothers and felt responsible for her. Ben, in particular, was possessive, concerned with her happiness and wellbeing, and had taken him aside one evening to make sure his little girl was going to be looked after and not left alone. And he could understand Ben’s concern after he had told him the full story of her father, and how they had found her, forlorn and rejected, beside her mother’s grave. He could see what a deep impression that had made on the big man. It must have been heartrending.

John smiled to himself as he remembered how Ben had been acting like the stern father, but John had come away with a much better understanding of the depth of feeling Ben had for Amy. Their relationship had puzzled him in the beginning, but there wasn’t anything sexual about it. Ben really did look upon her as a little sister who needed to be loved and protected. The rest of them in the Chelsea house also loved her, and he knew how easy that was. He had taken one look in her gorgeous eyes and fallen so hard it had literally taken his breath away.

In a little over two weeks she would be his wife, and he would make her happy. He loved to see her smile.

The rehearsal didn’t take long, and when the vicar was satisfied they knew what they had to do, he let them go.

John helped Amy into the car as they left the church. ‘Mother’s expecting us for tea.’

‘Oh, why didn’t you tell me? I would have brought her a vase or something.’

‘You don’t have to give her something every time you come.’ He started the car and headed for his house.

‘But I like to give her things. She’s nice.’

‘She thinks you’re nice too.’ He cast her a quick sideways glance, wondering how she had come out of her past so untainted by bitterness. She had a generous, loving nature, and he was the lucky man who had won her heart.

He would make damned sure she never regretted marrying him.

25

The pact with Poland had been signed on 25 August, and seven days later Germany invaded Poland. Britain called for an undertaking from Hitler to withdraw his troops. Everyone held their breath.

On Sunday 3 September the whole nation gathered around their wireless sets, waiting for the Prime Minister to speak.

Amy held tightly to John and Ben’s hands, praying as she had never prayed before. Her prayers had been answered when she had been in danger of being homeless and unloved. Please God, she implored silently, stop this madness and I’ll never ask you for another thing.

At eleven-fifteen they all leant towards the wireless as Chamberlain began to speak. Amy listened with mounting horror as he said: ‘I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.’

Ted turned the wireless off and there was utter silence in the room. Amy, stunned, watched the sun stream through the window and shine on all the people she loved. What did the future hold for them? Certainly hardship and danger; anything else she didn’t dare contemplate. But she had faced grief and
tough times before and, if necessary, she would do so again. Step by step they would get through this, and she mustn’t be selfish, thinking only of herself.

Lifting her head she spoke huskily as emotion clogged her throat. ‘Ben, Howard, you must do what you feel is right, and if you miss our wedding, we’ll understand.’

Ben stood up and gazed out of the window at the empty street, then turned back to face her. ‘No, it’s only twelve days away. We’ll be there, won’t we, Howard?’

‘Nothing is going to make us miss it.’ He smiled. ‘We’ll make it the best damned party we’ve ever had. We might even let Amy have
two
glasses of champagne!’

‘Hold on a minute, that’s taking things too far.’ Ben joked, relieving the tension and making them all laugh; even if the mirth was a bit shaky.

With that settled she faced John. ‘I desperately want you to stay here with me, but I know the forces will be looking to recruit all the doctors they can find, so if after the wedding you want to join up as well, I won’t make a fuss.’

‘No, my darling, I won’t be doing that. The hospital has already asked me to stay with them. We are going to be needed here as well.’

Tears of relief gathered, but she doggedly refused to let them fall. This was not the time to show weakness. The thing they had feared was upon them and would have to be confronted. She wasn’t going to act like a silly, selfish child and make things more
difficult for her men. They must see that she could handle whatever was thrown at them. She said calmly, ‘I’m so relieved. Thank you.’

Gas masks were being issued to everyone and Anderson shelters delivered to those who wanted them. The boys insisted that Mrs Dalton should have one and immediately set about digging a deep hole in the middle of the lawn.

The next day the shelter arrived as promised and Amy and Mrs Dalton watched them put it together.

‘I’m not sure I want to sleep in a hole in the ground.’ Amy grimaced at the thought.

Ben stopped what he was doing, swiping his arm across his face to wipe the sweat running down, and glared at her. ‘The first sign of bombs dropping and you’ll get in here, my girl.’

‘Yes, Ben.’ She yelped when he lunged for her, and darted behind the apple tree for safety.

‘Are you attacking my future wife, Benjamin Scott?’ a stern voice said.

‘John!’ Amy ran towards him, laughing. ‘He was going to dump me in the hole because I said I didn’t fancy sleeping in there.’

‘Is that so?’ John gave Ben a sly wink and she was lifted off her feet by both of them and lowered into the hole.

Standing with her hands on her hips, she gazed up at them. ‘And how am I supposed to get out of here? Shouldn’t there be steps, or something?’

‘Give us a chance.’ Howard did his best to look offended. ‘Once we get this monstrosity fixed together we’ll know where to put the steps.’

John reached down as Amy held up her arms and lifted her out. Then he said seriously, ‘You’ll use this if it’s necessary, Amy.’

‘I promise, darling, I was only joking.’ Since war had been declared the atmosphere had been strange, as if everyone was determined to keep laughing. ‘Are you staying for dinner?’

He made a show of considering this. ‘What have you got?’

‘Lancashire hot pot.’

‘Then I’m definitely staying.’

‘Oh, good.’ Her face lit up with pleasure. ‘I’ll go and do extra potatoes.’

The day before the wedding, Amy went to stay with John’s parents. Ted and Mrs Dalton were also given rooms in the house, but the boys and John were staying at a neighbour’s place just along the road.

‘Can’t have you running into John,’ Mrs Sterling declared. ‘It’s unlucky for the bride and groom to see each other before the ceremony.’

John laughed at his mother’s superstition. ‘I don’t believe that. We’re going to have a lovely, lucky marriage, aren’t we, darling?’

‘Absolutely.’ She could only see happiness for both of them – war or no war!

*

The ceremony was to be at eleven and, after she’d dressed, Amy was suddenly overcome with nerves and reached for a chair.