Time to Move On (30 page)

Jessie finished breakfast and stood outside the hotel, wondering in which direction to walk. It all seemed so futile. If Paul were here they could be walking around the same area separated by a row of houses, a wall, a few
steps, and still not meet. She looked around her where families of
holidaymakers
wandered past with their children, carrying picnic baskets, fishing nets, buckets and spades. The smell of wet sand and seaweed mingled with other familiar scents teasing her nose with memories of long ago, when she had been one of those children, excited by the prospect of a happy, sun-filled day.

She was about to walk out into the morning sun when a man walked around the corner and sat on the bench from where he could watch the crowds. ‘Paul,’ she said aloud, instinctively stepping towards him. Then she stopped. What should she say? How should she act? Casually, as though he’d been gone just hours? Critically? Or simply tell him what was in her heart, that she missed him?

Although she had hardly moved he seemed to sense her presence and he turned his head. ‘Jessie,’ he murmured.

She ran then and he stood to greet her, their arms enfolding each other and no words were necessary after all. They walked along the pavement unaware of anyone else and gradually Jessie made him see that he was needed, and loved.

They ate lunch overlooking the beach and began to talk. Jessie didn’t refer to his absence in a critical way as she explained about the loan and the work that was underway.

‘You might be able to arrange a refund on the shop I rented,’ he offered.

‘You wouldn’t mind?’

‘And there’s the car, if you can find it. I left it somewhere near Merthyr Tydfil. So I can’t drive you home. It will have to be bus – unless you fancy hitchhiking,’ he said.

‘The car isn’t lost,’ she said, embarrassed. ‘I sold it to help pay the architect.’

‘That was the right thing to do. You can manage without a car until the business is up and running.’

She noticed he hadn’t said, we can manage, and that worried her. Wasn’t he coming home? ‘We can get all we need delivered, can’t we?’ she said firmly. ‘Come home, darling. I don’t want to do this on my own. I need you.’

He wanted nothing more than to go back but it wasn’t going to be easy to walk into Badgers Brook and face Seranne and Luke. ‘I’ll have to work a week’s notice. I can’t let the restaurant down, even though I’m only a lowly dishwasher.’

‘Of course. I wouldn’t expect anything else of you.’

‘Will you stay here for the week?’

‘It will be a second honeymoon,’ she replied. ‘I’ll even help with the dirty dishes.’

Betty and Alun left at different times on Friday, 28 August, Betty going by bus and Alun an hour later by car. She was waiting for him at a bus stop a few miles out of Cwm Derw and got into the car with her small suitcase, her eyes shining as she held up her face for his kiss. They had arranged to stay at a hotel and it was there that they changed into their new clothes for the ceremony.

Hidden by a group of people waiting for a later wedding, Tilly took some snaps with her brownie box camera and prayed they would be good enough to please the happy couple, who expected none.

Back to the hotel for the night, then the following morning Alun led her to the railway station where they set off for three wonderful days in Paris.

Tilly had hurried away from the register office afraid of being seen, and went back to the Ship, from where she had telephoned Tony to ask how he was getting on with the wedding cake. ‘Hurry up, I want it here before they get back but every flower has to be perfect, mind,’ she warned.

‘It’s roses all the way,’ Tony promised.

Paul had been told he needn’t work the week and on Monday, filled with apprehension, he stepped off the bus at the end of the lane and walked down to Badgers Brook, carrying his rucksack, arm in arm with Jessie.

Having decided the only way to deal with his return was by acting as though nothing unusual had happened, Seranne said, ‘Hello Mum. Hello Paul. It’s a bit of luck you being here, there’s a bit of a party at the Ship tomorrow. It’s supposed to be a secret, but Betty and Alun were married on Friday and Tilly found out, so we all have to be there to welcome them home.’

‘I don’t think I can’ – Paul began but Jessie squeezed his hand and he amended – ‘find a tidy suit.’

‘Dress casual, no one will notice anyway,’ Seranne said. ‘All the
attention
will be on the happy couple.’

So his homecoming was eased and when he went up to his and Jessie’s room that night, he knew that despite every stupid thing he had done, he was back where he belonged.

Ed refused to get excited by his sister’s wedding. He had no intention of
going to the party.

‘Come on, Ed,’ Colin urged. ‘Betty did everything to please you when you married, even though she wasn’t happy about your choice. She’s your sister and you can surely make a bit of an effort for her.’

Bob added his persuasions and grudgingly he agreed to ‘pop my head in and say best of luck, but I won’t stay. Right?’

Their remarks had made him angry and he knew they had no idea of how hurt he had been over Elsie’s will and his sister’s refusal to help. Betty had pushed him aside for a penniless scrounger called Alun Curtis and he was expected to be pleased? How could they understand?

He went back to the guest house and looked at the bookings for the following three months. Why should he bother? The place should have been his. He wrote to the few people who had booked and told them the place was closed for repair, then he tore out the relevant pages and threw the ledger into the rubbish. In the kitchen practically every dish had been used and was piled ready for washing. The girl employed to help had left, complaining he was leaving more and more for her to do, and he hadn’t bothered to replace her. ‘Why should I?’ he kept muttering. He went into the room where he spent most of his time, and sat in front of the
television
not taking in a word.

He was unaware that his situation was the subject of discussion between Seranne and Mark Lacy, the solicitor.

‘I have to do something for Ed but I don’t want to give it up completely. I have a strong desire to do the same as Elsie and eventually leave it to someone without warning in the hope it will change their life.’

‘Perhaps you could become partners?’

‘No, that would create complications worse than Elsie’s will. I want to be free to leave it to whom I choose, yet give something to Ed.’

‘What if you keep the business in your name and, after Ed’s wages and running costs are taken out, share the profits. How would that be?’

‘That sounds a perfect solution. I can help Ed and still keep faith with what Elsie wanted.’

‘I think, knowing how er, unhappy Ed Connors is, that we should put in a few precautionary details. What if we made this a temporary
arrangement
to be reinstated after, say, a year? If he doesn’t do what is expected of him, then you can rethink the idea.’ He was trying to be diplomatic, aware of how much this situation was worrying her. ‘I understand his disappointment over the situation is making him rather, er, unreasonable?’

‘Not a year. I will be prepared to step in if this falls apart. Three years seems about right.’

Mark shrugged but agreed.

They made an appointment with an accountant, explained their needs and he drew up the relevant arrangement. Mark checked it, and when Seranne received it she took it to show Luke. ‘Ed is sure to be at Betty and Alun’s party. I’ll tell him then,’ she said.

‘He might not be pleased,’ Luke warned. ‘He still thinks the place should be his.’

‘I don’t blame him for that, but Elsie must have had her reasons and I must respect them.

Mark Lacy also helped Luke as he arranged for the shop that had once been rented by Paul to be refurbished. It was his intention to open it as Paul had originally planned and to put Paul in as the manager. Like Ed, Paul was capable of managing a business but they both needed someone to be in overall charge so they didn’t neglect the important things.

Under Luke’s guidance, plans were presented for improvements to the guest house. Nothing major, just the garden behind the guest house to be cleared and made into a car park as more and more people were
travelling
this way. There were also discussions about adding a small bar for residents only. Ed was not included in these discussions and he continued to be difficult, bemoaning his fate to anyone who would listen. Seranne ignored him, certain that once everything was made clear he would understand.

‘Ed isn’t a businessman. It was Elsie who ran the place and he can’t manage alone. He needs a partner to keep things running smoothly yet think he’s in charge,’ Seranne explained to her mother.

‘And it’s the same for Paul,’ Luke assured Jessie. ‘With me overseeing the china shop and allowing him to make the day to day decisions, he will be content. You will have the tea rooms and Paul will have his success too.’

‘A perfect solution,’ Seranne agreed.

‘Now, what about a walk?’ Luke suggested, offering his hand to Seranne. She began to put on walking shoes but he shook his head. ‘Not that kind of walk,’ he said mysteriously.

He drove her to a beautiful house which, by the name, Eventide Home, she guessed was a home for the elderly. He walked in and led her to the lounge, where several ladies were sitting chatting. One elegantly dressed and upright lady, wearing a beautiful suit in lavender silk, he introduced, ‘Seranne, meet my mother.’

After a few minutes he left them to go and find some tea and Mrs Beynon looked at her with obvious delight. ‘I’m so pleased you and Luke
are friends, dear. He gets very lonely sometimes.’

‘Oh, we don’t spent much time together,’ she said hastily.

‘Thinking about Marion, are you?’

‘Tell me about Luke,’ Seranne said quickly. ‘What was he like as a small boy?’

‘Like all his friends, a bit of a handful at times, but he’s always been considerate and I don’t think anything will change that. After the Marion incident, he’s concentrated on making money. He had to do something to fill his time, you see. Having a job wasn’t enough. Since then
everything
he touches makes him more wealthy, but it was a substitute for what he really wanted, someone like you to love and look after.’

Still uneasy, unsure of what Luke had told her, she tried again to change the subject. ‘Did he tell you he helped us to sell some things at Maes Hir market?’ she asked. ‘He was so persuasive we sold everything.’

‘He was always good at that, dear. I remember once he filled a stall with baby and children’s clothes. He was teased over that, I can tell you, but it was to help a man who was ill.’

When Luke returned with a tray of tea the two of them were laughing as they exchanged reminiscences about Luke’s childhood and Seranne’s own.

They talked easily on the way back to Badgers Brook but Seranne was still confused by the casual way his wife was being dismissed. She didn’t encourage him to stay, making the excuse that she needed to talk to her mother and Paul.

‘All right, but I’ll see you tomorrow. It’s time you met Marion,’ he said as he closed the door.

The first thing Betty and Alun saw when they stepped out of the car was mud on the steps outside. ‘It looks as though Colin’s been in!’ Betty said.

‘Who cares about a bit of mud,’ Alun replied. ‘But there shouldn’t be anyone in at this time of day.’

The second thing they saw was when they opened the door. They were met by a huge banner with letters sewn across a white background, which read
CONGRATULATIONS, BETTY AND ALUN. FROM ALL YOUR FRIENDS.

‘How on earth did they find out?’ Betty gasped.

With a laugh Alun said, ‘My guess is Tilly Tucker!’

The place was full but everyone moved back for a moment or two so they could see the bar, covered generously with food, its centrepiece a single tier wedding cake decorated with pink roses made by Tony from sugar given by neighbours.

Laughing and waving, they had to struggle through well-wishers
kissing
Betty, shaking Alun’s hand and shouting the occasional ribald remark. They were so happy they were completely unaware of the resentments and anxieties rippling through the noisy gathering.

It was a long time before Betty saw Ed. He was sitting near the fire, stretched out so people had to give him a wide berth or risk falling over his feet. He was sipping a beer surrounded by the cheerful crowd, a scowl on his face to make sure everyone knew he did not share the celebration. ‘Where did he take you then?’ he asked Betty. ‘Barry Island was it? He didn’t have money to take you far, some honeymoon!’

‘We went to Paris,’ she replied. ‘And he paid if it bothers you!’

‘Lucky you!’

Kitty and Bob had brought a gramophone and records and despite the cramped conditions people began to dance. Seranne slipped into Luke’s arms and they moved backwards and forwards in the limited space, just happy to be together. Tomorrow Luke had arranged for her to meet Marion and hear his explanation. She tried not to think about what would be said. Could she meet an ex-wife and not show her
embarrassment
? Divorced or not, she would feel like an immoral woman. Seeing Ed glaring whenever their eyes met, looking so accusing, didn’t help. Trying to show happiness at Betty and Alun’s wedding was not as easy as she had hoped. At least there was comfort in the way Paul and Jessie had sorted out their brief estrangement. They were dancing together and there was no doubt about their happiness at being reunited.

When the crowd began to eat, and relax into chattering groups, Ed still sat glaring and sipping his beer. Betty and Alun tried to talk to him but he turned his head aside like a petulant child. Seranne knew she had to tell him what she had arranged. She had the document in her handbag and, taking it out, she handed it to him.

‘What’s this, giving me the sack, are you? Well, I don’t care. I’m fed up with looking after your interests.’ He threw the papers aside.