The Price of Love

by Rosie Harris

  ‘We’ve nothing very much to celebrate at the moment,’ Robert warned. ‘We’ve simply got the prospects of an empty shed on the Dock Road and a head full of ideas.’

  ‘So we’ll drink to that shed becoming a thriving business and all those plans you’ve made working out perfectly,’ Lucy told him. ‘By this time next year we hope we will both be planning something else; setting the date for our weddings.’

  ‘Surely you don’t mean that we should get married on the same day as you and Robert do?’ Sam queried looking first at her and then at Brenda.

  ‘Why not?’ Lucy enthused. ‘What could be nicer than a double wedding?’

  ‘We’ll have Anna as our bridesmaid; she’ll love being dressed up in a pretty dress and carrying our flowers,’ Brenda said smiling.

  Lucy looked across at Robert seeking his approval and the deep love in his eyes as he raised his glass towards her meant that words were quite unnecessary.

  ‘Brenda’s already agreed that she would like to move in here with Sam and share the house with us when they do get married,’ Lucy announced.

  ‘Really?’ Robert looked from Lucy to Brenda and back again, bemused.

  ‘You’re not the only ones who can make plans for the future,’ Lucy told him teasingly. ‘We talked it all over; the only thing we can’t decide on is the actual date. Would it be too optimistic to say it might be possible in about a year?’

  ‘I’m not too sure about that; what do you think?’ Robert asked Sam.

  ‘I can’t believe what is happening all of a sudden. First I’m being offered a job, then marriage and now a permanent home as well. It’s all too much for me to take in, but of course I’m in favour of what you’re all suggesting,’ he said with a broad smile.

  The four of them sipped their port in mutual harmony. The future looked hopeful but they all knew there was going to be a great deal of hard work ahead of them before their dreams could be fulfilled. So much depended on how successful Robert and Sam were in their new business venture.

  ‘We wouldn’t have any objections if you decided to move in here to live with Sam right away, Brenda; without waiting for your wedding day, I mean,’ Robert stated.

  ‘Would you consider doing that, Brenda?’ Sam asked looking at her hopefully.

  ‘I don’t see why not,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘You don’t object to that, do you, Lucy?’

  ‘Are you saying that you would be prepared to live in sin?’ Lucy asked in mock horror.

  ‘Yes, I am. That’s if you and Robert don’t mind doing the same,’ Brenda said with a broad smile.

  ‘Brenda! Do you know what you’re saying?’ Sam exclaimed his face going red.

  ‘I’m afraid they’ll have no option, Sam,’ she explained. ‘If we live here together then it means that they will have to give up one of the bigger bedrooms and unless Robert is prepared to make do with the box room then he will have to share with Lucy because Anna really does need a bedroom of her own.’

  ‘I think it is a splendid idea,’ Robert applauded. ‘After all, what difference does a scrap of paper make as long as you truly love each other?’

  ‘It does make it official and legal in other people’s eyes,’ Brenda stated.

  ‘Yes, that’s very true,’ Robert agreed. ‘I think we’d better leave such an important decision to you girls to sort out, don’t you, Sam?’

  Lucy topped up their glasses with the remainder of the port. ‘Right, now I think we should drink to the fact that we know there’s a bright new future ahead for all of us,’ she said, raising her glass.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Although Lucy knew that setting up their workshop on the Dock Road was of prime importance to Robert and Sam, getting the two rooms in Priory Terrace ready so that Brenda could move in with Sam were equally important to her.

  There wasn’t a great deal to do but Lucy insisted that the bedroom they were going to use needed a coat of paint to freshen it up.

  ‘I expect you will want to make a few other changes in there and perhaps choose some new curtains and put up some of your own pictures,’ she suggested to Brenda. ‘The same applies to the room that is to be your living room,’ she went on. ‘It’s supposed to be the dining room but because we usually eat in the living room it is rarely used.’

  Decorating the two rooms took them less than a week. Lucy suggested that they should paper the walls and insisted that Sam and Brenda went together on her day off to choose the wallpaper. Sam seemed so pleased by the idea that Lucy left them to do the work involved in putting it up.

  Anna was intrigued by all that was going on and it took Lucy all her time to keep her away from all the wet paintwork and to make sure she had something to play with to keep her happily occupied while they worked.

  By the time the decorating was finished and Sam and Brenda had bought two armchairs as well as some new curtains their living room was transformed.

  ‘Now you two men can concentrate on the Dock Road shed with a clear conscience,’ Lucy told them as they gathered in there to admire the results of all their hard work.

  ‘That will be a lot harder than sticking some paper on the walls,’ Robert commented. ‘What’s more,’ he reminded her, ‘it means that it will take all of our little nest egg to buy the equipment we are going to need to fit it out properly.’

  ‘I’m sure it will but we’ve already agreed that it will be a good investment for our future,’ Lucy assured him, laying a hand on his arm. ‘If there is anything more I can do to help then you have only to ask and I’ll be only too pleased to do it. I’m sure I speak for Brenda as well.’

  ‘We’ll be on a tight budget both here at home and down there so what about making us up some sandwiches and a couple of flasks of tea each day? If you do that, we won’t have to stop whatever we’re doing to go scouting around looking for something and it probably won’t cost us as much either.’

  ‘Of course I will, gladly. At the moment it will only be Sam working down there, though, won’t it?’

  ‘Well, yes, during the daytime. I did think that I would go down there straight from work each evening and put in an hour or two. There are bound to be some jobs that Sam can’t manage to do on his own and I don’t want to leave all the hard work to him.’

  ‘When are you giving in your notice at Carter’s Cars, Robert?’ Brenda asked.

  ‘Not until we have the shed fitted out as a workshop and the outside of the place painted and our name up over the door. That’s something you two could help us with; we still haven’t decided what we should call ourselves.’

  ‘I think we need a cuppa to get our brains working in order to do that.’ Brenda smiled. ‘I’ll go and put the kettle on. Do you want to have it in here?’

  ‘No, we’ll all come through into your living room. There’s still a smell of fresh paint in here so I’ll open the windows and we’ll try not to use the room for a couple of days,’ Sam told her.

  Half an hour later, seated round the table and drinking their tea, the four of them pondered over a name for the new company.

  Sam thought it should be Robsam Repairs but Robert said that sounded rather amateurish.

  Brenda suggested Robert’s Repairs Shop but Robert objected to that because it made no mention of Sam.

  ‘Why don’t you call it Merseyside Mechanics?’ Lucy suggested. ‘That way no one will be too sure who is behind it and also it sounds like a sound company.’

  They thought about it for several minutes, saying the words aloud and savouring the sound.

  ‘You don’t think a name like that might be a bit too grand for such a small company, do you?’ Robert frowned.

  ‘Not a bit of it,’ Lucy assured him. ‘Anyway, you may be starting small but give it a couple of years and you will have built the business up into quite a big concern and you don’t want to have to change the name midstream, now do you?’

  ‘There speaks our business adviser,’ Sam said and grinned.

  ‘OK. We’ll call it Mer
seyside Mechanics,’ Robert agreed. ‘At least there won’t be any doubt about what sort of work we do or possibly where to find us.’

  Two weeks later and they were ready for action. They’d installed an inspection pit, ramps, a large workbench, and rows of racks to hold all the spare parts as well as various other pieces of equipment.

  Lucy thought it all looked very impressive although she wasn’t too sure what they were all going to be used for, even though Sam assured her they were necessary.

  The following week they painted the outside of the shed in a deep blue colour and the huge double doors in white. The name Merseyside Mechanics was in black on a white fascia and was positioned prominently over the front of the building. When they all went to see it and voiced their approval Robert said that he felt the time was now right for him to give in his notice at Carter’s Cars.

  ‘Leave it for another couple of weeks,’ Sam suggested. ‘That will give me a chance to get some customers lined up. I haven’t had a chance to do any canvassing yet.’

  ‘If you are lucky enough to get some jobs right away, then you won’t be able to cope with the work single handed,’ Robert pointed out.

  ‘We could manage between us. You could help out when you come down in the evening, if necessary.’

  ‘You’re probably right,’ Robert agreed cautiously. ‘I suppose we should be careful about jumping the gun too soon. Once I stop working we won’t have any money at all coming in until this place starts to pay. I’ll think about it over the weekend.’

  ‘I’m going to move in this weekend now that our rooms are ready,’ Brenda reminded them, ‘so if we share our meals with you, then my money will pay for our food.’

  Lucy offered to help Brenda move her things but Brenda pointed out that there wasn’t very much to bring. ‘There’re only my clothes and a few other bits and pieces and, of course, my cat. I forgot to mention Fluffy.’ She smiled. ‘I hope you don’t mind cats?’

  ‘I’ve never had one,’ Lucy confessed. ‘I don’t think Robert is too keen on them, though. I remember he used to grumble about Jenny’s cats when she looked after Anna.’

  ‘Oh dear, I do hope it’s not going to be a problem,’ Brenda said anxiously.

  ‘Why don’t you bring her along and see what happens,’ Lucy suggested.

  Anna was enthralled by Fluffy. The black and white cat was quite small and looked like a bundle of fur. Anna squealed with delight as she gently stroked it and Fluffy purred happily in response. From then on they were inseparable.

  Anna wanted to be the one to put milk into a saucer for the cat and to put its plate of food down in one corner of the kitchen. She talked to it incessantly and, as Lucy said to Robert, she found it made her own life easier because she no longer had to listen to Anna’s constant chatter all the time.

  The cat responded well but Lucy warned her that it might scratch her when she announced that she was going to give it a ride in the little pram they’d bought her for her birthday.

  Anna promised to be careful. Before Lucy could stop her she’d picked up Fluffy and put the cat in the pram alongside her doll and was covering them both over with the little pink blanket.

  For one moment the cat looked as though it was going to object and was about to jump out. Anna stroked it and talked to it, telling it to go to sleep. The next minute, to Lucy’s surprise, it had curled up on top of the blanket and was purring contentedly while Anna rocked the pram.

  Robert was saved from making a decision about when to leave Carter’s Cars. When he went into work the following Monday morning he discovered that someone had already told Percy about Merseyside Mechanics and who was behind it. Percy was far from pleased.

  ‘I’m dismissing you now on the spot. Get your coat and leave the premises right away,’ he ranted. ‘What’s more, I’m having a check done in our workshops to make sure that no tools or spare parts have gone missing. If they find that there is as much as a screw gone adrift, then I’ll have the police on to you.’

  ‘You won’t find anything missing,’ Robert told him coldly. ‘What’s more, none of the preparation has been done in your time. I’ve worked my hours here conscientiously.’

  ‘So whom have you hired? Who has been doing the work down there?’ Percy challenged.

  ‘Sam Collins. I’ve gone into partnership with him. You didn’t give him a job. He had to do something to earn his living.’

  ‘Sam Collins. He has no qualifications! All he has is a reputation as a reckless driver after crashing one of our most expensive cars and I hardly think that will stand him in very good stead. Who the hell do you think will trust him to drive their car or even want to have it serviced by him? He’s not even a fully qualified mechanic.’

  ‘No, and neither are you, yet you manage to run a garage,’ Robert told him heatedly.

  ‘You want to remember that I employ mechanics who are fully qualified and I hardly think you’ll have the necessary resources to be able to do that.’

  ‘I don’t need to; I am a fully qualified mechanic,’ Robert reminded him.

  ‘You may know a lot about engines but you know nothing at all about running a business,’ Percy sneered.

  ‘I’ve managed to run your workshop for the past three years,’ Robert pointed out.

  ‘Absolute rubbish! You may have been in charge of the other mechanics but you know nothing at all about how to cost out a job or about the administration side of things. You’ve no business experience whatsoever. I’ve been to a top business college in London, remember. In addition I have also learned a great deal of expertise first hand from my father.’

  ‘Yes, and one of the skills he passed on to you was how to treat your workforce with contempt, wasn’t it?’ Robert said sarcastically.

  ‘That will do! Collect your wages and your personal belongings and leave immediately. Remember, I don’t want to see you anywhere near these premises ever again.’

  Furious about the way he had been dismissed Robert went straight down to the Dock Road. There would be time enough to tell Lucy about what had happened when he got home that night, he reflected. For the moment it was far better for him to work off his anger doing something useful.

  When he reached the Dock Road there was another shock waiting for him. Sam was standing outside the building talking to two policemen and the three of them were staring at what had happened to the doors at the front. Overnight the newly painted white doors had been daubed with huge splashes and streaks of bright blue as if someone had thrown a tin of paint at them.

  ‘What the hell has happened here?’ Robert demanded.

  ‘Vandals or drunks having their fun, by the look of it,’ Sam said.

  ‘Any idea who it might be have been? They’ve ruined the look of the place,’ Robert muttered.

  ‘I was just asking the same question,’ one of the policemen commented. ‘Can either of you think of anyone you’ve upset or fallen out with lately? Perhaps someone who might have objected to you opening here?’

  Robert was about to say yes, my old boss at Carter’s and then he realised how stupid that would be. Whatever else Percy Carter might do he certainly wouldn’t throw a can of paint over the front of their freshly painted doors.

  ‘No idea at all,’ he said shaking his head. ‘Have there been any suspicious-looking characters lurking round here while you’ve been fitting the place out, Sam?’

  Sam hesitated. ‘It might sound a bit daft but there have been a couple of young lads annoying me. I’ve had trouble with them before, a couple of years ago. They were the ones who pushed me in front of the marchers on Orangeman’s Day and I ended up in hospital,’ he explained to the policemen.

  ‘Right. I remember that incident,’ the older of the two policemen observed. ‘The two boys who were involved were from around Scotland Road way, weren’t they?’

  ‘That’s right. Their name’s Sparks and they live in Horatio Street,’ Sam affirmed. ‘I lived there myself in the same house as they did for a short time and th
ey used to follow me around taunting me because I walked with a slight limp in those days.’

  ‘That pair are always in trouble of some kind or other,’ the older policeman affirmed. ‘They’ve been up before the magistrates countless times but their mother always manages to come up with some convincing explanation so they are usually let off with a caution.’

  ‘If I had my way, they’d have been put into a home years ago,’ the other policeman affirmed. ‘You say you think you’ve seen them hanging around here?’

  ‘Oh I’ve seen them here, all right,’ Sam assured him grimly. ‘They’ve been up to their old tricks of calling me cripple but they always do it from a safe distance because they know I can’t run fast enough to catch them.’

  ‘You mightn’t be able to do so but I can assure you we will and that we’ll charge them with vandalism if we can get a shred of evidence to prove that it was them,’ the older policeman told him confidently.

  ‘That won’t be easy; they probably waited until everybody had stopped work and gone home.’

  ‘We’ll ask around to see if any of the night watchmen on duty at the nearby warehouses witnessed anything. I’m afraid you’ll still have to clean off all that mess and repaint the front again yourselves, though,’ he said, grimacing.

  Robert and Sam spent the rest of the day trying to remove all the blue paint and then applying a fresh undercoat to prepare the surface ready for them to repaint it.

  ‘It might be better if we paint the front blue instead of white so that it is the same as the rest of the building; it mightn’t be such a temptation then,’ Sam mused.

  ‘That might be a good idea,’ Robert agreed. ‘Although we’ve done our best the blue still seems to be showing through the undercoat we’ve put on.’

  ‘Yes, and that means it may even show through the topcoat if we use white,’ Sam pointed out.

  Lucy was shocked when they told her their news. ‘How on earth did you manage to be down there so early today?’ she asked, looking at Robert in surprise.

  ‘Percy Carter has heard about our new business enterprise and he was so annoyed that he sacked me the minute I arrived at work this morning. I was so incensed by the way he spoke to me that I thought it was better not to come straight home but to wait until I’d cooled down a bit. I walked down to the Dock Road only to find that matters down there weren’t much better.’