A Mother's Love

by Katie Flynn

  Following in Gwen’s wake, Ellie felt her cheeks redden again. Gwen had got hold of the wrong end of the stick, but Ellie had no intention of putting her right. There was no need and besides, as Gwen said, the boys would be gone in less than a week, by which time, by all accounts, Evie and Aidan would be nothing but a distant memory.

  Chapter Eleven

  Like most people, Ellie enjoyed hearing the odd scrap of gossip, but not when it was about herself. Knowing that Evie would be telling anyone who stopped to listen about her nightmare, she had feared that some of the women might take the other girl’s side. She had been pleasantly surprised when she heard first-hand that this was not the case.

  ‘She can’t go around telling folk who they can and can’t be friends with, especially when it’s old pals from before the war,’ said one of the spotters in Evelyn’s section. ‘If she thinks she can stop another girl being friends with someone that she’s dating, the rate she goes through ’em none of us would be allowed to speak to any men at all!’

  This conversation had taken place as they queued up in the canteen. There had been a general murmur of agreement and Gillian Stokes, a tall brunette with broad shoulders and hips to match, aired her thoughts. ‘Not just that, she threatened Baggy, which isn’t on. She can’t go takin’ it out on a poor defenceless animal – not that he’s exatly defenceless, but you know what I mean. Just goes to show what kind of girl she is.’

  Ellie wished fervently that she could tell Aidan about Evie’s outburst, but she feared he would probably laugh it off as ‘girls being girls’. It was typical, she thought sullenly, that men could come to blows over the slightest thing, but as soon as two women had a falling-out, it was dismissed as trivial nonsense. That aside, Ellie knew that she could not tell him a half-truth, and if she told him of Evie’s threats she would have to tell him about her dream.

  Aidan rang her two days before he and Connor were meant to go back to Waddington and asked if she would like to take a trip around the city. She agreed, and made a mental note that she would not spend their last afternoon together discussing Evie.

  When the car pulled up beside her where she waited by the camp gate, Ellie immediately noticed Aidan’s flustered appearance. On their previous meetings he had always looked smartly turned out, but today his uniform looked skew-whiff, as though it had been thrown on in a hurry. Indeed, he was still adjusting his tie as she walked towards the passenger door.

  ‘Your tie won’t settle properly because your top button’s not done up. Have you been wearing it like that all day?’

  Averting his gaze, Aidan shrugged. ‘Must’ve been. Still, I think I’ve got it now.’ He gripped the handle to the passenger door and heaved it open.

  Her eyes flickered over him. ‘Didn’t you say you were going to be in meetings all morning?’

  Nodding, Aidan closed the awkward door, nearly catching his fingers as he did so and cursing softly beneath his breath. Ellie opened her mouth to speak, then shut it abruptly. Sitting forward, she fished underneath her bottom with one hand until her fingers closed around a small cylindrical object, which she held up for closer inspection. Raising her brow, she turned to Aidan. ‘Yours?’

  Taking the tube of lipstick, he glared at it before throwing it into the glove compartment. ‘It must belong to one of the other fellers’ girlfriends.’

  He clunked the car noisily into gear. Opening the glove compartment again, Ellie withdrew the tube and twisted the bottom, pulling a face at the bright red stick that came into view. ‘Bit tacky,’ she said, replacing the lid and pushing the tube back into the compartment.

  ‘Like I said, nowt to do with me,’ Aidan said shortly.

  Ignoring Gwen’s advice, she voiced her thoughts. ‘I know it’s none of my business, but are you courting someone?’ Her face flushed with embarrassment as the words left her lips.

  Frowning, Aidan glanced briefly at the glove box. ‘No, why?’

  Ellie felt her heart begin to beat a tattoo. Why had she asked such a silly question? She knew it was none of her business, had even said so, but his response had been to lie to her, which meant their whole friendship would change. With no reply forthcoming, he added, ‘Oh, you mean because of the lipstick? As I said, it’ll belong to one of the girls that the other fellers are dating. I did tell you that I shared the car with the rest of the crew, didn’t I?’

  Ellie nodded miserably. She could hardly tell him that the lipstick had nothing to do with it; that she knew he was seeing Evie, because the other girl had told her so. If she did, he would want to know why she had asked a question to which she already knew the answer. Writhing within, Ellie wished fervently that she could turn back the hands of time and stop herself from asking such a foolish question. Now she was stuck for the rest of the afternoon with the man she adored most in the world wishing she was nowhere near him. The silence was deafening and she had to break it.

  ‘I just thought that a handsome young pilot such as yourself would have women queuing up,’ she said lamely.

  He cocked a brow. ‘Wouldn’t matter if they were as long as you were at the head of the queue.’

  Ellie stared hard out of the car window. How could he tell such a blatant lie? He was treating her like a child, someone to be humoured. Reflecting on the night in the NAAFI when she had drunk the awful beer in order to impress him, Ellie wished that she had stuck to lemonade like Gwen. If she had, she would never have got ill and Evie would never have been alone with him. She imagined the other girl, all sultry and seductive, laughing scornfully at her. She thought back to his unkempt appearance when he had first pulled up. He could only have taken Evie out a couple of times, the last one, judging by the lipstick, only moments before he had called for Ellie, so if his clothes were anything to go by … Ellie shook her head. She would have expected Evie to act like an alley cat, but surely Aidan was not the sort of man who would bed a woman after only a couple of dates?

  She thought back to the day when she had told him she was leaving Springdale Farm and how she had made it clear that she wanted to find her own way in the world before settling down. Perhaps Aidan wanted a woman who had already made her way in life, not a child who was still trying to find it. Once again her thoughts turned to Evie. The girl had certainly dated more than her fair share of men, several of whom must have been older than her, and Ellie felt sure that some of them would want far more from a girl than cuddling in the back row of the cinema. Ellie herself had never so much as kissed a man, and was certainly not ready for that kind of relationship. Had she really expected Aidan to wait around until she was? If he had turned to Evie it was hardly his fault. Ellie was the one who had said she wasn’t ready for a relationship, and perhaps he had only denied courting Evie because he wasn’t serious about her. Another thought occurred to her. If he really had been with Evie that morning, then why had he only just pulled up in the car? Surely he would’ve planned to drop her off a bit earlier than he had arranged to meet Ellie, then just wait? Petrol was rationed and could not be wasted on unnecessary journeys. Could he be telling the truth? No one, as far as she knew, had ever seen him and Evie together, and even if he had gone out with her he might have done so only as a friend. Ellie flushed guiltily. She had been very quick to believe Evie over Aidan.

  Aidan drew the car to a halt in a lay-by and turned to Ellie. ‘Are you all right? Only you look as if you’re a million miles away.’

  ‘I’m fine, just a bit tired, that’s all. It’s been a real whirlwind since you got here. I wish you could stay for longer.’

  He brightened. ‘You can always come and visit us in Waddington. There’re some lovely B and Bs close to the camp. You could bring Gwen with you, but probably not Bagheera. I think they’d draw the line at a cat who thinks he’s a sniper.’

  Ellie giggled. ‘That’d be nice. What’s Waddington like?’

  Putting the car into gear Aidan pulled back on to the road. ‘Quaint is the best way to describe it. The best place for you to stay would be the Horse
and Jockey. There’re some lovely walks around there, and whenever I have time I often go for a wander.’ He sighed wistfully. ‘We could go for a walk after brekker, then have lunch at the Jockey; they do a marvellous stew with dumplings.’

  Ellie gazed at him as he continued to talk. She had been acting like a complete child over the whole Aidan and Evie business, which just went to prove that she was too young to consider any kind of relationship. Aidan was a pal, and a good one at that, and she would not do anything to jeopardise their friendship.

  Happy with the thought that she had made the right decision, Ellie enjoyed the next few hours, and when Aidan took her back to her barracks and leaned across the seat to say goodbye she turned to respond, only to find his lips planted firmly on hers.

  Realising that he had meant to kiss her on the cheek Ellie gabbled an excuse. ‘Sorry, I thought … that is, I didn’t see …’

  Aidan brushed his fingers over her cheek reassuringly. ‘Don’t apologise; I rather enjoyed it. You know I’m no good at goodbyes, so all in all that was a nice surprise.’

  Ellie blushed hotly. ‘I didn’t do it on purpose, Aidan Murray.’

  Grinning, he winked cheekily. ‘I know, I know, so let’s get you out safely before we have another accident.’

  Despite her embarrassment, Ellie giggled. She watched as he got out of the car and grasped her door handle in a businesslike fashion. ‘I’m going to have to have a word with Connor about fixing this thing. It’s a real nuisance,’ he said, heaving the door open.

  Slamming it shut, he climbed back behind the steering wheel. As he crunched the car into gear he called over his shoulder, ‘T.t.f.n., alanna.’

  Ellie’s tummy lurched unpleasantly. Her dream, came back to her in a flash, and a shudder ran down her spine. In that moment, as she watched him driving away, she made up her mind. She knew what she wanted, and it was Aidan. She would rather run the risk of having her heart broken than never have given things a go. A torrent of mixed emotions rushed through her as she waved him out of sight. There was only one person who could help her now. Ellie headed towards her barracks.

  Flinging the door open, she started to remove her shoes and stockings before Gwen called that Bagheera was outside somewhere so it was safe to enter. She skipped across the room and carefully removed a pen and paper from her friend’s unresisting hands. ‘Sorry if you were in the middle of a letter, but I’ve got a bit of a problem and I need your help.’

  Gwen frowned. ‘I take it your meeting with Aidan didn’t go too well?’

  ‘We had a lovely time, and he’s invited us to go to see him in Waddington when we get some leave.’

  ‘Doesn’t sound like a problem to me. So what’s up?’

  ‘I’ve made up my mind about Aidan. I know what I want and it’s him.’

  Gwen nodded thoughtfully. ‘Now I understand. Your problem is Evie.’ She puffed her cheeks out. ‘Speakin’ of which, if I were you I’d keep out of her way, ’cos she’s got it into her head that someone’s nicked her—’

  ‘Have you ever thought that she might be lying? About her relationship with Aidan, I mean?’ Ellie said, unapologetically interrupting her friend mid-sentence.

  Gwen shook her head vigorously. ‘Why would she?’

  ‘I don’t know, but it kind of came up in conversation …’ she held her hands up to stop Gwen from butting in, ‘not about him seeing Evie, if that’s what you’re thinking, but about him seeing anyone at all. At first I didn’t believe him, but now I’m not so sure.’

  Gwen’s brow furrowed. ‘So you think that she’s been lying about the whole thing, and making it up to look as if they’re together?’ A small grin formed on her lips. ‘Little monkey! I still don’t get why she’d do it, though. It’s not as if she can’t get a feller.’ Her lips parted as a thought struck her. ‘Unless he is in love with you, and he turned her down. If he told her about you mebbe she’s done it out of spite. She must know you’re not the sort of girl to try to pinch someone else’s feller, so she’s pretending they’re an item so that you’ll steer clear and he’ll lose you too.’ She shook her head reprovingly. ‘They do say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.’

  Ellie grinned. ‘He told me in the car that even if there was a queue of women lined up for him he wouldn’t be interested unless I was at the front of it!’

  ‘You’ve got to get a message to him before he leaves. Tell him how you feel!’ Gwen said, her voice squeaking with excitement.

  Ellie nodded. ‘He hasn’t long gone, and he’s not due to leave until tomorrer.’ Her shoulders drooped a little. ‘But I’ve got to be on duty in an hour.’

  Gwen clicked her fingers. ‘Got it! Jonesy said he was goin’ into town …’ she looked at the clock on the wall of the hut, ‘in about five minutes, I can’t remember what for, but I’m sure he’ll give you a lift there and back. It’s not far out of his way.’

  Hugging Gwen, Ellie kissed her on the cheek. ‘You’re a star. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’

  Gwen blushed. ‘Don’t you worry about it – you’d do the same for me. You wait till I see Evie. I’m goin’ to tell her that I know no one nicked her lipstick ’cos he never gave it her in the first place and she’s making the whole thing up.’

  Ellie’s face fell. ‘What lipstick?’

  ‘The one he supposedly bought her as a leaving present. She said it was—’

  Ellie sank on to her bed. ‘A red Rimmel stick in a black tube.’

  ‘That’s right. How did you know?’

  Ellie took a deep breath. ‘She lost it in his car. I sat on it by accident, but he said it belonged to one of his mates’ girlfriends.’

  ‘The lying swine,’ Gwen began crossly, but Ellie shook her head.

  ‘At least I found out before rushin’ off and makin’ a fool of myself. If I’ve learned anything from me mam it’s not to make the same mistake she did.’

  Sliding from the top bunk, Gwen placed an arm round her friend’s shoulders. ‘I’m so sorry, Ellie. I should’ve said it were a lippy from the start; at least that way you wouldn’t have gotten your hopes up.’

  Ellie shrugged dismissively. ‘It’s not your fault; you weren’t to know.’ She turned towards Gwen, her eyes brimming with tears. ‘I just wish I’d told him how I felt sooner. That way it’d be me he was givin’ lippy to. Not that I’d want lipstick, mind you.’ She sniffed. ‘Horrible stuff. Makes my lips feel all waxy.’ She rested her head against Gwen’s shoulder. ‘Besides, I’m not ready for that kind of relationship.’

  ‘What kind of relationship?’ said Gwen.

  Ellie went on to explain Aidan’s unkempt appearance and how she suspected he had got dressed in a hurry.

  Gwen eyed Ellie sternly. ‘What you’ve got is precious, Ellie. I’m glad to hear you won’t give it up willy-nilly, not like her. Crikey, she barely knows him.’

  ‘I must say I was a bit surprised,’ Ellie agreed, ‘but then maybe that’s why all the fellers break it off. Once they got what they wanted, and if Aidan’s anything to go by it didn’t take them long, they lost interest. She’s probably got a right reputation amongst the fellers.’

  Gwen’s brow rose towards her hairline. ‘I should say so, and not a good one either.’ She squeezed Ellie’s shoulders. ‘Like you say, good job you found out the truth before jumping into something you aren’t ready for. And if I’m honest, cariad, you’re not the sort of girl for him, not if that’s what he expects, so it would never have lasted anyway.’

  Ellie checked the time. ‘Let’s go and get a cup of tea and see if they’ve got any treats in the NAAFI. I could do with a bit of cheerin’ up.’

  As they stood up to leave Gwen pursed her lips thoughtfully. ‘If Evie asks you if you’ve seen her lippy, what are you goin’ to say?’

  ‘I shall deny all knowledge and let her spend all her free time searching for it. Although I’m sure her boyfriend will find a way of getting it back to her before he leaves,’ Ellie said tartly.

  ‘
Why’d you have to go and threaten the cat? Caldecott warned you she wouldn’t stand for no nonsense, and what do you do? Make threats in front of a room full of witnesses.’ Tilly scowled at Evie, who seemed quite unperturbed.

  ‘It’s not my fault that silly little tart went whinging to Caldecott. Besides, I didn’t threaten him directly, did I? And if she had done as she was told and agreed to stay away from my man—’

  ‘She’s not one of your maids – not that you have any of them any more – an, you can’t go orderin’ people around and expect them to obey your every command,’ Tilly said, her temper rising as she spoke. She had very much enjoyed being close to home, and was annoyed that her friend’s outburst had caused them to be relocated halfway across the country.

  ‘Anyway, it’s worked out brilliantly for me. I did worry that our relationship might not survive long distance, but this way we’ll be right on his doorstep!’ said Evie.

  ‘Oh, well, that’s all right then. As long as Evie’s happy that’s all that counts,’ snapped Tilly.

  ‘Don’t be such a sourpuss. You know I don’t like to see you unhappy, and I’d have thought you’d be grateful to get out of this dump and go somewhere decent for a change!’

  ‘Don’t call my home a dump. You live here too, don’t forget.’

  ‘Not for long,’ Evie snorted. ‘When he asks me to marry him …’

  ‘Someone’s counting their chickens. I bet if he found out what you’d done, he’d have a few choice words to say and none of them would be “Will you marry me”.’

  ‘Don’t you dare go telling tales about me, Tilly Jarvis. It was only a prank, but it might easily get misconstrued.’

  Tilly wagged a reproving finger. ‘You know damned well that you did it on purpose to get him all to yourself, so don’t go pretendin’ otherwise.’

  Evie pouted. ‘Let’s not argue. I know what I did might be a little bit naughty, but I’m desperate to get back to where I belong, and surely there’s nothing wrong with that? I’m not like the rest of you, I wasn’t born to beggary.’