With Hope and Love

by Ellie Dean

  ‘Nothing’s the matter,’ Anne replied. ‘Everything’s fine here. It’s just that I felt I should warn you that Martin’s on his way home with Sally and her boys.’

  Peggy didn’t like the sound of that at all. ‘But why aren’t you with him? There hasn’t been trouble between you, has there?’ she asked anxiously.

  ‘Not trouble exactly,’ Anne said hesitantly. ‘He’s found it very hard to settle here, that’s all, and when he discovered Sally was going home today, he decided to go with her.’

  ‘That still doesn’t explain why you aren’t with him,’ said Peggy. ‘What is it that you’re not telling me, Anne?’

  Anne let out a long sigh. ‘It’s a very long story, Mum, which I’m not prepared to go into right now. But Martin was determined to leave today, and I couldn’t stop him. Also, it would have been impossible for me to go with him at such short notice. We parted on good terms, because I realised it was for the best. But Martin isn’t well, Mum, so you’ll need to keep a close eye on him.’

  Peggy knew how it was for Roger and her heart ached to think that her lovely son-in-law was similarly afflicted. ‘Why didn’t you tell me how hard things were down there, darling?’

  ‘Because I didn’t want to worry you and I thought I could cope.’ Anne’s voice became choked, as if she was trying not to cry. ‘You know me, Mum. I’ve always been so sure that my decisions are for the best. I got it so wrong this time, and instead of helping him, I think I only made things far worse. It’s all been so difficult, Mum, and now I don’t know what’s to become of us if he doesn’t get better.’

  Peggy gripped the receiver, longing to be able to embrace her daughter and soothe her as she’d calmed little Joseph. ‘Tell me what I should do to help him,’ she said softly.

  ‘Let him be with Roger,’ Anne said. ‘He needs to talk to someone who’s been through the same thing and understands.’

  Peggy listened as Anne recounted her conversation with the headmaster. ‘Oh, my darling,’ she breathed at the end of the tragic story. ‘I can’t begin to imagine what those poor men have been through.’ She paused to light a cigarette and give herself time to absorb what she’d been told. ‘Roger isn’t coping either. He’s wandering the hills and haunting the aerodrome like a lost soul, and poor little Kitty is beside herself with worry.’

  ‘I can fully understand that,’ said Anne. ‘Martin’s been doing the same, only his wandering has led him to a pub, and he’s been drinking heavily.’

  ‘Then let’s hope their reunion will begin the process of healing for them both – and, in time, for the two of you,’ said Peggy. ‘I’ll make up a bed for him in the big front room that Rita and Ivy used to share. What time is he due in?’

  ‘At around six o’clock if there’s no delay and the connections go smoothly. But don’t worry if he doesn’t turn up straight away. I suspect he’ll go looking for Roger the minute he arrives.’

  Peggy closed her eyes at the thought of how desperate both men must be to talk to one another and vanquish the demons that beset them. ‘I’ll keep his supper warm, and put a hot water bottle in his bed. He’ll be safe here with me,’ she soothed.

  ‘Thanks, Mum. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you what’s been going on, but to be honest, I was ashamed of the mess I’ve made of everything.’

  ‘You made your plans with the very best of intentions, my love, so please don’t feel guilty. But will you be coming home soon?’

  ‘I’ll be leaving straight after the count in Taunton. It would have been sooner, but I couldn’t find anyone to replace me at such short notice.’

  Peggy’s heart lightened, for her prayers had been answered at last. ‘And will you be bringing Charlie?’ she dared to ask.

  ‘Kicking and screaming if necessary,’ said Anne flatly. ‘I’ll see you next weekend, Mum. And thanks for being so kind and understanding.’

  Peggy was about to reply, but Anne had quickly finished the call and there was only a loud buzzing coming from the receiver. She stubbed out her cigarette and thought about the big double bedroom at the front of the house. It was directly beneath the one Brendon was sharing with Betty and the baby, so it was doubtful if Martin and Anne would get much sleep. And then there was Rose and Emily to consider. They were too young to be put into the basement room, so would have to sleep in with their parents.

  She picked up the receiver and asked April at the telephone exchange to connect her to the Anchor. She knew Ron could lay his hands on most things; surely he could find a spare cot at short notice?

  With Ron’s promise to see what he could do, she checked on Daisy who was still asleep, then went into the kitchen to find Joseph peacefully asleep in his mother’s arms and Brendon drooping wearily over a cup of tea. ‘Why don’t you both go back to bed? I can keep an ear open for him and entertain him when he wakes.’

  ‘Thanks, Peggy,’ said Betty, shooting her a soft smile. ‘I think we will snatch a nap until he wakes again, but we don’t expect you to be running about after us.’

  ‘I really don’t mind,’ she replied, fondly regarding the baby. ‘Besides, I’ll have virtually an empty house for the day once Jane and Sarah leave with Jeremy for London. Danuta will be on duty this afternoon, so there’s only Cordelia and Daisy to worry about.’

  Brendon kissed her cheek. ‘You really are the most lovely of aunts,’ he murmured before helping Betty to her feet and guiding her towards the door into the hall.

  ‘How very cosy.’ The sneering voice came from the doorway leading down to the basement.

  ‘You should learn to knock, Pauline,’ said Peggy sharply, ‘and not creep up on people like that.’

  ‘I have every right to be here, considering you’ve stolen my family,’ she retorted.

  Peggy gestured to the young couple hovering uncertainly in the doorway. ‘Go and have your sleep. I’ll deal with this.’

  ‘This?’ Pauline hissed. ‘I’m not an object, but Brendon’s mother.’

  Peggy closed the door behind the departing couple. ‘Perhaps you should have remembered that when you turned your back on him and his little family,’ she snapped.

  ‘He shouldn’t have betrayed me the way he did by not asking me to his wedding to that creature, who’s clearly turned him against me by cosying up with Dolly and Carol.’

  ‘The reason he didn’t ask you is because you’re inclined to cause a scene if you take umbrage,’ said Peggy, barely holding on to her temper. ‘And Betty is not a creature – she’s your grandson’s mother and your son’s very much loved wife. If the reason you’ve come here is to cause trouble, then you can just turn round and sling your hook.’

  ‘I’m not going anywhere until I get my son back,’ Pauline said, folding her arms.

  ‘You’ll have a hard time of it if you’re going to go about it in this fashion. Brendon isn’t going back to Tamarisk Bay unless he’s absolutely certain he and his wife and son are welcome there.’

  ‘I can’t believe he let that woman force him into marriage by getting pregnant,’ Pauline said crossly. ‘Surely, Peggy, you must understand how ashamed I am that my son has fathered a child out of wedlock? And to a cripple of all things.’

  Peggy slapped her; the hard, flat sound echoing in the silence.

  Pauline clutched at her reddened cheek in shock. ‘How dare you strike me,’ she gasped.

  ‘I’ll do it again if you don’t shut up, sit down and listen to a few home truths,’ growled Peggy. ‘Go on. Sit down.’

  Pauline sat, still clutching her cheek, her eyes wide with fear as she looked up at Peggy. ‘You have no right to talk to me like that.’

  ‘I have every right to say as I please,’ Peggy said with deceptive quietness. ‘This is my home and my kitchen and you came here uninvited.’ She leaned a little closer. ‘Others might not be willing to tell you how they really feel about you, but I hold no such qualms,’ she said, her emotions now tightly under control.

  Pauline cringed back into the chair, speechless as Peggy c
ontinued.

  ‘You are the most unpleasant, whining, whingeing woman I’ve ever had the misfortune to know. The world is not against you, and neither is your son – it’s you who puts everyone’s back up and makes their lives a misery. You see insults and slights where none were intended. You’ve alienated your sister with your jealousy; you don’t speak to your mother because she doesn’t spend every day of her life feeding your extraordinary need to be the star attraction in the show that is Pauline. As for Frank, you’re damned lucky he hasn’t found another woman who will love him and admire him for the wonderful, caring man that he is.’

  Peggy finally drew breath, but she wasn’t finished. ‘And now you’ve hurt your son by hounding him out with your silences and disapproval. He came home with his wife and son to settle here close to his family – but he and Betty are on the very brink of going back to Devon. And if they do, Pauline, you’ll probably never see them again.’

  She leaned even closer until she could feel the warmth of Pauline’s breath on her face. ‘Is that what you really want? Because you’re going the right way about it, and I wouldn’t blame them a bit.’

  ‘He wouldn’t do that,’ Pauline moaned. ‘He knows how much I mourned for his brothers and wouldn’t be so cruel as to deny me my only surviving son.’

  Peggy stepped back and folded her arms, her furious gaze fixed steadily on Pauline’s ashen face. ‘He wouldn’t want to, certainly. But if things don’t improve, he very well might, and then you’ll have lost all your sons – and I doubt Frank would ever forgive you for that.’

  ‘Frank is a man and doesn’t feel things as deeply as I do,’ she muttered, reaching into her jacket pocket for a handkerchief.

  ‘Tosh!’ exploded Peggy. She gripped Pauline’s skinny shoulders and shook her so hard her headscarf fell off and her handbag hit the floor. ‘Wake up and grow up,’ she snapped. ‘Frank cares much more than you could ever imagine. It’s why he stays with you. And the same goes for your mother and sister and son. Though God knows why they still love you after the way you’ve treated them over the years.’

  She stepped back again to coldly regard this loathsome woman who’d made her lose her temper.

  Pauline’s face was almost translucent but for the bright red finger marks on her cheek. There were tears in her eyes and her bottom lip was trembling like a toddler’s.

  Peggy felt no pity, just exasperation, so left her to stew over what she’d said while she poured them both a cup of tea.

  ‘I didn’t realise how nasty you could be,’ Pauline said eventually. ‘You put on that smile and come over all warm and lovely, when in reality you’re a complete bitch.’

  ‘It takes one to know one.’ Peggy pushed the cup and saucer towards her as she plumped down in a chair. ‘Drink your tea, Pauline, and give some serious thought to what you’re going to do next.’

  ‘That’s very wise advice, Pauline. I should take it, if I were you.’

  ‘Dolly! Where did you spring from?’ asked a delighted Peggy, going to hug her.

  ‘What are you doing here?’ Pauline demanded belligerently.

  Dolly sat down at the table and crossed her slim legs. ‘I came to see you and your adorable little family before I left for America,’ she replied. ‘Frank told me what’s been going on, so I left Carol with him, did a bit of business in the town and drove over.’

  ‘You’ve brought Carol with you?’ asked Pauline. She sneered and her eyes hardened. ‘Is she going with you to America, then?’

  Dolly took her time to remove her gloves and light a cigarette. ‘That has always been the plan,’ she said coolly. ‘But then you knew that.’

  ‘Hmph. I don’t know why I’m surprised,’ Pauline muttered. ‘She always was your favourite.’

  ‘She’s certainly more pleasant company than some I could mention,’ said Dolly, her gaze steady on her eldest daughter. ‘And if her husband and baby had survived, she definitely would have loved and cherished them – not given them the cold shoulder and hounded them from the family home because they’d displeased her in some very minor way.’

  ‘It’s none of your business,’ snapped Pauline. ‘If you’ve only come here to poke your nose in and interfere, then you might as well leave. Take Carol to America, for all I care. That general isn’t my father, after all.’

  Dolly smoked her cigarette and glanced across at Peggy. ‘I’m so sorry you’ve had to deal with all this,’ she said on a sigh. ‘I’ve spoken to Frank, and the poor man is worried sick over how to resolve the situation.’

  ‘Hmph. You always were on Frank’s side,’ muttered Pauline sourly.

  Dolly ignored her and continued her conversation with Peggy. ‘I understand it won’t be too long before their house is ready for occupation, so I’m in the midst of negotiating with the property company to rent one of their newly finished flats in the next village for the interim. I have to go back in an hour to finalise things.’

  ‘Oh, but you didn’t have to do that,’ gasped Peggy. ‘I’m very happy to have them here.’

  ‘I just bet you are,’ snapped Pauline.

  Dolly dismissed her interruption with a wave of her hand. ‘The flat has three large bedrooms, and if Brendon agrees, Frank will move in with them until he can find somewhere else to live.’

  Pauline stared at her in shock. ‘What! But he can’t leave me. He’s my husband, and has a duty to look after me.’

  ‘You’ve left it rather late in the day to remember that,’ said Dolly. ‘I did warn you the last time I came down you were in danger of losing him, but it seems you took no notice. As for his duty to you – he’s served that sentence quite long enough, and has earnt his freedom.’

  ‘How dare you talk about our marriage as if it was a prison sentence,’ gasped Pauline.

  ‘He’d have got a shorter term if he’d committed murder,’ retorted Dolly. ‘This disgraceful carry-on over Brendon and his wife and baby was the final straw. Frank’s had enough, Pauline, and if you don’t change your attitude very quickly, he means to leave you.’

  ‘But he can’t; he mustn’t,’ she wailed. ‘How will I cope on my own?’

  Dolly reached for her hand. ‘You’re the architect of all your troubles, Pauline, and I very much wish you could have learnt to see things from others’ points of view and be thankful for all the blessings you have. As it is, you’re in danger of losing your entire family.’

  ‘I must go home and sort this out,’ said Pauline, gathering up her scarf and handbag.

  Silence fell in Peggy’s kitchen as she clattered down the steps and slammed the back door. Peggy and Dolly regarded one another sadly.

  ‘Will Frank really leave her?’ asked Peggy.

  ‘He’s threatened before, and not quite had the nerve to do it. But this time, I think he might,’ said Dolly on a sigh. ‘He’s heartbroken that his only surviving son had little choice but to take his family away from that house, and although Frank is the most loyal of men, I do believe there is very little love left in him for Pauline, who seems so determined to wreck everything.’

  Peggy reached for her hand in sympathy, but made no comment.

  ‘Oh Lord, Peggy, I so wish my daughter could see the damage she does. And there are times when I seriously fear for her sanity – for surely no right-minded woman would carry on as she does?’

  ‘I’ve often wondered the same thing,’ murmured Peggy. ‘It’s all so very sad, for things seemed to have improved between her and Frank since your last visit. She got a job that interests her and Frank is back at sea again, and it was all fine until Brendon turned up.’ She gave a deep sigh. ‘The poor boy doesn’t know what to do for the best, for whatever decision he makes will end up hurting someone.’

  Dolly stubbed out her cigarette and took a sip of the tea Peggy had placed before her. ‘There’s nothing more any of us can do,’ she said sadly. ‘Pauline can have no illusions as to what we think of her or of where she stands regarding her family. Even if Frank stays it will only be out of
a misplaced sense of duty. As for Brendon, he and his little family will settle into the flat and get on with their lives, with or without Pauline.’

  Peggy nodded, feeling quite depressed about it all. ‘Let’s talk about something more pleasant,’ she suggested. ‘I’d love to hear about your plans for your American trip.’

  Dolly visibly brightened. ‘Carol and I are going by ship to New York where Felix has booked us into a hotel right in the heart of Manhattan. We plan to shop until we drop, and see all the sights before we fly across to Los Angeles. Felix will meet us there and drive us down to his home in the orange and lemon groves.’

  ‘It sounds heavenly,’ sighed Peggy. ‘Lucky you, and lucky, lucky Carol.’

  Dolly smiled. ‘Yes, we’re both aware of how blessed we are, Peggy.’ She took another sip of the rapidly cooling tea. ‘Carol will be with me in the States for a couple of months, and if she likes it out there she may even decide to stay. There’s nothing much left for her in Devon, and she certainly didn’t fancy keeping her job on the farm. She’s renting out the two cottages while she’s with me, so has an income to tide her over.’

  ‘And what about you, Dolly? Will I ever see you again?’ Peggy asked.

  Dolly reached for her hand. ‘I’m sorry, my dearest friend, but this is my farewell trip, and I’m not planning to return. I’ve sold up in Bournemouth and all my worldly goods are already on their way to the States.’

  ‘Oh, Dolly, I will miss you,’ said Peggy wistfully. ‘But I do understand why you must go.’

  Dolly nodded. ‘Felix and I have already wasted too many years apart, and now I’ve found him again, I’m never letting him go.’ She smiled, her face softening and lighting up at the mere mention of his name. ‘He’s the love of my life, Peggy, and now we’ve got a second chance to be together, we’re going to grab it with both hands.’

  ‘I’m so pleased for you, Dolly – and for Carol. It will be a wonderful chance for her to really get to know her father and see something of America. I’m just sorry that your trip down here has been ruined by all the goings-on at Tamarisk Bay.’