‘And about time too. If you get any thinner you’ll slip through a gap in the pavement.’
Ignoring her friend’s jibe, Adina glanced at the clock. ‘Lucy should be back from her grandparents’ soon,’ she commented, ‘Melly is taking her to Oxford Street later on to get her a pair of those platform shoes that are becoming so popular.’
‘Can’t see how the youngsters walk in ’em meself.’ Beryl shook her head.
‘Well, you didn’t used to say that when you were a teenager and you tottered around in heels,’ Adina pointed out.
Beryl grinned wryly. ‘No, I dare say I didn’t. I think I must be getting old.’ They were chatting about what they had both been up to over Christmas when Melly suddenly entered the room and smiled at them.
‘Is Lucy back yet?’ she asked pleasantly.
‘I’m expecting her any minute now.’ Adina reached for another cup as Melly joined them and in no time at all she was telling Beryl all about the wonderful wedding dress that Adina was lending to her for her wedding day.
‘In actual fact I know the dress quite well,’ Beryl told her with a grin. ‘You see, I got to wear it on my wedding day when I married Mick.’ She did not mention the marriage to Tyrone.
‘You did?’ Melly’s eyes popped. ‘Why, how wonderful!’
‘Hm, I’m surprised you want to wear it though. Isn’t it a bit outdated now?’
‘Not at all. It’s got an antique style to it which I like,’ Melly declared. ‘Dina did offer to restyle it for me, but I love it just as it is. She’s letting me wear her veil too.’
‘Well, I’ve no doubt you’ll look stunning. With your face and figure you couldn’t do otherwise.’
The slamming of the front door interrupted the conversation and Lucy breezed downstairs, her cheeks pink, and instantly began to tell them about the wonderful Christmas she had just spent with her grandmother, until Beryl reluctantly rose and stopped her midflow.
‘Sorry all, but I have to be off,’ she told them as she pulled her coat on. ‘Mick and I are delivering some groceries to the old folks this afternoon.’
Adina followed her to the door where Beryl paused to whisper, ‘I must say, Melly is a truly lovely girl, isn’t she?’
‘Oh, she’s an absolute sweetheart.’ Adina felt her chest swell with pride and once again she was tempted to tell her friend the truth, but now was not the time. One day soon I’ll tell her, she promised herself.
She had no sooner let Beryl out into the cold foggy day when the two girls erupted up out of the kitchen. ‘We’re off to the sales now and we wondered if you’d like to come with us,’ Melly said.
The offer was tempting, but: ‘I don’t really think you’d want me tagging along,’ Adina said.
‘We wouldn’t have asked if we didn’t want you to come,’ Melly told her. ‘Oh, please come. We intend to have a bit of fun. I’m back at college tomorrow and I want to make the best of my last day off.’
Adina wavered. The thought of spending the afternoon with her daughter was so tempting.
‘All right. But only if you’re both quite sure you don’t mind being seen out with an oldie.’
‘You’ll never be an oldie,’ Melly said as she headed towards the stairs. ‘I think you’re quite beautiful, if you must know. Now let’s all go and get ready and we’ll meet back here in ten minutes.’
Once again, Adina chewed on her lip as her daughter disappeared. Time and time again she had been tempted to tell her the truth about her parentage, but each time she thought the time seemed right, the words had lodged in her throat. She realised that when she did tell her it would come as a great shock to Melly, or Dottie as she still tended to think of her. It was more than obvious that Fliss and Theo had adored her and she them, which didn’t help somehow. Would Melly feel resentful when Adina revealed that she was her real mother? That she had been born out of wedlock and that her true father wasn’t even aware of her existence? Or would she even believe her, if it came to that? Fliss and Theo had done a remarkable job of making the girl believe that she was theirs, even down to changing all their names and taking on new identities when they had moved away. Adina had spent a long time pondering on how they might have done this, but then she had realised that at the time they had kidnapped Dottie they had been very wealthy people and money could buy anything, even false identities.
Admittedly to outsiders, Adina appeared respectable, since she had a lovely home and she had done well for herself, but the stigma of being an unmarried mother still remained. Sighing heavily, she hurried away to get ready. There was no point in worrying about it now; she was just going to go and enjoy being in her daughter’s company.
They had a wonderful afternoon and Dina could not remember a time when she had enjoyed herself so much, although she did begin to tire as the day wore on. Melly and Lucy seemed to have boundless energy as they rushed from shop to shop in Oxford Street and Carnaby Street, and then on to Biba’s in Kensington High Street. Lucy managed to find a pair of platform shoes that made her look at least two inches taller, and Melly treated herself to a brightly coloured tank top that was hugely reduced in the sales. She also fell in love with a maxi-skirt but decided against being extravagant as she and Richard were saving so hard for their wedding.
Dina waited until the two girls had drifted away to look at another sale rail before hastily buying it for for her anyway. She could see that Melly had fallen in love with it and knew that it would suit her, although she thought that Melly was so beautiful she would have looked lovely in a paper bag. Sometimes when she looked at her she could hardly believe that she had given birth to someone so perfect: if only Karl could have seen her. She knew that he would have loved her too. As always when she thought of him she would unconsciously finger the steel band on her finger and the little ache in her heart that had never truly gone away would eat away at her all over again. He had been the love of her life, and although she had had several would-be suitors over the years, none of them had managed to measure up to him, even though he had broken her heart. She had once said that if she couldn’t marry Karl, she would marry no one – and she had been true to her word.
When they eventually caught a bus home, they were all in a light-hearted mood.
‘I might wear my new top tonight,’ Melly said as they turned the corner at Marble Arch. ‘Richard is taking me out for a curry. I’ll have to dig something out of my wardrobe that will go with it.’
Once back at the house, Melly told them, ‘I’m going to shoot off and get a bath so that I’m ready in plenty of time. Is that all right? Is there anything you need me to do first?’
‘Not at all,’ Adina assured her. ‘But here, take this with you.’
‘What is it?’ Melly took the bag curiously and when she peeped inside she beamed with delight. ‘It’s the skirt I liked . . . but why did you buy it?’
‘Because you liked it,’ Adina said matter-of-factly, handing Lucy a similar bag containing a jumper she had admired. ‘I can treat you both if I want to, can’t I?’
Without warning Melly suddenly flung her arms about her and gave her a big hug, and Adina’s heart skipped a beat. She had dreamed of holding her daughter for so many years and now she finally was.
Her throat was full as she finally disentangled the girl’s arms from her waist and pointed at the stairs. ‘Go on then, go and get ready. You don’t want to be late for Richard, do you?’
Melly skipped away as Adina turned to hug Lucy so that no one would see the tears that had sprung to her eyes.
It was a few days later when Beryl called around unexpectedly one morning to find Adina sobbing uncontrollably in the sewing room. She had had a key to the door for some time in case of emergencies, and she stood in the doorway astounded.
‘Why, love, whatever is the matter?’ She flew across the room and placed her arm about Adina’s heaving shoulders.
‘Oh Beryl, everything is such a mess,’ her friend sobbed. ‘It’s Melly.’
‘Wh
y, what’s she done?’ Beryl’s eyebrows rose into her hairline. ‘She seems such a lovely girl. I never dreamed she’d give you a moment’s trouble.’
‘She hasn’t,’ Adina managed to choke out. ‘It’s quite the opposite. She’s an angel and I love her so much it hurts.’ Pulling herself together with an effort, she blew her nose noisily. ‘The thing is . . . Melly is my daughter. She is my baby Dorothy, who Fliss and Theo stole when they left me the house. I found out quite by chance one day just before Christmas when I went to put some papers away for her in her room. She has a photo of them at the side of her bed and she talks about them all the time. They are both dead now but she obviously loved them dearly. She had no idea at all that she wasn’t really their daughter.’
‘What? Why, this is incredible! And you mean to tell me that you haven’t told her yet?’
‘No, I haven’t – and I’m not going to,’ Dina told her.
Beryl’s eyes bulged. ‘But why? Surely she has a right to know what they did to you, and who her real mother is.’ Beryl was indignant now, which was apparent from the way she was bristling.
‘I did fully intend to tell her when the time was right,’ Adina sniffed. ‘But then we were talking last night and she made a confession. She told me that she hadn’t really applied for the job here just by chance. When Fliss passed away, Melly found papers with this address on it from years ago amongst her things. She guessed that Fliss and Theo must have lived here at one time and so when she saw the job advertised she thought it would be nice to live here for a while as they had. She thinks that I bought the house off them.’
Beryl scratched her head in consternation. ‘So surely that’s all the more reason for you to tell her what they did to you. And to her, for that matter.’
‘What would be the point in shattering her memories of them?’ Adina said. ‘What they did was wrong, but they obviously gave her a far better life than I ever could have. And I have her back in my life, for now at least. The last thing I want to do is hurt her.’
Beryl removed her arm from Adina’s shoulders and straightened, worrying about how thin her friend had become. She felt as if she was all skin and bone but she would address that issue at another time.
‘So what is she doing, working for a living?’ she questioned. ‘From what you told me, I thought the Montgomerys were rolling in money.’
‘They were, but apparently Theo invested it all in a business and he went bankrupt in the 1950s.’
Beryl’s head wagged from side to side. ‘Well, I’ll be blowed,’ she muttered. ‘It’s strange how things turn out, ain’t it?’
‘I suppose it is, but at least I’ve found her again and now I just want to enjoy the time I have with her.’
‘That’s your decision, but I have to say you’re a lot nobler than me. If I was in your shoes I’d tell her the truth like a shot and shame the devil, though I can understand you don’t want to hurt her.’
‘Hurt her!’ Adina exclaimed. ‘It would turn her whole world upside down and I love her too much to do that. Things are best left as they are. I was just feeling sorry for what might have been when you walked in, that’s all.’
‘Well, I have to say, now that you’ve told me I can see the resemblance to Karl. She’s his double, ain’t she?’
Adina nodded ruefully. ‘Yes, she is. Sometimes when I look into her eyes it’s almost like looking into his again.’
‘You still love him after all this time, don’t you?’ Beryl whispered sympathetically.
‘Yes, I do. I’ve never stopped. But at least I have Melly back now and I want you to promise that you’ll leave me to deal with this in my own way and not interfere. You are the only person I’ve told. Will you do that for me, Beryl?’
‘Of course I will,’ Beryl said sadly. ‘You should know by now that I’d never do anything to hurt you. God knows, you’ve done enough for me over the years. Though I have to say I don’t agree with your decision not to tell her. But that’s up to you and I’ll go along with it.’
‘Thank you,’ Adina said, and the two friends held hands as they sat there each lost in their own thoughts.
Chapter Fifty
It was early in May as Adina and Melly were breakfasting together that Melly suddenly said, ‘I suppose you won’t be needing me now that Lucy’s gone and you’ve decided not to take any more children.’
Adina had noticed how quiet Melly had been since Lucy had left a month before to start her new job as a Red Coat at Butlin’s, but this was the last thing she had expected.
‘Of course I still need you,’ she said quickly. ‘Whatever made you think that I didn’t?’
Melly looked around the neat and tidy kitchen. ‘Now that there is just you and me here, there’s hardly anything to do. We both clear up after ourselves, so all I’m doing really is a bit of dusting and some washing and ironing.’
‘That’s right – and while you’re doing that I have the chance to get on with my sewing, which is what I would rather be doing,’ Adina pointed out. When Melly still looked doubtful she rushed on, ‘I really like having someone here with me. It’s lonely by myself after being used to having the house full of children, so let’s hear no more about you leaving, do you hear me? Oh, and by the way, I picked a brochure up from the florist’s yesterday, so tonight when you get in from Bart’s we’ll choose what flowers you’d like for the wedding. Did you have anything particular in mind?’
‘I do love roses,’ Melly admitted, instantly brighter again. ‘Though they might be a little expensive, mightn’t they?’
‘Don’t you get worrying about that. I shall be seeing to the flowers.’ When Melly opened her mouth to object, Adina held her hand up. ‘It’s no use arguing. I insist, the flowers will be my treat, so eat your breakfast and get yourself off to work otherwise you’ll have Sister O’Flanagan after you.’
‘Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about the wedding,’ Melly said shyly. ‘Richard and I thought it might be nice if we got married in London. In fact, we were hoping that Father Mick might be able to marry us.’
Adina looked astounded and she hurried on, ‘I know I’ve left it a little late to book the church, but as I said to Richard, I’m more at home here now than anywhere else. So would you mind very much if I got married from here?’
‘I’d absolutely love it,’ Adina said with a radiant smile. ‘But aren’t Richard’s folks put out that you don’t want to get married in Devon?’
‘Not at all. They understand that our work and our friends are here, and Richard has already spoken to them about it. They said that it’s our day and they’re quite happy to travel here for the wedding.’
‘In that case I’ll speak to Beryl and Mick straight away,’ Adina told her. ‘And I’m sure there won’t be a problem.’
‘That’s settled then.’ Melly then obediently gobbled down a slice of toast and rising from her seat, she planted a kiss on Adina’s thin cheek before heading for the door. ‘I’ll see you this evening. Have a good day and don’t get working too hard. You look worn out.’
‘I’m fine,’ Adina told her with a smile, but as soon as Melly had left the room she became solemn and fingered her cheek where her daughter had kissed her. Every single day since the girl had arrived she had thanked God for her, and now she would have the pleasure of seeing her go to her wedding from her rightful home. It was more than she could have hoped for.
The wedding was now just six weeks away and Melly was a bag of nerves. Adina almost had to force her to eat. Father Mick would be marrying them in St Chad’s Church, just as Melly had requested, and afterwards they would be having a small reception back at the house before leaving for their honeymoon.
‘Have you asked her yet whether she and Richard would want to live here?’ Beryl asked Adina one day during their ritual coffee morning.
‘No, to be honest I thought better of it,’ Adina muttered vaguely.
Beryl frowned. ‘How come? You obviously dote on the girl. I would have though
t you’d do anything to keep her close by.’
‘She has her own life to lead and I don’t want to appear as if I am interfering. I count myself lucky that I’ll be seeing her get married.’
Beryl was still puzzled, but decided enough had been said on the subject. As she stared at her friend she couldn’t help but notice the way she had changed over the years since she had first known her. When they had first met, Adina had been the typical obedient Jewish daughter. Shy and timid; a girl who wouldn’t say boo to a goose. Then she had become the abandoned pregnant girl when Karl left her. She had gone all through the heartbreak of losing her parents after seeing the brother she adored slowly go insane before hanging himself. And then she had come to London where the Montgomerys had tricked her and kidnapped her daughter. When Beryl had first arrived back from the States, rescued by this same friend, Adina had been at an all-time low and yet somehow she had found an inner strength and had managed to survive. She had been a foster mum to countless children and built up a thriving dressmaking business. And now here she was at forty-seven years old, an elegant sophisticated woman who was entirely self-sufficient. Beryl was quietly proud of her although she didn’t say so. Adina wasn’t one for fuss and palaver and would simply have told her she was being silly.
An hour later, when Beryl left, Adina went into the sewing room to work on the veil that she was making for Melly. The other one was past its best now, and although Melly had insisted she was happy to wear it, Adina was determined she should have a new one. She had already sewn over 300 minute sequins on it by hand and was just about to add a few more when the doorbell rang.
Cursing beneath her breath, she laid the filmy netting down and hurried down into the hall where she quickly checked her sleek chignon in the mirror before opening the door.
A smartly dressed middle-aged man was standing on the step and she smiled at him politely before asking, ‘May I help you?’
He simply stood there staring at her as she began to feel perplexed. His hair had obviously been fair when he was younger but now it was a salt and pepper colour; he had strikingly blue eyes and towered above her.
A Band of Steel Page 41
