Moving On

by Rosie Harris

  ‘I wouldn’t think so,’ Jenny agreed.

  ‘In that case then perhaps we should bring it forward a week or two,’ Tom suggested. ‘What about making it the first week in April?’

  ‘We could do that,’ Jenny said thoughtfully. ‘To some extent the date doesn’t matter to us as long as it’s not April the first.’

  ‘It damn well does,’ Tom said fiercely as he took her in his arms and kissed her. ‘We’ve postponed it once and I don’t want to have to do that again. I’d say let’s get married tomorrow if we could arrange things at such short notice.’

  ‘Stop being so impetuous,’ Jenny said, laughing. ‘Early April sounds fine. Shall we check the date with Bill and Karen to make sure that they are both quite sure they’ll be able to attend?’

  When they suggested it Bill looked rather doubtful but Karen was all in favour of the idea.

  ‘It will be much better if you have your wedding then rather than after the baby is born. I might have difficulty in finding someone to look after it and you wouldn’t want a baby crying its head off in the middle of the ceremony now, would you?’

  ‘OK, let’s see if we can fix things for the beginning of April,’ Jenny affirmed. ‘We’ll let you know the exact date as soon as we have spoken to the Registrar and completed all the arrangements.’

  ‘It will have to be at the weekend, on a Saturday, because I won’t be able to take any time off so near to the school’s Easter holidays,’ Bill reminded them.

  ‘Yes, I had thought of that,’ Jenny told him.

  ‘Have you also realized that I will probably be the size of a house by then?’ Karen laughed, running her hands over her bulging figure.

  ‘Is that important?’ Jenny frowned. ‘As long as you are feeling well enough that’s all that matters.’

  ‘I’m not sure that it’s such a good idea,’ Bill said worriedly. ‘It will mean quite a lot of travelling from Wiltshire to here and then back home again the next day. It might be too much for Karen, she might not be feeling up to it.’

  ‘You’ll know nearer the date. If you think it will be too much for you, Karen, then let us know and we’ll find two other people to be witnesses.’

  ‘Oh no, I don’t want you doing that,’ Karen protested. ‘I want to be there, Gran. Can’t you arrange it a bit earlier? What about some time in March?’

  ‘We’ll see what we can do,’ Tom promised. ‘It can’t be too soon as far as I’m concerned.’

  Thirty-Five

  As soon as they had arranged the first Saturday in April at the register office, Tom promised that he would rebook the cars and flowers and dinner for the four of them at the Grand Hotel.

  ‘Do you still want to hold a party here at Merseyside Mansions afterwards?’ he asked Jenny.

  ‘Of course! They’d never forgive us if we didn’t,’ she said with a laugh. ‘We’ll phone Bill and Karen tonight and confirm the date.’

  They were both delighted by the idea and Karen insisted that she’d be fine coming for the weekend. ‘If I do feel exceptionally tired then I can stay on in Tom’s flat for the rest of the week and Bill can come and pick me up the following weekend.’

  ‘That sounds like a perfect solution,’ Jenny agreed.

  ‘Are you going to wear the same outfit as you had planned for last time?’ Karen wanted to know.

  ‘I don’t think so,’ Jenny told her. ‘I’m not being superstitious but I feel I want to buy something new, something quite different.’

  ‘Good for you, Gran. I wish I could come and help you choose it but I don’t think Bill would agree to me doing that. He’d have me wrapped up in cotton wool and confined to bed if he had his way. He’s even more excited about this baby than I am.’ She giggled. ‘He watches to make sure that I eat all the right foods, take vitamin pills and that I get the right amount of exercise and sleep.’

  ‘Well, that’s a relief. It means that there’s no need for me to worry about you then,’ Jenny said teasingly.

  ‘There most certainly isn’t, Gran. I’m the picture of health,’ Karen said, laughing.

  ‘Well, it looks as though we can go ahead with all our plans without any worries,’ Jenny reported to Tom after she’d spoken to Karen.

  ‘One thing we haven’t checked on,’ he said, frowning.

  Jenny looked puzzled. ‘What’s that?’

  ‘Whether or not it’s going to be a double event.’

  ‘You mean the Major and Isabel.’ Jenny chuckled. ‘I don’t think we need worry about them, from all the rumours flying around I gather they are already an item.’

  ‘Yes, so I’ve heard, but I wasn’t sure exactly what to believe.’

  ‘Jane keeps an eye on them and thoroughly disapproves of the fact that the Major is seen leaving Isabel’s flat in the very early hours of the morning,’ Jenny said with a smile.

  ‘Really!’ Tom’s eyes widened. ‘Lucky devil,’ he muttered.

  ‘I didn’t know she’d taken your fancy as well,’ Jenny said in surprise.

  ‘She damn well hasn’t. You know quite well what I mean. Still –’ he heaved a deep sigh – ‘it’s not long now until March so let’s hope nothing goes wrong this time.’

  The run up to their wedding was so quiet that Jenny began to long for some excitement. She and Tom met up most days but their outings for meals or walks were relatively few; they both seemed to have put their life on hold.

  They continued to go to the Wednesday coffee morning but even this social event had begun to pall. She sometimes wondered why they went on attending as she usually came away feeling disgruntled.

  There was always so much disapproving gossip about what people were doing or discussions about the various changes in their own medication and the effect it was having on them. Apart from that there were the same old grumbles about the management committee and criticism about the way things were run.

  Since the start of spring the way in which the garden was landscaped was another prominent topic. The gardeners were constantly being criticized either because the plants were behind schedule or because people didn’t like the choice of bulbs and flowers or where they had been planted.

  Jenny couldn’t understand why these discussions became so heated and vitriolic. All residents had known when they moved into Merseyside Mansions that they were not allowed to do anything in the garden, so why not accept what was being done for them. She did. She was only too pleased not to have to maintain a garden any longer. Knowing how much hard work it entailed, she was more than delighted by the sight of snowdrops followed a few weeks later by daffodils and hyacinths when she looked out of her windows. She looked forward to enjoying a colourful display continuing throughout the summer without any effort on her part.

  New Brighton itself was also slowly returning to life after the winter closures. Preparations were being made for the return of the circus in the tower grounds, the pier was being repainted and workmen were busy at the outdoor swimming pool in anticipation of an influx of summer visitors and day trippers.

  The long promenade that ran from Seacombe to Wallasey Village, however, was practically deserted. High winds in early February had made a daily stroll along it out of the question and once the habit had been broken there seemed to be some reluctance in restarting.

  Even the Mersey had been quieter than usual, with fewer liners waiting at the Bar to enter or leave the river and less commercial activity.

  Jenny had been over to Liverpool shopping on her own several times. She had bought a new wedding outfit because she didn’t think the one she’d chosen for December would look right at Easter.

  Tom had rebooked the hotel meal and the cars for the new date they had chosen and had even placed a tentative order for the flowers, so it seemed there was nothing further to do until the actual day drew nearer.

  They paid Karen and Bill a very short visit at half term and Jenny couldn’t believe how well she looked. The talk had all been about the coming baby and the preparations they were making for i
ts arrival. Karen delighted in showing them the nursery that she and Bill had decorated and the collection of baby clothes and all the other items they’d amassed ready for the new arrival.

  Karen was now so large that the outfit she’d planned to wear at Jenny and Tom’s wedding was no longer suitable because she couldn’t get into it.

  ‘I’ll wait until the week before your wedding to decide what to buy just in case I get any bigger,’ she told Jenny with a laugh.

  ‘Would you like me to come for the weekend and go shopping with you?’

  ‘No, there’s no need for you to do that, Gran. I’ll have to settle for whatever they have in stock that fits me,’ she added with a laugh. ‘I never dreamed I would be this big.’

  ‘Well, you can always ring me if you change your mind, and I’ll keep the next couple of Saturdays free just in case,’ Jenny told her.

  ‘She certainly is enormous,’ Tom commented on their way home. ‘Are you sure she isn’t expecting twins?’

  ‘I wouldn’t think so. These days they have scans and know about these things in advance,’ Jenny told him.

  Nevertheless, she was concerned about Karen’s size, but since she had very little to do with pregnant mothers she was sure that since Karen looked so well there was nothing to worry about.

  Although it had been a long cold winter, the weather took a massive turn for the better in mid-March and promised to be warm, dry and sunny for their wedding.

  The Saturday before the date fixed for their wedding was such a nice day that Tom suggested a walk along the prom to Harrison Drive and then they could have lunch in Wallasey Village and either walk home or catch the bus back to New Brighton.

  They were just going out of the door when the phone rang.

  ‘Leave it, probably nothing important,’ Tom said quickly.

  Jenny hesitated. ‘I don’t know. I did tell Karen that if she needed me to go and help her to choose her outfit for our wedding then I would go with her.’

  ‘She’s hardly likely to phone you today; it would be afternoon before you got down to Wiltshire and the shops would be closing by the time you got into the nearest town.’

  ‘Yes, you’re probably right,’ Jenny agreed.

  The phone was still ringing though as if the person on the other end had no intention of hanging up until it was answered.

  ‘Oh, go on then, answer it,’ Tom said resignedly. ‘You won’t rest until you know who it is, but be quick.’

  When Jenny answered the call he could tell by the expression on her face that it was bad news. She was shaking as she tried to tell him who it was and what it was about but the words wouldn’t come.

  Tom took the phone from her trembling hand and his voice was curt as he asked: ‘Yes, who is it? What is it you …’

  Before he could finish speaking the voice on the other end cut in and the moment he recognized that it was Bill calling he listened in silence.

  ‘Yes, I understand. We’ll be there as soon as possible,’ he promised before hanging up.

  ‘Did you understand what Bill was saying?’ he asked, looking at Jenny.

  Jenny nodded then shook her head. ‘I’m not too sure. I think I did.’

  ‘Karen has gone into labour early and has been taken to hospital. The baby will be premature,’ Tom told her.

  She stared at him wide-eyed. ‘We must go down there right away. Karen will need me to be there with her.’

  ‘Yes, that is what I’ve told Bill we will do. Now can you pack an overnight bag for both of us. While you are doing that I’ll go and put some petrol in the car and check the oil and make sure it is OK for the journey and then we’ll be off.’

  Jenny nodded, then she said in a worried voice, ‘What about all our plans … our wedding day is only a week away.’

  ‘There’s plenty of time to sort that out,’ Tom said as he picked up his keys and made to leave. ‘We’ll decide what to do about that when we know what the situation is with Karen. Let’s get down there and see what we can do to help.’

  Thirty-Six

  They travelled most of the way to Wiltshire in silence, preoccupied with their own thoughts.

  Jenny had never thought of herself as being superstitious but now she did wonder if, as seemed probable, they had to delay the ceremony yet again, this was some sort of warning that she was doing the wrong thing in contemplating marrying Tom.

  She studied his profile. He was concentrating on his driving and his jaw was set in a firm, dominant line, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. He looked so determined that it was obvious that he was not a man to be trifled with and she began to wonder if she was foolish to be marrying a man who was such a strong character.

  She had been independent for so many years that she would probably find that having to compel herself to consider someone else’s opinion in everything she did for the rest of her life very restraining.

  That was all nonsense she told herself; they thought about most things in the same way as each other; there was very little they disagreed about. When they did they always seemed to manage to reach a compromise.

  Would that always be the case? Would there be a subtle change in their relationship when they were man and wife and living together or was she being unduly pessimistic?

  At the moment they spent a considerable amount of time in their own apartments. She still felt free and independent and under no obligation to accept any of his views. Would it be different when they were married?

  It was thirty-six years since William had died and, although she had lived with Eddy until eight years ago, because he was her son she had never felt restricted in the least by his opinions.

  Subjugating herself to another person’s ideas and way of doing things was going to be a learning curve that she wasn’t sure she could swallow.

  Tom was so quiet that she wondered if he was having similar misgivings. He had no family at all so he, too, had been free to make his own decisions and live as he wanted to do for a very long time. His wife, so he had told her, had died almost twenty years ago and she had been an invalid and in a nursing home for ten years before that. It had made him extremely self-sufficient; he did all his own shopping, cooking, cleaning, washing and ironing.

  So what was the attraction that had drawn them together, Jenny wondered. Although they were both touching seventy neither of them was really lonely or looking for companionship. Was it because they had similar tastes; or was it some cosmic magnetism that they were unable to define, influence or even control.

  ‘We’ve made very good time,’ Tom commented, breaking their long silence as they crossed over the border into Wiltshire. ‘I wonder what is the best thing for us to do? Should we simply drive to their home or would it be best to try and contact Bill by phone and find out if he is there or at the hospital?’

  ‘Let’s go straight to their home and if Bill isn’t there then we can try the hospital,’ Jenny told him.

  She settled back into her seat, smiling complacently. Tom’s mind, unlike hers, hadn’t been dwelling on whether their forthcoming marriage was right for them or not but on the more immediate problem of Karen and Bill.

  That was the sort of person Tom was, she thought gratefully. He was not only kind and loving but also extremely pragmatic. Why on earth did she need to confuse the issue by asking herself unneces-sary questions about their relationship when she’d been lucky to find such a man.

  Bill was at home when they arrived but on the point of leaving for the hospital. He looked worried and sounded very agitated as he greeted them.

  ‘Karen was taken in early this morning but they sent me away and told me to come back later in the day,’ he told them. ‘I’m on my way now to find out how she is.’

  ‘Right, then we’ll come with you. Do you want to take your car or mine?’ Tom asked.

  ‘My car because I know the way,’ Bill said immediately. ‘I’ll take your luggage upstairs and you bring your car on to the drive and lock it up and then we’ll be off; that is, if i
t’s OK with both of you? Would you like to freshen up or use the bathroom or anything?’ he asked, looking from one to the other of them.

  ‘No, let’s be on our way. The sooner we have some news the better,’ Jenny said quickly.

  Ten minutes later they were in the hospital reception area waiting to hear how Karen was and whether or not they could see her.

  They were asked to wait.

  ‘The baby is very premature and the mother is extremely tired. She may still be sleeping,’ a Sister informed them.

  ‘Could you please check; I am her grandmother and I have come all the way from Merseyside to see her,’ Jenny pleaded.

  It was another quarter of an hour before someone came to tell them that they could see Karen for a few minutes. They were taken into a side ward where Karen lay. She looked very pale and exhausted but managed to smile weakly when she saw her visitors.

  ‘I’ve messed up your wedding arrangements again, Gran,’ she said with an apologetic sigh.

  ‘Don’t you worry about that, we can easily fix a new date when you feel up to it,’ Tom told her quickly. He looked round expectantly, ‘Where’s the baby?’

  ‘They’ve taken her away and put her in an incubator. I don’t think they will let you see her. Not to worry, I’ll be out in a couple of days’ time and I’m hoping she will be strong enough by then for me to bring her home with me.’

  The Sister returned to tell them that it was time for them to leave, interrupting their brief visit. Jenny and Tom immediately said goodbye to Karen and withdrew into the corridor, leaving Bill to have a few moments alone with Karen.

  ‘It looks as though Karen is going to need your help for a couple of weeks at least,’ Tom commented as they waited for Bill.

  ‘I think you’re right,’ Jenny agreed.

  ‘You are quite happy about us staying here to be with her?’ Tom asked.