by Dilly Court
‘Wow! What a welcome.’ Grinning broadly, he returned the embrace.
‘How did it go in East Grinstead?’ she asked eagerly.
‘They offered me an internship which I accepted gladly. I’d work for nothing to have the chance to learn from those guys.’
‘That’s wonderful, Danny. When do you start?’ She took his proffered arm and they made their way along the platform.
‘Monday, February fourth. That gives me time to go back to LA and sort out a few loose ends.’ He gave her a quizzical look. ‘How about you? Are you still planning to come with me?’
‘Yes. I’ve made my mind up and nothing’s going to stop me.’
‘That’s great. I’ve looked into ways of getting back home and my plan now is to fly American Overseas Airlines from Hurn to LaGuardia, New York.’
‘Really?’ Ginnie stopped walking to stare at him in amazement. ‘Fly in an aeroplane?’
He chuckled. ‘Well I wasn’t thinking of flapping my arms and leaping off the White Cliffs of Dover.’
‘Very funny,’ she said, laughing. ‘But seriously, won’t that cost the earth?’
‘It won’t be cheap, but if you take travelling time and meals en route into consideration I don’t suppose there’s much in it.’
‘I can hardly believe this is happening. I’d given up hope of ever seeing Nick again and then you turn up like the genie from the lamp to grant my dearest wish.’
‘You are serious about the guy, aren’t you, Ginnie? He’s been through a lot and I wouldn’t want to take you to see him if there’s a chance you’ll back down.’
‘There’s no likelihood of that, Danny. If he doesn’t want me I’ll come home and that will be it, but my feelings for him haven’t changed. I’ve never been more certain of anything in my whole life.’
‘I hope it works out for you and Nick. He’s a great guy and you’re quite something.’
She quickened her pace as the cumulus clouds delivered a sharp shower. ‘Come on. It’s not too far to my house and Mum will have the kettle on.’
‘I guess I’ll have to get used to drinking tea again and warm beer.’
‘And I’m going to fly in an aeroplane. That’s one up on Livvie. She’ll be green with envy and so will Shirley.’
As Ginnie had hoped, Danny was a perfect house guest. Mildred was charmed by him and at every possible opportunity Shirley brought Tony’s name into the conversation. Danny did his best to satisfy her eagerness to talk about him, but Ginnie could see that her mother was uncomfortable, and despite their concerted efforts to change the subject Shirley somehow managed to steer it back to Tony.
‘What’s the matter with her, Ginnie?’ Mildred whispered when they were alone in the kitchen washing up after supper. ‘She’s a married woman and her husband’s ill in hospital but she’s going on about that fellow Tony as if he meant more to her than Laurence.’
Ginnie busied herself putting the cutlery away. ‘She was very fond of Tony, Mum. They were good friends and he died in tragic circumstances.’
‘Hmm! Showing off more like. As far as I can tell he was driving too fast on an icy road and he might have killed Shirley and the baby.’
‘Let her get it out of her system, Mum. Tony’s dead and she’ll get over him in time.’
‘So there was more to it then?’ Mildred pulled the plug from the sink. ‘I thought so. She’s a silly girl and she’ll lose Laurence if she doesn’t pull her socks up and start acting like a proper wife.’
‘Give her a chance. She’s had a lot to cope with, and getting pregnant again so quickly has taken a lot out of her.’
‘Even so, she’s a mother now and should start acting like one. Thank goodness I’ve got you to rely on, Ginnie.’
‘Actually, Mum, there’s something I need to tell you.’
Mildred paused with the dishcloth clutched in her hand. ‘What have you done?’
‘I’m taking a short break. Everything at the shop should carry on as normal and I won’t be gone long, but Danny and I will be leaving for the States as soon as we can get a flight . . .’ She broke off, turning to face her mother who had reacted with a sharp intake of breath.
‘What? You’re running away with the Yank?’
‘No, of course not. Maybe I shouldn’t have blurted it out like that.’
‘You’ve got some explaining to do, young lady.’ Mildred pulled up a chair and sat down at the table. ‘Take a seat. I want to know what’s going on.’
Ginnie had just finished a lengthy explanation when Shirley burst into the kitchen. ‘I thought you were making cocoa, Ginnie.’ She came to a halt, looking from one to the other. ‘What’s up? What have I missed?’
‘Come in and shut the door.’ Mildred pointed to a chair. ‘You’d better sit down and hear what your sister is planning. It’s madness and I blame Avril for encouraging her in such a stupid scheme.’
‘What have you done, Ginnie?’ Shirley sat down, leaning her elbows on the table. Her blue eyes sparkled with anticipation. ‘Tell me everything.’
‘I’m going to America to see Nick. He lost his sight when the bomb exploded beneath the convoy and he’s almost completely blind. I have to see him again. You must understand that.’
Shirley nodded slowly. ‘I suppose so, but you could be making a big mistake.’
‘Exactly what I said.’ Mildred rose from the table and went to fill the kettle at the sink. ‘And it will cost a lot of money that would be better spent on building up the business or buying us a few luxuries. Heaven knows we’ve been short of everything for such a long time that I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to have a pair of silk stockings or a new lipstick.’
‘You don’t wear lipstick, Mum,’ Shirley said, frowning.
‘I would if I could get some, and I’d love a new dress, but that’s out of the question because I let you have all my coupons.’
‘I understand what you’re both saying and you might be right, but this is something I have to do.’ Ginnie said firmly. ‘I’m desperate to see Nick even if it’s just to make certain that he’s coping with his disability. His feelings for me might have changed, but if they have I want to hear it from him.’
‘Couldn’t you write a letter?’ Mildred struck a match and lit the gas. ‘Or send him a cable?’
‘Yes, you’re being a bit selfish,’ Shirley said crossly. ‘It’s not fair using Avril’s money for a jolly when we’re stuck here. If I had that much cash I’d move out into a place of my own.’
‘You never would.’ Mildred stared at her aghast. ‘You couldn’t cope without me and your sister. What would you live on and how would you look after two babies?’
‘I’m not helpless, Mum.’
Ginnie could see that this was going to escalate into a full-blown row and she rose to her feet. ‘Let’s stop this, shall we. I’ll repay Avril as soon as I’m able and I don’t intend to stay away for more than a week or ten days.’
Shirley eased herself from her chair. ‘Well, I think it stinks, but I can see that nothing will change your mind. I’m going to join Danny in the living room. He’s the only person round here I can talk to.’
Ginnie and her mother exchanged meaningful glances as Shirley marched out of the room. ‘The sooner that young man leaves the house the better.’ Mildred reached for the tea caddy. ‘Shirley needs to forget the American soldier and concentrate on Laurence. The same goes for you, miss.’
‘There isn’t anyone else for me, Mum.’
‘What about that nice young naval officer who stayed here after the wedding? Steven, wasn’t it? Now he was lovely and he’s got a profession to go back to when he’s demobbed. You could do a lot worse, Ginnie. A lot worse.’
‘Thanks, Mum. I’ll bear that in mind, but whether you and Shirley like it or not, I’m going to the States with Danny.’
Business was brisk on Christmas Eve and Ginnie worked late, making certain that everything was in order before she took time off. She had given small bonuses to Liv
vie and Jimmy, although she could not really afford to do so, but they had worked hard while she was in Shropshire and she felt they deserved a show of appreciation. She took a last look round the office to make sure that she had not forgotten anything, and satisfied that she had done all she could she went to lock the back door. She unplugged the fairy lights on the Christmas tree and was about to turn off the main switch when the telephone rang. She hesitated, unwilling to get involved in a request from a customer who had left their Christmas shopping until the very last moment, but she could not simply let it ring. She hurried into the office to pick up the receiver. ‘Hello.’
‘Ginnie, you’ve got to come home right away.’
Her mother sounded panicked and breathless. ‘What’s the matter, Mum?’
‘Shirley’s had a fall and gone into labour. I can’t get hold of the doctor or the midwife.’
‘Is Danny there?’
‘No. He went out. He said something about taking you for a drink after work.’
‘Someone’s hammering on the shop door, Mum. It could be him.’ A quick look into the depths of the shop confirmed that Danny had arrived and was waiting for her in the street. ‘We’re on our way.’
It was all over by the time the family doctor arrived. After a few words with Danny he went upstairs to check on mother and baby, and apparently satisfied with what he found he left to make another house call.
Ginnie raced up the stairs two at a time and found Shirley looking pale and exhausted but smiling happily as she cuddled her baby daughter. ‘Isn’t she beautiful, Ginnie?’
Ginnie smiled and nodded. ‘She’s gorgeous, Shirley. What are you going to call her?’
‘Antonia,’ Shirley murmured. ‘Toni for short.’ She closed her eyes.
Ginnie gently prised the baby from her mother’s arms and laid her in the Moses basket at the side of the bed. Colin’s cot had been temporarily moved to Mildred’s room and Ginnie went in to check on him. She was relieved to find that by some miracle he had managed to sleep through everything, and she leaned over to drop a kiss on his baby curls. Closing the door softly she made her way downstairs.
Mildred jumped up from her chair as Ginnie entered the front room. ‘Is she all right?’
‘Mother and daughter doing well,’ Ginnie said, grinning. ‘Thank you, Danny. I don’t know what we’d have done if you hadn’t been here. I wouldn’t have known where to start when it came to delivering a baby.’
‘And I wouldn’t have been much help either.’ Mildred sank back onto her seat. ‘Is there any sherry left in the sideboard, Ginnie? I think we should drink to the baby’s health.’
Danny reached for his jacket which he had hung over the back of a chair and produced a half-bottle of whisky from one of the pockets. ‘I think we could all do with a drink. I couldn’t get a full bottle, so I guess this will have to do.’
Ginnie crossed the floor and threw her arms around him. ‘Happy Christmas, Danny.’
Mildred peered at the clock on the mantelpiece. ‘I’d no idea it was so late. It’s Christmas Day.’
Ginnie went to her father’s cocktail cabinet and selected three glasses. ‘I think this is going to be the best Christmas for years. Happy Christmas, Mum.’
Ginnie awakened next morning with a dry mouth and the hint of a headache. She vaguely remembered drinking a couple of large whiskies and after that it was a blur. She peered at the alarm clock on her bedside cabinet and saw that it was almost eight o’clock. She could hear movement in her mother’s room and she could only guess that Colin had awakened early and was playing with the teddy bear that Santa Claus had thoughtfully left in his cot for him to find on Christmas morning. She sat up and slid her legs over the side of her bed, reaching for her dressing gown and pushing her feet into her slippers.
She left her room and listened outside her mother’s door, smiling as she heard Colin’s excited cries and the cooing tones his doting grandmother used when she thought no one was listening. All was quiet in Shirley’s room and Ginnie tiptoed past heading for the staircase. She reached the hall just as the phone rang. She picked up the receiver hoping that it hadn’t awakened Danny who deserved a rest after his heroic actions the previous evening. ‘Hello.’
‘I have a trunk call for you from Shropshire. Hold the line, please.’
Ginnie thought for a moment that someone must have told Laurence and he was calling to enquire after his wife and child, but she realised that was impossible as they had decided to leave it until morning to telephone with the good news.
‘Hello.’ A male voice boomed in the earpiece. ‘Am I speaking to Mrs Mallory?’
‘No, I’m her sister, Virginia Travis.’
‘This is Dr Hollister. May I speak to Mrs Mallory, please?’
The solemnity of his tone sent shards of ice coursing through her veins. ‘Is it about my brother-in-law?’
‘I really need to speak to Mrs Mallory.’
‘I’m afraid that’s out of the question at the moment. My sister gave birth to a baby girl last night.’
The line crackled and there was a slight pause. ‘I’m afraid I have bad news, Miss Travis.’
The air seemed to have been sucked from her lungs and she could hardly form the word. ‘Laurence?’
‘I am very sorry to inform you that Mr Mallory passed away in the early hours of the morning. He suffered a severe haemorrhage and despite all our efforts we were unable to save him.’
There was no question of leaving until after the funeral. Shirley had taken the news badly and the doctor had given her a strong sedative, but she could not be kept in a drugged state forever, and when the pills wore off she was inconsolable. Ginnie knew that her sister had been fond of Laurence, but she suspected that his death, coming when Shirley had just given birth to their child, had revived memories of the fatal car crash in which she had lost the one person who had genuinely touched her heart. Tony and Shirley had been soulmates, of that she had no doubt.
Ginnie had had the painful task of informing the Mallorys of their son’s death, and she had given a grief-stricken Livvie the rest of the week off. Mr Mallory met the situation with cast-iron stoicism, but Ginnie could only imagine how Laurence’s mother must be feeling. Shirley was in no state to make the necessary arrangements and Ginnie was relieved when Mr Mallory insisted on taking over and organising everything as though it were a state funeral.
Avril and Lionel travelled down from Shropshire and booked into the Limes Hotel. Mildred greeted them enthusiastically but she made her feelings plain when she discovered that they were sharing a room. ‘They’re sleeping together,’ she said, checking her appearance in the hall mirror and rearranging the feathers on her black toque, which was supposed to be an exact copy of one the dowager Queen Mary had once worn when in mourning for a distant relation. ‘I know she’s wearing a flashy engagement ring, but he’s a clergyman. What is the world coming to? And what will the neighbours say?’
Ginnie had no answer for that. ‘I’ll go and see if Shirley’s ready, Mum. Could you check that Mrs Martin is still okay to babysit?’
‘In my day we had a two-week lying-in period and we stayed in bed. Shirley should be resting.’
‘This is different, Mum. Shirley needs to say goodbye to Laurence.’
Mildred sniffed and tossed her head. ‘It seems to me she cared more for that Yank than she did for her husband.’
Ginnie said nothing. Her mother’s acid comment was too close to the truth to deny with any conviction. She went upstairs to help Shirley put the finishing touches to her borrowed black outfit.
The first person Ginnie saw as she entered the church was Steven. There was no doubting his sincerity as he embraced Shirley and offered his condolences. He shook Ginnie’s hand. ‘It’s good to see you again, even though I could wish the circumstances were different.’
‘It’s good to see you too, Steven.’ She turned round to introduce Danny but he was already halfway down the aisle, escorting Shirley to the front pew to
join Mildred, Avril and Lionel.
Steven followed her gaze. ‘Your boyfriend?’
‘No, he’s just a friend. I’d better join my family. There are refreshments laid on in the church hall afterwards, Steven. We can catch up then.’ She hurried down the aisle to sit on the pew beside Shirley. She patted her gloved hand. ‘Chin up.’
Shirley cast an anxious glance at the Mallorys, who were seated in the opposite pew. ‘I don’t know how I’m going to face them, Ginnie. They must hate me.’
‘Nonsense,’ Ginnie whispered. ‘You mustn’t think like that.’ She could not resist a quick look at Mrs Mallory who was heavily veiled and clad in black, sitting straight-backed and staring ahead. Livvie seemed to sense that Ginnie was looking at her and she turned her head, acknowledging her with a wan smile, but Mr Mallory appeared to be writing something in a notebook. Ginnie wondered if he was composing the eulogy or, knowing Colin Mallory, he might have brought his work with him. She turned with a start as Shirley dug her in the ribs. ‘What’s the matter?’
‘I’m not sure I can cope with this.’
‘It’ll be over soon and you don’t have to stay for the wake or whatever they call it. You’ve got two good excuses to go home after the committal.’
‘I don’t feel anything now, Ginnie. It’s as if I’m frozen inside and I can’t grieve any more. What’s wrong with me?’
‘We’re all different. It’s just your way of coping.’
‘I didn’t deserve him,’ Shirley whispered. ‘It was you he really wanted, but I was desperate and I threw myself at him. Poor Laurence. It’s my fault he’s dead.’
Ginnie slipped her arm around her sister’s shoulders. ‘Nonsense. You mustn’t think that way, and you’re wrong. There was never anything romantic between me and Laurence.’
