by Lynda Page
‘She did her best to make Clarice see that she was wrong to prevent me from being with Roger, but Clarice wouldn’t listen. So behind her back Harriet became our go-between, passing messages between us. We made a plan that I would toe the line for a few weeks and then Harriet would inform me that she had heard Roger had met someone else and was pursuing them, and then I’d make out that if he’d got over me so quickly then Clarice was obviously right and I’d had a lucky escape. That way she would relax her vigilance over me. I did not at all like deceiving my daughter, but she’d given me no choice.
‘So that’s what we did. It was a long few weeks for both of us, not seeing each other, just surviving on the messages Harriet passed between us, but it paid off. With Clarice believing that Roger was out of my life, she had no reason to keep watch on me any longer and allowed me to go back home. As soon as she settled me back in and left, I wasted no time in letting Roger know and we made arrangements to go away somewhere and while we were there get married by special licence. Once we’re married Clarice will just have to like it or lump it. We were going to a hotel in Skegness, but when we were looking in the paper for a suitable one to book we saw an advertisement for Jolly’s. We thought the camp would be perfect for us as we could get married in Skegness and have fun here doing all sorts of things for our honeymoon.
‘So Clarice wouldn’t worry about me, I left a note for her on my kitchen table, telling her that after all that had happened I felt the need for some time on my own and had gone away for a few days. I underestimated her, didn’t I? She obviously twigged I hadn’t gone on my own and that I’d been duping her all those weeks, and immediately went to see the one person who would know where I was.’ Joyce paused, gave a sad sigh and said to Jackie, ‘I suppose I’d better come back to reception with you to face her. If I don’t, once you tell her I’m here, she won’t leave without me.’
Roger interjected desperately, ‘And then she’ll never let you out of her sight again. I can’t lose you, Joyce! I can’t imagine my life without you in it. Let me go and try and reason with her. You never know, meeting me in the flesh she might see I’m not a philanderer or a doddering old fool who needs a nurse. Maybe she will change her mind then.’
Joyce wearily shook her head and said with conviction, ‘She won’t. Once Clarice has made up her mind about something, she never changes it.’
Jackie’s thoughts meanwhile were racing. It didn’t seem right to her that these two very dear elderly people were being denied a chance of a good life together through the bigotry of another. They had worked hard to get this far, and from what she’d been told, if they failed, it didn’t seem likely they’d get another chance. Jackie’s mind was made up. She was going to help them fulfil their ambition.
‘Just a minute,’ she urged. ‘What time did you ask the taxi to come and pick you up?’
Roger answered, ‘At a quarter to four, by the entrance gate. Why?’
She told them what she had in mind. ‘I’ll get you both outside the camp by a route that doesn’t pass reception. You can go out of the employees’ entrance. Then I’ll go and tell the taxi where to pick you up. That way we won’t risk your daughter spotting you out of the window if she happens to be looking. Once I’ve seen you safely off to Skegness in the taxi, I’ll go back to reception and tell your daughter that I’ve spoken to all the Daventrys staying here and no one of your description is among them, so it must be another holiday camp you’re staying at.’
Both Roger and Joyce were gawping at her. Joyce uttered, ‘But that means you’ll be lying for us. I said before, we can’t let you do that, it’s not right.’
‘But if I don’t do this, I’ll be breaking company rules. Mrs Jolly is emphatic that her staff should do everything they can to make sure the guests go home having had a time to remember. If you go home not married your memories of Jolly’s won’t be good ones, will they? And then I’ll have failed in my duty towards you.’
Their expressions were a delight to behold.
Fifteen minutes later the three of them were hurrying around the back of the reception and entertainment blocks and over to the employees’ entrance. They arrived through the gate just in time to see the back of a taxi heading off down the country road towards Mablethorpe.
‘Oh, no!’ Joyce cried in distress. ‘The driver obviously thought we weren’t coming. By the time we get another to fetch us, we’ll have missed our appointment. We got the only slot available for the next three weeks, and we’re due to go home in six days.’
‘Is there a bus due?’ Roger asked hopefully.
Jackie shook her head. ‘Not until a quarter to six. Even if there was one due now, you’d still have to catch another bus from Mablethorpe to Skegness and wouldn’t arrive in time for your appointment.’ The disappointment and dejection on the faces of the old couple would have made the hardest man cry, and Jackie was having a tough job not to give in to tears on the spot. They had gone to such lengths to be together, she just couldn’t let them fail now, not over a transport problem, not when she had the means to resolve that for them. She quickly calculated that she could get them to Skegness and be back here at Jolly’s in time to go home and be ready in time for Keith to pick her up. It would mean abandoning work that really should be done by this evening, but this time she was going to put her personal life before that.
All she told them was, ‘Don’t give up hope of getting married just yet. I know where I can get transport to take you to Skegness. Stay here. I’ll be back as quick as I can.’
With that she rushed off. Moments later, making it appear she had come from the direction of the chalets, she went into reception. She found Joyce’s daughter anxiously pacing up and down while glancing out of the large window for signs of Jackie returning with her mother in tow. On seeing her enter on her own, Clarice stopped her pacing and demanded, ‘Where’s my … Mrs Daventry?’
Giving a performance worthy of an acting award, Jackie told her, ‘I did manage to locate most of the Daventrys staying here with us, and those I didn’t see face to face I got descriptions of from campers staying nearby. I’m afraid none of them match the woman you are here to see.’
Clarice stared at her for a moment as she digested this information before her face glowed purple with anger. She spat, ‘That damned woman lied to me! I should have known she’d not divulge where they’d really gone and would send me on a wild goose chase instead.’ She took a deep breath, her face set tight. ‘Well, when I’m proved right, my mother needn’t think she’ll get any sympathy from me.’
Jackie pretended she hadn’t a clue what Clarice was ranting on about. She said evenly, ‘I’m sorry you’ve had a wasted journey. Can I get reception to order a taxi for you, to take you wherever you need to go?’
‘Yes, to the station.’
Jackie left the furious woman, to cross over to the reception desk where Ginger had been doing her best to eavesdrop on the conversation.
‘I take it you never found the Mrs Daventry she’s after?’
Jackie whispered back, ‘Actually, I did. Don’t ask me any questions, I haven’t time to explain or we could be late.’
Ginger frowned in confusion. ‘Late for what?’
‘I’ll explain later.’ Then loudly, so Clarice could hear, she added, ‘Would you please order a taxi to take this lady to the station? And make her a cup of tea while she’s waiting.’ Lowering her voice again to a whisper, she added, ‘Tell them to come in half an hour, so we’ve time to get clear.’
Leaving Ginger champing at the bit to know what Jackie was up to, she turned and hurried over to the door leading upstairs to the office. While dashing to her desk to pick up what she had come in for, she told a bemused Al that she had to go out for about an hour but hopefully would be back before he left for the night. Then, giving him no chance to enquire where she was going, she dashed out again.
When Jackie rode up on her Lambretta to join Joyce and Roger their faces were a picture. She said to them both, ‘I
t’s the best I can do at such short notice, I’m afraid. It’ll be a bit of a squash and I’m not sure if it’s legal to have three riding on it at one time, but …’
She didn’t get to finish as Roger blurted out to Joyce, ‘You game, love?’
She nodded vigorously. ‘I am if you are.’
Jackie grinned. ‘Then let’s go and get you two married!’
With Joyce at the back, arms clamped around Roger’s waist, Jackie herself virtually sitting on his knee, she revved up the engine. Wobbling precariously due to the extra weight the scooter was unused to carrying, they set off.
The journey of twenty or so miles took longer than it would normally have done because not only was Jackie’s second-hand vehicle struggling to cope with being overloaded, she was worried about encountering a constable cycling around on his beat or the possibility of Joyce’s daughter passing them in her taxi on the way to Mablethorpe, so had decided it would be best to take a route off the beaten track. Perched precariously on Roger’s bony knees as she was, Jackie was having difficulty steering the scooter around the winding, bumpy back lanes, many with deep fens full of water to either side. She was constantly mindful that time was rapidly ticking by towards four-thirty. Thankfully they finally arrived outside of the register office with three minutes to spare after no mishaps. As soon as he got off the scooter, Roger bent over to give his knees a vigorous rub and then stamped his feet several times hard on the pavement, saying. ‘Thank goodness we arrived when we did. My legs have gone dead!’
‘Oh, but that was fun, wasn’t it?’ Joyce enthused as she straightened her clothes and did her best to smoothe down her tousled hair. ‘I enjoyed myself as much as I did at the funfair the other night, especially when we took that corner a little fast and I did worry for a moment we were going to land in the ditch. How about you, dear?’ she asked Roger.
Diplomatically he replied, ‘Well, let me just say I won’t be forgetting that journey in a hurry.’ Then he said to Jackie, ‘We can’t thank you enough for all you’ve done for us.’
She smiled at them both. ‘Just doing my job. Now hurry up and get inside before the registrar thinks you’ve changed your mind. Best of luck.’
Joyce looked at her aghast. ‘But you can’t go! After what you’ve done for us, we’d both be very honoured if you’d be a witness, wouldn’t we, Roger?’
He said with conviction, ‘Oh, goodness, yes.’
Jackie felt privileged to be asked but she really hadn’t time, not if she wanted to leave promptly tonight, but then she reasoned with herself that the ceremony would only last for fifteen minutes and she could just about spare that. Besides, she could tell by their expectant expressions that they would both be dreadfully disappointed if she declined, and hadn’t the heart to do it to them.
With her as one witness it just remained to find another. The old man he approached wasn’t at all interested until Roger offered him a couple of pounds for his trouble when he soon changed his mind. All four of them went inside.
It was forty minutes later when they returned, having had to wait twenty-five minutes as the appointments were running behind. Jackie had never seen such a radiant bride and groom, having finally achieved their dream of becoming man and wife. They were both aware they would have to face the inevitable backlash from Joyce’s daughter when they returned home, but were determined she would not come between them. With the old man already on his way to the pub to spend his windfall, Jackie gave them both a hug and waved them on their way to a restaurant for a celebratory meal before they got a taxi back to Jolly’s, then she climbed back on her scooter to speed her way back to the camp.
CHAPTER TEN
It was just gone a quarter-past six by the time Jackie arrived back in the office. Reception closed at six so she was spared having to answer Ginger’s curiosity over what had transpired. Until she next saw her that was, when Jackie knew she would demand a blow-by-blow account. Harold Rose had gone home as usual on the dot of half-past five, but Al was waiting in case Jackie had need of him, keeping busy meantime by making a list of stationery supplies they were running low on for her to order.
She said to him apologetically, ‘I’m so sorry for keeping you back late. I haven’t got time now as I really need to get home but I’ll tell you why tomorrow. Nothing that needs my attention tonight, I hope?’
He shook his head and told her, ‘Chef Brown and Jim Smithers the photographer wanted to see you, but that can wait until tomorrow. I took a couple of calls from people hoping to make last-minute bookings and wrote down their details for you to contact them.’
She took the notes from him. ‘Thank you, Al. Put the extra time on your agency time-sheet to make sure you get paid for it. Now get packed up and off home.’ Then she realised he would have missed the bus and the next one wasn’t due until half-past seven. She felt in the circumstances she really ought to offer him a lift at least partway home. ‘I’m going out tonight, Al, and have to rush like mad to get ready in time for Keith picking me up at half-seven, but I can give you a lift to Mablethorpe?’
His thoughts whirled. He’d need to be careful how he responded, not give Jackie any inkling whatsoever that he was no longer residing in lodgings in Skegness but was installed in a dwelling right here on the site, without permission. ‘Oh, er … I’m not going straight home tonight. I’m going …’ Where was he going? Then he said the first thing that came into his mind. ‘I’m … er … meeting Ginger and we’re going for a drink in Paradise … er … at the carousel bar.’
Jackie thought it strange that Ginger had agreed to have a drink in that particular bar as it was the favourite haunt of the older campers. Still, she must have her reasons for arranging to meet Al there. Ginger had been after a date with him for a long time and Jackie was pleased that she had finally got her wish. She told Al, ‘I hope you enjoy yourselves.’
He couldn’t meet her eye when he responded, ‘Thank you.’
Half an hour later Jackie wheeled her scooter down the entry behind the terraced house where she lived with her mother and younger brother, quickly secured it for the night, then hurried across the slabbed yard to the back door, letting herself inside. There was a steaming pan on the stove with a covered plate set on top. That would be her dinner. She’d have to gobble it down quickly if she was going to stand a chance of being ready in time for Keith to pick her up. She heard the sound of the television coming from the back room and presumed her mother was watching one of her favourite programmes, Crossroads. Jackie decided she would go and join her while she quickly ate her dinner. Since her father had died, Jackie’s dearest wish was that her mother would find happiness again, but as she never went out socially, except to visit friends in their homes or for the occasional game of bingo at the local hall, seeing that wish fulfilled didn’t seem likely. Still, her mother seemed happy with her life the way it was, and so as long as she was happy so was Jackie. Picking up a tea towel, she lifted the cover off the plate on the pan, then carefully carried it through to the back room.
Stepping in at the doorway she opened her mouth to greet her mother, but the sight of two people on the sofa, entwined together passionately kissing, shocked her rigid. Jackie dropped the plate, which smashed on the floor.
The unexpected noise set the couple on the sofa springing apart, eyes darting in the direction it had come from. When they saw who was standing in the doorway, they both froze, stupefied.
The three of them stared at each other for what seemed like an age. It was Gina Sims who was the first to gather her wits. ‘Oh, there you are, love. Keith arrived early to pick you up so we were just watching the television. We were worried you were having to work late again and wouldn’t be home in time to go to the party. Never mind the mess. I’ll clean it up and make you something else …’
Jackie’s mind had completely shut down. It was as if she didn’t want to acknowledge what her eyes had just witnessed in an effort to stall the pain this was going to cause her. She blankly watched her mothe
r get up and hurry towards her, automatically moving aside to let her pass by to go into the kitchen. Then she told Keith, ‘I’ll go and get ready.’
At Jackie’s words his frozen face thawed. Smiling brightly at her, he responded, ‘Take your time, it won’t matter if we’re a few minutes late.’
She responded matter-of-factly, ‘But it does really. You’re the best friend of the prospective bridegroom and he won’t be picking you as his best man for the wedding if you’re late for his engagement party.’
She walked across the room and placed her hand on the knob of the door leading upstairs. It was then that her brain suddenly whirred into life again. What she had seen and the repercussions of it exploded like a bomb inside her head. She spun back to face Keith and said, ‘You were kissing my mother when I came in, weren’t you.’ It wasn’t a question but a statement.
He had relaxed back on the sofa by now, his eyes fixed on the television screen, but her words set him jerking upright to stare at her. ‘No … no, we weren’t. Of course we …’
Jackie interjected, ‘You had your arms around each other and your lips pressed together. I’ve always understood that when two people do that they’re kissing, Keith.’ Devastating pain shot through her then, like bolts of lightning searing through her entire body. She hurled at him, ‘That was no friendly kiss you were having either. What I saw was two lovers kissing.’
He was vehemently shaking his head. ‘No, you’ve got it …’
‘Don’t you dare take me for an idiot, Keith. I may be stupid – you and my mother between you have proved to me I am – but I’m not blind. I know what I saw. How long have you been carrying on together behind my back? HOW LONG, KEITH?’
Gina appeared by her daughter’s side then, placing a hand on her arm, imploring, ‘Please listen, love. It really wasn’t what you think …’
