Sunshine and Showers

by June Francis

  ‘I’m not sure about that,’ said Patsy.

  ‘Me neither,’ said Kathleen, linking her arm through her sister’s. ‘But let’s get cracking and get to this party and see what happens.’

  * * *

  Flora entered the kitchen where Wendy was keeping an eye on Robert. ‘I’m bothered,’ said Flora. ‘Mr Donavan’s just come in and he looks in a bit of a state. He went straight upstairs and I can hear drawers being opened and shut. I want to know what’s going on.’

  ‘I’ll come with you,’ said Wendy without hesitation.

  They hurried upstairs and knocked on his bedroom door. ‘Mr Donavan!’ called Wendy.

  He opened the door and stared at them. ‘You’ll know soon enough so I might as well come clean. My real name is Mike Doyle. I’m Patsy and Kathleen’s father. I’m leaving, so if you’ll let me get on with me packing, I won’t be bothering them or you anymore.’

  ‘So you’re not dead, then!’ said Flora, flabbergasted.

  ‘Obviously not,’ murmured Wendy. ‘What’s the rush, Mr Doyle?’

  ‘I made a mistake in coming back.’ His voice trembled.

  Flora hesitated and then slipped her arm through Mike’s. ‘Why don’t you tell us all about it?’ she said in a soothing voice.

  He glanced at his Gladstone bag on the bed and his expression was uncertain. ‘I want to be out of here before everyone arrives.’

  ‘Oh, there’s plenty of time,’ said Wendy reassuringly.

  Mike’s eyelid flickered. ‘They don’t want me and I don’t blame them for that.’

  ‘Give them a chance to forgive you,’ said Wendy.

  ‘I don’t deserve forgiving,’ said Mike.

  ‘Nobody is perfect, Mr Doyle,’ said Flora. ‘So where were you when you went missing?’

  * * *

  An hour or so later Mike was still sitting at the kitchen table, drinking tea and looking nervous. Wendy had departed with Robert in his pram to pick up Jimmy and the twins and he could hear voices outside. The door burst open and Patsy was the first inside, followed by her sister.

  Kathleen stared at her father who was sitting with Flora and glowered at her. ‘How dare you be so palsy-walsy with my father, Flora Bennett!’ she cried.

  ‘You’re still here,’ said Patsy, still unsure of her feelings towards her father. ‘I thought you might have gone.’

  ‘I would have, girlie, if it hadn’t been for this young lady here,’ said Mike, getting to his feet. ‘It’s time for me to leave. It’s your birthday and I don’t want to be in the way.’

  Patsy met her father’s eyes and it suddenly struck her that this was a moment to savour, despite everything that he had done wrong. Her father was alive! She might not always feel so forgiving and thankful but for the moment she did. ‘My birthday celebration can wait, Dad. I want to hear everything.’

  Mike’s chest swelled and, for a moment, he could not speak. Then he launched into his tale, beginning with how wooden flotsam from a torpedoed ship had provided him with the means to stay afloat until the fishing boat had found him. At some point Grant arrived and he listened with the other adults but the children went out into the garden.

  When her father had finished telling his tale, Patsy realised that her birthday had not been ruined after all. In fact, it occurred to her that he would be able to give her away at her wedding. It also struck her that she might need his permission to marry Greg. She mentioned the matter to her fiancé an hour or two later, during a waltz in Robbie’s old music room.

  For a moment Greg looked alarmed. ‘I suppose I’m going to have to ask him, not that I like the idea,’ he said frankly. ‘He didn’t take care of you the way a father should.’

  Even so, Greg did broach the subject with Patsy’s father. Mike seemed uncomfortable at his doing so. ‘I like you, lad. Of course you have my permission to marry Patsy. I feel it’s wrong that you have to ask. It’s not as if I own her and she’s proved that she can manage her affairs without me. I’m even considering going back to sea, so you have no need to bother about me.’

  In some ways that was a relief to Greg because he felt that she might feel that she had to offer him a home with them.

  ‘If you do that, Dad, then I hope you won’t go until you give me away at our wedding,’ said Patsy.

  ‘Aye, girlie, I’ll do that and be proud to be there,’ he said humbly.

  Epilogue

  Whit Saturday, 1928

  ‘So I can stop worrying about Patsy now, David,’ said Joy, stepping back as the car drew away from the kerb with Greg and his bride inside.

  ‘Yes, but are you sure about taking on the twins while they’re away?’ asked David.

  Joy smiled. ‘They’re good with Robert. Anyway, what a question to ask me when you’re having Nelson and Helen stay with you.’

  ‘It does mean the four children will see each other every day.’

  ‘It would probably be more convenient if we were all living together,’ said Joy casually.

  David stared at her rosy face. ‘You can’t be serious?’

  ‘Well, it is leap year, so I wondered if you’d like to marry me?’ she asked, toying with a tendril of soft brown hair.

  David did not answer her immediately but drew her apart from the rest of the wedding party. ‘I’m deeply appreciative, Joy, of your proposal but I can’t marry you,’ he said in a husky voice.

  ‘Why?’ she asked bluntly. ‘I think we’ll suit each other very well. I could see to all your needs, make cakes, sew buttons on your shirts…’

  ‘You’re talking about a convenient match like the one you made with Robbie.’

  ‘No,’ said Joy firmly. ‘I love you and I’m all for us having plenty of cuddles. What I don’t expect is the kind of loving that Patsy and Greg will share.’

  He took her hand and squeezed it. ‘I love you. I’d like to accept but there’s something about me that you don’t know and I’m too embarrassed to speak about it.’ His expression was suddenly bleak.

  Joy took a deep breath. ‘I know about your war injuries, David. I know you can’t have children. Rose blurted it out that day I went to your house. I think she was trying to justify her behaviour.’ Joy lifted his hand to her lips and kissed the backs of his fingers. ‘I’m so sorry. I understand how much it matters to you, but there’s so much more in life that we can share together.’

  Tears filled his eyes. ‘You’ve known all this time and—!’

  Joy swiftly kissed him. ‘So what’s your answer? If it’s no again, then I’ll carry on asking you all this leap year until you’re fed up with me.’

  ‘Then it’ll have to be yes because I can’t ever imagine myself getting fed up with you, Joy of my life,’ he replied, hugging her tightly.

  ALSO OUT NOW

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  If you enjoyed the Victoria Crescent sagas, check out the standalone saga, Look for the Silver Lining – out now!

  Find out more

  First published in the United Kingdom in 2010 by Allison & Busby

  This edition published in the United Kingdom in 2017 by

  Canelo Digital Publishing Limited

  57 Shepherds Lane

  Beaconsfield, Bucks HP9 2DU

  United Kingdom

  Copyright © June Francis, 2010

  The moral right of June Francis to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 9781911591429

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used ficti
tiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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