by Nancy Revell
Dr Eris laughed and stretched her arm out. ‘Pleased to meet you, Bel.’
Bel returned the handshake and gave a polite smile.
‘I wonder,’ Dr Eris said, focusing her attention back on Helen, ‘if I could perhaps have a quick word with you?’
‘Of course, fire away,’ Helen said, showing the ‘quick word’ would have to be said in front of Bel.
Dr Eris hesitated before carrying on. ‘I just wanted to say –’ her eyes flicked to Bel before she fixed her gaze on Helen ‘– that, obviously, as you will have guessed, having seen John and I just now –’
Helen felt her heart race.
‘– in a rather amorous embrace …’
No room for doubt now.
‘– that as we are clearly more than colleagues, and because I know John and you are close friends, that just because we are “together” as such, well, that this doesn’t mean you two can’t continue to be friends.’ Another smile. ‘I’m not one of these women who demand their beaus aren’t able to fraternize with any other person of the opposite sex.’
Helen continued to stand and listen. She had a feeling Dr Eris hadn’t quite finished what she had come here to say. She was right.
‘But you’ll have to forgive him if he isn’t able to see you as much as he has been.’ Dr Eris gave a self-satisfied smile. ‘You know what it’s like at the start?’ She didn’t wait for an answer. ‘You just want to be with each other every minute of every day, don’t you?’
Helen laughed a little too loudly. ‘I do indeed, Claire. I do indeed.’ She looked into Dr Eris’ hazel eyes. ‘I guess the real teller is when you still want to be with each other every minute of every day once the shine’s worn off.’
There was a moment’s awkward silence.
‘Anyway,’ Dr Eris said, ‘when I saw you back there, you seemed in rather a rush. Was there something you wanted? I’m guessing it was John you were looking for?’ She forced a smile. ‘I can’t see any other reason you were here at the asylum?’
Helen gave an equally false smile. ‘Yes, it was John I was after, but it’s not important. It can wait.’
Dr Eris glanced down at her watch. ‘Oh, my goodness, where does the time go?’
She looked directly at Bel.
‘Well, lovely to meet you.’ Dr Eris smiled.
Bel thought she had the most perfect teeth she’d ever seen.
‘And,’ Dr Eris turned to Helen, ‘I’m glad we’ve managed to have this little chat. Anyway, best get a shimmy on. Minds to mend and all that.’
And with that Dr Eris turned and quickly walked back to the main entrance, hurried up the stone steps, and disappeared through the wooden swing doors.
Helen looked at Bel. ‘Well, I guess that answers that question.’
Bel opened her mouth to offer words of reassurance, but none came out. If there had been any doubt that Helen might have misread the scene she’d happened upon, it had now been wiped clean away.
‘I think that was called staking your claim,’ Helen said.
Bel nodded but didn’t say anything. She didn’t know Helen well enough to offer her any words of comfort, not that she could think of any even if there were. Poor Helen, she looked bereft.
‘Are you going to be all right?’
‘Yes, of course,’ Helen said as convincingly as possible. ‘Best get back to work. Denewood took a battering last night.’
‘Really?’ Bel was shocked. She’d heard that Thompson’s had been hit during last night’s air raid but not any details.
‘Badly?’ Bel knew everyone would be gutted. The whole yard had worked flat out to get her down the ways on time.
‘She was taking in water this morning, but they’ve managed to keep her afloat.’ Helen straightened her shoulders. ‘Honestly, here’s me whining on about some bloke and the whole town’s been bombed to smithereens.’
‘That might be,’ Bel said with a sad smile, ‘but Dr Parker isn’t just “some bloke” is he?’
‘No,’ Helen acquiesced, ‘but he’s going to have to be just “some bloke” from now on.’
They were quiet for a moment.
Helen looked at Bel and was again hit by the family resemblance: the same blonde hair, blue eyes, the same nose and lips.
‘Gosh, you must think I’m so incredibly shallow. I haven’t even mentioned the …’ Helen stopped. ‘… the … God, I can’t even think of a word to describe the abominable thing my grandfather did.’ Helen’s shoulders suddenly drooped. ‘I’m so sorry Bel. I still don’t know what to say. I don’t think it’s really sunk in, to be honest.’
‘Don’t worry about that now,’ Bel said. ‘A conversation for another time?’
‘Yes, definitely,’ Helen agreed.
‘When everything’s calmed down a little,’ Bel suggested.
‘Yes,’ Helen said, ‘yesterday and today have been quite tumultuous, to say the least.’
She looked over at the black Jaguar she’d borrowed from her grandfather. ‘Are you sure I can’t give you and your mother a lift home?’
‘No, honestly, we’ll be fine. Knowing my ma, she’ll want the hair of the dog.’ Bel rolled her eyes. ‘She had a few too many last night. She mentioned nipping into the village after she’d seen Bill, which means an hour in the Railway Inn before we get on the train.’
Helen felt a sudden jolt of sadness. The Railway Inn had been her and John’s favourite meeting place.
‘Oh,’ Helen let out a bitter laugh, ‘tell her to have one for me.’
Bel’s laughter was just as bitter.
‘I will. Not that she’ll need any encouragement.’
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Copyright © Nancy Revell 2020
Cover photography by Colin Thomas. Background Mirror Pix.
Nancy Revell has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
First published in Great Britain by Arrow Books in 2020
www.penguin.co.uk
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9781473572812
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