always spoke as if she was worldly and experienced, but though a flirt, she would never let a boy take liberties. To most people Carol appeared older and self-assured, but Amy knew there was another side to her. Underneath the hard veneer she was soft and caring, but with two older brothers to contend with while growing up, it rarely showed.
Amy smiled and said, ‘Thanks for the advice, but you know I’ve been out with other boys and most of them were like octopuses with their groping hands. Tommy’s different, he isn’t like that.’
‘Yeah, all right, I get the picture, but just because Tommy’s sick, I don’t see why you have to stay at home every night. Why don’t you come out with me for a change? We could go down to the youth club to play some records and jive to Bill Haley singing Rock around the Clock.’
‘You’ve been on about that song for months now.’
‘I know,’ Carol conceded, ‘but it’s so catchy. Davy and Paul reckon that big changes are coming, that singers like Alma Cogan and Ronnie Hilton will be out. Our parents can listen to them or Winifred Atwell on the piano, while we dance to rock and roll.’
Amy was an only child and wished that like Carol, she had two big brothers. Dave was twenty-one, Paul twenty-three, both tall with dark hair, and they were protective of their sister. When the boys had lived at home the house always seemed to be bursting at the seams and with only two bedrooms, Carol’s had just been a partitioned-off section of the boys’. Amy had had a crush on both of them, but they only saw her as a kid. When they’d left home to share a flat, Carol had the whole room to herself, but they were always popping home. ‘Have you seen your brothers today?’ Amy asked.
‘Yeah, they came round for dinner, but left soon after, leaving me as usual to help Mum with the washing up. It drives me mad the way they expect to be waited on, and my dad’s the same.’
‘When you’re a girl, it seems to be expected,’ Amy said.
Carol pouted and complained, ‘I don’t see why. When I get married I’m not going to be a slave to my husband.’
‘What’s this?’ Amy asked, smiling. ‘Has someone proposed to you?’
‘Don’t be daft. You know I haven’t got a boyfriend at the moment.’
‘You soon will have,’ Amy said assuredly as she looked at her friend. Carol was pretty, with long, auburn hair, hazel eyes and full lips that tended to pout if she didn’t get her own way. She was also fairly tall, with a willowy figure that Amy envied.
‘I must admit, I’ve got my eye on a bloke.’
‘Have you?’ Amy asked. ‘Do I know him?’
‘You’ve seen him,’ Carol said enigmatically.
Amy frowned. ‘Where?’
‘He’s working on refitting that shop opposite where we work.’
‘I haven’t noticed him,’ Amy said, ‘but it explains why you’ve been hovering at the window instead of serving customers.’
‘Yeah, well, he is a bit dishy.’
‘What does he look like?’
‘He’s cute. Not too tall, beefy, with a round face.’
‘He sounds like your usual type,’ Amy said, unable to share Carol’s taste in boys. It was funny really, Amy thought, considering that she was only four foot eleven she liked tall blokes, whereas Carol preferred them short and stocky.
‘Once the refit is finished he’ll be off. I need to catch his eye before then,’ Carol mused.
‘I doubt he could have missed you,’ Amy commented, aware how striking her friend was. ‘Unless of course you’ve been standing at the window so much that he thinks you’re part of the display.’
Carol chuckled; Amy giggled, and soon the two of them were in fits of laughter. ‘Shush,’ Carol finally gasped. ‘If we wake my parents up I’ll be in trouble.’
Amy managed to stop laughing. She liked Carol’s mum, Daphne Cole. Carol had inherited her mother’s good looks and colouring; however she could be hard on her daughter if she was in one of her moods. ‘Yes, you might get it in the neck from your mum, but you can’t do anything wrong in your dad’s eyes.’
‘Yours is the same, but your mum dotes on you too. I wish I was an only child.’
‘I’d prefer it if I wasn’t,’ Amy said. ‘It can be a bit stifling and you get far more freedom than me.’
‘Yeah, there is that I suppose,’ Carol conceded, ‘though I still have to be home by ten thirty. Talking of freedom, are you coming out tonight?’
With Tommy ill in bed it didn’t seem right to go out dancing and if he got to hear about it he might be upset. Amy desperately sought an excuse. Carol didn’t know that Mrs Frost had turned her away earlier, so she clutched at that. ‘Sorry, I can’t come out with you. I’m going to see Tommy.’
‘Boring …’ Carol drawled.
Amy hated fibbing to her friend, but she was really keen on Tommy, keener than anyone knew. She wasn’t too worried about Mrs Frost; after all, she’d be marrying Tommy, not his mother. Of course there had been no mention of marriage, but Amy had seen the way Tommy looked at her. He hadn’t said that he loved her yet, but she was sure he returned her feelings.
At least she hoped so.
Celia Frost was disappointed to see that Thomas had hardly touched his dinner. She felt his forehead, frowning. ‘You’ve hardly eaten a thing and if your fever hasn’t gone down by tomorrow, I think I’ll ask Dr Trent to call in again.’
‘There’s no need to make a fuss. I feel a little better today.’
‘You don’t look it,’ Celia told him.
‘Has Amy called in to see me?’
‘Yes, but you were asleep and I don’t think she’ll be back. Young girls are so flighty these days and while you’re ill in bed, no doubt Amy’s out and about enjoying herself,’ Celia said, pleased to see a frown cross her son’s features. She had planted a seed of doubt about Amy and she’d leave him to dwell on it. ‘Now rest, darling, and I’ll be up to see you again later.’
Celia carried the tray downstairs, and after washing the plate she went back into the sitting room where she took a seat by the fire, her eyes resting on her husband in the opposite chair. He was asleep, snoring softly and her lips twisted in distaste. She’d had high hopes for George when they married, expecting him to be as ambitious as she was, but instead, with his problem, he’d never attempted to expand the business. There was plenty of work for glaziers, and by now George should have been in the position to employ men to work for him. However, he’d been too proud to accept her offer to help, instead remaining a one-man band.
Of course Thomas worked with him, but that hardly counted. At least George made fairly good money and was generous with the housekeeping, Celia had to admit. Yet they could have had so much more, still could, if George would only listen to her suggestions instead of dismissing
