Geoff, who was her … Alice’s thoughts petered off. Geoff was just her friend, she realised. She’d never let him be more than that. She knew he’d like to be. He hadn’t tried to kiss her again, nor had he so much as given another hint that they were sweethearts walking out. So if he found another girl he liked, why shouldn’t he get close to her and pay her attention? ‘Got to get back to work,’ Alice said huskily. ‘I’m only taking a short break today.’
They turned about and started walking back the way they’d come. A few minutes later Geoff caught up with them and fell into step.
‘On yer dinner breaks?’ Geoff asked airily and cast a curious look at Sarah’s red and blotchy face. ‘I am ‘n’ all.’
‘Just heard this morning that me dad’s got killed in the fighting.’ Sarah croaked an explanation for her appearance for she could sense Geoff’s unspoken question. She’d always had a soft spot for Geoff and she’d rather tell him why she looked a mess than have him ask.
‘Bloody hell … not another one!’ Geoff exhaled loudly in sympathy. ‘I was just talking to Peter Slater’s fiancée. She just told me that they heard a few days ago he’s got reported missing, presumed dead. In a right state, she is.’
‘Peter Slater’s fiancée?’ Alice sent him a sharp sideways glance. ‘Is that who she is?’
‘Yeah. You remember him, don’t you? Dan got his job training horses when Peter had a few too many bevvies one dinnertime and joined up. Poor sod. If he’d stayed out of the pub he’d probably still be alive and in Essex. He’d only just turned eighteen.’
A guilty sensation rolled in Alice’s stomach, making her feel quite sick. She’d felt annoyed on seeing Geoff talking to Peter’s fiancée and all the poor girl had done was to tell him she’d had bad news about her sweetheart.
They stopped at the corner and after a brief goodbye Sarah went off back to work at the biscuit factory.
Alice and Geoff continued on along the road towards Turner’s. Still Alice felt oddly unsettled. She slid Geoff a look. Having sensed her eyes on him, he turned his head. After a moment his quizzical expression altered and a glimmer of understanding replaced it. A corner of his mouth tilted in what could have been amusement or satisfaction.
Alice felt her face getting hot for she knew she’d betrayed her jealousy. She speeded up towards the gate of the factory. ‘See you later then?’ She swished past and kept walking towards the factory entrance. After a moment of silence she swung about to see if he’d rudely gone off without even bothering to reply to her mumbled farewell. He was standing watching her from behind the railings. For a moment they stood quite still, their eyes locked together.
‘Ain’t interested in her,’ Geoff said softly and planted a large hand on the iron bars.
‘Ain’t bothered if you are,’ Alice returned.
‘I reckon you are.’
‘You can reckon all you like, Geoff Lovat,’ Alice snapped. ‘We still ain’t walkin’ out.’
‘I reckon we are,’ he said and with a grin he pushed away from the railings and walked on.
‘Dad!’
The chorus of joyous shouts issued from Alice and Bethany. Simultaneously the two girls launched themselves forward and hugged their father in a tangle of limbs before he was properly through the door. They’d been up early that morning doing what they could to tidy the place whilst awaiting his arrival.
Jack dropped his kitbag. He struggled to free his arms from where his daughters had pinned them to his sides so he could grip them tightly to him. He swung his face planting his lips on two dark heads, then another fierce kiss was bestowed on both girls before he let them go.
‘Got a surprise for you, Dad,’ Alice said. ‘Close your eyes.’ Jack looked from Alice to Bethany but neither was giving anything away. He swiped his hat from his head and put it on the table.
‘Go on, close them,’ Beth said excitedly and cupped her palms over her father’s eyes until he moved up his hands to replace them.
The door to the back room opened and Sophy and Danny crept out.
‘Can open ’em now,’ Sophy said softly. As soon as her father’s fingers had dropped away from his face Sophy launched herself at him, hugging him tightly about the waist and burrowing her face into his neck. Danny watched the scene indulgently before he approached Jack to shake his hand.
‘So good to see you both,’ Jack croaked through the tears in his throat. ‘Lovely surprise … lovely …’ he mumbled.
‘I’ll be back later,’ Danny said tactfully as Jack withdrew a handkerchief. ‘I’ve gotta go next door and see them all. Me mum’ll be on the warpath else.’
Jack nodded in understanding but kept Sophy clasped against his side as he dropped a kiss on her hair. ‘You’re looking bonny, Sophy,’ he choked out. ‘They’ve been feeding you well, I see.’
Sophy blushed. She knew she was getting plump. But she didn’t care too much because she was content. And besides, Danny said he liked her better with a bit of meat on her.
Finally Jack walked further into the room and gave his wife, who’d been sitting on the piano stool watching the scene with a smile, a searing look. But he went to Lucy who had jumped from the bed, giggling, and had been patiently awaiting her father’s attention. ‘Are you the birthday girl who’s gonna be five tomorrow?’ Jack teased Lucy with a grin. ‘Your daddy’s got you a present.’ He put his youngest back down on the floor and Lucy bounced up and down excitedly, barefoot, on the boards while Jack dug in his bag and brought forth a floppy doll with yellow wool hair and a red dress. ‘Come all the way from France that did, Luce,’ he told her as he handed it over and ruffled her soft curls.
Lucy hugged her present to her and climbed back on the bed to examine it.
Finally he turned his attention to Tilly. ‘It didn’t cost much at all,’ he said easily. ‘Worked out at just a few coppers …’ He knew how hard things had been for his wife trying to cope alone. Kids’ toys were no bloody use to people with empty bellies.
Tilly shrugged and continued to feast her eyes on her husband. She’d sooner have had the cost of the doll – and she reckoned it was shillings, not pennies – jangling in the kitty but she was too pleased to see Jack to start a row today. Besides, Sophy had brought her some money from her wages and handed it over before she’d had to ask. Jack sat down beside her on the stool and put his arm around her. He waited till she’d cuffed the wetness from her eyes before he bent his head and gave her a kiss on the lips.
Alice watched them. Now she was older she understood why they sometimes liked to have a bit of time alone. Despite yearning to stay with her dad and question him immediately about how he was, and what he’d been doing since they’d last seen him, she announced cheerfully, ‘Me ‘n’ Beth ‘n’ Sophy are going to get a cake and some pop so’s we can have a birthday party for Lucy.’
Tilly gave her a startled look that begged to know where the money for that was coming from.
‘We’ve all been putting a bit by from our wages, even Beth’s chipped in,’ Alice explained and avoided her mother’s eye. If Tilly had known a few savings were around she’d have
