cup of tea as it’s quiet?’
‘Would you, Cora?’ Winnie brightened a little. ‘I won’t say no. I’m glad to be out of the house.’
Cora kept a kettle, some mugs and milk in a cooler in a corner behind the counter and she soon had a hot drink ready. ‘You take your time, Winnie, and tell me all about it.’
‘It’s my poor sister.’ Winnie blew on her tea. ‘You know she’s having a dreadful time with the neighbours. It’s got much worse. This weekend they were all fighting and she could hear everything through the wall. The old man was drunk and swearing something dreadful, and our Beryl has young kids. Well, they could hear the lot. They’ve started using some of those words and they got in trouble at school for it. Beryl’s at the end of her tether. Also, she thinks they’ve damaged the wall throwing things at it. Sounded as if the father was trying to kill one of the boys. All over a racehorse. I don’t know what to advise.’
‘All you can do is listen, Winnie.’ Cora hoped there would be more. This was payback time for Winnie’s snobby remarks about her bloody Vera working at Arding and Hobbs.
‘Beryl would like to stay at my house, but I just haven’t got the room. All we can hope for is that her neighbours will quieten down. If they don’t, she’ll just have to report them to the landlord.’
‘That’s what I’d do,’ said Cora. Thank God her neighbours weren’t anything like as bad. She knew young Richie over the road played his music very loud but it never went on late. She could always go over and have a word with Jill about it if she needed to. She wouldn’t get sworn at if she did, either – she’d never heard Neville or any of his family be rude or coarse.
‘They were at our place until the kids’ bedtime on Sunday night,’ Winnie went on. ‘I fed them and everything – Beryl’s not happy using her kitchen what with the worry about the rats. It’s enough to shred your nerves. I don’t know what Vera’s colleagues will say if they get to hear about it.’
‘I’m sure they won’t, Winnie. Anyway, it’s not your kitchen that’s got rats. If you ask me, it’s good of you to do so much for your sister.’
‘You’ve got to look after your family, that’s what I always say,’ Winnie said as she drained the last of her tea and asked to buy ten Woodbines. ‘That was a lovely cuppa and it was good of you to make it for me, Cora. You must be bored to tears with hearing about my sister’s problems with the Lanning family.’
‘Think nothing of it, Winnie,’ said Cora, smiling as she completed the sale, at the thought of this nice bit of gossip that she could pass on.
Alison tried to time her arrival at work to coincide with Paul putting up the awning but she was disappointed. As she drew closer to the row of shops she could see the old man, Paul’s boss, arranging the last of the boxes outside. He nodded briefly but didn’t look as if he was in the mood for conversation.
‘What’s up with him?’ she asked Fred as she hung up her coat. ‘Looks as if he got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning.’
Fred was weighing out some mince. ‘He said his assistant is off sick today so he’ll have to do all the lifting himself, and he’s not really up to it any more. Takes its toll after a while when you’re his age.’ He didn’t sound very interested and so Alison didn’t ask if he knew how sick Paul was. ‘Here, take this and put it out the back in one of the fridges. There’s room on the bottom shelf.’
Alison took the tray of mince, wondering if Paul was really sick or if he’d just fancied a day off. She wouldn’t put it past him to fake it, as she knew he got bored standing around in the ironmonger’s with just the old man for company. I must find a way of going in there and seeing him more often, she thought. She began to daydream about how much he’d enjoy her company, and what they might talk about. Would he like to know about Hazel and her plans for the wedding? No, maybe that would put him off. She didn’t want to jump the gun. He’d probably think she was reading too much into their few encounters. But all the same she’d like to know more about him, about his family, what he did when he wasn’t at work.
‘Alison, are you back there?’ called Fred. ‘I could do with a hand out here.’
Shaking herself out of her fantasy, she realised she’d been standing by the back door for ages, imagining how things would be the next time she saw Paul. Well, it didn’t look as if it was going to be today. She’d have to put those hopes on hold. It didn’t hurt to daydream though.
Hazel had been rushed off her feet in the café all morning. They were one person short and the result was she hadn’t sat down since the start of her shift. At least she’d had an early night last night and so had plenty of energy. That was one good thing with Neville doing so much overtime and not taking her out as often – she didn’t stay out late and wake up feeling as if she’d already done a day’s work. She told herself she should be glad about that but couldn’t help the resentment at having to stay in with her mother and sister every evening. It was enough to make anyone depressed – her mother’s constant whinging and Alison’s long face staring into space for hours on end. Roll on the day when she and Neville had their own place and didn’t have to put up with her family any longer.
‘All right, Hazel? How are the wedding plans?’
It was Joe Philpott from the market. He headed for the corner table which had a big padded bench down one side. He was so big he found it hard to sit on the usual chairs and his long legs barely fitted under the table.
‘Coming along fine, thanks,’ she smiled. She reached in her apron pocket for her notepad and pencil. ‘What’ll it be today, Joe?’
‘I was going to have just a cup of tea,’ he said, ‘but now I’m here and there are all those lovely kitchen smells I think I’ll have a bacon sandwich as well.’ His mouth watered at the thought of it.
‘Cup of tea and a bacon sandwich coming right up.’ She wrote the order on her pad.
‘Still not bought you a ring, then?’ he said, glancing at her left hand.
Hazel tried not to show how irritated she was. ‘We’ve been too busy to go and look for one. Nev’s working every shift he can and the only day off I get is Sunday. By the time I’m finished here every day I’m too spent to go trailing round the shops and Nev would still be at the factory anyway.’ For a moment she felt sorry for herself. Then she straightened her shoulders. ‘Still, it’ll be worth it.’ Who needs a ring anyway, she thought as she made her way back to the kitchen. It’d be nice but I’d rather have the big wedding.
The kitchen always made a point of serving local customers quickly, knowing they usually could only spare a few minutes to take a break, so Joe’s sandwich was ready almost at once. Hazel took it over with a big mug of tea. ‘There you are, Joe. Extra large to keep you going out there. Is it busy today?’
‘Not bad for a weekday,’ he said, squirting ketchup over the bacon. ‘This is exactly what the doctor ordered. My compliments to the chef. So, Hazel, you thought any more about bridesmaid’s dresses?’
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