‘Rough and rowdy I should think,’ Stan said as he lowered his eyes to the book again.
Mabel knew the signs. She wasn’t going to get anything else out of him, and her thoughts turned to Phyllis again. She was fond of her friend, but secretly envied her too – envied that she had a happy marriage, and though he was a drinker Stan was always laughing and joking. Maybe Jack would cheer up a bit if he had a few pints of beer instead of his nose stuck in books.
In truth though, the thing that Mabel envied most was that Phyllis had a daughter. In fact nearly everyone in the street had kids. Daphne Cole had three, two sons and her flighty daughter, Carol.
Mabel felt a surge of deep sorrow. She tried to hide it, buried her unhappiness in gossip, but in reality her life felt empty, meaningless, and she had felt like this since the day her son had died.
Thomas was almost fully recovered by Thursday, and despite what his mother said, at a quarter to seven that evening nothing was going to keep him in. Thankfully he found he had an ally in his father.
‘Thomas, it’s far too cold to go out,’ his mother complained. ‘You’ve only just got over that nasty bout of bronchitis.’
‘I feel fine, Mum.’
‘It’s damp outside and you need to keep warm.’
‘Leave him alone, Celia. He wants to call on Amy and he looks fine to me. A bit of fresh air won’t do him any harm.’
‘Since when have we had fresh air around here? We’d only get that if we moved out of London. We could find a nice place in the country.’
‘Not this again? My work is here, Celia, and I doubt I’d get many, if any, call outs in the country.’
‘Your son’s health is more important than your volume of work.’
‘So you’d be happy if I could only give you a fraction of the money you get now?’
‘Money isn’t everything.’
‘It is with you, Celia.’
Thomas could see this was going to develop into yet another argument between his parents, and quickly said, ‘I’m off. I’ll see you later.’
‘Thomas!’
He ignored his mother’s shout, and hurried out, heading down the Rise to see Amy. He couldn’t understand why she hadn’t at least called in to see how he was. During his time in bed he had at first been bewildered, but then he began to think that she must have found someone else.
Thomas’s stomach tightened at the thought. He liked Amy, really liked her and had hoped she had felt the same way about him. If she had another boyfriend, when was she going to tell him? Thomas couldn’t stand the wait, he wanted to know and as he reached her house to knock on the door, he found his guts churning with nerves.
Amy opened it, her eyes widening when she saw him, but she also smiled with delight. ‘Tommy! Oh, I’m so pleased to see you. Are you all right now?’
‘Yes, I’m fine. Can you come out for a walk?’
‘Of course. I’ll just get my coat.’
Thomas waited, puzzled. Amy had certainly looked pleased to see him. Was that a good sign? In less than a minute Amy was hurrying outside and after pulling the door closed behind her, she tucked a hand into his arm.
They began to walk and Thomas found that he didn’t know what to say. If he complained that she hadn’t been to see him it would make him appear a bit petulant. He bit on his lower lip, and then said instead, ‘What have you been up to while I’ve been stuck in bed?’
‘I’ve just been to work as usual and then spent the evenings at home.’
‘That can’t have been much fun,’ he said, but his mood lightened. ‘There was I thinking you would have been out having a good time.’
‘Well I wasn’t,’ Amy said, smiling up at him. ‘I couldn’t have a good time without you.’
His heart skipped a beat. Amy was so cute and pretty. He didn’t care that she was less than five feet tall – he loved that about her too. Since childhood Tommy had felt like a weakling and he’d been bullied at school, yet when he was with Amy he felt so tall and manly. ‘You have no idea how much I’ve missed you,’ he said.
‘I’ve missed you too, Tommy.’
They had turned the corner, and with nobody in sight, Thomas drew to a halt. He enfolded Amy into his arms, bent his head and she lifted hers, standing on tiptoe as they kissed.
She hadn’t found anyone else; Amy was still his, and Thomas was happy. She was definitely the girl for him, and though it was too soon to do it yet, in a few more months, if only she’d agree, he hoped to put an engagement ring on her finger.
‘After telling us that Tommy was at the door, Amy soon shot off,’ Phyllis said to her husband. ‘Not that I mind. It was her half day off today and she spent it helping me to do the housework.’
‘She’s a good girl,’ Stan said.
‘Tommy must be all right now, but I still don’t think that he’s right for her.’
‘I know, but if you remember, your mum was dead against me too.’
‘What do you expect? She found you taking liberties with me on the doorstep.’
‘Liberties!’ Stan exclaimed. ‘I only had my hand up your jumper and I didn’t get far before you pushed it away.’
‘True, but it looked bad.’
‘Yeah, I suppose so, but there was no need for her to act like I was some sort of sex maniac. She bashed me over the head with a vase – it’s a wonder she didn’t leave me brain damaged.’
Phyllis chuckled. ‘If you ask me, she did.’
‘Cheeky,’ Stan said. ‘Still, I suppose it’s possible. After all, I went on to marry you.’
‘Now who’s being cheeky?’
Stan pulled her into his arms and said, ‘I’m only joking. It’s the best thing I ever did. In fact, gorgeous, how about an early night?’
‘Get off, you daft sod. I’ve got to leave for work in a minute.’
‘Yeah, I know, but I’m still not happy about you looking after Winnie.’
‘Stan, we’ve talked about this and I told you that I can cope.’
‘You’re as stubborn as your mother.’
‘Maybe, but I still miss her,’ Phyllis mused. ‘I still can’t believe that my dad married again just a few months after she died.’
‘I know it was a shock, love, but don’t you think it’s about time you buried the hatchet?’
‘Never! I can’t stand that money-grabbing woman that he married, and as I protested when Dad gave her all Mum’s jewellery, she hates me too. I’ll never go to visit them, and I told Dad that he wouldn’t be welcome here unless he comes alone.’
‘It’s not like you to be so hard, love.’
‘I can’t help how I feel. That woman will bleed him dry, I just know it, but he just wouldn’t listen to me,’ Phyllis said, glancing at the clock. ‘I must go, but talking about my family has reminded me of something. Mabel told me that there’s gossip about Rose again, that she’s got her eye on someone and he might be a married man. You see her behind the bar in the pub. Have you noticed anything?’
‘No,