As Jessica followed Eddie into the pub, she noticed how all heads turned their way. She clocked the whispers and loved the way people fell over themselves to acknowledge and be acknowledged by her handsome man.
‘I think I’ll have a glass of wine,’ she said happily.
‘Eddie! Long time no see. Christ, you’re looking well. What a lovely surprise to see you. Now, what would you and your beautiful lady like to drink?’
Eddie introduced Jessica to the guv’nor of the pub and left her chatting to him while he sorted out the money he was owed. ‘Won’t be a sec, babe. Just going to see a man about a dog,’ he said, winking at her.
Minutes later he returned with a big grin on his face.
Jessica nudged him, ‘Did you get your money?’ she whispered.
‘Plus interest,’ Eddie said laughing.
The Burnell Arms had a band playing and Jessica was happy to stay there. Ever since she’d met Ed, she’d gone off her food, so she didn’t fancy a meal. The evening flowed nicely and Jess had a wonderful time. At half-eleven, Eddie turned to her.
‘I think I should be getting you home now.’
‘Oh, I don’t want to go yet. Can’t I stay at yours tonight?’ Jessica asked.
Eddie shook his head. ‘I promised your mum and dad that I’d have you home at a reasonable time. I know you often stay at mine, Jess, but that’s when they think you’re staying at your mate’s. If you stay tonight, they’ll know we’re at it and I don’t want them to get the wrong idea about me.’
Ed thanked the guv’nor, said his goodbyes and led Jess from the pub. She only lived a short distance away and as he pulled up near her house, he noticed her look of disappointment. Pulling her towards him, he kissed her softly.
‘I’d love to wake up with you tomorrow, more than anything else in the world, but we need to do things properly. I know I haven’t said this to you yet, but I’m gonna say it now. I love you, Jessica Smith, and that’s why I want you to go home tonight. If we’re gonna have a future together, we need your parents to be on our side.’
Jessica looked at him with moo-cow eyes. ‘And I love you too. Please Ed, my mum wouldn’t care if I stayed round yours and she’d smooth it over with my dad,’ she pleaded.
Eddie shook his head. ‘It’s not your mum, Jess, I know she’d be OK. Look at things from your dad’s point of view. He knows I’m thirty, he knows I’ve been married, he knows I’ve got kids. If you stay out tonight, he’ll be worried sick and I don’t want to fuck things up for us. Trust me, I’m a man and I know how they think.’
Unable to tear herself away, Jessica kissed him passionately. Aware of him getting all excited, she put her hand on his erection.
Laughing, he grabbed her hand and moved it away. ‘Don’t start all that, else you’ll never get home. Seriously now, come on, be a good girl. I’ll pick you up tomorrow, OK?’
Jessica opened the car door. ‘Pick me up lunchtime if you like.’
Eddie shook his head. ‘I’ve got a bit of business to attend to. I’ll pick you up about six.’
‘I love you,’ Jess said.
Eddie winked. ‘Sweet dreams and I’ll see you tomorrow.’
FLOATING ON AIR, Jessica let herself into the house. Thankfully, her dad was in bed, but her mum was still sitting up reading a book.
Joyce folded the page and urged Jess to sit next to her. ‘I’ve been dying to know how your evening went. Oh, Jess, I thought he was lovely. Now, tell me everything from the start.’
Jessica’s eyes shone. ‘I’ve had such a wonderful evening, Mum. We didn’t end up going to the pictures, we went to a pub in East Ham instead. Eddie’s so popular, you know. Wherever we go, he has people hanging on his every word. And you’ll never guess what, Mum?’
Joyce could barely contain her excitement. ‘What? What’s happened?’
Jessica giggled. ‘He said the L word for the first time. He told me he’s in love with me.’
Joyce clapped her hands. ‘How did he say it? What were you talking about at the time? Did he say it in the pub?’
Jessica shook her head. ‘It was right at the end of the evening. We were outside chatting in the car. I wanted to go back to his flat, but he said no. He said that he promised you and dad that he’d get me home early and then he just said it. “I love you, Jess,” he said, and then he started talking about our future together.’
Joyce clasped her daughter’s hands. ‘That’s marvellous, darling. I’m so excited. I wish I’d seen his car. Why didn’t he come round in it earlier?’
‘His brother Ronny wanted to borrow it. Eddie’s so kind, he said yes straight away.’
Joyce smiled. ‘I’ve never been in a Mercedes. Do you think you and him could take me out for a ride in it one day?’
‘Of course. I’ll ask him tomorrow,’ Jess replied.
‘So what happens now? Do you think he might propose?’ Joyce asked.
Jessica shrugged. ‘Hopefully, soon he might. I’d definitely say yes if he did.’
Joyce studied her beautiful daughter. She was no longer a little girl. She was all grown up. Joyce held both of her hands. ‘Let me give you some advice, darling. True love is extremely hard to find, I should know. So if you’re lucky enough to have found it, make sure you hang on to it. I mean, Eddie’s thirty, isn’t he? And when a man’s been married, he’s obviously used to a sexual relationship. Don’t let him get away, Jess, you do what you’ve got to do to keep him happy.’
Embarrassed, Jessica stood up. She was close to her mum, but wasn’t used to discussing her sex life with her. ‘I’m tired now, Mum, I’m gonna go to bed. I understand what you’re saying and don’t worry, I won’t let him get away.’
As Jessica left the room, Joyce couldn’t stop smiling. She couldn’t wait to tell all of her friends at her dressmaking class. None of their daughters had captured a bloke half as good as Eddie, and she couldn’t wait to brag about her daughter’s rich, handsome boyfriend.
After a restless night, Eddie got up early and sorted out a meet with his father. Two o’clock at his aunt’s house was the arrangement. His Auntie Joan lived locally in Whitechapel and she allowed them to hold all their urgent meetings upstairs in her house.
His Auntie Joan had all but brought him and his brothers up, and Eddie was still very close to her. His mum had died when he was five years old. Ed could just about picture her face and he remembered her giving him lots of cuddles. The only other memory he had was of her coughing continuously and spitting blood into a bucket. One day he’d gone off to school and when he returned, she was gone.
He was too young to understand what was happening at the time, but he found out years later that she had been taken to a sanatorium and had later died there. Apparently, she’d contracted tuberculosis, better known as TB, and it was that, and pneumonia, that had killed her.
Harry, his dad, had never remarried. His house was still a shrine to the woman he had lost and he spent hours tending her grave. He visited a woman called Sylvie and sometimes took her out, but he refused to get too close. ‘Your mother was the kindest, most beautiful woman in the world. No other woman will ever hold a candle to her,’ he repeatedly told Eddie.
Eddie looked at his watch. His stomach was rumbling and he needed a nice cooked breakfast to start his brain functioning properly. He opened Ronny’s bedroom door.
‘Wakey,