Big Dreams for the West End Girls

by Elaine Roberts

  ‘I have, come with me.’ Ted held out his hand for his daughter to take.

  Joyce looked back up the road at Simon leaning heavily on his stick. ‘Pa, I can’t do this now; you must understand I need to talk to Simon. I can’t let this happen a second time.’

  Ted nodded; the pain was etched on his daughter’s face. ‘Simon is coming with us.’

  Joyce’s eyes widened. ‘Where are we going?’ She placed her hand in his.

  Ted clasped it tight; he never wanted to let her go again. ‘I have a lot of making up to do, and I hope what I have done will show you that I’ve turned over a new leaf and can be trusted.’

  Joyce opened her mouth to speak but closed it again.

  Ted smiled. ‘Don’t worry I know it’s a big ask, but I’ll keep trying until I get there.’ He stepped forward and guided her to an open doorway. ‘You first.’

  Joyce stepped in and gasped. ‘This is beautiful.’ She looked around at the linen on the tables; church candles placed on small ceramic stands were the centrepieces. She spun round and looked at her father. ‘I don’t understand why we’re here. I thought this had closed down. I was only just telling Rose and Annie about this place.’ Her face lit up. ‘Have you got me a job here?’

  Ted beamed at her and nodded.

  ‘Oh my goodness, this is exciting.’ She looked around and noticed there was a certificate on the wall by the till. There was also a chalkboard to write on. The other walls had paintings of London on them, in various sizes; one in particularly caught her eye. She walked over and studied it for a moment. ‘I do believe that’s Shaftesbury Avenue.’

  ‘It’s the view we saw every day from the café.’

  Joyce spun round at the sound of Simon’s voice. ‘This is fabulous. When do I meet the owner?’

  Simon laughed. ‘I think you may already know the owner.’

  Joyce raised her eyebrows. ‘Don’t tell me it’s you?’

  Simon shook his head.

  Jeremiah King pushed open the kitchen door just then and stepped out into the front of the restaurant, quickly followed by Joyce’s friends as well as Philip, Kitty and Stan, Mavis and Barbara.

  Joyce covered her head with her hands when she saw him. ‘Hello, Mr King, forgive me but I don’t connect you with good news so please tell me you are not here for me.’ Her mouth dropped open when she noticed everyone had gathered around her. ‘What’s going on?’

  Simon stepped forward and put his arm around Joyce’s waist. ‘Everything is all right.’

  Ted glanced over at the solicitor. ‘Do the honours, Jeremiah, before Joyce collapses.’

  Jeremiah grinned as he stepped forward. He held some folded paper in his hands and an envelope and reached out to give it to Joyce.

  Joyce stared at it, hesitant to take it from him.

  Jeremiah waved it at her. ‘Go on, I promise it’s good news. Your grandmother left your father a substantial amount of money.’

  ‘Always a solicitor, you’re so officious.’ Ted turned to Joyce and waved his arms around. ‘This was the gamble. All of this is yours, and those papers prove it. For once in my life I did things right; I bet on my family.’

  Joyce took the papers but didn’t look at them. ‘I don’t know what to say.’

  Ted walked over and wrapped his arms around his daughter. ‘You can tell us what you’re going to call it.’

  Joyce shook her head. ‘I can’t believe it, but if it’s really mine then it will be called Breaking Bread.’

  The whole room broke into applause.

  Philip turned and gave Arthur a huge smile. ‘That’s cos it’s about coming together and sharing.’

  Arthur ruffled his hair. ‘Joyce has given it a good name then.’

  Philip turned back, grinning and clapping his hands together as hard as he could.

  Rose beamed. ‘Good, now I can embroider the initials on the table linen.’

  Joyce looked over at her and the penny suddenly dropped. ‘Was that what all the sewing was?’

  Rose nodded. ‘But we’ve all had a part to play; Annie, Peter, Charlie and Barbara have been busy painting everything in sight, while Mavis taught your father how to clean everything in sight.’ Everybody laughed and cheered.

  Mavis giggled. ‘The paintings on the walls are Simon’s, although he would never tell you that.’

  Simon smiled and shook his head. ‘Peter also got all the plants you can see. Barbara picked out the mirror on the wall so it all looks bigger and brighter in here.’

  Joyce shook her head. ‘I can’t believe it. I don’t know what to say, except thank you but that doesn’t seem enough.’

  Ted glanced at Simon. ‘Are you going to do it now?’

  The room went quiet.

  Simon took a deep breath before taking Joyce’s hand. He led her over to the other side of the room. ‘Ted, I’m going to need a hand.’

  Ted stepped forward so that they stood either side of a covered frame on the wall.

  Joyce’s heart was pounding as she stood with her hands in a prayer position in front of her mouth.

  Simon took a deep breath and nodded at Ted. The covering dropped. Everyone in the room gasped; silence reigned for a moment.

  Tears rolled down Joyce’s face.

  Simon stepped forward. He frowned as his worry took over. ‘You don’t have to keep it. I’ve never done a painting like this before.’

  Joyce shook her head. ‘It’s beautiful.’ She couldn’t take her eyes off the family portrait. ‘How, I mean, how did you know what my mother looked like?’

  Simon thrust his hand in his trouser pocket and pulled out her gold locket. ‘I’ve had the chain fixed. I’m sorry. It was never lost but I couldn’t tell you without spoiling the surprise.’

  Joyce threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

  The restaurant was high with excitement; laughter and clapping filled the room.

  Joyce pulled back and looked at the portrait of her mother, father, Philip and herself. She frowned. ‘It can’t stay up there. It will have to come down.’

  Simon turned to look at the painting and pursed his lips. ‘I did say it wasn’t good enough to go up on the wall.’

  Joyce moved her gaze from the painting to Simon. ‘That’s not the reason. It’s wonderful, but you’ve left a very important person off.’

  Simon frowned as he looked at her.

  Joyce smiled. ‘You’re the one who’s missing.’

  Annie and Rose gasped. They jerked round to stare at each other with wide eyes. They gripped each other’s hands as they turned back to watch what was unfolding in front of them.

  Simon passed his walking stick to Ted. He thrust his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a square blue velvet box. His eyes didn’t leave Joyce’s as he struggled to get down on one knee. ‘Joyce, you are the love of my life. Will you marry me?’

  Acknowledgements

  As I write this most of the world is still in some level of Coronavirus lockdown, but we’re all hopeful the vaccination is going to bring back a level of normality, like hugging each other; that’s what I miss more than anything. It’s a strange time we’re living in, with people working from home and having to find new ways to entertain themselves. As always there have been some splendid heroes/heroines sprinkled with villains, but I hope everyone stays safe and keeps well. I can honestly say I’m grateful technology has enabled me to see my children and grandchildren over the Internet. I would like to thank my wonderful family for being so encouraging and supportive, their guidance is always appreciated.

  A big thank you, and a lot of love, must go to the people I have never met, the virtual friends on social media and readers who have sent me messages, saying how much they have enjoyed my writing and are looking forward to the next book. I have had huge support from them, both in my writing and personal life, and that means the world to me.

  I almost feel it goes without saying that I thank all the writing community and friends for their encouragement in th
e last year. I’d like to thank the Aria team, with special thanks going to Rhea Kurien, for her patience, understanding, and for giving me time and space. You were a pleasure to work with. I’d also like to thank my new editor, Hannah Todd, for fine-tuning my novel.

  I truly hope everyone who reads this novel enjoys the second instalment of The West End Girls.

  Thank you.

  Elaine xx

  If you wish to talk to me, here are my details:

  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElaineRobertsAuthor/

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobertsElaine11

  Website: https://www.elaineroberts.co.uk

  About the Author

  ELAINE ROBERTS had a dream to write for a living. She completed her first novel in her twenties and received her first very nice rejection. Life then got in the way again until she picked up her dream again in 2010. She joined a creative writing class, The Write Place, in 2012 and shortly afterwards had her first short story published. Elaine and her extended family live in and around Dartford, Kent and her home is always busy with visiting children, grandchildren, grand dogs and cats.

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