‘I’m sorry,’ Moira apologised but she and Jack were delighted with their little son, even though once home he kept them both awake every night.
Laura reported to Rosa that Thomas looked almost square. ‘He’s so dark and has such a red face,’ she said. ‘His arms and legs are always flailing about and he looks ready to fight anyone. I’m sure he’ll be a boxer or a rugby player.’
‘Thank goodness I got the quiet one,’ said Rosa, ‘so that I can get on with my work and be independent.’
‘Financially, maybe, but you’d be lost without your mum’s help,’ Laura said sharply. It still rankled with her that Sarah had given up her dreams of her own business for Rosa and it had never been acknowledged but she was too happy about the secret she shared with Phil to be angry for long.
They fixed on May for their wedding date. ‘I love the month of May,’ Laura said, then a thought struck her. ‘It’s not near Jon’s anniversary is it?’
‘No, that’s in October. Twenty-eighth of October,’ Phil said. ‘I think May’s a lovely month too.’
Laura had few secrets from Mary, whom she still met almost every lunchtime, and sometimes they made a foursome with Danny and Phil but even to Mary she said nothing about her engagement. She hugged it to herself, enjoying the feeling that only she and Phil shared this important secret.
The weather was bright and sunny and all Anne’s problems had been solved and her worries dispersed when Julie’s wedding day came. The reception had been arranged at the Adelphi Hotel and rooms booked for Peter’s family and his many teaching colleagues and friends from Cambridge days.
David was Peter’s best man and to everyone’s surprise and delight he was accompanied by a slender dark-haired girl whom he introduced as Dr Hilary Speed.
‘Are you a doctor of medicine?’ asked Joe.
She said smilingly, ‘No, of Philosophy. I’m an art historian.’
Sarah was a little in awe of her at first but Hilary and Joe were friends immediately and everyone liked the quiet, pleasant girl.
‘You’re a dark horse,’ Laura said to David when they met in a quiet corner. ‘How long has this been going on?’
‘Some time now,’ David said, smiling. ‘I didn’t want to bring her to meet the family until we had settled things between us. Do you approve?’
‘I do indeed,’ Laura said. ‘I heard her telling Uncle Joe she was a musician too.’
‘Yes, she plays several instruments,’ David said proudly. ‘But the violin is her first love.’
‘You were made for each other,’ Laura said. ‘You’ll be able to while away the long winter evenings playing duets.’
David pretended to punch her and Laura was struck by a sudden thought. ‘Oh David, does this mean you’ll announce your engagement? It might steal Julie’s thunder.’
‘Don’t worry. Nothing would spoil this wedding for Julie,’ he said. ‘But we won’t formally announce it. Just tell one or two people and wait for everyone to know by a sort of osmosis.’
Laura felt a sudden rush of affection for her cousin who had been her friend and companion for as long as she could remember. Always dependable, someone to whom she could confide her worries or her joys and know that he would understand and give her good advice. Her dear companion, more to her than a brother.
‘Can you keep a secret, David?’ she asked.
‘You know I can but stop and think, Lol. Don’t tell me something on impulse and then wish you hadn’t.’
‘No, I want to tell you. Phil and I are engaged but we don’t want to say anything until after the wedding. Until my birthday in September.’
‘I’m absolutely delighted!’ David exclaimed, lifting her off her feet and whirling her round. ‘I couldn’t have heard better news. You’re just perfect for each other, Lol.’
‘Do I take it that you approve?’ Laura said breathlessly, echoing his question, as he put her down and kissed her soundly.
‘I do. Phil’s one of the nicest fellows I know,’ he said, ‘and a perfect match for you.’
‘But Phil’s nothing like me,’ Laura said and David laughed.
‘That’s what I mean.’
‘I know you won’t say anything, David. I haven’t even said anything to Mum yet.’
‘Silent as the grave,’ he assured her, ‘although I’ll bet Aunt Anne has a shrewd idea how the wind is blowing.’
On the morning of the wedding Laura was awakened early by a shaft of sunlight falling across her face. She lay for a while torn between sadness and joy. She looked forward to the day ahead but there was a core of sadness when she thought that this was the day her sister would leave this house for ever and unite her life with someone else.
It was only in the past few months that she had fully realised how much Julie meant to her and how she would miss her quiet little sister. But Julie was making a good marriage and Laura was sure that she would be happy. Peter was a good man, she thought.
She rarely thought of Nick but now her thoughts turned to him briefly. He was a different breed to Peter Cunliffe. If he had been the one who would be with her today, she would have been worrying all the time in case he offended someone and afraid to speak to a male guest for fear of arousing his jealous rage.
Why did I stay with him for so long? she wondered. I must have been crazy. She sat up and looked at the clock and at a framed photograph of Phil which stood on her bedside table. Dear Phil. She picked up the photograph and studied it. She had taken it and Phil was smiling at her, all his love and tenderness for her showing as he looked directly at her. Thank God I got rid of that creep and met Phil, she thought, giving the photograph a quick kiss.
The sun shone for the rest of the day. Julie wore a full-skirted dress of white silk with a lace veil and carried a bouquet of red roses. She looked so beautiful that Laura felt near to tears as she gave the last touches to Julie’s veil then set off for church, leaving her sister and her father alone together.
She knew that her father had also been struggling with his emotions but Julie was in her own world of happiness. John had recovered his composure when Julie floated serenely down the aisle on his arm, followed by Laura, her only bridesmaid.
Laura wore a dress of blue silk with a circlet of flowers on her dark hair and carried carnations and freesia. The church was full but she was only conscious of Phil who looked at her with loving pride. She smiled at him, feeling that she was as happy as Julie.
Later at the reception Phil whispered to her, ‘You look fantastic, sweetheart, but you’ll look even better in white.’
Some of Peter’s colleagues and friends were meeting Julie for the first time and she greeted them with quiet dignity.
Laura saw how they responded to Julie’s sweet smile and how Peter swelled with pride as he watched her and felt confident that Julie would fit easily and happily into her new world. She was amused when she heard one of Peter’s friend say to another, ‘Gorgeous girl. Is she Spanish?’
‘Spanish descent,’ the other man said knowledgeably and Laura smiled to herself. Yes, down several centuries she thought. From a sailor of the Spanish Armada washed up on the west coast of Ireland in the sixteenth century.
John’s usual fluency failed him when he spoke as father of the bride but he raised a laugh when he said that Julie was a very considerate daughter. ‘She decided to marry on her twenty-first birthday and save me the cost of another party,’ he said.
When David spoke he recalled the night that Peter and Julie had met. ‘It was at an impromptu party at Julie’s home,’ he said. ‘The first time Julie had been allowed to stay up, I think. It was a great party and went on all night so I went to the Dock Road on my motorbike at seven o’clock to forage for bread and bacon. I little thought then that my young cousin and my best friend were making plans far beyond bacon butties.’
There was an extra warmth in David’s manner as he proposed the toast to the bridesmaid and bent to kiss Laura and whisper, ‘Your turn next.’ She knew she had no need to
fear jealousy from Phil and her pride in him increased as she saw how easily he mingled with the disparate groups of people. Yet he was always aware of her and at her side whenever possible.
He was still quiet and diffident at times with others but between them there was only a deep and loving certainty. She knew that Phil would always love and understand her and she would gradually heal the hurt which had destroyed his confidence after his brother’s death.
We’re right for each other, she thought exultantly, and ours will be the next marriage. Then we’ll be together for ever.
Chapter Thirty
As the excitement of Julie’s wedding began to die away Laura became impatient to announce her engagement.
‘I don’t think we need wait until my birthday,’ she told Phil. ‘It’s less than a month away anyway.’ She had told Phil that she had confided in David on the night before Julie’s wedding and she said now, ‘I know David won’t say anything but I feel deceitful now about keeping it from Mum.’
‘I should ask your parents’ permission, really, if we’re going to do things properly,’ Phil said, smiling at her. ‘The sooner the better as far as I’m concerned. I want to shout it from the housetops.’
‘Oh Phil,’ was all that Laura could say and she hugged him fiercely.
‘My transfer has come just at the right time,’ he said. ‘We’ll be able to tell your parents that you’ll be living quite close to them.’
Because of reorganisation at the bank where Phil worked, he had been transferred to the Southport Branch which meant not only a slight increase in salary but that a house in Crosby was feasible. Laura could continue to travel to Liverpool by train and Phil could travel in the opposite direction from the same station up the coast to Southport. In both cases it was a short and swift journey.
Having decided to break the news, they went immediately to see Anne and John in the living room. They were watching television and filling envelopes with CND literature at the same time. When Phil diffidently told them that he and Laura wished to become engaged and formally asked their permission, Anne jumped to her feet and hugged first Phil then Laura.
‘I couldn’t be more pleased,’ she exclaimed and John kissed Laura and shook hands with Phil.
‘You had us worried with that last fellow,’ he told Laura, ‘but you’re in safe harbour this time, girl.’ To Phil he said, ‘Look after her. She needs it.’
Phil took Laura’s hand and smiled at her and Anne said brightly, ‘Well, where’s the Asti Spumanti, John?’
‘Here,’ he said triumphantly, taking a bottle and glasses from a cupboard. ‘And never opened with more pleasure. I hope your parents will be as pleased as we are, Phil.’
‘They will,’ Phil said confidently. He and Laura had seen his parents often since their first visit. Occasionally his mother retreated into her own world while they were there but usually she was welcoming and affectionate towards Laura. Laura still felt that Phil was not appreciated enough by his parents but she said nothing to Phil of her feelings.
Anne had also been invited to visit Mrs Casey with Mrs Taylor and her soft heart had been touched by her grief. ‘Poor woman,’ she said when she returned home. ‘Mrs Taylor said it’s nearly eighteen years since Jonathan died and she should be getting over it but how can she?’
‘I know, Mum,’ Laura said curtly, ‘but she should think about Phil and Mr Casey. I feel sorry for her while I’m with her but it makes me mad to see Phil treated as though he doesn’t matter. She should be thankful she’s still got Phil.’
‘Don’t be too hard on her, Lol,’ her mother said. ‘Just think if it had been Gerry.’
‘If it had been you’d have been helping everyone else to cope, not just thinking of yourself,’ Laura said fiercely.
‘How do we know?’ asked Anne. ‘How do any of us know how we’ll behave after a tragedy? Before this happened Mrs Casey seems to have been a normal, happy woman devoted to her family. Perhaps she thought she’d cope well with tragedy until it happened.’
Laura and Phil went to tell his parents of the engagement and both seemed pleased. ‘I’m so happy, dear,’ Mrs Casey murmured to Laura.
Phil’s father kissed her and said, ‘Delighted, delighted. You’re a lucky man, Phil.’
Laura told them that her parents planned a combined birthday and engagement party for her and said her mother would be writing to ask them to come to it. ‘Only a small party,’ she said. ‘Just the immediate family. They’re all so pleased about the engagement and they’ll look forward to meeting you.’
Mrs Casey seemed to shrink lower in her chair. ‘Oh no, dear. I’m sorry. We couldn’t,’ she said.
‘But it’s for Phil’s engagement,’ Laura exclaimed.
‘I know, dear, but we just haven’t the heart for social functions now,’ said Mrs Casey. ‘I do wish you could have known Jonathan, dear, and you would understand. He was wonderful. There was never anyone like him nor ever could be. Our lives ended when he died.’ She dabbed at her eyes with her handkerchief and Laura looked at Phil, at the hurt he was trying to conceal, and all her good resolutions about holding her tongue flew away.
‘But what about Phil?’ she burst out. ‘He’s still alive. I know it was terrible to lose Jonathan but it was eighteen years ago! Even the Bible says, “To everything there is a season. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance.” Jonathan loved Phil. He’d want you to rejoice with him.’
There was a stunned silence for a moment then Laura gasped, ‘I’m sorry. I’ll go. Goodbye, Mrs Casey.’
Still looking stunned, Mrs Casey murmured as though in a daze, ‘Goodbye, dear.’
Phil put his arm round Laura and said quietly, ‘Goodbye, Mum.’ Again she murmured, ‘Goodbye, dear.’
They went to the door and Phil’s father followed them into the hall and held Laura’s coat. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said, near to tears.
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. ‘Don’t be, my dear. You’re a brave girl. Perhaps that should have been said long ago but no one had the courage. Come and see us again soon.’ To Phil he said, ‘Congratulations, son. I say it again, you’re a lucky man.’
Laura managed to hold back her tears until she was in the car with Phil’s arms round her then she wept bitterly. ‘Oh Phil, I feel ashamed. I don’t know what came over me. I couldn’t help it. It all just gushed out.’
‘Don’t worry about it, love,’ Phil comforted her. ‘Dad was right. It should have been said a long time ago, as much for Mum’s own sake as anybody else’s, but none of us had the guts.’
‘You were too kind, you mean,’ Laura sobbed. ‘You cared too much for your mum to hurt her but trust me with my big mouth.’ She wept again but Phil held her close until the storm of weeping was over.
He said teasingly, ‘I didn’t know you knew the Bible so well.’
‘I don’t,’ Laura confessed, ‘but I often read through a book of quotations.’
By a mixture of cuddling and teasing, Phil managed to comfort Laura and restore her to calmness. When they eventually returned to the Redmond house she said nothing about her outburst to her mother.
‘How did it go?’ Anne asked. ‘Were Phil’s parents pleased?’
‘Yes. Mrs Casey said she was and Phil’s dad said he was a lucky man.’
‘That’s nice,’ said Anne and went on to tell her that Julie and Peter had called earlier. Then she said casually, ‘I sent off the invitation to Phil’s parents. Julie took it to post.’
‘That’s good,’ was all that Laura said but she wondered what Mrs Casey’s reaction would be.
Laura had visited the house in Allerton which Phil shared with one girl, Jody, and three other men several times and they were pleased when Phil told them of his engagement. They all congratulated him and Jody said gruffly, ‘You’ve done well there, Phil. Straight as a die, that girl. That’s what you want in marriage, someone you can trust.’
‘I
can certainly trust Laura,’ Phil said proudly. He felt sorry that he was leaving to take a flat in Crosby but it would be convenient for his new posting to Southport and for seeing Laura and househunting. They were looking for a house which was within walking distance of her mother’s house.
The reply to the invitation to Phil’s parents came promptly, accepting it. They wrote that they were delighted by the engagement between their dear son Philip and Laura.
Laura was astounded but she only said to her mother that Mrs Casey might find the party an ordeal. ‘She hasn’t been out socially since Jonathan died,’ she explained but Anne promised to make it easy for Mrs Casey.
Mrs Casey had also sent a note to Laura telling her that she appreciated her honesty and her concern for Philip and looked forward to seeing her on the night of the party. Laura showed the note to Phil and he kissed her and said proudly, ‘You see, everyone appreciates your honesty, Lol.’
He had told her of Jody’s remark but Laura only said ruefully, ‘That’s the polite way of putting it, Phil. They mean I’ve got a big mouth.’
When he protested she only laughed and said, ‘I don’t suppose I’ll change now. I’ve been like this all my life.’
Although Laura was still outspoken and had already ruffled a few feathers among the senior management in her new position as Documentation Manager, she was different with Phil. She had read somewhere that “love is the cross word withheld” and she was determined that she would say nothing that might hurt Phil or destroy his growing confidence. Her deep love for him made it easy for her.
On the night of the party she and Anne were both watching out for Phil’s car, as he was bringing his parents, and they went forward to greet them as soon as they arrived. Mrs Casey looked pale and nervous but Laura saw that she had been to a hairdresser and was wearing a new outfit. Her husband held her arm protectively but he stepped back with a smile as Anne impulsively hugged and kissed her.
Phil had kissed Laura then she, too, kissed his mother, while Anne shook hands with Mr Casey. ‘We can’t keep calling you Mr and Mrs Casey,’ she exclaimed. ‘I’m Anne and this is my husband John,’ as John appeared in the doorway.
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