Let it Shine
Page 27
Ellie kissed her twin and wished her a very happy birthday, and now, with Mick beside her, as the wonderful party came to an end, they had an announcement to make.
Tapping his spoon against his glass, Mick called them all to attention. ‘We’re engaged proper,’ he said, and Ellie proudly showed her ring – a simple sapphire that matched her eyes and meant all the world to her.
Everyone congratulated them, and Tilly took the opportunity to whisper in Bertie’s ear: ‘We’d best get wed now, luv. We can’t have the young ’uns showing us how.’ And to everyone’s absolute delight, he took her in his arms and kissed her soundly on the mouth, complaining when his false teeth clattered together. ‘I allus meant to mek an honest woman of you,’ he chuckled, and the laughter started up again.
* * *
Ruth and John kept the news of their own impending wedding to themselves, at least for now. Since hearing of how Peter Williams had caused John to be beaten to within an inch of his life, Ruth had suffered many complications with the bairn. It had been a worrying time.
Freda was aware of the situation, and as she told her daughter, ‘If you ask me, and I’m not being cruel, happen it might be for the best if the poor thing doesn’t get born at all… not with that man’s blood running through its veins.’ Happily, though, Ruth had been destined to keep the baby.
Nathan was a fine, plump and contented child, with a full head of downy red hair, adored by Ruth and John, who never bore the tiny infant an ounce of ill-will for his sorry start in the world.
Afterwards, Ruth and John would wed, and have three more fine sons of their own.
With his share of the bequest, Larry bought two vans and established a successful delivery business, during which time he met his wife-to-be – a dark-haired lass by the name of Mary.
Now that he was reunited with his son, Ernie Fellowes found a new lease of life. He never married Freda, but they stayed together and were content into great old age.
Betsy took Sunshine off with her to a small cottage in the country, and there she bred Labradors, kept her own chickens and ducks, and ended up doing Bed and Breakfast for commercial travellers.
As for Ellie, she and Mick got married two years later, when she was eighteen. With her share of her grandmother’s money, the couple bought a house down Preston New Road. They also invested in a shoe-shop in the centre of Blackburn town, and were pleased to stock a fine array of Brindle’s best footwear! When she was twenty years old, Ellie gave birth to the first of their four children, a boy christened James Ernest Fellowes, followed by three lasses.
Life was good.
* * *
On this bright summer’s day, some many years later, after the long shadow of war had finally retreated, Ellie and Mick were in the garden, where he was mending one of the younger children’s bicycles. She watched him for a long time, before he caught her looking at him. Embarrassed, she turned away.
Scrambling off the bench, he took hold of her by the shoulder. ‘No, sweetheart, don’t turn away,’ he murmured.
She smiled. ‘Why not?’
‘Because just now, when I looked up and saw you there, I spotted the most wonderful thing.’
‘Did you?’ She was puzzled.
‘In the sunlight I saw the love shining in your eyes.’
His profound words touched her deeply. ‘It will always shine for you, Mick,’ she whispered.
He placed his finger under her chin and raised her face to his. ‘Let me see it again,’ he coaxed. ‘Let it shine for me now.’
And when she looked up again, there it was, her love for him, shining out of those pretty sapphire-blue eyes.
When they kissed, they couldn’t know all their children were watching. Until they heard the laughter.
And their hearts were full.
First published in the United Kingdom in 2001 by Headline Book Publishing
This edition published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by
Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
57 Shepherds Lane
Beaconsfield, Bucks HP9 2DU
United Kingdom
Copyright © Josephine Cox, 2001
The moral right of Josephine Cox to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788633031
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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