The Heart of the Home

by The Heart of the Home (retail) (epub)

  ‘We heard singing as we came in,’ Martha stared as her father spoke, afraid to reply. To her disbelief, he went on, ‘It sounded very good, and such a cheerful tune. Perhaps you’ll sing it for us sometime?’

  Like a child threatened with a hiding, Martha looked at her mother, who said, ‘Yes dear, we were really impressed. First Meriel and Lucy, and then Frieda telling us we have a talented daughter, we must try to find you a more suitable job than selling shoes, it’s such a waste of your talents.’

  Meriel and Lucy didn’t stay long, happy to leave Martha and her parents to talk. They promised to ask Frieda to try and persuade one of the music stores to give her a job, convinced that the girl’s reputation would have gone before her. They reached Badgers Brook as the dull day had turned into a dark evening but the weather couldn’t deaden the excitement and hope they felt for Martha’s future.

  *

  Frieda tried all the most likely places in her search for Kit Keys. In despair she went to the hospital to see George.

  ‘Of course I didn’t send him any money,’ he told her. ‘I wrote to him though, telling him what a disgusting apology for a man he was, treating his wife like a chattel and me like a fool. And you – like the tart you are.’

  ‘Where is he?’ she asked, her voice trembling with fear and dread.

  ‘In prison facing a charge of aggravated burglary. He insisted he was innocent, that it was a frame, isn’t that what they call it, your criminal friends?’

  She went to the police station and asked to see him but she was told it was impossible at present. Offering to stand bail for him, she was told that it would almost certainly be denied. Tearfully, she returned once again to Badgers Brook.

  *

  It was with curiosity and some trepidation that Leo went to see George. He was sitting in a chair beside his bed, holding a pile of papers on which he was scribbling notes and instructions for his anxious assistant who stood beside him.

  ‘You wanted to see me, Mr Dexter. I can spare you ten minutes.’ Leo refused to be treated like the young man who stood nervously beside him.

  ‘Two will do!’ He searched among his papers and handed Leo a sealed letter. Private and personal for Mr Walter Evans. It’s an apology. I want him to have it about six next Sunday evening, when he can share the moment with his wife.’

  Leo thanked him and went out. In the corridor he stopped and stared at the envelope. Could the man really be saying he was sorry for the distress he’d caused? It was very unlikely. He toyed with the idea of steaming it open and reading it but knew it would be impossible to disguise the fact and besides, he had no right to interfere. Thoughtfully he put it in his pocket. Perhaps George has been told his health was giving concern and he wanted to settle things while he still had time, he mused. But an apology from George Dexter to Walter Evans? That still sounded unconvincing.

  In the ward, George took out an identical envelope and handed it to his assistant. ‘This one must go to Miss Meriel Evans at Evans and Calloway, he said. There was a glint in his eye as he handed it over. ‘Deliver it to Badgers Brook at six next Sunday evening, when they can savour it at leisure. Keep it safe, mind, and don’t show it to anyone else.’

  *

  Teifion rang the hospital daily to enquire about his father’s progress but didn’t visit. He continued to work at the Ship doing much more than he needed to do, keeping busy in an attempt to stop thinking about his father. Between the shifts at the pub he helped Meriel and Lucy, grateful that they trusted him with the details of their day-to-day dealings and even occasionally taking his advice.

  ‘If only the shadow of my father weren’t there threatening to do what he can to ruin everything, I’d be completely happy,’ he said to Lucy as they sat in the office drinking tea and enjoying a cake brought in by Kitty and Bob. ‘I don’t want him to disappear, I just want him to accept that my life is with you and—’ he hesitated and stared at her. ‘Lucy, our friendship, our affection for each other has travelled a rocky road, but it’s brought us to this happy moment.’

  ‘Yes, Teifion, we are happy, aren’t we?’

  ‘We could be even happier. Lucy, you know I love you. Can you forget my father and all that’s gone before and marry me?’ She stared at him but didn’t reply and he went on. ‘I’m not after a share in your business, I’m content to stay at the Ship and help here when I can. I don’t want anything from my father. Frieda, or whoever he chooses to give it to, can have it all. I have enough money to give us a start and somehow we can find a place of our own where we can create an atmosphere as peaceful as Badgers Brook and be blissfully content. Will you marry me?’

  They were still wrapped in each other’s arms when Meriel returned and words were unnecessary, their eyes said it all.

  The following day Teifion spoke to Lucy again. Meriel and Leo were included in their discussion and their plans were made.

  *

  Leo didn’t wait until the Sunday evening to hand the letter to Walter. It seemed to be burning against his skin, so worried was he about what it might contain. He showed it to Walter on Saturday, explained George’s instructions and after a brief hesitation Walter took it and broke it open.

  Leo left him to it and went to his desk in the outer office but a loud wail startled him and he ran in. ‘Here, you might as well read it,’ Walter said and Leo, seeing his white, shocked face and trembling hands, took the pages of writing and led the distressed man to a chair.

  ‘Are you sure?’ he asked. ‘Shall I ring Lynne to come? Or shall I drive you home?’

  ‘Read it.’

  It wasn’t very long, barely two pages in George’s scrawling handwriting. It stated coldly that he, George, had been Lynne’s lover before she had married Walter who was then, and always would be, second best. Amid the blustering and boasting, Leo gathered that when Lynne became pregnant she had begged George for his help but he had refused to marry her and face sniggers about wedding dates and birth dates. Instead he had forced her to have an abortion.

  ‘Lynne became very ill,’ Walter said. ‘Her parents weren’t told and she stayed with her Auntie Gladys May. George showed no concern, or even enquired about her.’

  ‘Was the – the operation – the reason your wife couldn’t have a child?’ he asked.

  ‘Operation? A backstreet butcher more like.’

  ‘What I don’t understand,’ Leo said with a frown, ‘is why he’s sending you this letter if you already knew about it? What could be his reason if it isn’t to upset you?’ Then he jumped out of his chair and the two men stared at each other in horror.

  ‘Meriel! He’s written to Meriel too!’

  ‘You go to Lynne and stay with her in case she’s had a letter,’ Leo said. ‘I’ll drive to find Meriel and if there’s a letter I’ll stop her opening it.’

  ‘How will you do that?’ Walter stared at Leo like a trusting child.

  ‘I don’t know how but I will.’

  *

  George’s assistant was going out for the day on Sunday and, hoping his employer wouldn’t find out, he delivered the letter to the office on Saturday morning. Like her father, Meriel opened it at once, ignoring his request to wait until the following evening. She stared at the pages in disbelief and Lucy ran to see what was wrong.

  ‘It’s about my mother, Lynne I mean. Before she and Dadda married, she was expecting a baby and George Dexter was the father. He says she adored him so much that when he asked her to have an abortion she agreed, and—’ she threw the hated letter towards Lucy, locked herself in the kitchen and howled.

  When she had read the letter Lucy called through the door. ‘Meriel, it says at the end he’s sent a similar letter to your parents, shouldn’t you go to them? They’ll need you there. You must go to them. We’ll close the office and I’ll come too but I’ll stay out of the way while you talk,’ All this through a closed door and with no response from her friend. Foolishly and almost without thought, she knocked on the door insisting she needed to make
some tea. The door opened and a tearful Meriel stood there. After a brief hug, Lucy filled the kettle and set the tray for tea. Making tea in a crisis, she decided, was something to do with your hands, and a pretence that you’re helping when there’s no way of helping at all.

  They drank a cup of tea as though it was expected of them and set off. ‘I’ll drive,’ Lucy said. ‘I’m the calmest.’

  ‘No! ’ Meriel snatched the keys from Lucy’s hand and strode out, leaving Lucy to lock up. She drove carefully through the town but when she reached the open countryside she pressed harder on the accelerator and drove wide as they reached left-hand corners better to see ahead. Lucy gripped her seat and prayed.

  *

  Walter insisted on going with Leo, and when Leo offered to drive, Walter refused. He wasn’t capable of just sitting. He needed to see Meriel and to do that had to get himself there; this wasn’t a moment to rely on someone else, even someone as involved as Leo.

  The weather was brighter and this had brought out a few more motorists. He tapped his fingers irritably on the steering wheel every time he had to pause at a junction or wait while a car manoeuvred into a parking spot. Leo warned him not to be impatient. ‘We need to get there fast, but still in one piece,’ he reminded him. His words were ignored and as soon as they were past the hazard Walter increased his speed.

  As the road narrowed, a cyclist appeared from a rough track and Walter had to swerve to avoid hitting him. Leo pointed to a lay-by a bit further on and told Walter to pull in. ‘I really think it’s best if I drive,’ he said and to his relief Walter agreed.

  It was as they were changing seats that a car approached and slowed to pass them. Joyfully, they recognized the driver. ‘Meriel! ’ they called as her brakes squealed and she began to reverse back to them.

  ‘We have to talk about George’s latest bombshell. Lynne mustn’t know about the letters. Some secrets should never be told,’ Walter called.

  ‘How did you know I’d received a letter?’

  ‘I guessed how his devious mind works. George gave a copy to Leo to deliver to me and I read it today.’

  ‘Leo? You delivered the letter from George Dexter and didn’t check it before giving it to Dadda?’

  ‘He said it was an apology.’

  Without another word she slipped into gear and drove away.

  They were facing the opposite direction and it took a while before they could turn and set off to catch her up.

  Walter ignored Leo’s plea to drive and set off in pursuit, cutting corners, overtaking dangerously until at last they saw her in the distance. The road went downhill then up and they could see her about halfway up the other side. Walter increased speed as they went down to gather speed for the rise and were soon close on her tail. He flashed lights and sounded the horn to persuade her to stop but she ignored him.

  Lucy was frightened. Meriel was crying and with tears in her eyes she must surely lack the ability to make high-speed decisions? It was when they took a sharp corner that she lost control. Fortunately she’d slowed to take the blind turning but unable to straighten up in time for the double bend she ploughed off the road and into some bushes. Branches slowed the car’s descent into the field below until it was standing on its bonnet among greenery. Lucy reached across and turned off the engine. The silence after the chase had a sort of dream quality.

  Stiffly, amazed to find they were unharmed, they struggled out of the car and stared around them. Again, like part of a dream sequence, voices reached them and they heard rustling accompanying the voices as Walter and Leo scrambled down to reach them.

  Cries of relief and hugs and halting explanations followed before they were helped back up on to the road. The got into Walter’s Hillman, Leo sat in the driving seat with no question of anyone disagreeing. Walter sat in the back with Meriel, holding her as though he would never let her go, and a still shaking Lucy sat beside Leo.

  Lucy gestured back the way they had come, reporting that there was a café on the main road they were approaching. Turning the car cautiously, Leo headed in the direction they had come. They parked outside the large café, where a line of lorries stood, their crews taking a welcome break, but they didn’t all go in. Leo went to use the telephone and report an accident, and a few murmured voices around him made him aware that he’d been overheard. He assured them that no one was hurt, and the car was off the road and causing no hazard to other drivers.

  ‘This isn’t the place to talk about what’s happened,’ he said, when he went back to the car. ‘I suggest we drive back to Badgers Brook.’ Without questioning his decision, that was what they did.

  Strangely there didn’t seem much to say once they were settled in the living room with the fire burning and food prepared. George had done his worst and they had survived. Sadly, Leo was aware that Meriel was avoiding him, refusing to look at him and ignoring him when he spoke. She was angry with him for delivering the letter, yet he’d had no alternative.

  ‘Leo should never have shown you that letter,’ she said to her father when they were temporarily alone. ‘Anything from George Dexter was bound to have meant trouble. He must have known that.’

  ‘Leo will always be honest and he had no right to keep a letter addressed to me. I’d think less of him if he had. So would you if you’d think about it.’

  Teifion arrived at ten thirty having been told Lucy and Meriel had been involved in an accident. In the way of small towns, someone had heard it from someone, who’d met a lorry driver who had been in the café and had recognized Meriel and Lucy in the car.

  He was relieved to see neither girl was hurt, but insisted they had a fire lit in their bedrooms and hot water bottles between their sheets. He and Leo dealt with these comforts to the silent amusement of Walter.

  ‘I don’t want your mother to know about the letters,’ he said. ‘There’s been too much agony caused already by looking back. It was a terrible time for her but it’s been overlaid with so much happiness that it no longer matters.’

  Meriel handed him a box of matches and together they set the letters on fire, held them until the flames caught hold, then dropped them into the grate where they smouldered until they were no more than black ashes.

  *

  Walter went to see George the following day. He was sitting up in bed and smiled maliciously as Walter approached his bed. A nurse watched anxiously from the table in the middle of the ward.

  ‘Was it worth it, George?’ Walter began.

  ‘I’ve always hated you,’ George replied. ‘You took what should have been mine.’

  ‘I loved her, you wanted to possess.’

  ‘You stole her, tempted her when she was at her most vulnerable.’

  ‘What a fine state you’re in.’ Walter’s voice was deep with apparent sympathy and the nurse relaxed. ‘All alone, your son preferring to work in a pub than run your business, no longer wanting to be a part of your life.’

  ‘I was a strong father and he couldn’t take it.’

  ‘You were controlling and critical. Unable to hide your disappointment that he didn’t grow up into a carbon copy of you.’

  ‘Shut up!’

  ‘My darling daughter was given freedom to grow. She didn’t live with resentment and disappointment, she was nurtured with love.’

  ‘Love is for weaklings.’

  ‘Is that why you have a wife who can’t live in the same house as you?’

  ‘She let me down as you well know!’

  ‘You’ve neglected them both, spending too much of your energy seeking revenge for something that didn’t happen, something out of your imagination. That’s why your life is such a mess.’

  ‘I’ve told Meriel everything! See how well your love will deal with that! She has a letter too.’

  ‘I know,’ Walter replied. ‘We burned them together on the fire at Badgers Brook.’

  After he’d gone George demanded his clothes and insisted on signing himself out.

  *

  Merie
l and Lucy began making preparations for the farm sale. They designed posters and ordered copies, they visited the place and made lists of the items to be included, and all the time, Meriel wondered how she would cope when she met her mother, knowing what she knew. Would she be able to hide that knowledge from her and act normally? Or would the secret show on her face? Lucy reassured her several times then ignored her worries, knowing her words weren’t needed. But she was aware of her friend’s anxiety and tried to think of a way to help. One morning as they opened the door to see Kitty and Bob waving, then later, had a visit from Stella bringing a few cakes she had made, the idea came.

  ‘Let’s have a party. That’s always the best way to deal with something like this. It will be good to fill the house with friends, and an opportunity for you and your parents to put George and his wicked letters behind you.’

  Meriel put aside the notes she was making in her neat hand and nodded. ‘Let’s make it a week next Sunday. Something special to celebrate then, eh?’

  ‘Fantastic! What about your other parents? Won’t Sunday be a difficult day for them?’

  ‘We’ll invite them and leave it up to them.’ Sales business put aside, they at once began to make new lists of things they needed to do, people they wanted to invite. Lucy was relieved to see her friend was more animated than she had been for several days.

  ‘We won’t invite Gerald and my first move must be to tell him I’m going to marry Teifion,’ she said. In fact Gerald had already heard the news from Teifion.

  He and Gerald had met in the Ship, where Teifion was serving at the bar. Gerald approached him rather diffidently and asked, ‘Is Lucy well?’

  ‘That’s a formal query about a friend of many years.’ Teifion stared at him curiously. ‘Unless you heard about the accident she and Meriel had a few days ago?’