Snatching up the receiver, she said, ‘Hello? This is Brook Farm, who’s that please?’
She listened for a moment or two, quietly answering in between, ‘What’s happened? Yes, we’ve just got dinner on the table. Oh, I’m sorry. Tomorrow? I will, Father. Yes, if that’s what you want, all right, but what’s happened?’
There was another pause while she paid attention to what her father was telling her, then, ‘Oh, I see. Yes, all right. I’ll tell them, yes. No, they’ll understand I’m sure. Well, I don’t know, but don’t worry. I just hope everything’s all right when you get there. Give them my love. No, Father, it’s okay. Yes, I know. I expect so. Yes, I will. Bye then.’
As Alice replaced the receiver, Nancy was curious. ‘That was a strange conversation,’ she commented. ‘I take it that was your father?’
Even Nancy would never dream of addressing the dignified Ronald Jacobs as Alice’s dad. ‘So, what did he have to say then?’
‘I’m sorry, Nancy.’ Coming back to the table, she began taking up two of the place sets. ‘I’m really sorry,’ she said disheartened, ‘they said to give you their apologies but they won’t be able to come tonight after all.’
‘Oh, that’s a shame.’ In truth, having already once met Alice’s mother, she was greatly relieved. ‘A problem, is there?’
‘They’ve gone to Hampshire to see Uncle Larry. Apparently he needs to see them urgently.’
‘Oh, dear. I hope everything is all right.’
‘I expect it is really,’ Alice promised. ‘It’s Uncle Larry again. He’s not ill or anything, but it seems he and Aunt Sheila have had another of their awful rows. This time though, it’s more serious than before.’
‘Really?’ Nancy was curious.
Alice paused, before going on to explain, ‘They’re always having rows and fights…I remember one time when my parents were away on business and I was taken to stay with my aunt and uncle.’
She had never forgotten. ‘It was awful! I woke up and there was all this screaming and yelling, so I crept down and sat on the stairs and I saw them…going mad at each other they were. Then Aunt Sheila threw a shoe at my uncle and it knocked him clean out. She’s got this vicious temper, you see.’
Tom and Nancy were shocked. ‘I’m not sure you should be telling us all this, luv.’ Nancy had never heard the like.
Alice confided, ‘This time it sounds bad. Father didn’t go into too much detail, but from the little he said, I understand that they had a really bad fight, and Aunt Sheila packed her bags left. And now, Uncle Larry is in a bit of a state.’
After Nancy reassured her, Alice continued, ‘Father says it’s all gone a bit too far this time, and that it was all to do with Uncle Larry seeing another woman.’
‘Hmm!’ Nancy squared her shoulders. ‘If any man of mine played about with other women, I would never leave!’
‘Aw, you must really love me then?’ Tom teased.
‘Not that much,’ she retaliated. ‘Like I said…I wouldn’t leave, but you’d be out that door on the end o’ my toe!’ She gave Tom another derisory glance.
‘Don’t you look at me like that!’ Tom was indignant. ‘For one thing, I have never played about in my life, and for another, I’m a burnt-out, balding man with weak eyes and a gammy leg. Who in their right mind would want to be lumbered with me?’
‘Are you saying I’m not in my right mind, Tom Arnold?’ Nancy squared up for a fight.
Recognising the danger, Tom tried to make light of it. ‘Well, if the cap fits…an’ all that.’ He might have gone on, but with a well-aimed, wet tea towel landing over his mouth, he found it difficult to speak.
Snatching away the tea towel, Nancy wagged a finger at him. ‘The sad thing is, I’m stuck with you, whether I like it or not. As for your weak eyes that’s because you’re forever staring at the small print on the racing page.’ She gave Alice a cheeky wink.
‘Sorry, luv. You know full well, I wouldn’t swap you for the world.’
When Tom saw her quietly smiling, he reached over to hug her. ‘How could I not keep you,’ he chuckled. ‘You make the best apple pie a man could ever want.’
Alice thought they were a delight to watch.
She had never experienced such a family as this, and she told them so. ‘Mother is so fussy. Everything has to be in its place with every plate, cup and table cloth matching.’ She loved the way Nancy set out her table, with multi-coloured plates, old earthenware serving bowls and a blue table cloth, which she proudly confessed to making herself out of an old curtain. It was so perfect no one would ever have known.
This was a happy table, she thought. A real family.
The pleasure of sitting round a table with this family had proved to be a new experience to Alice. ‘We’re not allowed to even speak at meal times,’ she revealed, to everyone’s surprise, ‘let alone tease and laugh with each other.’
Frank joked, ‘What with that and your mad relatives, I didn’t realise what I was letting myself in for.’
Alice laughed at that.
Draining the last dregs of his tea, Frank placed the mug in the sink. ‘Why do we have to wait for Joe anyway?’
After the showdown with Joe he was not in the best of moods. ‘If he can’t get here like the rest of us, let’s just start without him. After all, if he wants to spend his time with that flearidden bird, that’s up to him. The rest of us don’t have to eat a cold dinner, do we, eh?’
Believing that to be unfair, Alice protested, ‘We can’t start without him, Frank. It’s his first night back. Besides, he’s bound to be here soon.’
Nancy agreed. ‘My sentiments exactly!’
‘Suit yourself then!’ Frank went off in a sulk.
When Nancy went to look out the window, Alice followed her. At first she didn’t say anything. Instead she just stood beside Nancy, stretching her neck to peer out the same window.
Being older and wiser, Nancy was well aware that Alice had something to disclose. Drawing her close in a hug, she asked quietly, ‘When I’ve got a worry on my mind I find it’s best to tell somebody, so what is it, child? Are you worried about your family, is that it?’
‘No, they always manage to sort themselves out.’ Alice assured her; though she had never really known what a proper, loving family was like, until Frank brought her home to this wonderful place.
Nancy persisted. ‘Out with it,’ she demanded. ‘What’s troubling you? Was it something your father said?’
Ashamed of the position her parents had put her in, Alice explained, ‘You’ve been so kind to me…letting me stay last night, and making me that lovely silk underskirt for my wedding dress.’
Nancy laughed. ‘That dress has been hanging in my wardrobe since the day I got married. When I offered to make you an underskirt out of the lining, I knew I would have to take it in by a mile, so it was just as well you stayed over.’
She regarded Alice’s slim figure against her own ample size. ‘Back then, when I was just a young kipper, I was never as tidybuilt as you are,’ she exclaimed. ‘Even after making you a long underskirt, there’s still enough of that material over to make a barrage balloon!’
Alice laughed. ‘That’s not true, I’m sure, but I really appreciate you making me that lovely underskirt.’
‘You’re very welcome, so now why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind?’ Nancy asked.
Alice told her, ‘Just now, when Father rang, he had a favour to ask.’
‘From me, or from you?’
‘From you.’
‘Well then, luv, I have a right to know what it is he’s asking, don’t you think?’
‘Yes, but I don’t like to say anything because you’ve already been so good to me.’
She went on, ‘It’s just that…he wondered if I could stay here again tonight, because my sister Pauline’s gone to stay with her friend in Bedford. I don’t want to ask her not to go, because I know it’s a special visit, so her friend can help her choose her bridesmaid s
hoes. It means though, that I’ll be in the house without my parents.’
Nancy was worried. ‘So your sister Pauline still hasn’t got her shoes? Dearie me! She’s left it a bit late, hasn’t she?’ Nancy thought she had never known such a disorganised wedding, and there were Alice’s parents supposed to be high-flying business people. Either they didn’t care enough about their youngest daughter’s wedding, or they had much higher priorities to manage.
Alice explained about the shoes. ‘Pauline and Mother have been arguing for days over who would choose them. In the end Pauline won. She always does, but there’s not much time left, so that’s why I can’t ask her to stay in the house with me tonight, instead of visiting her friend.’
Nancy put Alice’s concern to rest straight away. ‘Look here, child! You are about to become my daughter-in-law, and I couldn’t be more thrilled,’ she announced proudly. ‘My home is your home, and of course you’ll stay here, and that’s an end to it.’
Alice kissed her on the cheek. ‘It’s me that’s thrilled,’ she whispered, ‘’cause I’m about to have another mum…the best in the world!’ Nancy flushed with delight.
Just then Joe arrived. ‘Something smells good,’ he said rubbing his hands together.
‘Get your coat off and wash them mucky hands.’ Nancy could smell the oil from the tractor engine. ‘Your brother’s upstairs, so make sure the pair of you leave the bathroom as you found it!’
While the brothers were away, Nancy and Alice put the finishing touches to the table.
Alice thought she had never seen such an amazing spread. She felt proud of herself for having helped. Moreover, she had loved working in the kitchen with Nancy, because she taught her so much more than her mother had ever done.
The table was laden with a feast. There was a plump joint of best beef waiting to be sliced by Tom, and various dishes of steaming-hot vegetables. There were roast potatoes golden brown and dripping with meat juices; boiled potatoes dressed with butter and herbs; fresh green peas, carrots and light, fluffy cauliflower. The baby Yorkshire puddings were all soft and melting on the inside, while the outsides were brown and crispy.
A few minutes later everyone was round the table. Joe was about to start, when his mother caught his attention. ‘Not yet, son,’ she chided. ‘Have you forgotten your manners?’
Joe was shocked. ‘I forgot!’ He apologised with a sheepish grin. ‘Looks like I’ve been away too long, eh?’
Frank leapt at the opportunity to make a sly comment, ‘Shame on you, Joe.’ He gave him a knowing glance. ‘What kind of company have you been keeping? Don’t they say grace where you’ve been!’
Joe might have made some discreet retaliation, but unwittingly his father did it for him. ‘Enough of that, Frank.’ He gave his eldest son a stern look. ‘I seem to recall a few weeks back, someone else forgot to wait for grace, didn’t you, Frank?’
Reassuring Joe with an easy smile he admitted, ‘It’s not every family in the land gives thanks for what they’ve got, and that’s all right; but we’re farming stock, and throughout the generations it is something we care to do.’
He then checked to make sure everyone was ready, before folding his hands on the table.
It took only a moment for Tom to offer gratitude on all their behalfs. ‘We thank thee Lord for this plentiful food and the roof over our heads, and for bringing Joe home to us. Amen.’
Afterwards, when they were all tucking in, Nancy asked Alice, ‘So, what else did your father have to say, Alice luv?’
‘Just that I was to stay here tonight if that was all right with you, and go home tomorrow. I’m to look in my wardrobe at the things Mother bought. You recall I told you, she went out to buy my shoes and veil? Oh and I’m to look at page fourteen of the leaflet on the table, because she hopes I like the bouquet she’s chosen.’
‘What!’ Tom was astounded. ‘I always thought it was the bride’s prerogative to choose her bouquet?’ He stuffed a potato in his mouth and began chewing.
Nancy brought him up sharply. ‘Tom!’
‘What?’
‘It’s none of your business who chooses the bouquet, or anything else.’
‘I never said it was.’
‘Besides, how do you know it wasn’t Alice’s idea for her mother to choose her bouquet?’
‘It was not my idea,’ Alice offered, ‘but mother said if she was paying out a fortune on my wedding, she had every right to do some of the choosing.’ She gave a sad little smile. ‘To be honest though, I don’t think that’s why. I think it’s because she never had a white wedding of her own.’
‘Why was that?’ Frank was learning more about his future wife and family, with every passing day.
Alice explained, ‘She told me that she and Father decided not to spend money on fripperies, and that it would be far better to invest the money in their first restaurant.’
‘I think they did right,’ Frank declared. ‘After all, look how they’ve used that money. Three restaurants up to now, and all because they started that first one with money that could have been wasted on paying for a big, fancy wedding.’
While Alice pondered sadly on his remarks, Nancy said she would have much preferred a white wedding, ‘…with all the trimmings, like me and Tom had.’ She was quick to assure them, ‘It was nothing posh mind, but I had the loveliest dress and we paid for the choir to sing in church. We hired the village hall for the best party ever, with a pianist and a flautist and we danced all night long.’
Sighing wistfully, she reminded Tom, ‘It was the best day ever, wasn’t it, Tom?’
Tom readily agreed, but added, ‘To my mind, Alice’s parents did right. They made a first-class business decision. That’s why they now own three of the best eating places in the area.
‘My own story is not so straightforward. Y’see, my father once owned all the land adjacent to this farm-cottage, only he fell on hard times and had to sell a good part of it. Fortunately, he arranged to rent back some acres and the cottage…’
‘That’s enough now, Tom!’ Nancy often had to check him when he was being too forthright.
Joe had a pertinent question for Frank. ‘So, if it was you, and you had a choice, you’d really go without a white wedding, and invest the money in a business, would you?’
‘Too right I would!’ Frank was adamant.
‘In that case, I reckon it’s just as well that it’s the bride’s family who are paying for yours and Alice’s wedding.’
Frank nodded unashamedly. ‘That’s right. If it was coming out of my pocket, there’d be no fancy clothes, no big church do with a hundred people wanting to be fed and feted. Oh no! We’d be in and out of the registry office; a meal back at the house, then a few days looking about for a new and exciting enterprise.’
Glancing over at Alice, he smiled encouragingly. ‘You agree with me don’t you, eh? You and me, setting out on our first big adventure together?’
Alice gave him her best smile. ‘Sounds exciting,’ she said brightly, as though she actually agreed. But she did not agree. And as she looked up she caught Joe’s eyes. It was as if he could see right into her soul. She flushed slightly and looked away.
Unaware of the change in atmosphere, Frank went on glibly, ‘But it’s not my money, so now that my future in-laws have amassed their fortune they can splash it about all they like; if they want to give me and Alice the best wedding that money can buy that’s up to them!’
Across the table from Alice, Joe saw how Frank’s insensitive babble had dampened Alice’s bright and sunny nature. He wished there was something he could do to bring back her smile. But he couldn’t. That was Frank’s role in her life now.
With Frank’s embarrassing and thoughtless remarks out of the way, Nancy turned her mind elsewhere. ‘By the way, Joe?’
Joe looked up. ‘Yes?’
‘With Alice staying here again tonight, you’ll need to sleep on the sofa. Is that all right?’
‘Absolutely!’ He was just glad she
wasn’t going home yet. ‘The sofa will be just fine.’
‘Good! That’s settled then.’
Marred only by Frank’s damning words about white weddings, the next hour proved to be the most pleasant Joe had spent in a long time. The meal was wholesome and delicious, and with the conversation focusing on local events in the farming calendar, he began to feel as though he had never been away.
Nancy had something to show them. ‘Now then, look at this, everyone!’ Grinning from ear to ear, she held up the leaflet. ‘I got this from the post office in Blackhill,’ she informed them. ‘It’s the information for the Spring barn-dance in the village hall.’
‘Give over, woman!’ Tom reminded her. ‘We’ve no time for dancing. You know as well as I do…Spring is a busy time on the farm, what with lambing an’ all. Besides, in case it’s slipped your mind, we’ve a wedding to go to!’
Nancy shook the leaflet in his face. ‘Ah, but the dance isn’t for another three weeks, and anyway it’s been carefully planned to work with the farming calendar,’ she added triumphantly. ‘We all know how much you hate these events, and how you make every excuse not to go dancing. Well, we’re all going, aren’t we, folks?’ She waved the leaflet in the air.
‘I would love to go,’ Alice said, excitedly.
‘Oh, well if Alice is going, then so am I.’ Frank did not want other men anywhere near her. Alice was a prize he meant to hang on to.
Joe, too, was all for it, though for different reasons. ‘Well, I’m raring to go!’ he told Nancy. ‘I haven’t been to a village dance in a long time, and now I’m really looking forward to it.’
‘Aha!’ Nancy was jubilant. ‘So there ye have it, Tom Arnold,’ she told him. ‘We’re all going and so are you. It’s either that, or you cook your own meals for the next six months.’
‘Have sense, woman!’ Tom groaned. ‘I’ve a gammy leg, in case you’ve forgotten!’
‘I have not forgotten,’ she answered. ‘But gammy leg or no gammy leg, you’d best get yourself to that village hall with the rest of us, and no argument. You can sit it out and sulk if yer afraid to join in, ‘cause it’ll make no difference to me.’
Blood Brothers Page 6