She smiled. ‘I don’t think there’s anyone who will grieve for very long when I go, not even you, David.’
‘You’re wrong. I don’t want you to go. I’ve always liked you and now, seeing so much of you and Sadie, my feelings are stronger. You must know that.’ He moved closer, his arm reaching for her as though they were about to kiss and she stepped away, not abruptly or very far, just enough to avoid his kiss.
Sally was surprised. Having loved Rhys for so long, it hadn’t occurred to her that David could be anything more than the friend he’d always been. ‘I’ll always value your friendship,’ she said warmly. ‘You and your mother are very good friends and I won’t find it easy to say goodbye to either of you.’
‘I see,’ he replied, sadly. Then after a moment he added, ‘Don’t be too ready to leave people who care about you. Did you know that Eric slept at the old mill for a week so he could buy something for Sadie with his rent money?’
‘Oh, no! What a dear, foolish man. He’s too generous. Don’t you often find that the people with the least give the most? I often take him some food but I’ll do more, without him guessing that I know, of course.’
After David had gone she sat and thought about his words. Despite the unpleasant few who relished the gossip she caused, there were so many people here who had helped her, showed their concern. Even Amy had mellowed and sometimes called for a cup of tea and might soon be called a friend. And Valmai and Gwilym were Sadie’s grandparents. Could she deprive them by taking Sadie away? She’d have to make sure David didn’t get the wrong idea about her feelings for him but he was right, she was better to stay here among friends.
David ran as he left the house, embarrassed. Although Sally had been careful not to exaggerate her unwillingness to make that move into more than friendship, he felt foolish. Then he began to think about his situation. He was a highly skilled carpenter but he was unemployed and there were no prospects of any suitable work in the near future. Of course, that was why she had refused his attempt at showing his feelings. She was a mother and would need security. ‘Fool that I am,’ he muttered as he slowed to a walk. I have to get work, show her I can look after her and Sadie. Then she’ll respond. I know she will. He smiled then as he imagined the look on Rhys’s face when he learned of his daughter being brought up by David Gorse. One day perhaps even having his name.
He called at Greenways a few days later and offered to repair a built-in cupboard in the living room before Sally painted the woodwork. He took a bag of tools and set about the task, talking to Sally casually, determined he would get a job before attempting to show his feeling again. ‘Make haste slowly’, seemed a ridiculous expression but he understood it now. He was pleased with the repair and went to tell Gwilym, and promised to bring Sadie home from her visit to the Martins.
Gwilym was in his shed working on a headboard for a single bed. He had drawn the design of flowers and dragonflies and small fairy-like figures. About a third of it was already carved and it was beautiful.
‘Gwilym, that is wonderful. Who’s the lucky customer?’
‘I’m making it for Sadie. Wherever they live, she’ll need a bed.’
‘You are an artist.’
‘This is the work I love best.’
After admiring Gwilym’s skill, watching the fascinating workmanship for a while, sadly aware he didn’t have the ability to match Gwilym’s steady and sure handling of the tools, David said, ‘I’ve decided to try again to get a job. But I won’t take just anything. I was a supervisor – I just couldn’t go back to using the tools again.’
‘You were quite good at what you did, but more suited to the administration side. Administration is a skill of its own. Forget carpentry, you could work for any business.’
‘Are you saying I wasn’t good enough with the tools? That was why I was promoted to supervisor?’
Gwilym stared at him with a frown. ‘You messed up a few times, didn’t you?’
‘And Rhys? He was good, was he?’
‘Not as good as Eric was in his time. Rhys faced it and decided to teach instead.’ He smiled then. ‘Go down and put the kettle on, will you? I expect Valmai will be back from the park with Sadie soon.’ As usual, Gwilym waited until David wasn’t looking before pushing himself down the path and in through the kitchen door.
David felt humiliated. No one had ever suggested he wasn’t among the best at the factory. Although, thinking back to where he didn’t want to go, he knew the work he had been given hadn’t been projects needing the greatest skill. Old Eric better than me? Anger swelled and confidence returned as his thoughts turned to Sally, who preferred Rhys to himself. Rhys Martin, a cowardly man who had run away from her, leaving her to cope alone! How could she prefer a man like that? Obviously she wasn’t as clever as she believed. But he’d convince her. How could he fail?
It was December and decorating Greenways was beginning to make the place look more homely although the bitterly cold weather was making the work harder. It had the not unpleasant smell of scrubbed wooden floors and new paint. But it was very cold. There were no curtains and no floor covering apart from a rug given to her by Mrs Falconer. A small electric fire burning in a bare, unfurnished room made very little difference to the temperature. The wooden floors, devoid of covering, meant the heat disappeared leaving nothing more than a glow which didn’t make working any easier. The dark evening at least meant a coal fire, which helped keep the one room cosy. It also meant Sadie went to sleep early, allowing Sally to start painting straight after they had eaten.
Once each week, Sadie was met from nursery by Valmai and taken back to spend the afternoon with her and Gwilym. That meant Sally could spend the afternoon on the endless decorating. One day, when the wind howled around the house in a fury so she kept away from the windows and didn’t see him approaching, Rhys came. She heard the knock and got up to answer the door expecting it to be one of her regular visitors. Wearing the hooded duffel coat, his thin face looked like that of a stranger at first. His eyes seemed too large, the nose and chin sharp, his face lacking its former roundness.
‘Go away,’ she said at once and tried to close the door.
He held it and stared at her. ‘Sally, please. Just five minutes. Please, love. I want to explain.’ Afraid then that her fears of an illness were true, she opened the door and walked ahead of him into the one room she and Sadie used.
‘I’ll make some tea,’ she said, needing a moment or two to compose herself. She went into the kitchen, leaving him looking down into Sadie’s empty cot. She couldn’t see his expression and wondered rather cynically whether it would show affection and regret or if he was just imagining a sleeping child who might have belonged to a stranger.
She dawdled over making the tea and putting out some biscuits and when she carried them through he was sprawled in the solitary armchair, fast asleep.
She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t wake him and tell him to go but he couldn’t stay either. There was a knock at the door and she hurried to open it, hoping it was Mrs Martin, who would help persuade him to leave. It was David.
‘Come in,’ she said. ‘You’ll never guess who’s here.’
‘What’s he doing here?’ he demanded, taking hold of Rhys’s arm and shaking it. ‘Wake up, come on, you’re leaving. Haven’t you caused Sally enough trouble without this? More gossip to contend with? How much more will you put her through?’
Sluggishly, Rhys stood and at that moment, with Sally staring at him and David pulling on his arm, Rick walked in, his arms full of firewood. ‘I thought you might be glad of – what’s going on? Sorry, but the door was open, and—’
‘Rhys is just leaving,’ David said and he pushed Rhys from the room. Sally heard the sound of the door slamming with disappointment that was edged with pain. He looked so exhausted. She should have insisted he stayed at least until she had spoken to his mother.
‘I’ll just make sure he’s gone,’ David said and the door closed more softly behind h
im. Sally sank into the chair and Rick, seeing the tray, poured her some tea. He too left quite soon after, making her promise to lock the door and not open it to anyone.
‘He looks so ill,’ was all she said. Guessing who the stranger was, Rick didn’t comment. Criticism could be misplaced if the expression in Sally’s eyes was a guide and he didn’t want to lose her friendship.
When she took Sadie to nursery the following morning there was talk about two burglaries and this time the police were definitely looking for Rhys Martin.
Sally was interviewed and the police made denial impossible as both David and Rick had seen Rhys in her room. ‘He looked so tired,’ she said. ‘I don’t think he was capable of anything as energetic as breaking into someone’s house.’
‘Burglars work at night. Being tired goes with the job, miss,’ the sergeant replied sarcastically. Constable Harvey put a hand on her shoulder. ‘Sorry I am, you and he being, well, fond of each other, but you have to face facts – whenever there’ve been robberies Rhys has been seen in the area. Between those times he vanishes.’
‘But why would he bring attention to himself if he knows he’s suspected? There are other places where he could break into houses. He isn’t my favourite person any more but he isn’t stupid! Someone could be using his occasional visits to cover their own activities!’
‘We’ve thought of that, miss, but we have to interview him and make sure he isn’t our man. If you see him, will you tell him that?’
‘I won’t be seeing him!’
‘But if you do, you will explain how important it is for us to talk to him?’
Too tired to argue, she nodded wearily.
After the spate of visitors the house seemed larger and emptier than before. The shadows moved unnervingly around the walls and sounds she had previously ignored as the house settled for the night became more insistent. She picked up some of the wood Rick had brought and threw some on the slowly dying fire with a shovelful of small coals. She knew she wouldn’t sleep and the living fire was a companion, of sorts.
At 5 a.m. she woke stiffly, having dozed in the armchair and, taking the electric fire Valmai had given her, went into the kitchen. This was the room she had chosen to be her next project but it was difficult being in use and so filled with clutter and it was only occasionally she managed to make some progress there. But surprisingly it was nearing completion. Dressed in an old dressing gown and furry boots, she began putting the second coat of paint on the walls, listening for a sound to tell her Sadie was waking.
At a quarter to nine she had finished the walls and fed, washed and dressed Sadie. Then she took her to the nursery before making her way to the first of her day’s cleaning jobs. Not much of a life, she murmured as she kissed her daughter goodbye, but it won’t be for long. Soon I’ll work out our future, I’ll find a place where you and I will be happy.
The work on Greenways might stretch to two more months, maybe longer if she could persuade the landlord to include the outside and the garden in the agreement and by then she would surely have come up with a plan.
She finished her cleaning jobs early. One lady was visiting her daughter in London and wouldn’t need her, another only wanted some ironing done. She hurried back to Greenways with a little more than an hour before she needed to meet Sadie. Without waiting for even a cup of tea she carried the stepladder up the stairs and into the smallest bedroom. The ceiling needed at least two coats and if she were quick she might complete the first.
She lit the electric fire to take the chill from the room and put on the dressing gown that she used as an overall. Covering her head with an old scarf, she began. The work went well and she was singing as she brushed rhythmically with the wide brush, then she leaned over to hold the top of the door as she stretched to the final corner. The ladder tilted very slightly and she saw the paint tin begin to slide and reached for it. She wailed as she missed and saw the contents flow down on to the floor. In a panic, anxious to save as much mess as possible, her hand missed the door and she fell.
She was afraid to move for a moment or two, not certain how badly she was hurt. She felt nothing at first but as she began to move the pains began. Her hand was still holding the brush and her wrist hurt. Her shoulders too, and her neck seemed as though it would refuse to straighten. Slowly she stood up and threw the paint-covered dressing gown on to the floor. Thank goodness the tin had been almost empty and the floorboards were protected with several layers of newspapers.
Ignoring the aches that were increasing minute by minute, she scooped up the tin, brush and papers, wrapped them in the dressing gown and carried the lot out into the garden. Then she looked at herself. She was covered in paint. How on earth was she going to get herself cleaned in time to meet Sadie? A glance at the clock told her she had only a few minutes before having to leave.
She put the kettle on to clean herself and the floor of the bedroom, but while she waited for the first kettleful to heat, she agonizingly washed herself with cold. Thank goodness she hadn’t been using gloss paint! She had to make sure the floor didn’t show any sign of the disaster. Shivering uncontrollably, she dressed in as many clothes as she could reasonably wear and stood in hot water and sipped a cup of hot cocoa to warm herself. Then she jumped up and down, swinging her arms for the final few minutes before leaving to meet Sadie. Aware of the picture she’d have made a short time earlier, she began to laugh. At least she’d have a good story to tell Sadie.
Chapter Six
ON THE MORNING following the accident, Sally woke and was immediately aware of pain and discomfort. She had cut her face and had landed with her head against the skirting board and had obviously wrenched her neck. Beside that, her hand was bruised and her shoulder was also stiff and painful. Getting Sadie up, dressed and ready for nursery took longer than usual and she was reminded of what an amiable child she was, and tried to imagine how she would have coped with all that had happened, including the fall, if Sadie had been fractious or demanding. She hugged her and held her for longer than usual, telling the little girl how much she was loved. Reaction to the accident was mixed, most people laughing as Sally told the story to the mothers at nursery with that intention but when the news reached her, Valmai was concerned and went to Greenways at once.
‘You must see a doctor,’ she said. ‘I’ll come with you now, shall I? I can look after Sadie while you see him.’
‘But I’m bruised, that’s all,’ Sally protested, trying to hide her painful hand, now a startlingly dark blue. ‘Besides, I haven’t cleaned all the paint off myself yet. I keep finding smears on my arms and in my hair. I can’t be seen looking like this.’
‘Tomorrow,’ Valmai insisted. ‘I’ll meet you after you’ve taken Sadie to nursery. Right?’
‘I can’t tomorrow, I have work to do.’
‘So have I, but this is important. Besides, you can’t work. Just look at that hand. Nine o’clock, right? And look, I’ve brought some soup for your supper, save you bothering and I’ve sliced some bread.’
She knew Valmai was right; she did need to see a doctor to make sure the damage was nothing more than bruising. Whatever he advised she would have to carry on as usual. A few weeks of being unable to work and she would lose all her clients. So it was pointless really. She went to the surgery as soon as Sadie had been handed over to the assistant at the nursery. Valmai was waiting.
The hand and other injuries were examined and then the shoulder and arm were strapped and she was told she must rest. She thanked the doctor and the nurse who had applied the dressings to the cuts but as soon as she was outside, she shook her head. ‘Rest? That’s a joke. I have to keep my cleaning jobs, and if I don’t continue with the decorating, Sadie and I will have to move out of Greenways.’
‘You know there’s a home with Gwilym and me for as long as you need one,’ Valmai said, adding quickly, ‘Don’t worry, I know you and Rhys won’t get back together and I don’t blame you for that, I really don’t. But we still want to help. Fond o
f you, we are, and full of admiration for the way you’ve conducted yourself through all this.’
‘Thank you.’ Sally hesitated then said, ‘There is something you can help with, if you’re sure you don’t mind.’
‘Anything.’
‘I’ve been asked to do a full house-cleaning for Mrs Glover ready for when her visitors come next week but it will take a day at least and I can’t really expect her to look after Sadie for the whole afternoon, much as she loves to see her. Would you meet Sadie from nursery and look after her until I’ve finished? There’ll be two of us, and Mrs Glover also does what she can, so I hope to finish after one whole day and the following morning.’
‘Glad to. I’ll take her to the park – she loves that, even though it’s so cold – and Gwilym will be pleased to spend some time with her. Just let me have some spare clothes in case she gets dirty and we’ll have a lovely day.’
News of the accident and Sally’s injuries spread and when David’s mother told him, he was concerned and went to Greenways at once.
‘You must do as the doctor said and rest,’ he said.
‘But I’m just a bit bruised, that’s all,’ Sally insisted, trying to hide her painful hand.
‘At least let me help. I can light the fire for a start.’ He moved the electric fire to one side and, ignoring her protests, he set about cleaning out the grate and getting the fire to blaze.
Rather unkindly, Sally wondered why he didn’t show the same enthusiasm when looking for work. For more than two years he’d been unemployed. She couldn’t imagine Rhys doing nothing for all that time. Then that train of thought stopped abruptly. As far as she knew that’s exactly what Rhys had been doing. Nothing! No college, and certainly no job or he wouldn’t have been using the money she had been sending regularly. What had he been doing? He must be in serious trouble but why couldn’t he talk about it?
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