Wedding Bells for Woolworths

by Elaine Everest

  ‘I’ll go,’ Sarah said, knowing that it wouldn’t be seemly for the store manager to be seen in the canteen serving her staff.

  ‘No,’ Freda exclaimed as she walked into the shop from the workshop area behind the counter and overheard Betty’s words. ‘I feel bad enough having the day off on one of our busiest times of the year. I don’t have to leave for the church with Sadie for another couple for hours.’

  ‘You can all stay where you are,’ Gwyneth Jackson announced loudly from where she stood by her husband’s side. ‘I’ve wished everyone good luck with the business move and, not being one for drinking sherry, I could kill a cup of tea.’

  ‘Do you think you ought to?’ Sergeant Mike fussed.

  ‘I’ll be fine, dear,’ she said, giving him a smile that spoke volumes.

  Ruby, who had been watching the conversation with interest, slapped her leg with glee. ‘So, the holiday to Ramsgate worked?’ she asked with a broad smile. ‘A bit of sea air and not having to think about work must have hit the spot. I knew it would.’

  ‘Nan!’ Sarah exclaimed, feeling her face turn red. ‘I think we should be a little more circumspect, don’t you?’ she hissed, seeing a few strangers turn to stare as they looked around the shop. ‘Now’s not the time or the place for such things.’

  ‘It’s always the time and the place for news of new life,’ Ruby answered back. ‘I’m right pleased for the pair of you,’ she added, leaving her seat to hug Gwyneth first and then her stepson, Mike.

  ‘We were going to announce it to you all on Christmas Day,’ Mike explained. ‘Myfi is so excited – it’s been hard to keep the secret.’

  ‘You look very happy as well,’ Betty said as she shook his hand. ‘Oh dear, I’ll be losing one of my valued staff members; but on this occasion, I can forgive you,’ she said as she kissed Gwyneth’s cheek. ‘Now, are you sure you don’t mind relieving Maureen for a short while? I do have something to show her, and it would be nice to do it in front of her family and friends. Although that will mean you’ll miss my news . . .’ she said, putting a hand to her mouth in consternation.

  ‘Let me go. I know where everything is, as I helped out when Maureen’s leg was bad,’ Sadie said, reaching for her coat. ‘You’ve all been so good to me, it’s the least I can do.’

  ‘But your wedding dress,’ Sarah faltered. She knew the girl’s frock had seen better days, but it wasn’t right that she should be serving tea in her wedding attire.

  Sadie burst out laughing. ‘This isn’t my wedding dress. I wasn’t going to come here and risk getting grease on it. Freda and I have our dresses ready to get into when we leave here. Besides, I didn’t want Lemuel to see me in my finery until I walked down the aisle.’

  ‘He shouldn’t even see you before the wedding,’ a voice said from the doorway. ‘But then, with the stable door being locked after the horse has bolted, it doesn’t really matter, does it?’

  ‘I thought you’d appear before too long, Vera Munro,’ Ruby said. ‘Let’s face it, you’d turn up at the opening of a jar of jam.’

  ‘I am the girl’s grandmother,’ Vera sniffed. ‘I’d decided to go to her wedding and went looking for her. It’s a fine thing when I’m not invited to my own flesh and blood’s nuptials.’

  ‘Oh, Nan, you were invited! I saw you open the envelope and put it on the mantelpiece,’ Sadie said, glancing to Ruby for support as Lemuel reached out and took her hand.

  ‘You are very welcome to be a special guest at our wedding, Mrs Munro,’ he said politely, giving her one of his sincere smiles.

  ‘Vera Munro, I saw that invitation on your mantelpiece too,’ Ruby huffed. She had no patience when the woman started to play her silly games.

  ‘Oh, I thought it was a Christmas card,’ Vera replied, noticing a spark of anger in Ruby’s eyes. ‘What do you mean by special guest?’ she asked, looking up at Lemuel, who stood a good foot taller than she did.

  Sadie answered for him. ‘As Arthur is too young to give me away, I wanted you to walk me down the aisle. I know you don’t approve of my circumstances, but I love Lemuel, and he loves me and little Arthur. I just want to be part of a happy family – and that includes you, Nan,’ she added, looking beseechingly at the old woman. ‘I want my happy ever after, just like the fairy stories you read to me when I was a little one.’

  Sarah held her breath, along with others in the room. Was Sadie’s wish about to come true? She too had hoped for a happy ever after, but with Alan blowing hot and cold, she had no idea how her future would pan out. Looking at the young woman holding hands with her intended, she felt quite tearful. She wished Alan was by her side, lovingly holding her hand. She jumped as a hand was placed on her shoulder. Thinking it was her dad, she turned and smiled. It was Alan. Perhaps the moment had melted the ice around his heart, and he was showing some affection towards her.

  ‘Can I squeeze by?’ he asked. ‘I need to open another bottle of sherry. You’d like a tipple, wouldn’t you?’ he asked Vera, who was still summoning up a response to her granddaughter’s request.

  ‘Too true,’ Vera said, her usually stern face breaking into a grin. ‘It’s not every day I get to walk my granddaughter down the aisle.’

  An audible sigh rippled through the room as the guests started to chat amongst themselves, once more confident that Vera Munro would not be causing a problem.

  ‘Mind you . . .’

  Heads turned, and waited.

  Vera smiled, knowing she had an audience. ‘Mind you, it is not right that my granddaughter starts her married life in one room, however nice it is,’ she added, seeing Freda frown in her direction. ‘You can have the top floor in my house. It will need a lick of paint, so you may as well do the whole house,’ she added, as Lemuel shook her hand and gave her a kiss on the cheek. ‘Let no one say that Vera Munro is afraid to have a darkie living under her roof.’

  Sadie glanced at Lemuel, who simply grinned. In his book it was a step in the right direction. He secretly liked his grandmother-in-law’s forthright nature.

  ‘She’s a rum one and no mistake,’ George said, tapping his pipe out on a wall in the yard behind Alan’s shop.

  Douglas Billington nodded. ‘One never knows what will come out of that woman’s mouth.’

  ‘Let me guess . . . you must be talking about our Vera,’ Alan laughed as he joined them, carrying a tray full of pints of best bitter. ‘I thought these would go down better than sherry.’

  ‘You can say that again,’ George said as he sat down on a bench that had been set up against the back wall of the shop. ‘At least we can enjoy this away from the womenfolk without the snow we had this time last year. Why, every time I cleared our path the damn stuff came down again.’

  ‘Is that brother of mine still moaning about last year’s snow?’ Mike Jackson grinned as he joined them, already holding a glass of beer.

  ‘I’d not thought of you and George being related now that Ruby and Bob are married,’ Douglas said as he thought of the family connections. ‘I suppose that makes Mike your uncle,’ he said to Alan, who was looking confused.

  ‘Don’t muddle me any more than I am already.’ Alan ran a hand through his hair. ‘What with George here marrying my mother, it means he is my stepfather as well as my father-in-law. I’m fast losing track of this family. Whatever you do, Douglas, don’t have any of your daughters marrying into our family when they are old enough, or confusion will reign forever.’

  George joined in with the laughter, all the time watching Alan closely. He knew his wife, Maureen, was worried about the lad, and he in turn was worried about the state his daughter, Sarah, was getting herself into over any small thing. The pair had never said anything, but he’d gathered their marriage was having problems. In turn young Freda seemed to be on edge around Sarah, and that just didn’t seem right. No, it wasn’t right at all. He’d promised Maureen he’d have a word with Alan before Christmas, and with it now being Christmas Eve, his wife was nagging him every chance she had. She wante
d the air cleared before they all sat down at Ruby and Bob’s dinner table come Christmas Day.

  ‘What relation will Mike and Gwyneth’s baby be to us all when it comes along?’ George said, faking a worried look.

  Mike roared with laughter. ‘Let’s not think about it. However, I’d like to say thank you for recommending we take a trip to the Sea View guesthouse in Ramsgate. That weekend and the sea air worked wonders, if you know what I mean,’ he said, giving them all a wink.

  ‘I thought I’d find you all out here.’ Freda grinned as she poked her head out of the back door. ‘Maureen’s arrived, and Betty wants to say something to you all.’

  ‘Alan was showing us where the workshop shed will be situated,’ George said by way of an excuse, as the men started to follow Freda back inside. ‘Alan, would you give me a minute?’ he asked, putting a hand on his son-in-law’s shoulder.

  Alan looked back to where everyone else had disappeared. ‘We’d better not be long . . .’

  ‘We won’t,’ George assured him as he put his glass of beer down and reached for his pipe. He fiddled with it as he considered what to say first. ‘Your mum and I have been discussing your situation,’ he started, noticing the flash of concern cross Alan’s face. ‘We know things haven’t been going well. Is there anything we can do to help?’

  Alan wasn’t sure what George was getting at. Had George heard about the run-in with Frank Unthank? Perhaps Freda had let something slip. It had been a while since the fire, and so far the Unthank gang had left them alone. There again, perhaps it was his mum who’d seen that there was a frosty air between him and Sarah these days. Women noticed these things, and he’d found it hard to act the good husband, knowing he’d kept his money problems to himself. He was beginning to regret doing that. But then again, Sarah had not made things easy, always going on about plans for the future and suggesting he return to working at Woolworths. Then of course there was their darling daughter, who was fighting fit after scaring them all half to death. Who’d have thought eating those berries up the allotment could cause her to be so ill?

  ‘Alan?’

  ‘Sorry, George, I was miles away. I’ve a million and one things on my mind right now. As for whether you and Mum can help out, why, you’ve been more than generous with this business already. I’m that relieved the insurance company paid out, even if it did all go on paying off the landlord of the workshop. I’d have hated for you to be out of pocket. And as for this place, if you’d not turned up with Mike and Lemuel to help paint the shop and build the counter, we’d not have opened on time. Then to stand guarantor so we could have an account at the warehouse – well, you went above and beyond. I’ll never be able to stop saying thank you.’

  George felt a lump form in his throat. This wasn’t what he’d expected to hear. Alan was, he felt, still hiding something, but if he didn’t want to say anything, he couldn’t help the lad. ‘You’re family. We both want to see you and Sarah and the kiddies happy. It goes without saying we’ll do all we can. The fire wasn’t your fault and the burglar will hopefully serve time for what he did when it goes to court. Now is the time to look to the future.’

  The mention of the fire made Alan shudder. ‘We’ll do our best to make you proud,’ was all he could add. Word on the street was that Unthank had bigger fish to fry these days, but Alan knew that he’d soon be around to collect his dues. At least George hadn’t asked anything that would mean he knew about his money problems.

  ‘There’s something else,’ George said, as Alan turned to go inside. ‘Maureen wanted me to mention about Freda.’

  ‘What about Freda?’ Alan asked sharply.

  ‘Your mum says it’s unfair to have her turning up to help you out all the time, now she’s helping Tony with his training. She’s out morning and night either timing his rides or joining him on your old bike. It’s important he does well in the time trials and hopefully the Olympics. Well, we just thought with her not being able to be in two places at once as well as hold her job down in Woolworths, you should think about not accepting her help so much. We thought . . . well, we thought perhaps you could take on Lemuel full time, and we’d contribute towards his wages until such time that the business could swim on its own.’

  Alan was lost for words. He still owed Freda money, and she loved her time helping out. How could he tell her she was no longer needed? That said, he would love Lemuel to be full time, as he was a boon to the business. The idea they would repair bicycles and sell accessories, as well as continuing with the motorbike repairs, was all down to him. ‘I know you are right, George, and Lemuel could well do with a proper job now he’s to be a family man, but it doesn’t seem fair what with Mum still working at Woolworths. If you can afford to be generous, why not have Mum give up her job instead?’

  George roared with laughter and relief. He’d done his wife’s bidding and made the offer. ‘You mum will never stop working for Woolworths. She likes that job far too much. Why, she is the queen of that staff canteen,’ he chuckled. ‘I will tell her, though. Now, let’s get inside and see what all the fuss is about. I know it’s a mild day, but I’m feeling a bit on the chilly side.’

  ‘I’ll pay you back as soon as I can, sir,’ Alan said, following him inside. Knowing George had again put his hand in his pocket to help get the shop ready for opening, he felt as though his debts were rising rather than disappearing.

  ‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ Betty said, using her authoritative voice to make herself heard. ‘I know we have already toasted Alan on his new business venture but there is other family news, and may I add there are more congratulations in order. Some of you are aware of the Woolworths monthly staff magazine. A favourite feature in the magazine is the wedding announcements, and this month we have two friends in the New Bond: first, Maureen and George Caselton . . .’ She held up the open magazine for all to see. As the applause and cheers died down, Betty again opened her mouth to speak as she laughed at the happy comments coming from her friends. ‘There is one more surprise, and this time it is for Freda.’

  ‘Me?’ Freda said, looking puzzled.

  ‘You’ve not sneaked off and married Tony, have you?’ Maureen joked.

  Freda felt herself start to blush. Tony, standing by her side, looked just as embarrassed. ‘I’m sorry. My friends do like to joke,’ she said quietly, so only he could hear. Tony’s response was to give her a quick hug followed by a wink, which caused more merriment amongst those present.

  ‘Please, a little hush,’ Betty called out. ‘I’d like to introduce the cover girl for this issue, Miss Freda Smith,’ she said, waving the magazine in the air and showing the photo of Freda that Tony had taken some time before.

  ‘I knew you’d never hand it in to Mrs Billington, so I did it for you,’ he whispered as she put her hand to her mouth in shock before grinning.

  ‘Well, well, well,’ Maureen said as she took a copy of the magazine from Betty to look more closely at the weddings page. ‘Who’d have thought two Erith Woolies women would get into the same issue, when we hardly ever have one staff member get a mention?’

  ‘But, like buses, they come along in threes,’ Sarah called out, before whipping the magazine from her mother-in-law’s hand. ‘Usually Woolworths award staff members who have served the company for twenty-one years. But with the war, and her being such a shy, unassuming person, our Betty here slipped the net,’ she smiled as she flicked through the pages. Eventually she came to a full-page photograph of Betty Billington. ‘Betty started working for F. W. Woolworths when she was a mere slip of a girl, only a few years after the first war. Twenty-five years later, she is still with us, and very pleased we are too. I know that head office is planning something special for our Betty, but for now, here she is – in the same magazine as Maureen and Freda.’

  ‘Oh my,’ Betty said, as she reached for her husband’s hand. ‘We were going to make our own special announcement tomorrow evening at Maureen and George’s Christmas tea party, but it seems as though we should
be saying something now.’ She looked up at Douglas, who stood proudly by her side. ‘There will be another little Billington joining our family next year.’

  ‘What – not another late baby! Who’d have thought it?’ Vera said out loud, causing more mirth while she looked on disapprovingly.

  ‘Just like buses coming along in threes, it seems we three friends also produce babies in threes,’ Gwyneth said as she kissed Betty and Sadie. ‘What a wonderful day, and we still have a wedding to celebrate. Life is certainly good.’

  Sarah found herself alongside her husband and Maisie as she gave her best wishes to Betty and Douglas. ‘So, your expanding waistline was not down to Maureen’s baking?’ she grinned.

  ‘To begin with, it was – but then Douglas and I decided that if another little one was to join us it wouldn’t be a bad thing after all, and we let Nature take its course. This time, however, I’m prepared to take time away from Woolworths and see if I’m ready to return after the baby has been born. Head office have been marvellous, and assured me they can’t do without me,’ she chuckled.

  ‘I’d best start making maternity wear,’ Maisie joked. ‘There’s a limit ter how much we can make do and mend with our old clothes. Yer never know, our Sarah here could be next – what do you think, Alan?’

  ‘About what?’ Alan asked, as he’d been congratulating Douglas. ‘If you mean another baby for us, I don’t think now is the time,’ he said, doing his utmost not to meet Sarah’s gaze.

  ‘Nah, I meant going back to Woolworths and taking over from Betty,’ Maisie grinned, completely forgetting the friction between husband and wife in the excitement of the moment.

  Betty, knowing of Sarah’s despair, tried to make light of the conversation. ‘I have a very short shortlist of likely candidates to cover for me while I’m off. Tony will be one, but let us keep it between ourselves for the moment. The lad has enough on his plate working towards the Olympics. There’s time enough to decide. However, it would be nice to keep it in the family, so to speak.’ She sighed, looking to where Freda and Tony had their heads together looking at the New Bond. ‘I have high hopes there . . .’