‘You have no idea how much you are loved,’ Maureen said as she sighed over the baby. ‘May I take him to the staff canteen to show the girls? I’ll send back a bun and a cup of tea,’ she added, knowing that would tempt Betty.
‘Is it bad of me to say yes so quickly? I feel as though I’m trading my son in for a sticky bun!’ Betty grinned.
‘You’ve always been partial to a bun,’ Maureen said as she left the room with the baby, who had started to wail. ‘I’ll have none of that, young man. You might have your mum wrapped round your tiny finger, but it won’t wash with me. Now, let’s introduce you to everyone,’ she could be heard saying as she disappeared down the corridor.
Freda and Betty chuckled as Tony looked horrified. ‘I think I’d rather have a sticky bun, if you don’t mind. I’d not know what to do with a crying baby.’
‘You’ll be fine when it’s your own,’ Betty smiled. ‘Douglas even changed a nappy the other day.’ She was about to describe how their son had been sick on Douglas’s best suit when she saw the embarrassed look Freda gave Tony. Hmm, so something was going on between Freda and Tony. She was pleased, as it was about time Freda met a decent lad – and from all she knew about Tony, he was very decent indeed. She shrugged her shoulders. ‘Oh well – you’ll find out one day, I’m sure. Now, how are you coping as our temporary manager?’
‘I’ll leave you to it,’ Freda said, giving Betty a kiss on the cheek. ‘I should be down on the shop floor. I’ll see you at the christening on Sunday.’
Tony grinned as Freda closed the door behind the pair. ‘I’ve not burnt the store down yet, and the takings haven’t gone missing,’ he laughed.
Betty tapped the wooden desk with her fingers. ‘Touch wood,’ she laughed.
‘Even though you trained me so well, I feel as though there aren’t enough hours in the day. How did you cope?’
‘Before I married – I take it Freda told you I married late in life? Well, before I married, I would still be here working late into the night. I was of the opinion that everything had to be done, and done properly. Gradually, I mellowed. Running this store through the war and making good friends, as well as meeting Douglas, had me re-evaluate my life. Make good use of your staff. We have good supervisors, and the trainee managers that come and go have to learn to pull their weight. It’s all down to delegation. Don’t forget that you also have some experienced staff in the office. Sarah must be a godsend to you.’
Tony, who had been jotting down Betty’s suggestions, didn’t answer.
‘Sarah is helping you, isn’t she?’
‘I don’t wish to cause problems, as I know she is a good friend of yours . . .’
‘We are speaking as managers of F. W. Woolworths, Tony, so please don’t hold back. I assume you have a staffing problem?’
Tony nodded. ‘I feel as though I’ve failed, and in my early days as a temporary manager if Sarah had done something wrong, I could probably handle it. It’s more that she turns up and goes through the motions of working, without doing much at all. What she does is good, and she scrapes by. The wages go out on time and paperwork gets sent to head office . . . It’s as if the light has gone out inside her. Yes, that’s it. Her light has gone out. Does that sound dramatic?’
Betty thought for a moment. ‘No, I really don’t think you’re being dramatic. Since Christmas Eve, Sarah’s life has changed beyond comprehension. She was born to be a wife and mother and does that job admirably, far better than I could ever do. No, I’m right,’ she added as Tony started to protest. ‘No, I get by. I have staff at home to help me. Whereas Sarah is now without her husband. I know she has moved in with her dad and Maureen, but that is not where she should be. I thought it would all have blown over by now, what with George having paid off Alan’s debt and Frank Unthank’s son being sentenced and locked up for setting fire to the workshop . . .’ She stopped speaking as she thought of what the future would be like if Alan and Sarah were to divorce. She’d never known anyone have a divorce before, and in their close circle the ripples of the young couple’s separation could be catastrophic. She jumped as Freda tapped on the door and entered with a tray of tea.
‘I’m only bringing this because Betty is visiting. Don’t think I’m going to make a habit of serving you tea,’ she said with a cheeky grin to Tony.
‘Be off with you, woman, before I give you your cards,’ he replied with a laugh.
Betty felt warmth spread through her as she hoped Freda had at long last found her soul mate. ‘Now, I have a little news for you,’ she said after thanking Freda and watching her leave the room. ‘I’ve spoken with head office, and in light of you representing our country in the Olympic Games I have gained permission for you to take next week off for more training before you head off to Windsor.’
Tony looked at Betty in amazement. ‘But how . . .? I mean, I don’t know how to thank you. I’ve been training all the hours God gives, but the gift of an extra week off work would be . . . I really don’t deserve this after being off sick with my bad leg for so long. The last thing I want to do is jeopardize my job.’
Betty smiled. It warmed her heart to see that Tony was so hard-working and conscientious. The country’s future was sound with young men like this. ‘Considering it was a Woolworths employee who was partially to blame for your accident, I don’t feel the company should in any way comment on your time off sick. Besides, it all worked out well in the end. I have to confess to having a hand in asking for you to have more time off. I quite liked seeing Freda and Maureen featured in The New Bond and thought it would look rather good to have another staff member mentioned in the staff magazine when they win a gold medal for Great Britain.’
Tony chuckled. ‘You are a ruthless woman, Mrs Billington. I just hope I can bring honours back to Erith.’
‘Just do your best, Tony. We are all proud of you here in Erith, in our little family.’
A cloud passed over the young man’s face as he digested Betty’s words.
Betty noticed, and passed a plate of biscuits across the table. ‘You know, I was completely alone, with no family to speak of, until I was welcomed into Sarah’s family. Along with Freda and Maisie, we became part of something very special. I can see the same is happening to you, so please, forget the past and enjoy the present.’
‘I will; thank you. Speaking of the present, if I’m not here, who will steer this ship?’
‘I’m coming back to cover for you,’ Betty declared.
‘But you’ve only just . . .’ Tony looked sheepish, not knowing which words to used.
‘Safely delivered a baby boy?’ Betty suggested. ‘I’m fit and I’m healthy and as it will be for just the few weeks, I can go back to caring for my child afterwards. I intend to have our Sarah step into the breach as well. It may help her . . .’
They looked at each other, wondering if Betty’s plan would work.
‘Yer know you’ve got to snap out of this, Sarah,’ Maisie muttered between pursed lips that held half a dozen dressmaking pins. ‘Yer not the only woman whose husband’s let her down. Why, it’s not as if he’s robbed a bank or carried on wiv some floozie. Yer would have something to complain about if that ’appened.’
Sarah ran her hands across the paper pattern her friend was pinning to a heavy white satin fabric. Satisfied there wasn’t a kink in the delicate tissue paper, she nodded to Maisie, who pinned the pattern to the satin. ‘Alan had secrets he decided not to share with me, and instead took Freda into his confidence. Why, even Lemuel knew, and he’d not been in town more than a few days.’
‘Oh, come off it, Sarah. Alan and Lem knew each other during the war, and that would be a special friendship, with what those men had to put up with in the RAF during the Battle of Britain.’
Sarah shrugged her shoulders. ‘I suppose so. But I was still the last to know he had problems, when I should have been the first.’
‘P’raps he knew how you’d react . . .’ Maisie said, holding her breath in case she’d gone t
oo far.
Sarah bristled. ‘I don’t know what you’re going on about. I’ve always been a fair-minded and reasonable person,’ she sniffed.
‘Then stop going around like a wet weekend and concentrate on yer job and family. Yer can’t expect everyone to carry you through life. Wiv Tony off to compete in the Olympics, you need to be pulling your weight more at Woolies.’
‘I don’t wish to continue this conversation,’ Sarah sniffed. ‘Let’s talk about something else. Why don’t you tell me who this wedding dress is for?’
Maisie grinned to herself, knowing her words had hit home. With luck, Sarah would take note. Underneath it all she was a decent sort and would snap out of her melancholy. ‘It’s not fer anyone in particular. Since Princess Elizabeth’s wedding last year people keep asking if I sell wedding gowns, so as I’d got this piece of satin on the cheap, I decided to run up a dress and see how it goes. I’ve a few second-hand bridesmaid frocks on the hangers, and a good few outfits for the mother of the bride. Who knows, it might just take off, and it could be a nice little money-spinner. I’ve ’ad a few wedding dresses given ter me, but I’d not sell them second-hand. They can be unpicked and turned into christening gowns. I might donate one ter Sadie and Lem. What do yer think?’
Sarah shuddered. ‘Second-hand wedding dress, second-hand marriage woes. No thanks. You’re doing the right thing unpicking them, although I’m not so sure giving one to Sadie is a good idea. There may not be a christening.’
‘Why not? Lem’s the most religious man I know, and these days Sadie attends the Northend Baptist mission with him. Who’d have thought that?’
‘It’s to do with her being born out of wedlock, and of course young Jacob was well on the way before their wedding. The church won’t christen the new baby. Nan told me that Vera’s going to have a word with the elders to see what can be done about it.’
‘Then I’ll make up a christening gown and keep it ter one side. No God-fearing man in his right mind is going to go against Vera Munro’s request,’ Maisie said with a grin.
Sarah chuckled. ‘Nan said as much to me. Talking of Nan, I don’t think she’s very well. I tackled her about it last week when she had the children. She told me to mind my own business and said she was as fit as the day she first moved to number thirteen, Alexandra Road as a young bride.’
‘Blimey, no one’s that fit,’ Maisie guffawed, then cursed as she pricked her finger. ‘Sod it, there’s blood on the fabric. I’ll ’ave ter cut round that bit.’
Sarah froze as a shocked look crossed her face. ‘Blood and tears,’ she whispered.
‘You don’t believe all that rubbish, do yer?’ Maisie said, although she shuddered as she quickly chopped away the offending piece of fabric and then reached for her first-aid tin to get a plaster.
‘That’s why no one carries red and white flowers, and blood on the wedding dress is just as bad. Perhaps we should sew a little horseshoe into the hem of the gown to give some extra luck. I have a couple that were on my wedding cake. You can have one of those.’
Maisie nodded in agreement, although she wasn’t so sure Sarah and Alan’s marriage had been that lucky of late.
Freda looked round her at the small room in the guesthouse. ‘I have to share?’ she asked, seeing the room furnished with bunk beds.
‘You’re lucky to have a room at all with so many visitors in the town for the racing. Do you want it or not?’
‘I’ll take it,’ Freda said quickly. There’d be no chance of her finding other accommodation, as the cycling events were due to start within a couple of days. ‘Am I able to do some washing and ironing?’ she asked hopefully. She planned to launder Tony’s cycling clothes, to give him one less thing to think about while he prepared to compete.
‘You’ll have to take your turn, as some of the other wives are wanting to wash their husbands’ clothes as well. You can use the kitchen to make your man’s food as well.’
Freda frowned. ‘I’m not married.’
The woman folded her arms across her chest, and a stern look appeared on her face.
‘Oh, it’s nothing like that,’ Freda said as her face flushed with colour. ‘Tony is a good friend and work colleague. He’s here to compete for Great Britain and doesn’t have family to help him.’
The woman’s face softened. ‘I didn’t think you looked the sort to live in sin,’ she nodded approvingly.
‘I’d not like it under my roof either,’ Freda said as she went on to explain how she too took in paying guests. ‘My friend, Tony, and I work at Woolworths and usually my guests are employees of the company.’
‘Then it’s all above board and respectable. I’ve always found people who work in Woolies to be very nice. Very nice indeed. Now, if you want to get settled in, I’ll put the kettle on and we can have a cup of tea while we get acquainted. I’ll tell you which buses you can catch to where the cycling events are being held.’
Freda nodded. She didn’t like to say she had a detailed map that Tony had drawn for her. ‘That would be nice, although I won’t need to take the bus as I have my bicycle with me. I brought it with me on the train.’
‘A competitor yourself, are you?’
Freda chuckled. ‘No, I prefer a motorbike; I rode one during the war. But I’ve been keeping Tony company while he trains, and now I cycle a lot. I can also put my hand to a few repairs to Tony’s bikes.’ She didn’t add that she missed helping Alan out, and being able to assist Tony was a small way to ease the pain of what happened at Christmas.
‘You are an interesting young woman. We are going to get on fine.’
Freda was as good as her word and spent an hour with the landlady, coming away with the best places to shop for fresh produce and being shown where to store her food in the kitchen. She’d packed a couple of plates along with knives and forks, and planned to take food for Tony’s lunch each day. She knew from past experience that he would forget all about eating, instead preferring to put as much training in as possible.
Not having visited this part of England before, Freda was keen to see something of Windsor town before heading to the Great Park, where the cycling events would be held. Her dream was to see the Royal Family and to be able to tell Ruby all about it. However, to be on the safe side she would purchase a few picture postcards with views of the castle. Such a shame she’d forgotten to ask Betty if there was a Woolworths branch in the town. She could have used the camera George had lent her to take a photograph. That would amuse her friends.
Thanking her lucky stars she’d packed a rain mac, she swung her leg over the bicycle and headed off in the summer drizzle, keeping the meandering Thames in sight and looking up at the castle that dominated the little town. She couldn’t help noticing how different the river was here to the wide expanse of water in her home town. There wasn’t one overhead crane, or any docks, let alone a ship. Instead she could see a few small landing stages and pleasure boats already plying their trade for the busy tourists. It would be fun to take a trip on this part of the Thames and compare it to when she’d been on the Kentish Queen on trips down to the seaside towns of Margate and Ramsgate. If there was time, she could treat Tony to a few hours on the river. She hoped her friend would like the trips as much as she did.
Spotting a small grocer’s shop, she stopped to pick up provisions for their lunch and was soon on her way again as the rain stopped and the sun started to shine.
‘That hit the spot,’ Tony said as he lay back on a grassy bank after demolishing a plate of fresh ham slices and salad. ‘I don’t know what I’d have done without you here to help me. I must be the cleanest and most well-fed competitor in the camp.’
‘I’m doing my bit for King and country,’ Freda grinned. ‘And if it means you win a medal, then all the better.’
‘Don’t hold your breath,’ Tony muttered. ‘The best cyclists in the world are here. I’m just one of the lads making up the numbers.’
Freda was shocked by the way he thought. She knew that to co
mpete and win one had to focus on being number one and aim for the top spot. She was thoughtful as they cleared away the remains of the picnic lunch and prepared to mount their bicycles so Tony could show her the best place to view tomorrow’s race. The rain had eased off for their picnic meal, but the overcast sky threatened another downpour. She was keen to see the start of the race tomorrow, but then how would she know if he had won a medal? It would have been wonderful to see the whole race, and to wave and cheer him on and keep him focused on winning. After the months of accompanying him on long training sessions, she had faith in his ability. She needed to give him a personal prize to keep him focused. Looking across the field, she could just see the river, and an idea came to her. Tapping Tony on the arm to get his attention away from strapping the picnic blanket to the back of her saddle, she gave a big smile as he turned around. ‘I want to give you a special treat, so you try your hardest tomorrow. It will keep you focused,’ she added as Tony stood looking into her eyes with a slightly puzzled expression. ‘I want to . . . that is, I thought . . .’
Tony brushed a stray hair from her face with one finger before placing it under her chin and bringing her lips closer to his for a gentle kiss. Then he pulled her close. Taken by surprise, Freda sighed and enjoyed the moment, surprised by her sudden strong feelings for Tony. ‘Oh my,’ she murmured as their lips parted.
‘I’ve wanted to do that for so long,’ he said, still holding her close. ‘Now I’m completely focused.’
‘To think I was going to promise you a trip on the Thames as an incentive to try harder,’ she whispered.
‘I have my prize,’ he said as he kissed her again.
Freda spent the rest of the day in a dream. Whatever she was doing, she couldn’t forget Tony’s kiss. Handwashing his cycling kit later that evening, she was miles away and didn’t hear her landlady ask a question.
‘The girl looks to be in love,’ a fellow guest laughed as she waited in line to use the kitchen sink. ‘She ’az a certain bloom to her cheeks, do you think?’ The Frenchwoman smiled. ‘I remember this so well. These days I remember more the washing of his underclothes.’
Wedding Bells for Woolworths Page 27