by Annie Groves
‘Oh, Mum, this is it – I’m finally going to be Mrs Drew Coleman. It’s all I’ve ever wanted, and now the day is actually here.’ Tilly’s eyes shone as she took her mother’s arm and made their way out of the house.
Tilly felt like a film star as she stepped out of the car borrowed from David and Dulcie. Her head injury was almost totally healed now, and only a faint scar under her hairline was any reminder that she had nearly lost her life. Taking Archie’s proud arm, she beamed the widest of smiles as the flash bulbs popped inside, as well as outside the church.
Behind her, Agnes and Sally followed her into the church, both glowing in powder blue bridesmaid’s dresses. Little Alice, with one hand in Sally’s and the other clutching her posy, looked like an angel in her pretty little dress with lots of tiny yellow flowers embroidered on to it. Olive had stayed up half the night to get it finished.
The church was full to the rafters. Callum and Carlo were there, both looking pleased as punch. Callum had six weeks’ leave, and Sally was looking forward to making her own plans with him for their wedding. She’d never been happier and knew that Callum was the love of her life – and always had been. As well as friends and family, the church was full of ATS friends of the bride and journalist friends of the groom.
As Tilly approached the altar, she only had eyes for Drew, the man who was now, after all they had been through, about to be her husband.
The wedding was a glorious affair. There wasn’t a dry eye in the front pew where Olive, Agnes, Pru and Veronica were joined by Dulcie, David and their immaculate three children, as well as Barney and Alice. Archie held his little daughter, baby Grace Dawson, on his knee and everyone thought that Grace was the image of her mother, who fussed over the new addition to the family every bit as attentively as she had fussed over Tilly. Sally and Callum gave each other a secret smile as they watched Drew Coleman take the hand of the girl he adored. Also looking on proudly was Drew’s father, who had finally accepted, as had Olive, that his son’s health and happiness were more important than his own ambitions for his son.
Tilly felt her heart would burst as she repeated their wedding vows, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better for worse … as long as we both shall live.
As the vicar sealed their solemn vows, Tilly turned, to give her wonderful mother the warmest of smiles, as Drew lifted her veil and sealed it with a kiss.
‘A kiss to build a dream on, Mrs Coleman,’ Drew whispered in her ear as the congregation looked on happily.
‘Tilly gazed up at the man she had longed to marry since the day they first met, and she knew that, from this day forth, they would be as one for ever.
Olive, with Archie standing proudly beside her now, did not think she could love her elder daughter more if she lived to be a hundred …
As the whole ‘family’ stood on the steps of the church, Olive looked up into the sky. The clouds that had earlier threatened rain were clearing, and there was a beam of sunlight shining down on the happy gathering.
‘Look at that, Olive,’ said Archie, ‘seems like the sun is going to shine after all.’
‘You bet it is Archie,’ she replied.
Acknowledgements
I want to pay a special tribute to the wonderful Penny Halsall, who devised and created the stories of the people who lived in Article Row. I met Penny through the magnificent Romantic Novelist’s Association, and she was one of the kindest, most warm-hearted people one would wish to meet; she always had time for others no matter how busy she was. It was an honour to finish the series on her behalf.
Tony, Nicki, Kevin and Alan, thank you for your patience, your wife and mother allowed you free reign on the domestic front during the process of writing this book and realised you were very good at it. Also Pauline, my lifelong friend, who is always there and willing to dig out golden nuggets of research information.
Gratitude most certainly goes to my remarkable agent, Teresa Chris, who tells it like it is and doesn’t pull her punches. Also, my brilliant editor, Kate Bradley, a star, for whom nothing is too much trouble. I would also like to thank my copy-editor Yvonne Holland and everyone at HarperCollins who helped bring this book to you.
And last but not least, gratitude for the freely available information on the World Wide Web and the many books on the subject of life on the Home Front during World War Two.
Love and best wishes to you all.
Sheila xx
About Annie Groves
Annie Groves was a pseudonym of the much-loved writer, Penny Halsall who also wrote novels under the name of Penny Jordan. Penny was an international bestselling author of over 180 novels with sales of over 84 million copies. Penny was born and lived in the north-west of England all of her life and the Annie Groves novels drew on her own family’s history, picked up from listening to her grandmother’s stories when she was a child.
Sadly, Penny Halsall died in 2011. She left a wonderful legacy of heart-warming novels for many more fans to discover. The final books in the Article Row series, Only a Mother Knows and A Christmas Promise, were completed posthumously by Sheila Riley, based on outlines written by Penny.
Born and raised on Merseyside, Sheila Riley is the eldest of seven children. Her parents John and Peggy took the scenic route through the many family anecdotes they shared and encouraged their daughter to do the same. At school Sheila quickly discovered her English exam grades could be improved by writing tales in the back of her exercise book, and so began her lifelong love of story-telling. Happily married to Tony, they have three grown-up children, five adorable grandchildren and a huge German shepherd who is put in his place by a small, ancient cat called Missy.
Also by Annie Groves
The Pride Family Series
Ellie Pride
Connie’s Courage
Hettie of Hope Street
The WWII Series
Goodnight Sweetheart
Some Sunny Day
The Grafton Girls
As Time Goes By
The Campion Series
Across the Mersey
Daughters of Liverpool
The Heart of the Family
Where the Heart Is
When the Lights Go on Again
The Article Row Series
London Belles
Home for Christmas
My Sweet Valentine
Only a Mother Knows
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2013
Copyright © HarperCollinsPublishers 2013
Cover photograph © Colin Thomas (girl); UPPA/Photoshot (background)
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2013
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A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
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Source ISBN: 9780007361557
Ebook Edition © November 2013 ISBN: 9780007464289
Version: [2013-12-02]
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