by Anne Douglas
‘You bet we do!’ Flo cried. ‘George and I have been wondering how soon we could ring up. Has Rod left yet?’
‘Just gone. Everything went well. Sam already adores him, and no’ just for the train set he brought, and I think Rod feels the same about him. Could scarcely take his eyes off him, in fact, and he’s coming back tomorrow afternoon, to play with the train set. Ma’s quite agreeable.’
‘Ah, Lorna, that’s nice, really nice. To think that Rod and Sam have met at last and it’s all gone well. Will you be seeing Rod yourself? I mean, apart from playing with the train set?’
‘I’ve said I’ll have lunch with him tomorrow.’
‘Aha! Lunch, eh?’
‘Don’t get too excited. That’s all it will be.’
‘Can’t be sure of that, Lorna.’
Well, that was true enough.
Sixty-Two
‘You know what this reminds me of?’ Rod asked, when they were sitting the following day in the little cafe Lorna had chosen for them.
Lorna, looking round at the room where the woodwork was white, the tablecloths flowered, and the young waitresses pretty, shook her head. ‘Can’t say it rings a bell. Better tell me.’
‘That little cafe in Sauchiehall Street, where we went on one of our first dates!’ Rod’s eyes were shining. ‘Don’t you remember? I told you it was a bit like the Willow Cafe and you said I was clever to know about Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Then, when we came out, it was raining and we ran into a cinema to see Spellbound.’
‘Good heavens, you’ve got total recall!’ Lorna laughed. ‘I never would have remembered all that.’
‘Where you’re concerned, I remember most things,’ Rod said lightly, picking up a menu. ‘My word, this looks good.’
‘Like to order?’ one of the pretty waitresses came up to ask. ‘I can recommend the steak and kidney pie. Home-made pastry, you know.’
‘Steak and kidney pie? Yes, please!’ Rod cried. ‘I’ve been waiting years for this.’
‘Tomato flan for me, please.’ Lorna smiled up at the waitress. ‘With salad.’
‘No salad for me,’ Rod said firmly. ‘The Americans are great on salads, but there are times when a fellow wants mashed potato with butter and a stack of green beans.’
‘Yes, sir!’ the waitress cried admiringly. ‘Coming up.’
After she’d left them, they were for a time silent. It was Rod who spoke first.
‘Mind if I ask – I know I’ve no right – but were you very cut up over Josh Niven?’
‘Cut up?’ Lorna drank some water. ‘Yes, for a time.’
‘You really thought he was the one for you?’
‘I suppose I did.’
‘So handsome, of course.’ Rod made a face. ‘You know what they say, handsome is as handsome does.’
‘I wasn’t going just on his looks. We really did seem to get on well. But, thinking about him now, I’m sure we wouldn’t have been right for each other.’
‘Because?’
‘Because he was always so correct, so worried about what folk thought. And then, when I told him about Sam, I know I hurt him, but he never really thought about me, how much I was suffering.’ Lorna raised sad blue eyes to Rod. ‘Maybe it was just as well I saw another side to him. Just like he saw another side to me.’
‘I believe he really cared for you, Lorna.’
‘But not enough to accept Sam.’
‘He blamed me, rather than you. Quite right, too. I never came out of any of this very well, did I?’
‘We both made love,’ Lorna said, keeping her voice down. ‘I never blamed you for that. Only for having different ideas from mine.’
‘Know something?’ Rod asked seriously. ‘I’ve changed.’
‘Changed?’
‘One steak and kidney, one tomato flan,’ intoned their waitress, setting down the dishes. ‘Hope I haven’t kept you waiting too long?’
‘Have you kept us waiting?’ asked Rod. ‘We never noticed.’
‘What did you mean, you’ve changed?’ Lorna asked, as they began to eat. ‘Changed your views?’
‘Yes, don’t you think it’s possible?’
Thinking of Claire Maxwell, Lorna hesitated. ‘Yes, I think it’s possible. If the person’s got a real will to do it.’
‘I’ll have to be honest, I didn’t set out to change. When I first went to America, I was desolate because of what had happened between us, but I still thought I was in the right. It was only after I’d been around for a while, met the girl bands – and there are plenty over there – that I understood.’
‘Understood what?’
‘What some girls have to endure, just to be able to play their music.’ Rod shook his head, his expression bleak. ‘It really brought it home to me, what you and Flo have had to face, after I’d talked to some of the American girls. The prejudice – it was unbelievable.’
‘You mean from the men?’
‘Well, for some girls there was racial prejudice too, but, yes, I’m talking about men. They weren’t just prejudiced, sometimes spiteful, too. Even where their wives were concerned. I tell you, Lorna, I had no idea.’
‘As you say, that sort of thing can go on here.’
‘I guess men just haven’t got used to the idea that women can be as good as they are.’ Rod finished his pie and sat back, shrugging. ‘I mean, look at me. I didn’t want you to run your own band, did I? I didn’t want you to carry on with your music, once we were married, which was so completely wrong. It came to me, in America, that I was no better than any of those other guys.’
Lorna, listening closely, was stunned. It was true, she thought, he has changed. This was not the old Rod speaking; these were not the words he’d once have said.
‘You believe me?’ he asked, watching her face. ‘I’ve suffered a sea change?’
‘I think I’ll have to.’ She gave a cautious smile. ‘Just wish I could have met those American girls, though.’
‘To hear their stories?’
‘To shake their hands. If they brought about this change of heart. The thing is, Rod . . .’
‘What?’
‘You weren’t the only one who made mistakes. I should have told you about Sam, shouldn’t I?’
‘I guess I wish you had.’
‘Water under the bridge,’ she sighed, bringing out her famous phrase. ‘It’s too late to change things now.’
‘Why, that’s just what it’s not!’
Heedless of the stares of the other diners at his raised voice, Rod leaned forward. ‘Well, it needn’t be! Because I’m not the same as I was. I’ve changed, so that makes all the difference.’
‘What sort of difference?’
‘Between saying goodbye and taking up where we left off.’
Lorna carefully laid her knife and fork together. ‘I don’t know if that’s possible, Rod. Too much time has gone by.’
‘All right, we start again, then. How about that? We’re not too old. We have our lives in front of us. And we have Sam.’ Rod’s eyes were shining again. ‘Come on, Lorna, think about it. In the States, they call it starting over. What do you say?’
‘Like to see the sweet menu?’ asked the waitress, brightly.
Sixty-Three
They were on Calton Hill, high above Princes Street, looking down at the panorama of the city, favourite view of the tourists, though not of interest just then to Lorna or Rod. Other things were on their minds, rather than picking out the capital’s buildings; other things had to be resolved.
Behind them were the sights of Calton Hill itself – the City Observatory, the Nelson Monument, and the copy of the Athens Parthenon, with only twelve columns built, always known as Scotland’s Disgrace. ‘Would you credit it?’ people liked to moan. ‘Letting the money run out before it was finished?’
‘Shame if they finished it now, eh?’ Rod murmured, as he and Lorna wandered by to take a seat on the warm grass. ‘Wouldn’t be the same, would it?’
‘As if the
y ever would.’
Relieved that Rod was making general comments instead of pressing her to say what he wanted to hear, Lorna relaxed a little, putting her hand to her hair that was so bright in the sunshine, smiling at a little child playing with a ball. But then Rod put his arm around her and turned her towards him.
‘When are you going to answer me?’ he asked gently. ‘We’ve only made chit chat ever since we left the cafe.’
‘Chit chat’s easy.’
‘Not for me. I’ve laid out my cards. Now it’s your turn to play.’
‘I want to, Rod . . .’ She stopped, trying to find words.
‘You want to, but you’re afraid?’
She nodded. ‘I suppose that’s it.’
‘So, what do you have against a new commitment? You know things would be different this time.’
‘Yes, I know, but there are so many difficulties, Rod. You’re based in America . . .’
‘I’m coming back from America. Oh, I’ll have to go and sort things out there, say goodbye to my dad, but I’d already decided I should come back here, for my mother’s sake. She really needs one of us to be in this country now, and Leland’s married and more settled in the States than I am. Dad understands.’
‘I see.’ Lorna’s eyes were searching Rod’s face. ‘So your brother married an American? Don’t think I’m prying, but you were saying you met all those girls. How come you didn’t settle too?’
‘I had two relationships,’ he answered steadily. ‘Neither came to anything.’
‘Why was that?’
‘Because they weren’t with you.’
‘I can’t believe that.’
‘Happens to be true. I’ll admit, I was looking for a replacement. I never found her.’ Rod ran his hand down Lorna’s cheek. ‘Now I’ve met the original again, I’m not looking any more.’
She was silent, feeling a stirring of excitement run through her body as his hand continued to caress her face, his eyes intensely holding hers, as the people wandering round the hill faded from her consciousness and it seemed that she and Rod were alone.
‘Tell me you want to let me go,’ he whispered. ‘Tell me you mean that, Lorna.’
‘I don’t mean it,’ she answered quickly. ‘I don’t want you to go.’
‘I knew in your heart you didn’t.’
‘But, Rod, it’s true what I say, there are difficulties. We shouldn’t try to rush into anything.’
‘Rush?’ He shook his head. ‘After all the years we’ve wasted, I think the time has come to rush. We made mistakes, OK, we did. But everybody deserves a second chance. And this is ours.’
They were very still, lost in each other, until Lorna suddenly leaped to her feet. ‘We mustn’t forget Sam, Rod. He’ll be home from school soon.’
‘I haven’t forgotten him.’ Rod, breathing fast, took her hand. ‘Come on, let’s go get the car.’
But in the car, parked at the foot of Arthur’s Seat, he did not at first start the engine.
‘We’ve a few minutes yet, Lorna.’
To be together, to be alone. To let their mouths meet in a long, long kiss, that was the sweeter because it brought back memories of other kisses long ago, and a love that had meant so much. And when it was over and they’d drawn apart, they knew they need say no more. The love was theirs again; the commitment was made.
They were silent as they drove back through the West End to Number 29, each on such an emotional high, words seemed impossible to find. Yet, of course, they had to descend from the heights, they had to think of practical things.
‘What do you think he’ll say?’ Rod asked at last. ‘I mean, Sam.’
‘Rod, he’ll be over the moon. It will be exactly what he wants. For you to stay with him and me.’
‘Think everyone will be pleased? Your mother, for instance?’
‘As a matter of fact, she likes you. She was surprised, when she met you.’
‘Oh, Lord, she thought I was the villain of the piece, did she? How do I convince her I’m the hero?’
‘You won’t need to. I think she’s going to welcome you.’
‘As my mother will welcome you.’
‘Rod, I’m looking forward to meeting her.’
‘We’ll fix it up.’
They had stopped outside Number 29, but were making no move to leave the car, savouring the last moments of this special time together.
‘I’ll have to tell my girls,’ Lorna said thoughtfully. ‘They’ll be thrilled. So will Flo and George. Might think it’s all happened so quickly.’
‘Not at all. It began long ago.’
‘I mean, our starting over.’
They both laughed and Rod pressed Lorna’s hand. ‘Tell you what I meant to ask – what happened to that other fellow you used to know, the one who was just a friend. He still around?’
‘You mean Ewen? He’s still around, but he’s married and about to be a father.’
‘Still your friend, I bet.’
‘Yes, he always will be, his wife too. They’ll be happy for us, I know. Pattie was always telling me to find Mr Right.’
‘Hope she thinks that’s me.’ Rod sighed and looked at his watch. ‘Shall we go in, Lorna?’
‘Yes, let’s go in.’
Sixty-Four
As Lorna had forecast, Sam was ecstatic when told his dad would be staying on in Scotland, coming to live with him and his mother at Number 29, playing with the train set every day! And if he was put right on that by his grandmother, who told him his dad would have other things to do, it didn’t matter. He was just thrilled to have a dad of his own, and to see his ma so happy, for he always knew when she was happy and she was happy now.
So were other people pleased for her.
Tilly herself, who said as soon as she’d laid eyes on Rod, she’d seen it coming – he and Lorna were going to be lucky, second time around. Which didn’t stop her from buttonholing Rod and warning him to make her daughter happy this time, or else!
‘Mrs Fernie, it’s all I want to do,’ he assured her, and Tilly smiled and said when he and Lorna were married, he could call her Ma.
As for Flo and George, they said they felt like the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. ‘Just one big grin,’ George said.
Flo, hugging Lorna, whispered that they’d always known things would work out, once Rod had come back. ‘And we always liked Rod,’ she added.
‘So did I,’ Lorna answered. ‘Liked as well as loved – is that the secret of getting things right? Wish they hadn’t gone wrong before.’
‘Got there in the end,’ said Flo.
And Ewen? When he came round to Number 29, he had news of his own. Pattie had had her baby early – a lovely little girl they were going to call Jennifer after Pattie’s mother, but her second name was to be Lorna, and would Lorna herself please be godmother? So dazed was he at his sudden fatherhood, Ewen could scarcely take in meeting Rod or Lorna’s news, but when he did, his smile was wide and genuine and after he’d shaken their hands he declared he’d never been more pleased – except of course over the birth of his wee lassie.
‘I’m very glad to have met you,’ Rod told him. ‘I know you were always a good friend to Lorna, and I’m grateful.’
‘Always tried to put me on the right track,’ Lorna murmured. ‘Didn’t always succeed, but that was my fault.’
‘On the right track now,’ Ewen told her, blushing a little. ‘And now there are four of us to be friends, no’ two. Let’s all meet when Pattie’s up and about again, eh?’
‘What a grand chap,’ Rod commented, after Ewen had departed. ‘You’ve some pretty good friends here, Lorna.’
‘Don’t forget the girls in my band. Oh, they’re so thrilled, Rod. No’ to say surprised!’
Weighed down as they were with worries about the future, it had indeed been an amazing surprise for the Melody Girls to have their leader suddenly so radiant, so happy, now that Sam’s dad had reappeared in her life. And what a nice guy he was, then! They
couldn’t imagine him ever letting a girl down, but perhaps he hadn’t. Seemed it was true, he and Lorna had just had different ideas and now they’d agreed to agree, with Lorna keeping her band and Rod finding what work he could.
Of course, he was a guitar player, he had a chance to be a part of this rock and roll revolution. Had even seen the great Elvis perform in Memphis and boy, was he something else. The embodiment of the future, said Rod. But what about the band? What about us? Lorna and the Melody Girls were still wondering.
Keep going was Rod’s advice and George’s, and if bookings dried up, as they might, look elsewhere. To the provinces, or the seaside, for holiday shows. Anywhere, where there were more traditional audiences. Just take it as it came, that was the best thing to do, and was after all what others in the same boat were doing, so the grapevine reported.
There would always be a place for the big bands. Always those who’d want to listen to their music, instead of to Elvis. Or, maybe as well! Keep heads up, shoulders back, just as Lorna had always done, and let the music go around and around. As Rod said, sometimes it was best to let the future take care of itself.
‘Ours, too?’ Lorna asked teasingly.
‘That’s already taken care of.’
‘Seeing as I’m writing wedding invitations, I thought it might be.’
‘I suppose you’re asking the whole world and his wife?’
‘Well, your father and mother, your brother and his family, my mother, my Auntie Cissie, my cousins, Flo, George, Ewen, Pattie, and the baby, and everybody in Scotland who’s ever played in a swing band. It’s going to be a thoroughly musical wedding, and if it’s in the papers, folk will see what we can do.’
‘Not some sort of musical farewell, is it?’
‘No! It’s more a hello. A hello to our new life, whatever it might bring. To us, and Sam, and Ma, and my Melody Girls.’
‘Feel we should be drinking a toast. Got any champagne?’ Rod held out his arms. ‘Only joking.’
‘As though we need champagne!’ she murmured, going to him. As though they needed anything, was the thought in both their minds, except what they already had. Their music, their families, Sam, and each other.