And yet, after seeing Beth today, standing outside the house, in the cold, at that time of the morning … without a coat or hat on, Marie’s fears for Ronnie’s sister couldn’t be quietened. Marie knew she was a worrier by nature but still, the very idea of Ronnie’s sister living in fear of her quick-tempered husband, made Marie fear for quiet, amiable Beth.
Remaining uneasy, Marie drifted into a reflective mood … Marie knew Ronnie to be a sensible young man. He would never barge into Beth’s home, all guns blazing … that was not his nature. Instead, he would probably talk it through with Beth first, and hopefully she might trust him. She wondered if she should talk to Ronnie when she saw him, put her mind at rest?
‘Well! I’m glad that’s all sorted out.’ Dave gave a long groan. ‘Honestly, you women! Why must you always make a drama out of nothing? Always thinking the worst. Beth was out there for some reason or another, and now she’s back in the warm. So can we please relax and stop making such a fuss over what was probably nothing at all?’
And having said his piece, he returned his concentration to the traffic. Marie, however, could not help but worry about Ronnie’s sister. She had her suspicions and she was sorely tempted to have a little word in Ronnie’s ear with regard to Beth’s wellbeing.
The wisest thing to do, she thought, would be to confide in Ronnie … or then again, maybe not. If he learned of even the slightest suggestion that Beth was in danger, Ronnie might well seriously be down here taking Mike to task, and who knew what damage might ensue? She was well aware that there was no love lost between the two men in Beth’s life. They were like chalk and cheese and had nothing in common, except for Beth, whom each valued, in his own way. There was never a jot of hope that these two men might ever form any kind of friendship. At best, they merely tolerated each other.
From the scant details of her husband’s failings, which Beth had reluctantly confided to her in the recent past, Marie had captured a clear enough picture of his selfish nature and his bad temper.
The last time Beth had confided in Marie, however, was almost a year ago. Lately, Beth was always reluctant to speak of her husband, except to promise Marie that the two of them were now getting on better. She told Marie that he had controlled his anger and had cut down hard on the boozing. He hardly ever came home drunk, and that on the odd occasion when he had drunk more than he should have, he was never spiteful, nor angry with her. ‘Of late he is more like the man I fell in love with,’ she had said.
Marie had to wonder whether Beth was either fooling herself, though, or even if she was actually telling the truth at all, but being reluctant to upset Beth by asking further questions, she had let it go, hoping that Beth really was safe and content now.
Nonetheless, she had said to Beth the last time they talked, ‘I’m glad he’s trying to mend his ways, sweetheart. But please remember if you ever need to talk to me – about anything – I’m here for you. If you need advice on any matter whatsoever, or if you just need to talk, or simply to go out for a bit of lunch, or a walk in the park, come and find me. I promise that in future I will not make any judgements, all right?’
Beth had heartily thanked her, and each of them went her way, with differing thoughts playing on her mind.
Now Marie said, ‘I think I might go and visit Beth when we get back from Blackpool … see if she’s all right.’
‘Try not to worry about Beth, Mum, I’m sure she’s fine,’ said Anne, although she wasn’t sure.
‘Yes, love, you’re probably right.’ Marie was still wondering if she should mention to Ronnie about Beth being out on the doorstep at this time of the morning, without a coat. But then she decided not to say anything, because it would only worry him.
She hoped with all her heart that Beth had truly and honestly found a measure of happiness with the man she appeared to love, but she intended to keep a wary eye on her when they got back home.
Marie had learned just a few scant details of Beth’s husband. Beth confessed that he would often come home from the pub drunk and moody and ready for an argument. As men do, she’d said. She wouldn’t call him over. But beyond that, she would say no more.
In truth, Marie could sense that the marriage was over, and Beth felt no affection towards him. He had killed off her love and respect during the many times he had upset her for no good reason.
She seemed to dread him coming home, after many hours at the pub with his rowdy friends and admirers. But whatever he said or did, she was now far too nervous to say anything, because he had a quick and nasty temper.
It must have taken so much strength for Beth to have confided in her but she strongly believed that Beth had viewed it as a weakness.
She had made her decision to stay and had thanked Marie for her valuable help and for being such a good and special friend when she desperately needed one, but that everything was all right now, and she and her husband were getting on much better.
She had gone on to say, that from that day on, she did not want to talk about the fights and rows between herself and her husband any more. ‘I really need to put it all behind me, especially now, when the two of us are getting on really well.’
Marie told her that of course she would abide with whatever Beth thought was the right thing to do.
And since that day, Beth had never again raised the issue with Marie … which had given Marie hope, that the troubles between Beth and her husband were now behind them.
Feeling hopeful but not absolutely sure that Beth’s troubles were at an end, she had decided to trust Beth at her word. ‘I’m happy for you, sweetheart … but please … will you promise me, that if you ever feel threatened in any way in the future, you will call me, won’t you?’
Beth had readily agreed, along with imparting the news, that, ‘I truly am much happier now, Marie.’
And so, Marie had taken Beth at her word, and prayed that there would be no more troubles for Beth to deal with in the future.
Though somewhere in the back of her mind, she remained somewhat uneasy about Beth’s reassurances. She had her own troubles and secrets and knew to keep her nose out of others’ lives. And, much to her relief, Marie had truly lately seen a great improvement in Beth … But even so, she thought it her duty as a friend, to always keep a wary eye on her.
All she could do, as Beth’s close friend and confidante, was to promise that she would be there for her through thick and thin, wherever and whenever she was needed. For Marie, that would never change. It was Beth’s choice to make. Women always seemed to have the hardest choices.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
MARIE, ANNE AND Cathy laughed out loud on leaving the services building with their purchases. ‘Will you just look at him?’ Marie was not altogether surprised to see Dave leaning nonchalantly against the car door, wearing a little smug smile.
‘Daddy thinks he’s the cat’s whiskers, because he beat us back to the car!’ Cathy said.
Anne was shaking her head and grinning like the Cheshire cat. ‘So, he did get back first, eh? Mark my words, we will never hear the last of this.’
‘He’ll be impossible now!’ Cathy chuckled. ‘Boasting and grinning all the way to Blackpool!’
‘My word!’ said Dave as they approached. ‘I thought you might have got lost in the make-up counter, and here you are, all shopped out and ready to go. Well, I never!’ With a grin, he opened the car doors to let them climb in and settle down. ‘Right then, we’d best get back on the road. To be honest, I’m quite staggered that you three women got back so quickly.’
‘Well thank you, kind sir,’ said Anne. ‘I bet you tore round the place like a madman just so you would get back to the car before us am I right?’
When Dave simply smiled and shook his head, the women knew for certain that Anne was right.
Marie could not help but smile. ‘Well, I must say, Dave … I never took you for a show-off.’
Turning out of the services and onto the slip road, Dave checked for any oncoming traffic before e
asing into the flow, pleased that the traffic was not half as bad as he had feared. ‘As long as we can keep going along at a steady pace, I reckon we should be in Blackpool within the next couple of hours, depending on whether or not you women want to stop yet again … and whether or not I might agree.’
‘Cheeky monkey!’ That was Anne. ‘And what if it’s you who wants to stop?’
‘Well, I would rather not until we get to Blackpool.’
‘That’s fine by me!’ Marie’s thoughts turned to Danny, and she realised how much she was looking forward to seeing him. The very thought of his cheeky smile brought a warm glow to her lonely heart. Seeing him there weeks ago had brought back so many happy memories, in those moments her troubles had felt lighter. She’d been so lonely for so many years, caught up in the problems of the past, she couldn’t look to her own future.
As Dave’s beige Ford Anglia neared Blackpool, Anne started wondering if she’d brought the details of the guesthouse she had booked the previous evening, on the phone. She’d written it down in her little notebook but now she couldn’t remember putting it in her bag.
Trying not to panic unnecessarily, she rifled through the capacious handbag, pulling out a hairbrush, a make-up bag, a powder compact, her purse, a can of hairspray, some rather sticky humbugs, and eventually drew out her little notebook. ‘Oh, here it is. Thank goodness for that!’
She gave a sigh of relief. ‘It’s fortunate that I didn’t leave the address and details at home. It’s a wonder though, with everyone tearing about to get out of the house and away.’ She quickly scanned what she had written. ‘That’s it! Two double rooms overlooking the seafront. Brilliant! Two nights, with bed and breakfast, and the guesthouse is right behind the Promenade. Beach View – that’s the name.’
Marie actually clapped her hands with excitement. ‘Oh, I do believe I know the place. If I’m right, it’s the pretty, blue-painted guesthouse opposite the floral clock.’
‘It sounds all right to me,’ Dave chirped in on the conversation. ‘I hope the food is good, Anne, especially when you mentioned that the wife cooked all the meals.’ He gave a disapproving little grunt. ‘I often wonder if using the wife as cook is simply a cost-cutting exercise.’
‘Oh, really? So what’s with the condescending attitude to the wife being the cook, might I ask?’
When he was lost for words, Marie gave him a little dig on the shoulder. ‘If you want my opinion, I’m of the mind that a woman is always better at cooking than a man. Women just have a natural talent for it. Well, I think so, anyway.’
Anne tutted and rolled her eyes. ‘Honestly … you two are like a pair of juveniles, arguing about something and nothing. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t care one jot who does the cooking, as long as it’s nicely presented and tastes like heaven on a plate.’ She gave a long, lazy sigh, ‘Come to think of it, I am rather hungry.’
Cathy also had a little grumble. ‘That’s your fault, Daddy! You didn’t even give us enough time to have a bite to eat in the café. That chocolate bar I bought on the way out was disgusting. It tasted like dried-up leather, as though it had been left lying all forgotten in the bottom of a drawer or somewhere.’
Dave gave a little chuckle. ‘I’ve never heard such a miserable, moaning lot as you three! For goodness’ sake, forget the chocolate bar or whatever and concentrate on the fact that we are off to spend a few days by the sea, in the sunshine, all together for once. All you lot can do is moan, moan, moan! All I want is to simply enjoy being at the seaside with my family.’
‘You’re right!’ Marie said. ‘And we truly are very grateful, aren’t we, girls?’ She looked at the other two. ‘Go on then, you two! Tell him how happy we are, to be going away … all of us together.’
And so they made much of being grateful for their lovely break along with excessive bowing and grovelling to the sulking driver, who eventually was made to laugh loudly.
The first view of Blackpool was, as always, the Tower, slender but magnificent, pointing into the sky. The whole family searched it out, competing to see which one of them would spot it first. Although the Tower was visible from a few miles inland across the flat landscape, it signified the start of the final approach to the seaside and the journey’s end.
Cathy’s stomach was bubbling with anticipation, and Marie was nearly as excited as they picked out the impressive structure on the horizon.
The traffic slowed to a crawl. Although it was quite late in the season, Blackpool was ever popular and the roads into the famous resort were notorious for their traffic queues. There was nothing for it but to be patient and enter the busy, colourful noisy town at little more than walking pace. At last Dave turned the weary-sounding car onto the Promenade and, as always, Cathy gave a little gasp of pure pleasure at the sights and sounds that greeted her.
With her nose pressed to the car window, she grew increasingly happy at the sound of the music playing at a fairground close by and quickly wound down the window. A babble of voices rose up from the many excited children playing on the magnificent stretch of sandy beach below.
Cathy was grinning as she reminded herself it would not be too long before she and Ronnie were together.
Just thinking about that made her loving heart skip a beat.
A large and powerful chestnut-coloured horse trotted by, its proud head held high as it clip-clopped along the front, drawing behind it a brightly painted landau, carrying four smiling people.
Cathy supposed that they were a family: mum and dad, and two small, very excited young girls. As the magnificent animal passed by, it appeared to turn its head so as to glance proudly at the admiring onlookers.
However often Cathy saw the proud horses going about their duties, she never tired of watching their amazing strength and powerful beauty.
‘Hey!’ Marie called out to Cathy. ‘Pull your head in from out of the window … it’s too dangerous!’ She indicated the tram gently moving along, some distance from the horses; who were highly trained with regard to safety and keeping a marginal distance from other moving traffic.
As was the horses’ master, who was ever alert, and skilfully guiding the horses from the high-bench on the moving carriage.
‘Oh, Nan, you’re such a fuss. I’m just excited. Just look at them, they really are magnificent, aren’t they? Tell me, where else might you see anything like them but here in Blackpool?’
‘Yes! You’re absolutely right, my darling.’ Marie felt the same way as Cathy. ‘I’m so glad I’m back for another few days, but with all the family this time. It’s been a long time since we were able to do that all together, and it’s just so wonderful!’
While the women were discussing plans for what was left of the day, Dave pulled up, and there was a rap on the window. ‘I’m sorry, sir. But you can’t sit here, I’m not sure if you’re aware but you are actually headed up a one-way street.’
‘Oh Good Lord!’ Dave groaned. ‘I’m sorry, officer. To be honest, I didn’t even see the sign. We’ve just travelled for hours, and we’re searching for a guesthouse, I’m really sorry.’
The policeman peered into the car to see the three rather tired-looking women looking up at him, with big sorry eyes. ‘Right, well I should book you. But you’d best move on before I change my mind. And keep your eyes on the signs in future.’
Dave wound up the window. ‘Well I never.’ He shook his head. ‘We were damm lucky there.’ He closed his eyes for a second or two before resting his head on the headrest.
Dave was now calling their attention. ‘Look there!’
He gestured to a nearby guesthouse, where every windowsill was overflowing with colourful flowers tumbling from wooden boxes.
‘Look at the sign on the wall.’ He drew their attention to the round, painted board attached to the wall alongside the front door. ‘It’s Beach View. I think we’ve arrived, at long last.’ He pulled up outside.
Anne agreed. ‘But, just in case, I’ll go in and make sure!’
A
s she climbed out, a sense of anticipation rippled through the car.
Within a few minutes, Anne was back, a smile on her face that told a happy tale.
‘Right then!’ Clambering back into the car, she closed the door. ‘Everything is absolutely fine … It’s all been confirmed as I arranged.’
‘Good work, that woman!’ Marie felt a whole lot easier. ‘So now all we have to do is find the pub where Ronnie is working.’
‘Ah … I have news on that as well, Mother.’ Boasting a wide smile, Anne explained, ‘After I had settled everything else in the guesthouse I asked the owner if she knew of a pub called The Pitstop, somewhere along the front. Here you are. The woman in the guesthouse wrote down the directions for us.’ She produced a piece of paper.
‘Well done, love!’ said Dave. ‘So now, hopefully, we can get on and find Ronnie, eh? I’ll be glad to leave the car and stretch my legs. Then maybe, when we’ve located Ronnie, I might find something substantial to eat.’
‘Yes, I agree!’ Marie felt shattered.
‘I wouldn’t mind a pint of something cold, too.’ Dave said. His throat felt dry as a desert.
‘Me too!’ everyone else agreed in unison.
‘Mine’s a sherry!’ Marie was first to place her order.
‘I’ll have a sarsaparilla!’ Cathy clapped her hands in eager anticipation.
‘And mine’s a sherry!’ Anne was ever partial to a nice sherry.
‘Right then, wifey!’ Dave said to her with a smile. ‘Why don’t we drop the cases off first?’ He gave a long yawn.
‘I won’t deny it. I’m really tired. In fact I could do with a short nap.’ Closing his eyes for a second, he gave a weary groan, ‘I’ve a good mind to park the car round the back and go up to our room now. I need a nap even more than I need that pint. Why don’t you lot go and find Ronnie, and I can catch up in a while? What do you say?’
Both Marie and Cathy were all right with that. ‘You both look really tired,’ Cathy told her parents. ‘Nan and I will be fine.’
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