by Pam Weaver
‘OK, I’m on my way.’
Ruby and Gracie walked out together. They were still dressed from top to toe in black, and both had their hair still tied back from when they had had their hats on for church. Ruby fleetingly wished they’d had time to change and not look so drab but it was too late to do anything about it.
‘You came back,’ Ruby said to Ray, who was standing by the desk. She smiled slightly but didn’t offer a hand and neither did he. ‘I didn’t think you would.’
‘Thought I might as well come and see what’s what.’ He shrugged and curled his lip slightly, feigning indifference, but Ruby wasn’t fooled. She knew him too well. Ray’s curiosity had got the better of him.
‘Let’s go to the dining room. I put some food aside for you in case you came back. It’s only from the funeral tea but it’s really nice.’ She looked at him, trying to judge his expression. ‘Oh, and this is Gracie, a friend of mine. We work together sometimes.’
Gracie smiled and held her hand out. ‘Pleased to meet you, Ray.’
‘I bet,’ he said as he took her hand and shook it before quickly dropping his back down to his side as if he’d been shocked. With both women being nice Ray was completely wrong-footed.
Ruby led the way to one of the tables in the dining room, then went and fetched some cake and sandwiches for him along with a pot of tea. She placed the tray in front of him and sat down next to Gracie.
‘Why’d you do it, Rube? Run off like that.’ He didn’t look up as he poured himself a cup of tea.
‘You know why. You and Ma forced me to come back from Melton where I was happy and then you treated me like dirt. I didn’t want to be your skivvy. I wanted to finish my education and have a life.’
‘Well, get you. Still Miss High and Mighty.’ As he said it he glanced down at her hand and Ruby knew he was checking for a wedding ring. ‘Well, you didn’t get yourself much of a life, did you? From what I can see you’re just a waitress in a run-down boarding house!’ He sighed deeply and shook his head.
‘I’m happy,’ Ruby smiled. ‘Well, not today because of the funeral, but I like living here.’
‘You shouldn’t have gone like that.’
‘Whyever would I have stayed?’
‘Because we’re family and that’s where you belonged. You know that, and if the doc and his wife hadn’t got you you’d have known your place. You had a duty to the family but you ran off and left us to manage. Family should have been the most important thing for you, same as for the rest of us.’
Ray leaned back in his chair and looked at her. It was a challenge.
‘No, I didn’t belong, and you didn’t need me, as well you know. You just all resented that I’d had another life; but it wasn’t my fault Dad didn’t let you boys be evacuated, and it wasn’t my fault that he battered you all and not me.’ She stared at him for a moment and then shook her head. ‘But that’s all in the past. I’ve moved on and I bet everyone else has.’ She waited for a few moments for him to speak but he said nothing. ‘So what’s been going on back home, Ray? Has something happened to bring you here?’
‘Curiosity, once I knew where you were,’ he said.
‘Who told you?’ she asked.
‘You already asked that; it’s for me to know and you to find out!’ he replied childishly.
‘Oh, well, never mind, it doesn’t matter.’ Ruby shrugged, determined not to give any leverage for anything. ‘How is everyone? Are you going to tell me?’
‘Ma’s married again.’ His tone was flat and suddenly everything became clear. Ray’s demeanour was because he had been usurped as head of the family.
‘Who’d she marry?’
‘Some bloke she worked with. That’s why she loved that job at the big house so much. He’s the fucking gardener.’ He looked at Gracie. ‘’Scuse language, no offence.’
Ruby nearly fell off her chair. Ray being respectful?
‘None taken.’ Gracie smiled and stood up. ‘But now I’d better go and help in the kitchen. Edith’s struggling out there on her own and you two must have lots to talk about.’
Ruby knew that wasn’t strictly true. Last time she’d looked Edith was sitting out in the garden with her feet up on a stool having a cigarette and a cuppa, but she appreciated Gracie’s show of tact.
‘So what’s his name?’
‘Who?’
‘The bloke Ma’s married, of course.’ Ruby laughed, determined to keep the mood light.
‘Frankenstein. No, sorry, it’s Donald. He’s Scottish and a right ugly bastard, but Ma thinks the sun shines out of his you-know-what.’
‘Is he good to her?’
‘I suppose. Don’t see her that much. She doesn’t care about any of us any more. It’s all to do with him.’
And Nan?’ Ruby asked.
‘Older and going a bit gaga. Spends all her time looking out the window, especially since she got some decent glasses.’ He grinned and there was a hint of the old nasty Ray. ‘Looking for you most likely! She don’t like Donald all that much either.’
‘What about everyone else?’
‘I’m married, living in Leytonstone. Bobbie was engaged but she did a runner and he’s in lodgings. Only one at home is Artie. Lives in his own world, does that one. Him and Nan are well suited. He looks after her since he lost his job. But you’re asking all the questions … What about you?’
‘I live and work in this hotel and I’m not married.’
‘So that’s it then. All caught up,’ he said.
‘Hardly, but it’ll do for the moment. I noticed your limp – what happened?’
‘Why do you ask?’
‘Oh, stop being so snippy. I’m just asking. It’s called talking.’ Ruby shook her head. ‘Maybe we should have tried it before.’
Suddenly she was finding the whole conversation really wearing. It had been a long day and she wondered if she’d ever find out why Ray was really there. She also wondered if she cared. She just didn’t want to play the silly games any more.
‘Motorbike went one way and I went the other. Wrecked my knee and the bike. Bike’s mended but I’m not, so no National Service for me, but I married the nurse so some good came out of it.’ Ray’s response was so normal Ruby wondered if there had been a breakthrough.
‘Are you working?’ she asked.
‘Same place, me and Bobbie, but that Johnnie Riordan who used to live down the street is boss now. He works for some old villain who’s got a finger in every pie. The bloke bought the whole of Blacksmiths and put him in charge. Bastard wears a suit and swans round in a decent car while me and Robbie scratch by but, as the missus says, it’s a job and beggars can’t be choosers.’
Ruby could barely breathe as she took in what Ray was saying. Johnnie Riordan. The name reverberated in her head.
She wanted to ask Ray about him, she wanted to know everything, but didn’t dare even speak his name. Her secret was just too big to compromise by showing an interest. Forcibly she pushed the information away and watched her brother as they sat across the table from each other.
It seemed strange to her how things had changed. Although she’d tried to hide it Ruby had been terrified when he’d come in through the doors earlier in the afternoon, all bluff and insults like the old Ray she’d run away from, and yet now they were having an almost normal sibling conversation.
‘Well, this has been strange, hasn’t it, Rube? But I’ve got a train to catch …’ Ray stood up and pushed his chair back.
‘Do you want me to give you a lift to the station?’ Ruby asked, surprising herself as the words came out.
‘Blimey, girl, you really have gone up in the world,’ he said.
‘I’m just offering you a lift to the station in the hotel car, that’s all.’
‘No, thanks, I’ll walk. I’ve just got a bit of a limp, I’m not a fucking cripple.’
‘That wasn’t what I meant and you know it, but suit yourself,’ she said easily, but she was disappointed not to have the cha
nce of a little more time to find out more about everything that had happened in the years since she left.
Especially what had happened to Johnnie Riordan.
Later that night Ruby was upstairs in the flat with Gracie, who was staying overnight again.
‘Your brother didn’t seem that bad,’ Gracie said tentatively. ‘Mellowed with age, do you reckon?’
‘Being demoted from his self-appointed role in charge of the family probably did for him. That must have hurt. I’m shocked Ma was brave enough to marry again but then I did always wonder about the pull of the Big House, as we always called it. Now we know. But good luck to her. She had nothing in her life.’ Ruby suddenly laughed. ‘Well, I didn’t think she had. And Ray’s married. I never even asked her name. Maybe they were right, I am a selfish bitch …’
‘Today isn’t the day for any more emotional stuff. Forget about Ray and all that for the moment. Deal with Leonora and the hotel today.’
‘It’s been so strange from start to finish.’ Ruby lit a cigarette and then waved it at Gracie. ‘See what you’ve done to me? I’m a bloody chain-smoker now!’
‘Give over, you love it! But maybe it’s time for you to make peace with your family now you’ve slain the giant. I did that with my family. Not that I have much to do with them, but I could if I wanted. Common as muck, they are; not good enough for me any more now I’m mixing with the posh folk in Thorpe Bay.’
As Ruby spun her head round and looked at her in horror, so Gracie screamed with laughter.
‘Gotcha. No, the peace has been made but it’s not the same. Can’t be after the baby and the home they sent me to. More bothered about the neighbours’ gossip than me. But we send cards for birthdays and Christmas. It’ll be like that with you and yours. It’s hard to go back once you’ve grown up and moved on but there’s that bit in the middle that’s nice and neutral.’
‘I’d like to see Nan. She won’t be around for ever and she was the one who encouraged me to get away else I might still be there, but I’d never be close to the others.’
She thought about telling Gracie what Ray had said about Johnnie Riordan but then decided it was best left. The less she discussed it, the easier it was to forget again.
‘Have you thought about my offer?’ she asked Gracie to change the subject.
‘Sort of, but I’m not sure, Rube. I’ll think about it and let you know. Hey, your mate Tony’ll have a breakdown when he finds out about you having the hotel and him not being involved. He was desperate to give you advice! Are you going to tell him?’
‘Not straight away. You’re right, he’ll want to give me advice and I’d like to keep this separate from my love life. No, let’s keep it between you and me. I’ll just let him think the same as Ray – that I’m managing it for Uncle George.’
Twenty-Two
Ruby strolled slowly along the seafront until she got to the steps and then walked down onto the beach. The tide was on its way out so just before she reached the soft damp mud she quickly slipped off her sandals and walked barefoot, feeling the mud seep between her toes. She loved the early mornings on the beach, especially when she needed to think in peace. She was wearing her favourite shirt dress with a full skirt, which she gathered up in her hands like a child to avoid getting mud on the hem. It was early morning and hardly anyone was around to notice the tall attractive redhead holding her skirt up around her thighs while she waded up to her ankles in the mud.
She had decided that much as she had loved Leonora she had no intention of following her overly formal dress code to work, so she just wore her normal clothes, albeit the ones that were unobtrusive and looked professional. That morning, knowing the accountant was scheduled for a long, complicated visit, she’d chosen her favourite pale green dress with three-quarter-length sleeves and an open shirt collar that stood up high against the back of her neck and flattered her pinned-up auburn hair. Her stockings and beige court shoes were laid out in the bedroom for when she got back to the hotel.
She loved the beach and the proximity of the sea. Like Leonora before her, she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else now; she would even sit out on the balcony as Leonora had with her beloved binoculars up to her eyes and watch ships and boats sailing by, especially when the tide was up and the fishing boats were making their way either in or out. To her mind it was the perfect place to live. The only difference was that Ruby knew that one day she would sail on one of the cruise liners that headed out to sea via the Thames Estuary, whereas Aunt Leonora had never got the chance.
It had been four months since Leonora Wheaton had died and Ruby had settled into her new working routine far more easily that she had expected. Gracie had dithered for only a few days before agreeing to work for her, and they shared the flat on the top floor. But while the two young women were still close friends and worked well together, each had her own social life. Ruby had very little spare time but most of what she did have she spent with Tony Alfredo, while Gracie still spent time with her old friends from the Palace, especially Sean, to whom she’d started to grow close, against all the odds. He was now the head porter and although he’d had other girlfriends over the years, and Gracie had not been especially nice to him, he still held out for her and it made her think far more kindly towards him.
As she turned to start walking back Ruby saw Tony standing on the steps from the Promenade, watching her. He was dressed casually in slacks and a white V-necked cricket sweater over an open-necked shirt. There wasn’t a hair out of place on his head. Tony Alfredo always looked immaculate.
‘Take your shoes off and come and join me!’ Ruby shouted.
‘Not likely,’ Tony shouted back. ‘It’s too filthy for me.’
‘It’s good for you. Mud is all the rage nowadays. Very healing.’
He smiled as she padded back to the steps where she’d left a small towel and a child’s bright orange beach bucket full of water. She tucked her skirt up so she was sitting on her knickers and carefully rinsed the mud off her feet before drying them and putting her sandals back on.
‘You look like a naughty child sitting there like that, not very ladylike at all,’ Tony said with a smile on his face and just a hint of criticism in his voice.
‘Better than going back covered in mud. Leonora’s ladies would not be amused, I can tell you.’ She smiled. ‘Anyway, what are you doing down the beach this early on a weekday? Haven’t you got a job to go to?’
‘I’ve got a day off and I came looking for you. I promised to do the café books for my father but I thought I’d see if you’d like to come for coffee and cake there before I start. Gracie told me you were over here,’ he said calmly, expertly covering his real feelings about Ruby’s friend. ‘Papà’s been complaining he doesn’t see enough of you now that uncle of yours is working you into the ground.’
‘He’s not working me into the ground, I’m doing it myself. I really want this to be a success and I’ve got lots of ideas.’
‘Well, come over to the café and you can tell me all about them. I’m interested.’
Ruby still hadn’t told Tony about her true role at the hotel. She hadn’t lied, she just hadn’t elaborated on her previous generalisation that she was going to carry on working there. She wanted to be honest and open with him but was aware that his personality would make it impossible for him not to interfere so she continued to let him think that George Wheaton owned the hotel and she was managing it for him. It was just easier that way.
Ruby stuffed the towel into the bucket and they walked along the promenade together to the café.
‘Oh, Ruby, Ruby, where have you been, my beautiful one? It’s been so long …’ Mr Alfredo ran over to her with his arms outstretched. ‘Tony tells me you are working too hard, too hard for a beautiful young woman. You should have a man to take care of you.’
‘I’m very well, thank you. I am working hard but I enjoy it. Just like you and Mrs Aldredo enjoy your café.’
‘But Mrs Alfredo has me to work besid
e her. You are all alone in that hotel with so many women. There’s no one to appreciate you. You must let my boy help you.’
‘That’s enough flattery, Papà,’ Tony said firmly. ‘We’re here to have morning coffee, not to have a lecture on the joys of working together.’ He looked at Ruby. ‘Shall we have the table in the window?’ he asked, but the decision was already taken.
‘I shall bring your order over. You two go and sit, talk, enjoy …’
Ruby was never sure exactly how much of Mr Alfredo’s Italian lilt was exaggerated but he always made her smile with his extravagant compliments and hand waving. She envied Tony his besotted parents, but sometimes, when he was being mean, she wondered at how they had overindulged him. In their eyes he could do no wrong, and he had grown up thinking exactly the same. He was supremely confident in himself and his abilities, to the extent that it never occurred to him he could be wrong or that someone could disagree with him. But it was also that confidence that made him so good at his job.
Tony Alfredo was always the perfect companion when they went out together and Ruby enjoyed his company. He would take her to nice restaurants and dances, and sometimes to the theatre in London. He was charming and intelligent, and always immaculately turned out; the perfect gentleman who could always make her laugh and feel special. However, just occasionally, when she disagreed with him, he could turn in a flash from being a suave and sophisticated young man into a sulky and spoiled child with a bad temper.
‘You were going to tell me about your plans,’ Tony said.
‘I have to talk it through with Uncle George but I want to change the hotel. I don’t want it to be ladies only any more. That’s so old-fashioned now. I think we should open it up for couples. It’d earn more if there were two people in every room, and if we didn’t do dinners—’
‘I suppose Gracie’s behind this,’ he interrupted.
‘It’s nothing to do with Gracie. Surely you don’t think I’m so silly that I’d do something I didn’t agree with on the say-so of someone else?’ She smiled as she spoke because she could see Mr Alfredo looking over at them, trying to eavesdrop on their conversation.