Jenny tutted. ‘What a nosy bugger I have for a friend.’ Then she sighed resignedly. ‘If it’ll stop your nose from twitching, I’m waiting for my mum and dad. They had to scoot off quick on private business and I just want to know that they’ve got back safe and the business is sorted out. That’ll be thruppence,’ she said to a little girl as she handed her a quarter of aniseed balls in a paper cone twisted at the top and held out her hand for the money. She then went on to add a scoop of sugar and strawberry flavouring to the basin of the candy floss machine at the request of her next customer.
Ren was separating a toffee apple that had become stuck to another and said tartly, ‘Couldn’t you have told me that in the first place instead of letting me think there was a juicy reason behind it, like it was a man you were looking out for?’ She glanced towards the entrance and saw a Grundy’s lorry approaching. ‘I think this is them now.’
Jenny spotted the lorry as crowds coming and going parted to allow it passage. Just before the entrance, it veered to the right to make its way to where all the fairground vehicles were parked. ‘Yes, that’s them.’ She hurriedly pulled off her protective apron, which she balled up and thrust under the counter, saying, ‘You can do without me for a bit.’ This wasn’t a question, but a statement. Then she ducked under the gap in the counter and hurried off, leaving Ren with no choice but to manage without her.
A smile spread over Ren’s face as she watched her friend squeeze herself through a gap between two stalls, part of a row that edged the horseshoe-shaped fairground. Jenny had been economical with the truth. Yes, she might be anxious to see that her parents were back safely, but it was the passenger Ren had spotted sitting in the front of the vehicle with them that she suspected had brought the twinkle of excitement to Jenny’s eyes. Jenny had told her that her interest in Tom had dissolved when she had seen Dulcie slap him at the party the other week. Obviously, something had happened meantime to change her mind. As soon as Jenny returned, Ren meant to find out what, and wouldn’t relent until she had.
Solly, Gem and Tom were climbing out of the lorry when Jenny arrived. ‘Did you manage to get your money back?’ she asked breathlessly.
It was her mother who answered. ‘Yes, thank goodness, but it’s a long story.’
Before she could say any more, Jenny pretended to notice Tom for the first time and, pulling a concerned face, said to him, ‘That cut on your nose needs disinfecting before it goes septic. Come to my van and I’ll clean it up for you. I’ll come and see you after, Mum, and you can tell me the whole story then.’ She spun on her heel and headed off in the direction of her van, obviously expecting Tom to follow her.
Gem could tell that the young man was in a dilemma. She had told him that she would minister to the cut herself as soon as they got back, and it was obvious that he didn’t want to hurt her feelings as she had offered first. She smiled at him. ‘Go on, she won’t bite. I need to get back to the skelter anyway. My sister-in-law will be desperate for a break by now.’
Tom was relieved that Gem had resolved the matter for him, but overriding that emotion was the shock he had received at hearing Jenny calling her Mum. Well, that scuppered any hope of him ever getting the chance to know her better. The daughter of the owners of the fair wouldn’t spare a glance for Mr Fix-It’s assistant, any more than she would have done for a gaff lad.
As she watched Tom hurry after Jenny, Gem smiled to herself. Her daughter might have thought she had disguised her feelings, but that look in her eyes when she had glanced at Tom had been unmistakable. So, she had a fancy for the young man. She could do a lot worse. He came across as a nice fellow, and Gem would have no objection should they get together. How did he feel about her daughter, though? Gem didn’t see how any young man could find fault with Jenny. But then she was biased, wasn’t she? She saw Jenny through the eyes of a loving mother. Tom would see her through the eyes of a man looking for the qualities that would make her a good wife and mother to his children. So she would just have to keep her fingers crossed that Tom liked what he saw in Jenny as much as she obviously did in him.
* * *
‘OUCH!’
Jenny laughed. ‘Oh, you baby. Ten-year-old Davie Cotting made less of a fuss when he broke his leg falling off the back of his dad’s lorry last week. He shouldn’t have been larking about on it at the time, but that’s beside the point.’
Tom’s hand was cupped protectively over his nose. ‘Did you have to twist it so hard?’ he moaned.
She wished she knew just what it was about this man that was making her heart race and her legs feel weak. ‘I hardly touched it,’ she admonished him. ‘I had to give it a little wiggle just to check if it was broken or not. I watched Wally Wilson, the manager of the boxing booth, do that to one of our boxers after a battering. If the bone moves, it’s broken. Yours didn’t. Now,’ she warned, ‘it will sting when I put antiseptic on the cut.’
He wished she would hurry up and get this over with so he could make his escape, as he was having great difficulty stopping himself from taking her in his arms and kissing her. He was glad to hear his nose wasn’t broken but not so pleased to hear that more pain was about to come his way. Fearfully eyeing the wad of cotton wool soaked in antiseptic that she was holding between her thumb and forefinger like it was a handful of sharp pins she was about to stab him in the nose with, he steeled himself. ‘You do know what you’re doing, don’t you?’
She feigned insult. ‘Excuse me, but you’re looking at a girl guide who came top in her group in the first-aid badge exam.’
‘Glad to know I’ve only got the best attending to me,’ he quipped.
A few minutes later, she stood back and inspected her handiwork. ‘That’s as good as any professional job, if I say so myself.’ She picked up a bottle of aspirin, unscrewed the top and shook out six tablets, which she handed to him. ‘Take two now to help with the pain, and the others are for later if you need them.’
He took them from her, swallowed two with the help of the glass of water she passed him and put the other four in his pocket. ‘Thank you. I appreciate what you’ve done. It’s beginning to feel much better.’ That was a lie, but he felt sure it would improve once the painkillers started to do their job. With no excuse to linger any longer, he got up from his chair. There was no point in staying anyway now that he knew his feelings for her were futile. ‘I’d best get back to work.’
Jenny groaned inwardly. There hadn’t been any opportunity during their time together to steer the conversation on to social matters in the hope that it would lead to him asking her out. He might be showing no interest in her, but all her instincts were telling her that he liked her, his eyes holding that spark of attraction when they settled on her. Had he not seen the same expression in her eyes? Other men would have chanced their luck by now. Unfortunately for her, Tom obviously wasn’t the forward, conceited type who thought every woman fancied him. But then that only served to make her like him more. Her thoughts tumbled. Whenever she came across him, one or other of them was always with other members of the community, not the ideal situation for him to ask her out on a date. There was no telling how long it would be until another opportunity like this one arose, and she didn’t want to wait any longer to find out what his lips would feel like on hers. Before she could stop herself, she blurted, ‘So what do you get up to in your spare time?’
Tom wasn’t sure where this was leading. ‘Erm… well as you know, we don’t get that much time to ourselves the hours we work. I will get the odd night off now I’m Gully’s assistant, if I’m not needed to help on the rides or the stalls.’
Jenny had never been the one to do the instigating in getting a man to ask her out before, and she couldn’t believe she was doing it now. ‘So what will you do on those odd nights off you’ll get?’
He pursed his lips. ‘Read in my van, perhaps, or have a walk around the fair watching people enjoying themselves. Nothing more exciting than that.’
She inwardly quaked with
nervousness, aware that she was either just about to make a huge fool of herself or hopefully have her wish granted. She took a deep breath, and before she could change her mind, which she knew she’d regret, said, ‘The next time you get a night off, if you want company, let me know and I’ll wangle the night off myself.’ She smiled. ‘Not that I’d ever abuse it, but being the boss’s daughter does have its benefits.’
A shocked look clouded his face – was that horror at the idea of spending time alone with her? Humiliation flooded through her at the thought that she had made an idiot of herself after all, and she snapped tartly, ‘I wasn’t asking you to marry me, just offering my company if you wanted it, but I’d have to be blind not to see that the notion terrifies you. I need to get back to work, and I expect you have better things to be doing too.’
Tom was horrified. ‘Oh… oh no, no,’ he blustered. ‘I don’t think that at all. It’s just that…’ His voice trailed off.
‘Just that what?’ she demanded.
He shuffled his feet uncomfortably. ‘Well… you’re the boss’s daughter and I’m just a casual worker.’
She gawped at him, aghast. ‘You think I’m a snob?’
He scraped an exasperated hand through his hair. He wasn’t expressing himself very well. ‘No, not at all,’ he assured her.
‘Well, what then?’
He hesitated for a moment before he responded. ‘I thought I wasn’t good enough for you.’
‘Well you’ve judged me wrong,’ she snapped. ‘To me it’s the person who matters, not how much money they have.’
Shame filled his face. ‘Maybe I shouldn’t have assumed to know how someone thinks. I am sorry, truly I am.’
Her anger subsided and she smiled. ‘I’ll forgive you this time.’
His face lit up. ‘Does that mean that your offer to accompany me out when I next have a free night still stands?’
Absolutely it did. Tom was different to any man she had met before. There was something special about him that singled him out from the crowd, and she was thrilled that she would get the chance to find out what that was. She was well aware that this relationship couldn’t lead to anything permanent. Tom was a casual worker, and when the end of the season came – if he even stayed that long – he would move on like all the rest of them did. It would be nice to have a boyfriend for the summer, though. But she was getting ahead of herself. He might not want to see her again after the first date, nor she him.
Despite her eagerness for their date to happen, she didn’t want him to know she was keen, so she slowly nodded her head and said matter-of-factly, ‘Yes, why not.’
Despite his nose still throbbing, Tom almost skipped back to his van. Hopefully none of the other gaff lads would fall ill or suddenly up sticks and leave, which often happened for varying reasons, and he’d be free again tomorrow night. He was well aware that a serious relationship with Jenny would never happen. He was only a casual worker and, same as all the rest, he would have to move on at the end of the season. By that time, though, he would really need to be making decisions about his future. Did he extend his travels or return home to the life that awaited him there? But that was all in the future. Right now, he had a date with Jenny to look forward to, and that was what he would concentrate on.
* * *
As soon as Jenny returned to help Ren on her stall, the little woman accosted her. ‘Did you get him to ask you out then?’
Jenny did a double-take. ‘Eh? Get who to ask me out?’
‘Oh, no games, Jenny,’ Ren snapped. ‘You might have been wanting to find out if your mam and dad got their business sorted out, but it was Tom you were more interested in. I saw your eyes light up when you spotted him sitting in the van. I might be lacking in the height department, but there’s nothing wrong with my eyesight. So, what’s happened to make you change your mind about him after seeing Dulcie wallop him at the party?’
‘I bumped into him later that night and found out Dulcie slapped him because he refused to dance with her and it made her look a fool in front of her friends.’ Her eyes glazed dreamily. ‘There’s something about him, Ren… oh, you know what I mean, like you saw in Donny. He’s special, I know he is.’ She sighed forlornly. ‘But then any relationship with him can’t go anywhere, can it, as come the end of the season he’ll move on with the rest of the casuals while we go off to our winter lodgings.’
‘Yeah, well, that’s the downside of falling for a casual, but isn’t it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? Anyway, will you bloody well put me out of my misery and tell me whether he asked you out or not?’
Jenny smiled broadly. ‘It was me that asked him.’
Ren gasped. ‘You didn’t! Oh, you hussy.’
‘Well it was obvious he wasn’t going to make the first move, although I could tell he wanted to. I just thought it was because he was shy and couldn’t pluck up the courage, but I found out it was because he thought he wasn’t good enough for me, me being the boss’s daughter and him just a casual. I soon put him straight on that. Anyway, he’s going to let me know the next time he gets a free night. Hope it’s soon. I can’t wait,’ she said excitedly.
Ren pulled a face. ‘Pity he’s a casual or we could have had a double wedding.’
Jenny almost choked on the jelly baby she had popped in her mouth. ‘God strewth, I’ve not even had a date with the man and you have me married off to him. Well you never know, one day that wedding might happen, but the groom isn’t going to be Tom. Anyway, while Donny is still married to Suzie, marriage for you isn’t even on the cards.’
Ren sighed heavily. ‘Yeah, yer right. Before I go to sleep every night, I pray that she meets someone she wants to marry and gets in touch to ask Donny for a divorce. Eh, and will you stop eating my profits. You’ve eaten at least a pound of jelly babies tonight.’
Jenny scoffed. ‘Hardly. I’ve had three at the most. Make that four,’ she chuckled, popping another in her mouth.
‘Well if you continue stuffing your face with sweets, you’ll be that fat for your date with Tom you’ll not be able to get into any of your clothes and you’ll have to borrow one of Velda’s enormous dresses.’
Jenny burst into hysterical laughter at the thought of Tom’s face if she turned up in one of Velda’s shapeless creations. ‘Point taken.’ Then a thought registered and she exclaimed, ‘Oh, what the hell am I going to wear? You’re going to have to help me decide, Ren. My relationship with Tom might only last a short while, but I still want to make him proud to be with me.’
Ren sighed. It looked like she was in for a marathon styling session tonight as soon as the fair closed. She’d better warn Donny not to expect her home until the early hours.
Chapter Fourteen
The crowd in the gallery were cheering, clapping and stamping their feet in appreciation of the exciting display they had just witnessed. Dicky should have been pleased with this response, but instead, seething anger was raging within him, because the thunderous show of approval wasn’t primarily for him but for Julie. He was the leader of the daredevil riding team and it was his name the crowd should be chanting, not his wife’s. Admittedly Julie had performed several impressive tricks with perfect precision, including a couple that she had only just mastered, but regardless, it was his persistence and bullying of her that had made her reach performance standard, so it should be him receiving all the accolades now. He wouldn’t show his displeasure in public, but he would certainly be doing so to Julie in private as soon as they got back to their van.
Julie should have been elated as she took her bow, waving happily up at the crowd for their appreciation of her performance, but instead she was wishing vehemently that it was her husband they were showing their praise for. He was standing behind her, also waving and bowing at the crowd, but she could sense his inner fury oozing from him and knew that as soon as they were alone he would vent it upon her. She was dreading it.
She was still recovering from the pasting he had given
her a couple of weeks ago. He’d come in in the early hours of the morning, drunk and in a foul mood, dragged her from her bed complaining that she should have waited up for him with food ready, then taken his wrath out on her for her lack of wifely duties, despite the fact that he had told her that he was having a few drinks and a game of cards with several of the booth boxers and not to wait up. The nasty tirade about women in general that had spouted from his mouth as he had carried out his beating had made her come to the conclusion afterwards, as she lay silently weeping in their bed with him snoring in a drunken stupor beside her, that there had never been any card game; only an assignation with a woman that must have gone sour in some way.
She could try and avoid him, go and visit Jenny or Ren on the pretext of having a catch-up and keep out of his way until the next show was due to start, or take a walk to the shops saying that she needed a pair of new nylons or toiletries, but that would only be delaying the inevitable and also giving Dicky more time for his mood to worsen as he brooded over what had come to fuel it in the first place.
The audience had all left to enjoy themselves on other rides and stalls and she was alongside Dicky, wheeling the display motorbikes to the repair van where they would be checked over and refuelled ready for the next show at four o’clock. The other two riders who had accompanied them in the show had already done that and gone off to enjoy their free time. As they dropped the bikes off, Speedy came to the back door of the large van decked out as a workshop, wiping his hands on an oily rag. Smears of grease covered his cheeks and forehead. He smiled at his visitors good-naturedly and addressed Dicky.
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