Nobody’s Darling

by Nobody’s Darling (retail) (epub)

  ‘Whatever it costs, she must continue to have the very best attention,’ he asserted.

  The doctor nodded in his official manner. ‘Apparently, there’s no problem in that direction. I understand it’s all taken care of. The young lady herself has given instructions with regard to funds.’ He patted Johnny on the shoulder as he saw him out of the office. ‘You’re a very lucky man. Ruby will make a glorious Easter bride.’

  Johnny made a wry expression. ‘That’s if she’ll have me.’

  ‘What? You mean you haven’t asked yet? Well, from what I’ve seen of the way her eyes light up when she sees you coming down the ward, you’ve no need to worry.’ He had only been married himself these past few weeks, and he fully understood what Johnny was going through.

  Johnny wasn’t so certain. ‘You don’t know her,’ he said. ‘Besides being beautiful and courageous, Ruby is also headstrong and fiercely independent. I’ve lost count of the times before when I’ve asked her to wed me,’ he confessed. But with a heart as big and strong as an ox’s, and the determination not to take no for an answer this time, Johnny left the doctor’s office and made his way towards the ward.

  Ruby saw him coming. She had been watching the clock for over an hour. Now at last he was here, and oh, he looked so handsome in his new white shirt and dark blue tie, with his long legs clad in brown cords and his dark jacket slung casually over his shoulder. ‘There you are, miss,’ chirped the little Irish nurse, ‘I said he’d be on his way, didn’t I now? And there was yourself thinking he’d forgotten all about visiting.’

  She tutted, playfully digging Ruby in the shoulder. ‘Oh, it’ll be all kissing and cooing, that it will,’ she teased, hurrying away when Johnny drew closer. As she went by, she had a naughty thought. ‘Sure I wouldn’t mind a fella like that meself,’ she muttered. ‘By! He’s a long-legged, strong-looking bloke.’ In fact, as she looked back and Johnny glanced up, she gave him a cheeky wink. But he had eyes only for Ruby. ‘Behave yerself, Bridie girl,’ she chided. ‘Like all the best ones, he’s already spoken for.’

  ‘How are you feeling?’ Johnny thought Ruby had never looked more beautiful. Her short-cropped dark hair was a perfect frame for that delightful face. Tonight, her eyes shone as though a light was switched on inside. Like a raven’s wing, they were neither blue nor black, but speckled with a midnight sheen that took his breath away.

  ‘Don’t I get a kiss then?’ she asked teasingly.

  Her unexpected words took him aback and he blushed to the roots of his hair. ‘Why! You brazen hussy!’ he laughed, placing the bunch of chrysanthemums on the bedside locker. Leaning over he slid his hand behind her neck and brought his mouth down on hers. Her lips were soft, deliciously warm and inviting. One minute he sensed her need of him, and the next she was sitting back, leaning against the pillow and smiling coyly at him. He was wonderfully astonished. She never failed to take him by surprise.

  ‘Have you been to see the doctor?’ She knew he had, because she knew him.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘What did he say?’

  ‘First, I want you to tell me how you are.’

  ‘Hmh! You always were a bully, Johnny Ackroyd.’ She wanted to tell him so much. She wanted him to know how badly she had missed him since his last visit. Days and nights she had thought and thought about him, about her family and her life. For the first time in a very long while she felt at peace with herself. At long last she had given in to her love for Johnny; a deep abiding love which had crept up and overwhelmed her.

  Ruby wanted to tell him all of these things, and oh so very much more. But she didn’t know whether he would ever forgive her for the way she had so foolishly rejected him; not once but time and again. She still wasn’t certain that he wanted her as much as he did before. And even if he did, and though she had all the words off pat, she still didn’t have the courage actually to speak them. In all her life Ruby Miller had never been afraid of failure. And, the one time when it meant so much to her to succeed, her courage deserted her. ‘I’m fine,’ she answered, cursing herself for her cowardice. ‘See for yourself.’ She sat up straight and swung her legs out of the bed. She stretched out her left leg and made an effort to reach high with her left arm, but it wouldn’t go all the way and she groaned with frustration. ‘Still, I can move my limbs with greater ease now,’ she told him, ‘and there’s very little pain.’

  In that moment she had mustered enough bravado to tell him what was in her heart. But just then the little Irish nurse came hurrying down the ward. ‘Shame on yer!’ she called, gently taking Ruby’s ankles one in each hand and tucking her legs back under the bedcovers. ‘What will folk think of yer… showing yer legs to all and sundry?’

  Johnny smiled. ‘Nice legs though, don’t you think?’ he said with a cheeky grin.

  She couldn’t help but agree as she went about her duties. ‘Yer as bad as each other, sure yer are,’ she chuckled.

  ‘You can see for yourself that I’m doing very well. I have these exercises every day and they’re doing what they’re supposed to do,’ Ruby explained. ‘Now it’s your turn. What did the doctor tell you just now?’

  ‘More or less what you’re telling me, except that you’ll need to come in for exercises after you’re discharged from here.’ It was obvious that Ruby was working hard towards a complete recovery. But then she was not the sort to feel sorry for herself. ‘Are you in much pain, Ruby?’ He guessed she wouldn’t tell him the whole truth.

  ‘Some,’ she admitted. ‘But it’s getting less and less.’

  ‘Ruby?’ His heart was beating so hard he feared it would leap straight out of his chest. ‘There’s something I want to ask you.’ He had the wonderful news the doctor had just given him about her coming home soon. But there was another excitement in him, and that wouldn’t wait any longer.

  ‘Oh?’ For one fleeting wonderful moment she wondered but she dared not believe. ‘What is it?’ She made her voice sound casual, even though her every nerve end was tingling with anticipation.

  His mind was running ahead. ‘Marry me,’ it cried. ‘Marry me.’ But only he could hear it. His mouth formed the words. They played on his lips and took his breath away. Unable to contain them any longer he blurted them out. ‘I know I said I may never ask you again, but I must. I want you to walk down the aisle with me. Be my wife. Oh, Ruby… say you will?’ If she refused him now, he would walk away and never ask again.

  Slowly, she brought her two hands up to his face, and with the gentlest of touches bent his head towards her. He was astonished to see the tears tumble down her long lashes. ‘Don’t you know how much I love you?’ she whispered. ‘Marry you?’ She shook her head. ‘Oh, sweetheart. Nothing in the world would make me happier.’

  Ruby had thought she would never say those words. But she had been to a place where everything was crystal clear. After her terrifying experience, she had suffered more than physical pain. Lying here in this lonely infirmary, she had plenty of time to put things into perspective. When she feared she was about to die, there was only one regret that burned through her soul: the knowledge that she had lost everyone she had ever loved. Thanks to the good Lord, she had been given another chance. And this time, she would not waste it on empty values. ‘I love you, Johnny,’ she murmured, and the love inside lit up her face.

  At first he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. When he realised that at long last she would be his wife, he let out a great whoop of joy. Spinning round, he yelled to the watching patients and their amused visitors, ‘DID YOU HEAR THAT? WE’RE GETTING WED!’ A great cheer went up, and through it all Ruby was laughing and crying. There was bedlam from one end of the ward to the other until Sister Macarthy marched through the door and put an end to it.

  * * *

  Ruby had made Johnny promise to keep the wonderful news to himself until today. It was Friday, and he had brought her home from the infirmary in the carriage. ‘It’s so good to be back,’ she said, coming into the parlour with her arm lin
ked in Johnny’s. Seated round the cheery fire were all those she knew and loved; the childer, old Thomas puffing at his pipe, Maureen and her mam, Cicely and Lizzie. It was good to see them all here.

  Lizzie ran to greet her. ‘Oh, lass, welcome home, bless yer heart. Welcome home.’ Suddenly everyone was crowding round and she was hugged from all sides. Through it all, Johnny kept a firm hold on her.

  Ruby hugged them back and then was seated in a chair. With her lovely eyes shining, she broke the news. ‘Johnny and I are getting wed.’ There was instant uproar. Cicely ran and embraced her again, Maureen cried into her hankie, and the childer started fighting amongst themselves.

  Lizzie cried buckets. ‘Come here, me darling lass,’ she laughed, covering her daughter in kisses. ‘And to think I were afraid you’d never be nobody’s darling.’

  Ruby had an answer to that. Leaning into Johnny’s strong arms, she gazed round the room at all those lovely people. ‘How could you think that, Mam?’ she asked softly. ‘While I have all of you, and my man,’ she looked up into his face with adoring eyes, ‘I’ll always be somebody’s darling.’

  Lizzie started crying all over again. Dipping her hand into her pinnie pocket, she took out her big brown purse. ‘Lenny, go to the pub on the corner and fetch a jug o’ summat good,’ she told him, crushing a handful of coins into his hand. ‘Tell the landlord we’ve got a double celebration here tonight.’

  She sniffed and sobbed and wiped her nose on the end of her pinnie, and with the love of a mother she gazed at all her childer, then at Johnny and Ruby, so close and so much in love. ‘Our Ruby’s home,’ she said in a broken voice, ‘and there’s to be a wedding.’ She raised both her arms in the air and did a little jig on the spot. ‘You tell the landlord,’ she ordered through everyone’s laughter. ‘Tell him there’s to be a wedding atween Ted Miller’s gal and our Johnny here!’ It was her dream come true, and she wanted everyone to share in it.

  Chapter Twenty

  Easter Saturday was a glorious day. Ruby looked delightful in a straight dress with scalloped hem and sweetheart neckline. Her unruly brown hair was held secure by a pretty band of rosebuds and blue silk ribbon. Johnny walked tall beside her, a proud good-looking fellow who had all he wanted out of life.

  Maureen and Cicely were maids of honour; Maureen wore a cornflower blue gown that draped over her wheelchair and made it look like a splendid carriage, and Cicely paired up with a matching gown that swept the ground as she walked.

  The reception was upstairs at the Rose and Crown where Ted used to drink with his pals. All in all, it was a wonderful affair, and everyone said so.

  When they had a moment alone, Ruby and Maureen talked about all the things that were closest to their hearts. ‘I never really thought you would sell the milliner’s, Ruby,’ Maureen told her. ‘I’m very glad you did, but you worked so hard for it, I never thought you would let go.’

  Ruby told her something then. A secret she had not told anyone else. ‘I fell out of love with it.’

  ‘But I thought it was all you ever wanted… a business of your own?’

  ‘So did I,’ Ruby admitted. ‘But sometimes we can be wrong. Sometimes the stars in our eyes blind us to the love in our hearts.’

  ‘You don’t regret it then?’

  ‘No. I don’t regret it. Luke’s estate will sell the business to Gabriel’s just as he planned. But, thanks to his father, I’ve been fairly compensated and now I don’t owe anyone a penny. In fact, there’s even a little money left over in the bank.’

  She lapsed deep into thought before saying softly, ‘I’ll never know whether, if things had turned out differently, I might have fought tooth and nail to keep the business going. To be honest, Maureen, Johnny said something very wise to me when he came to Derwent Street. He asked me where my family and loved ones were. He made me realise just how empty my life had become.’

  Maureen squeezed her hand. ‘I’m glad you’ve come back to us, Ruby.’ She saw a certain glint in her eye then, and it made her ask, ‘Have you really done with ambition and all that?’

  Ruby thought for a moment before saying wickedly, ‘Who knows? When Johnny and I have raised our family and the world begins to open up to us, who knows?’ She bent forward and whispered into her friend’s ear, ‘But I’ll tell you this. Whatever I do in the future, it won’t be on borrowed money. More importantly, it will be with Johnny by my side and my family around me. Or it won’t be worth doing. I’ve learned that much.’

  Johnny came to her then. ‘All right, sweetheart?’ he asked, bending to kiss her.

  Ruby pressed her face to his. ‘We’re so lucky,’ she said. ‘We have each other, and we have our families.’ The two of them gazed across the room to where Lizzie and Johnny’s mam were looking so proud and pleased with themselves. ‘Oh, Ruby Miller, I do love you,’ he murmured.

  ‘And I love you,’ she whispered, reaching up to put her arms round his neck. She thought about all those wasted years when she had fought against that love. And she knew that in the years to come she would treasure their every moment together.

  Suddenly, Lizzie’s voice sailed through the room. ‘Would yer look at that!’ she called, pointing to where Lottie was stuffing a cake into her mouth. ‘Anybody’d think the little bugger were half starved!’ The room echoed with laughter. Ruby felt her hand in Johnny’s, and her heart soared with joy. For a while she had been lost, but now she was home again. It was a wonderful feeling.

  First published in Great Britain in 1993 by Headline Book Publishing PLC

  This edition published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by

  Canelo Digital Publishing Limited

  57 Shepherds Lane

  Beaconsfield, Bucks HP9 2DU

  United Kingdom

  Copyright © Josephine Cox, 1993

  The moral right of Josephine Cox to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  ISBN 9781788632997

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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