Love and Marriage at Harpers, page 12
She was such an idiot!
It was a horrid tangle and Sally didn’t know what to do or say for the best. She couldn’t know why Ben Harper had come looking for her or if he’d watched her arrive home with Mick. Besides, he’d left her without a word for months and couldn’t complain if she went out with other friends – and despite the kiss, that was all Mick was to her, a good friend.
Deciding that she couldn’t solve the puzzle, Sally made two mugs of cocoa and took them back to the room she shared with Beth. Beth was already undressed and in her own bed. Putting the mugs on the little cabinet between the two beds, Sally got into her own and sipped the milky drink.
‘Men are a pain, aren’t they?’ she said and Beth laughed.
‘Yes, they can be,’ she replied. ‘When they’re lovely you would do anything for them and when they’re not…’
‘You could shake them…’ Sally laughed. She had made up her mind there was nothing she could do. If Ben had something to say to her, it was up to him.
Ben Harper didn’t come into the office the next morning. Sally asked the secretary to type up the notes she’d made the previous day and put them into a file, which she placed on the desk for Ben when he arrived. She had several appointments with representatives and would be out most of the day.
It was tiring going from one firm to another and she’d had enough by the time she got back to the office at four thirty. Miss Summers came through and asked if she would like a tray of tea.
‘Yes, please,’ Sally said. ‘I ate a Chelsea bun in a taxi and that’s all I’ve had time for today.’
‘Mr Harper was looking for you earlier,’ Miss Summers remarked. ‘He came in twice and asked where you were. I told him you had appointments and he looked annoyed and went off again.’
‘Oh dear!’ Sally grimaced. She’d not thought to tell him that she had appointments all day and wondered if she would be in his black books again when he got back.
Sally had written up all her notes for the day and was just preparing to leave for the evening when Ben Harper entered the office. He shot a look of annoyance her way.
‘So you’re back at last then…’
‘I’ve been back an hour or so and I’ve written my notes up for Miss Summers to type for your files. I’ve seen two autumn/winter collections today and I spent a long time looking at leather bags for the autumn collection. It all takes time if you do it properly. I haven’t been sitting around drinking tea…’
‘I didn’t doubt you were doing your job,’ he said, and looked at her oddly. ‘We seem to be off on the wrong foot since I got back, Sally. Can we start again please?’
‘Yes, of course,’ she replied. ‘If I’ve done something to offend you, please tell me, Mr Harper.’
‘It’s Ben to you and you know it,’ he said. ‘I’ve been like a bear with a sore head and I’m sorry, Sally. I know you’ve done one hell of a good job here and I’m grateful.’
‘I’m glad you’re happy with my work,’ she replied and then gave a little sigh. ‘I don’t want to fall out with you, Mr— Ben. I just wish I knew what I’d done wrong.’
‘You haven’t done anything,’ he admitted wryly. ‘I’m the fool – so I’m saying sorry. I want us to be friends again.’
‘Yes, all right,’ she said. ‘We’re friends and colleagues. I’ve made notes of what I’ve bought for autumn and what I saw and didn’t buy… you can read my writing or wait until Miss Summers types it for you…’
‘Why don’t you let me take you for supper and tell me?’
Sally hesitated and then shook her head. ‘I think we should keep our friendship to working hours, Ben. I’ll have a cup of coffee with you if you wish but not a meal…’
‘As you wish…’ He moved away from her and the frown was back. ‘I shan’t take up any more of your time, Sally. You’ve had a busy day – get off home or wherever you’re going…’
‘I’m going home to supper and I’ll spend the evening talking to Beth and Rachel,’ Sally said. ‘I have a lot of friends… Goodnight, Mr Harper…’
She went out before he could think of an answer. Sally wanted to go back in there and tell him that she would love to have supper with him, but it couldn’t go on this way. He seemed so approachable one moment and the next he was frozen and angry. He should decide what he wanted their relationship to be and stick to it…
It took every ounce of strength she had to walk away but Sally wasn’t going to let him break her heart all over again…
16
Maggie went with Beth, Jack and Fred to the park that Sunday afternoon. She and Beth had packed sandwiches and buns and they enjoyed a picnic before listening to the concert. It was after the brass band had packed up and they were deciding where to have their tea when Fred’s younger son, Tim, turned up. He was wearing his Royal Flying Corps uniform and looking very pleased with himself.
‘You do look smart,’ Maggie said and smiled. The sun had come out and it was feeling a little more like spring and he looked so happy that it made her feel better too. She’d wondered whether Ralf would arrive during the concert as he’d said he might one day on the off-chance they would be there, but he hadn’t and she wasn’t sure whether to be glad or sorry.
‘Am I in time to come to tea with you?’ Tim asked. ‘I thought I might have got here sooner, but we had some new kites delivered to our base and I had to be there, even though I was officially off-duty…’
‘I’m sure you can come.’ Maggie smiled. The decision was made to visit the small tea shop at the corner of the park and they all walked there together. ‘Are you enjoying being a member of the Royal Flying Corps?’ she asked.
‘Love it,’ he replied. ‘I’ve already been up for five hours’ training, a few more and I’ll get a chance for my first solo flight…’
‘That’s wonderful,’ Maggie said and slipped an arm through his, giving him a companionable smile, because she’d got to know him from the numerous weekends he’d spent with them when his girlfriend, Dottie, had been with him. ‘Tell me what it feels like to be up there above the clouds. Is it as exciting as it sounds?’
‘The most exciting thing I’ve ever done…’
‘I’m not surprised that a lot of young men are joining up,’ she replied. ‘Not all of them will get to be pilots, I suppose?’
‘We need navigators and gunners and ground crew…’ Tim said enthusiastically. ‘We do low flying and take aerial photographs and that is really fun…’
‘I wish I was a man and then I could join too…’
Tim laughed and shook his head. ‘You’re much too pretty for me to agree, Miss Gibbs. I would rather you were a young lady I could take to tea sometimes…’
Maggie smiled up at him, because his enthusiasm was catching. She liked this man who seemed to take pleasure in most things. Before this she hadn’t taken too much notice of Fred’s son, because he’d always had his girlfriend with him, but she knew from Beth that he had broken up with her and that meant Maggie could be friends with him without upsetting another young woman.
‘I think you’re very kind,’ she said, a faint blush in her cheeks.
‘Dad told me you broke up with your boyfriend,’ Tim said. ‘Dottie got fed up with me, so I’m at a bit of a loose end – I know it’s too soon to get involved in another relationship, but we can be friends, can’t we?’ He grinned. ‘I had a bet on Covercoat in the Grand National a couple of weeks back and won fifty pounds – so I’ll treat everyone today.’
‘Lucky you,’ Maggie said. ‘Fifty pounds is a lot of money – but you don’t have to treat us all.’
‘I’d like to – and we can be friends, can’t we?’
‘Yes, of course we can,’ Maggie said as they followed the others into the teashop. ‘I should like that – and I know you, so there is no impropriety…’
Tim grinned at her. ‘We’re practically old friends,’ he teased and in a way it was true because they’d been meeting in company with Beth and his father and brother for a long time now, but always with others around. Yet Maggie felt easy with him. It wasn’t like starting a new relationship, because they’d got used to each other over several weekends the previous summer.
‘Tell me,’ she said. ‘Some people are saying there may be war in Europe – you don’t think so, do you?’
‘Oh, I shouldn’t think so, not to involve us, though that lot out there in the Balkans are always having a go at each other,’ Tim said airily, though his eyes didn’t meet hers at that moment.
‘I’ve got an appointment at the Halcyon Hotel in the morning,’ Jack said as he and Beth walked a little ahead of the others in the park that afternoon. ‘If they offer me the job, I’ll have one more trip to America and then I’ll be here for good…’
His eyes sought hers. ‘It means we could marry quite soon. I can probably find us a little place of our own, but we can always stay at Dad’s for a while…’
‘Do you think you’ll be happy working for someone else in this hotel?’ Beth asked, looking at him doubtfully. ‘I thought you’d set your mind on a place of your own?’
‘Well, I have, and if something had turned up, I would have taken it,’ Jack replied. ‘But this would be good experience for me, Beth. If I have a couple of years managing this hotel for the owners I’ll be ready to take on my own and I can look round at my leisure and make certain I get the right one for us…’
It did make sense and Beth could only agree, though it brought the prospect of marriage alarmingly close. She loved Jack and she did want to marry him, but he seemed in such a rush and Beth would have preferred a longer courtship. In her mind, she’d thought probably Christmas or the following spring, but Jack was talking of this summer and it seemed all too quick. Marriage and babies was definitely the future, but she was enjoying her life at Harper’s – at least most of the time. Her promotion to the hat counter had given her more scope to use her creative flair and seeing all the new creations that Sally bought was exciting. Beth wasn’t sure she wanted to give all that up just yet. Had they had a small hotel of their own to run, so that she’d be involved in the business with Jack, it would have felt more exciting. She could have cooked pies and cakes, made it well known for good home-made food.
She smiled at Jack, not wanting him to sense that she had doubts. Losing him was something Beth wasn’t prepared to risk, but she would have been happier if he’d stuck to his original plan…
‘Well, if you’re happy with the idea,’ she said and he kissed her enthusiastically. Beth responded to the kiss, feeling a surge of love. Of course she wanted to marry him and perhaps he was right and it was better to get some experience of running a hotel before they took on their own…
‘Tim asked me if I would like to go to the Music Hall with him on Saturday evening,’ Maggie told Beth later that evening when they were making cocoa in the small kitchen they all shared. ‘You don’t think it was wrong of me to say yes?’
‘Why should it be?’ Beth asked with a smile. ‘Tim is Fred’s son, perfectly respectable, and we’re all friends. I know you believed you were in love with Ralf, but he let you down, Maggie. Unless you want to give him another chance, there is no reason you shouldn’t go out with other friends.’
‘That’s what I thought,’ Maggie smiled, happy with Beth’s answer. ‘Neither Tim nor I want a deeper relationship at the moment, but we get on, and we’d like to go out now and then. I know Ralf would hate it if he knew – but I don’t belong to him…’
‘You’re still not eighteen,’ Beth told her with a smile. ‘There’s no reason you shouldn’t make friends with several young men before you decide to marry. You should make the most of the situation, Maggie. Living with Rachel, Sally and me, you have more freedom than I did when I was looking after my mother.’
Maggie nodded. ‘It was a lucky day for me when I got the job at Harper’s. I should never have known you or Sally or Rachel if I hadn’t come to the interview that day…’
‘I like living with you all too…’
‘But Jack wants to marry you. You’re in love – aren’t you?’
‘Yes, I do love him…’ Beth kept her sigh inside. Perhaps most women had doubts before they married. ‘I do want to get married and have you and Sally as my bridesmaids…’
‘I can’t wait to be your bridesmaid,’ Maggie said. ‘Will you be choosing the dresses soon? I can help pay for it if it isn’t too expensive…’
‘Sally said she would keep an eye out for me,’ Beth said. ‘She says I may be able to get them cheaper straight from the wholesaler and she can arrange that – but I could have them made.’
‘Your aunt might do it,’ Maggie agreed. ‘She makes lovely clothes, Beth. Why don’t you ask her?’
‘I suppose I could,’ Beth said doubtfully. ‘I’m not sure whether her husband would like that very much. I might pop over on my half day and ask her…’ She ought to go soon anyway, because her aunt had been upset the last time and Beth was uneasy about her.
‘Have you set a date for the wedding?’ Maggie asked, looking excited.
‘Not yet. It depends on whether Jack gets the job he’s after – and then we’ll have to find somewhere to live – but we both know we shall marry soon. I think perhaps in the summer. July or August…’
‘That isn’t so far off now,’ Maggie said. ‘Specially if you’re going to have the dresses made for us all…’
Beth agreed, because May was well advanced now and two months wasn’t long to make three bridesmaids’ dresses and one wedding gown. Of course, if Sally arranged for her to get a discount at a bridal gown wholesaler, Beth could choose what she needed and save the bother of finding a seamstress to make them. Once upon a time, she would have asked Aunt Helen without hesitation, but remembering her aunt’s unhappiness, she was reluctant to make more bother for her.
However, if she visited to warn Aunt Helen that she was thinking of marrying quite soon, Beth might be able to judge whether or not her aunt was suffering from her husband’s unkindness. If only she could do something to help! If she could persuade her to walk out on her bully of a husband – yet Aunt Helen was not the kind of woman to admit publicly that she’d made a mistake and leave him; she would consider it her duty to stand by him, however badly he treated her.
‘You’re right. I’ve got the afternoon off on Tuesday this week. I’ll pop over and see her and ask whether or not she could make the dresses for us…’
17
Gerald opened the door to Beth’s knock that afternoon. He looked annoyed, but then smiled in a false way and she knew that she wasn’t welcome, though he opened the door wider and invited her inside. However, they progressed no further than the hall, which smelled of roses and lavender from the pot pourri Aunt Helen always had in the hallway.
‘I’m afraid you’ve had a wasted journey,’ Gerald said but didn’t smile or look apologetic. ‘Had you sent a letter letting us know you were coming, I could have informed you Helen wouldn’t be here…’
‘Not here?’ Beth felt coldness at her nape. ‘Where has she gone?’
‘She went to visit an old friend three days ago. I expect her back the day after tomorrow…’
‘Oh – who has she gone to see?’ Beth didn’t know why she pushed him, but something told her he was lying.
‘A woman called Muriel. She is in some distress because her grandson just died,’ Gerald said, but he didn’t look at Beth and she knew he had made the story up. Wherever her aunt was, she hadn’t gone to see a lady called Muriel.
‘In that case, I’ll try to get here next week. My half day will be on Thursday next week.’
‘Very well, I’ll tell her you called,’ Gerald said. He held the door for her and she had the feeling he couldn’t wait to get rid of her. As Beth was leaving, she thought she heard a sound from above… like a floorboard or a door creaking and she instinctively glanced at the ceiling. ‘It’s the cat…’ Gerald’s excuse startled Beth, because she could have sworn that her aunt had never mentioned having a cat.
‘I’ll be back next week…’
Outside, in the cool breeze, Beth looked at the upstairs window. It was the landing window and she could have sworn that the curtain twitched – as if someone was up there, watching…
Surely that couldn’t be her aunt? Aunt Helen would have come down when she heard Beth’s voice. She would never have let Gerald deny her – unless he had threatened her with violence? Surely things hadn’t got that bad between them?
Beth turned away reluctantly. She was uneasy, unwilling to walk away and leave without getting to the bottom of the little mystery. However, short of calling her aunt’s husband a liar, Beth had no reason to demand access and she didn’t want to cause a fuss for nothing. Perhaps Gerald had a cat, though he didn’t strike her as the sort to have any pets. He was too cold, too selfish to give an animal the attention and love it needed. Besides, her aunt didn’t like cats much and it was a surprise they had one…
Walking away, Beth decided to ask Jack to come with her next time. He was going back to sea for two weeks, and if he got the job he was after, that would be his last trip to New York. After that, he would be working nearby and that meant she could see him more often. If she told Jack her suspicions, he would help her to discover the truth.
The letter from her aunt arrived that Friday morning. Aunt Helen apologised for not being at home when she’d called.
It would be better if you could write a week before you come in future. I do like to see you, Beth, but only if I know you’re coming. Gerald doesn’t like surprise visits and it is better to let me know well in advance.
Your grateful aunt, Helen.
