The Women of Mulberry Lane, page 13
‘We have so much to talk about,’ Peggy said. ‘Able seems to know quite a few things – he knew about Laurie’s illness and about him saving Maureen from the man who attacked her, but we haven’t had a chance to talk about the future. He asked if he could come here and I said yes… and that’s as far as we’ve got.’
‘It’s enough for now,’ Janet said and hugged her mother. ‘I know how I felt when I learned Mike was alive – but you will be luckier, Mum. Able has lost an arm, but he’s well. You can see he has recovered from his wounds. It’s all going to turn out fine…’
‘Yes, he’s just the same as he was…’ Peggy said and felt the silly tears on her face again. ‘Oh, Jan – I’m so lucky…’
‘Yes, you are,’ Janet said and for a moment her face clouded, but then she was smiling again. ‘I’m lucky too. I’ve got Maggie and Ryan – and it makes me feel so much better to know that you will be happy again. I know how wretched you’ve been for a long time. You hide it and carry on, but I knew you were hurting inside.’
Peggy nodded. She looked down at herself and frowned. ‘What do I look like in this old thing? If I’d known he was coming I would have put something decent on…’
Janet was amused. ‘Men never think of things like that, Mum. Not that he noticed. You look much as you always did – and he was looking with the eyes of love.’
Peggy knew she was right. Why would Able care if she had a few more stretch marks and had on an old dress? Peggy had maintained her weight and was much the same size as she had been when they first made love, a few years older but still the same Peggy. Able had been the uncertain one, because of the burn to his face and the loss of his arm, but that made no difference to her.
‘Why don’t you phone the hairdresser and see if they can fit you in for a trim and a shampoo and set?’ Janet asked. ‘I’ll look after the kids here and Anne says she can cope easily in the bar.’
‘I’ll pop along there now and ask,’ Peggy said. ‘If Irene isn’t busy she’ll do it for me…’
‘Go on then,’ Janet encouraged. ‘And I’ve got a new twinset and a skirt you can wear when you get back…’
Peggy giggled, feeling like a young girl going on a date for the first time. It was just the way she’d felt when she had a sexy red dress made for a special occasion that Able had taken her to one night. They hadn’t been lovers then but she’d wanted to and soon after he’d taken them down to the country for a weekend alone. It was probably then that the twins had been conceived.
They’d had so little time together. Peggy knew that she loved the American and believed she always would, but the future was a little daunting. They came from different worlds and somehow they had to make a new one for themselves.
*
Peggy came back from the hairdresser feeling much better. She changed into Janet’s twinset and skirt, which fitted her perfectly. The soft green of the knitwear suited her, setting off the blonde of her hair. Irene had used a friction, which smelled lovely and made her hair shine even more than usual.
‘You look lovely, Mum,’ Janet said and smiled. ‘I changed the sheets on your bed and I’ve given the twins their tea. Anne and I can manage here between us this evening…’
‘You seem to have thought of everything.’
Janet smiled. ‘I just wanted to make things easy for you, Mum.’
Peggy felt nervous all of a sudden and wished she hadn’t made an effort. What would Able think?
She pulled at her skirt, wondering if it was too tight or too short for her, but the shorter skirts were still being worn because of the cloth restrictions, though of late they’d been eased. On the verge of going back upstairs to change into a longer skirt, Peggy heard voices outside the door and then it was opened and Able walked in, accompanied by two of his friends. They were carrying two large suitcases and a huge box of what looked like provisions.
‘Oh, how generous…’ Peggy said a little flustered as one of them winked at her.
‘I can’t do without my coffee, hon,’ Able said. The box was placed on the kitchen table and Able set down the smaller kitbag he was carrying. He turned to his friends with a grin. ‘Pete, Hal – this is my family: Peggy – Janet and the kids are somewhere…’
‘He’s a lucky son of a bitch…’ one of the American servicemen said. ‘Nice to meet you, Peggy. This guy moved heaven and earth – and the military top brass – to get here. Take care of him for us.’ Pete swooped on Peggy and kissed her cheek, and Hal offered his hand.
‘Nice to meet you, ma’am.’
‘Thank you both so much for helpin’ Able – can I get you a drink?’
‘We should be on our way, ma’am, but thank you.’ He grinned at Able. ‘Take care, pardner.’
‘I’m home now,’ Able said. ‘I’ll keep in touch – and thanks. I owe you…’
Hal shook his head. ‘I owe you more. See y’all…’
The two young men went out and silence fell and then Peggy laughed. ‘It’s as if you never went away…’
‘I wish I hadn’t had to,’ Able said. ‘I can’t tell you how good it feels. We might stay here in London, if it’s what you want, or find a pub to run in the country – but I’ll be around whatever you choose.’
‘It’s your choice too,’ Peggy said and then she was in his arms and being soundly kissed when Janet entered.
‘Don’t mind me,’ Janet said and scooped up a dish of salads and a pie Peggy had made earlier. ‘I’ll be in the bar if you need me. I’m just about to open up…’
‘I could help out later, if you like?’ Able said and grinned. ‘I want to earn my keep around here…’
‘It’s enough for me that you’re here.’ Peggy took his hand. ‘We’ll take your cases up, Able. I don’t know where all this stuff is going, but we’ll find somewhere.’
‘I can keep it packed…’ he offered, but Peggy shook her head.
‘Only teasing, there is plenty of room,’ she said and led the way upstairs with a smile.
Her bedroom had been decorated by Tom a couple of years previously and looked fresh and pretty. Peggy wondered what he would think to it, but she needn’t have bothered, his eyes were on her.
‘I can’t believe I’m here with you,’ he said and reached out for her. ‘I’ve kept going on the few memories we had, Peggy – but I want to make lots more. Do you think we could go down to the cottage one day soon?’
‘The same one you took me to before?’
Able nodded. ‘My friend sold it to me for next to nothing. He isn’t coming back to this country and he knew it meant something to me…’
‘So we could live there?’ Peggy felt the excitement leap inside her.
Able nodded, smiling as he saw her pleasure. ‘We could – or we could use it for weekends until you’re ready to retire.’
‘My son and his wife will be here in the morning. Sheila asked if she could bring him here so he could recover at home – and I’m going to ask if they want to run this place. The lease will be up for renewal soon and Laurie won’t be allowed to continue, but Pip and Sheila could take it on. I’d planned on helping them get started…’
‘Then that’s what we’ll do,’ Able said and drew her against him, his arm surrounding her waist as he kissed her softly. ‘It will give us time to look round. If you teach me, Peggy, I can become a barman, and if it’s what you want, then I’m happy to try.’
‘I thought about opening tearooms and a cake shop,’ Peggy said. ‘We might look around in London – or perhaps in the country.’
‘I have some money to invest for our future,’ Able said. ‘There was property left to me in the States, which I sold and put the money over here.’
‘And I still have the money your solicitor gave me…’
‘That was for you to spend as you saw fit, hon.’ Able frowned.
‘I would have done in time,’ Peggy said. ‘I’ve enjoyed being the landlady of the Pig & Whistle and I want to see Sheila and Pip established here – if it suits them – but I think I should like a change. Making cakes is fun and once sugar is off ration again I’ll be able to buy what I need…’ She frowned. ‘I’d like to make Jan a proper wedding cake, but there’s no chance of that…’
‘Let me know what you need and I’ll see what I can scrounge,’ Able said and caressed the back of her neck. ‘Would you like to go out this evening, hon? We could go to a movie or for a meal somewhere up west – make a change for you…’
‘Yes, I’d like to do that,’ Peggy said. ‘We ought to celebrate.’
Peggy laughed and snuggled up to him. She was tingling all over and her body responded to the touch of his mouth and tongue, bringing her alive in a way she had not felt since they were last together.
‘We don’t have to go anywhere…’ she breathed huskily. ‘We could just go to bed…’
‘A great idea,’ Able teased, ‘but I want to take you somewhere nice, hon. We have all night and the rest of our lives to love each other now – and I know you’ve had it hard here. I’m going to do everything I can to make life better – for you and the kids.’
Peggy felt the tears on her cheeks as she snuggled up to him. Able said that he felt he was home and she knew that her home was here, held close to his body and warmed by his love. She felt incredibly lucky to have her man home – a man she’d thought was lost to her. It was like a dream or a miracle. She breathed in his scent, hardly able to believe that it was true.
How did Peggy Ashley get to have all her dreams come true?
10
Peggy felt as if everything in her world had changed. Since Able’s return, she’d been walking about in a daze of happiness. Even Pip’s look of unhappiness when he arrived the next day hadn’t dulled her pleasure in seeing her lover in her bed and in her home.
Able had made himself at home immediately. After their evening at a lovely restaurant, they’d returned to the pub and made love, before sleeping wrapped in each other’s arms. Peggy had discovered that her memories were pale shades of the reality and she’d felt young and happy again as she slept nestled against him.
In the morning she went down to find Able in the kitchen. He’d already banked up the fire and he and Nellie were sitting drinking coffee together. Able turned and grinned at her.
‘I’ve made a convert,’ he said and winked. ‘My pal Nellie here says she likes coffee better than tea…’
‘Go on with yer, yer daft lump,’ Nellie said and cackled with laughter, showing that she approved both of Able and his teasing. ‘I said it made a nice change. It’s a nice change havin’ a man about the place – ain’t it, gal?’ She made a knowing face at Peggy, her saucy side showing.
Peggy smiled and asked if he wanted something to eat. He asked for pancakes and blueberry jam, laughing as he saw Peggy’s dismayed expression.
‘I brought the mixture yesterday, hon. I’ll show you how to make it…’
‘A man who can cook!’ Nellie exclaimed and Peggy arched her fine brows.
‘I’ve yet to see it…’ Peggy said, teasing him, but she watched as he took the ingredients from the pantry, where she’d unloaded his box and whisked up a thin batter, clasping the bowl with the stump of his injured arm, which had been removed just below the elbow. He heated the fat in a pan and then poured in the batter, actually managing to toss his pancake one-handed, which brought a look of admiration from Nellie and a laugh from Peggy, who always turned hers with a wooden tool, because she’d had unfortunate accidents trying to toss them. ‘Clever – I’ll make a chef of you yet…’
‘We’ll make a good team at our diner…’ he said and grinned as they both stared. ‘You’d call it a café – but we call it a diner.’
‘That would go down well round here,’ Nellie said. ‘Folk are ready for some changes and the young ones like American things – pictures, dances, clothes, music. I can’t see why they wouldn’t like American pancakes as well.’
Able served the first on a plate, spread it thickly with his preserve and rolled it before presenting it to Nellie with a flourish. She didn’t need twice asking and bit into it, rolling her eyes in pleasure as she tasted it.
‘That’s lovely,’ she said and swallowed her first bite. ‘You should open your tea shop and let Able include some of these, Peggy.’
‘There are many variations once we can buy the ingredients over here,’ he told her, looking pleased. ‘I know you folks have had it harder over here than we did back in the States. It will be a while before we can get enough of our food sent in – but that’s something I have in mind. Once Hitler has been kicked hard enough in his ass, I hope to import foods from back home. It’s time you Brits had a taste of good old American cornbread and peanut butter…’
‘I’ve had that before, peanut butter,’ Peggy said. She’d copied Able and made a small pile of the pancakes from the mixture he’d prepared. ‘I think it is a wonderful idea…’
‘It’s a pity the old bakery has gone,’ Nellie said. ‘That would have been just right for you, Peggy…’
Peggy nodded and smiled, but she’d thought privately that Able’s ideas might go down better in a less deprived area of town.
Able’s arrival seemed to make life easier all round. Peggy still did most of her work as usual, but he was there, helping where he could with a smile and a kiss on the back of her neck when she stood at the sink. Somehow, that just made her want to sing and smile all the time.
She’d been anxious about Pip’s reaction when he discovered that Able had moved in, but he just nodded and offered his hand. They clasped hands, both hampered by wounds, clearly respectful of one another and seemingly on equal terms.
‘I’m glad you’re back,’ Pip said and sounded as if he meant it. ‘It’s time Mum had some happiness…’
He was wearing a patch over his left eye and Peggy noticed that he turned his head every time someone spoke to him, hampered by the loss of sight in his eye. He sat at the table and drank coffee and ate cake, but then he asked to go up and he stayed in his room for several hours.
Sheila came down once he’d settled. ‘Pip is resting,’ she said. ‘He gets tired easily, but thankfully he’s not in as much pain as he was.’
‘I know how the poor guy feels,’ Able said. ‘I broke a leg when my plane ditched in the sea years ago. I was temporarily blinded too – and out of my head for a long time, that’s why I couldn’t let you know for a long time, Peggy. When I came out of it at last, I was too weak to bother about much. Pip will feel like that for a while – but don’t give up on his sight. Mine came back gradually, but it was the doctors in America who did me the most good – I could ask an eye surgeon I know over here to take a look one day.’
‘You’re very kind,’ Sheila said. ‘Pip has been told he may recover partial sight in that eye – but it will never be good enough to fly again, not as a pilot, and that’s all he ever wanted to do.’
‘Has he said what he would like to do now?’ Peggy asked and Sheila shook her head.
‘He just says he’s tired if I try to talk about the future,’ she replied. ‘It’s why I asked if we could come here. I could help out in the bar – and maybe he will when he feels better.’
‘It’s too soon for Pip to think of doing anything,’ Able said and looked sympathetic. ‘He just needs to rest – but he’ll be all right with his mother. We’ll all look after him.’
‘Jan went in to him just now,’ Sheila said. ‘She might get through to him, because she is his sister and I know he thinks the world of her.’
‘He loves you, Sheila,’ Peggy said, ‘and he will love his child when it’s born – but for the moment he can’t think about the future, because it isn’t what he’d hoped.’
‘He should be glad he’s alive!’ Sheila sounded angry, but then she bowed her head and the tears came. Her shoulders shook and Peggy got up to put her arm about her, stroking her hair as she let her grief pour out. ‘He should think of us…’
‘I know – and he will soon,’ Peggy promised. ‘Pip has always been single-minded and stubborn, Sheila. You’ve only seen the brave pilot, but I remember what he was like with the measles and when he insisted on riding the bike his dad got him to school. It was too big and he fell off so many times I thought he would break his neck, but in the end he mastered it. Pip is still my little boy, despite all the missions he flew, and I know him. Just give him a little more time.’
‘It’s time he needs,’ Able agreed. ‘It took me a while to face up to losing my arm. I was afraid to tell Peggy – but I should’ve known she wouldn’t chuck me out. You won’t let Pip down, but in his mind that’s what he fears – rejection.’
Sheila stared at him. ‘He couldn’t think that… just because he can’t fly?’
‘He expected to have a good job after the war and give his family a better life – now he feels he’s worthless…’ Able told her seriously.
Sheila shook her head, but she looked thoughtful. She took Peggy’s handkerchief and wiped her face. ‘He must know I don’t care about all that…’
Peggy smiled at her as she tried to give the hanky back. ‘Keep it, love. Pip knows it deep down, but Able is right. Everyone has their own doubts and fears. I worried about stretch marks…’ Her eyes met Able’s in shared joy as she remembered the way he’d kissed each one and told her they made her more beautiful. ‘If Pip worries about his sight, you just have to be patient and help him through it…’
‘I am trying,’ Sheila sighed. ‘Why couldn’t he want an ordinary job like being a barman? My father would give him a job…’
‘I can do better than that,’ Peggy said. ‘I can apply for the licence here in your names. You two could run the place when Able and I move elsewhere.’
‘You’re moving?’ Sheila was shocked.
‘Not right off; we’ll help you two get going,’ Peggy said. ‘I think we’ll find a restaurant or shop with a little café to run somewhere – it might be elsewhere in London or in the country. We haven’t decided yet.’
