‘Well, I doubt he is the sort to sit about and do nothing,’ Beattie replied with a smile. ‘He can prescribe medicine sitting in a chair, can’t he?’
‘He could – but it wouldn’t be easy to examine a patient.’
‘Well, he’d need a nurse for that,’ Beattie said and smiled. ‘And that’s easy enough – Rose is going in part-time to the infirmary now so she could help him.’
‘Perhaps …’ Ted put an arm about his wife as she locked the back door of her old home after them. ‘We’d best get back and see what the boys have been up to, love. I know they’re old enough to look after themselves for an hour or two but I still worry.’
‘They’ll be fine – and Danny is busy making cakes for when Marjorie comes to tea.’
Ted had been to see Marjorie’s parents after they were married and explained that he and Beattie had adopted Danny. Combined with her grandmother Ethel’s pleas for her daughter to let Marjorie visit her friend, they had at last given in and Mrs Lacey was bringing her daughter to tea that afternoon.
‘Yes, no doubt he’ll be busy, and Ron is making something he won’t show me.’ Ted frowned. ‘I can’t imagine why.’
‘Because it’s a special present for your Christmas gift,’ Beattie said. ‘Don’t tell him I told you – but it’s something you could do with.’
Ted frowned and then laughed. ‘Not a tool box? Now I really do need a good strong tool box!’
‘That would be telling,’ Beattie said. ‘Come on, Ted, let’s get home and make a nice cup of tea.’
Rose opened the door and saw the vase of fresh flowers on the kitchen table and smiled. She knew exactly who they were from, because she knew that Beattie had intended going in to tidy up after the builders and Ted had finished the renovations.
‘Oh, look at those,’ she said. ‘Aren’t they lovely, Peter?’ She looked about her and laughed with delight. ‘This is just as I would have wanted it!’
‘I thought you would like it,’ he said and kissed her as she bent down to him. Progress was still slow but he’d made big strides at the clinic under the guidance of his friend Simon and could now stand for a few minutes unaided. To walk a couple of steps at a time, however, he needed help from Rose and a stout stick. He was practising with crutches and hoped to have mastered them in a couple of months. He glanced around the room, frowning. ‘Will it do, Rose – will you live here with me as my wife and share my life?’
‘You know I will, my darling,’ she said and smiled at him lovingly. ‘When do you want to be married?’
‘I thought just before Christmas – just a small reception with a few friends. Simon will come up and we’ll ask Ted, Beattie and the boys – and anyone else you’d like from the Rosie – and of course your brother John and his family. We’ll ask my grandmother, too, but I doubt she’ll feel up to it; she’s a little frail.’
‘We’ll keep it small,’ Rose said, ‘but I do want Sarah and Steve, her mum and Theo, Lily and Jenny – and I might ask Matron, too.’
Peter nodded his approval. ‘I’ll save a piece of cake for next time I see Jessie at the clinic – but I shan’t ask her to the wedding!’
‘Are you certain you’re ready to return to the clinic?’
‘Yes. I’ll have to stick to the chair for now, but I’d like to be working again and with your help I can … and I’ll be able to stand long enough to put the ring on your finger!’ He looked at her triumphantly.
‘I’m looking forward to it,’ Rose said and smiled. She bent and kissed him. ‘And now I think we could both do with a nice hot cup of tea and a slice of the cake I can see that Beattie has left for us.’
Lily was just making herself a cup of tea when the doorbell rang. She went to answer it, the teapot still in her hand – and it dropped to the floor with a resounding crash when she saw who was standing there. She stood perfectly still for a second and then she flung her arms around him.
‘Chris – oh, Chris!’ she cried, tears in her eyes. ‘My darling, you’re home at last! But for how long?’
‘I’m home for good – or at least until they find me another job,’ Chris told her with a smile of pleasure as he picked her off the floor in a bear hug and swung her round. ‘My cover was finally blown and I had to get out fast – so here I am, back with my darling wife, and ready to tell the world our secret.’
‘Oh Chris, Chris – I do love you so much!’ Lily said, taking his hand and ignoring the shattered brown teapot as she led the way inside. ‘We can tell Jenny at last and have a little party for our friends.’
‘Yes,’ he said and looked into her eyes, his hands on either side of her face, drinking her in like a drowning man might drink lifesaving water. ‘Have I told you how much I love you, Lily? My darling, my wife …’
‘Yes, just once, or twice,’ she whispered and went happily into his arms. ‘Do you want a cup of tea – if I can find the spare pot?’
‘Later,’ he said huskily. ‘What I want right now, my darling Lily, is you!’
Laughing, Lily looked up at her husband, love and happiness filling her eyes as she led him upstairs to her bedroom. For Lily, the world had suddenly come right and she didn’t want to think of anything else but a future with the man she loved. The Government might have passed a bill to build new air raid shelters in case of the war that seemed to loom ever closer and in Germany the violence and restrictions against Jewish people went on, but for Lily, at that moment, nothing mattered. Her sister, work, the rest of the world – well, they could wait!
Don’t miss these other novels by Cathy Sharp, available to buy now.
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
Click here to buy now
For author exclusives, behind-the-scenes extras, irresistible competitions and the very best book recommendations, join us online at:
@TheBookRetreatUK
@TheBookRetreat
And sign up to our newsletter here: http://thebookretreat.co.uk/
About the Author
Cathy Sharp is happily married and lives with her husband in a small Cambridgeshire village. They like visiting Spain together and enjoy the benefits of sunshine and pleasant walks, while at home they love their garden and visiting the Norfolk seaside.
Cathy loves writing because it gives pleasure to others, she finds writing an extension of herself and it gives her great satisfaction. Cathy says, ‘There is nothing like seeing your book in print, because so much loving care has been given to bringing that book into being.’
Also by Cathy Sharp
Halfpenny Street Orphans
The Orphans of Halfpenny Street
The Little Runaways
The Boy with the Latch Key
An Orphan’s Courage
Children of the Workhouse
The Girl in the Ragged Shawl
The Barefoot Child
The Winter Orphan
East End Daughters
A Daughter’s Sorrow
A Daughter’s Courage
A Daughter’s Choice
Button Street Orphans
An Orphan’s Promise
An Orphan’s Sorrow
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
Bay Adelaide Centre, East Tower
22 Adelaide Street West, 41st Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5H 4E
3, Canada
www.harpercollins.ca
HarperCollins India
A 75, Sector 57
Noida, Uttar Pradesh 201 301, India
www.harpercollins.co.in
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers New Zealand
Unit D1, 63 Apollo Drive
Rosedale 0632
Auckland, New Zealand
www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF, UK
www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
195 Broadway
New York, NY 10007
www.harpercollins.com