Goodbye to Dreams (30 page)

‘He didn’t come,’ Ada said softly. ‘Danny didn’t bother to come. Willie told him but he didn’t come to help.’

‘He told Willie it wasn’t his problem and to ask someone else,’ Cecily said brightly. ‘Puts me in my place, doesn’t it?’

They didn’t open the shop that day and as soon as they could they went to the hospital to see Horse and his wife, who Van insisted was called Honoria. ‘She hates the silly name,’ Van told them, ‘so he just calls her Wife.’

Horse was unrecognizable and they had to ask which was his bed in the long ward with two rows of patients. He was shining clean, as though he had been scrubbed and polished. He wore a pale blue nightshirt and his hair had been cut into a neat short back and sides. Honoria was sitting in a chair beside him, her hair washed and brushed, her face as clean and as wrinkle-free as that of a baby, and they looked so angelic they might have been born out of a fairy tale for children.

They were full of remorse. ‘Don’t blame your Myfanwy,’ Honoria pleaded. ‘She was just being kind to us. We’ll never go there again, we promise, but don’t be cross with her, lovely girl she is, so kind.’

Horse said nothing. He was breathing harshly but seemed comfortable in the unfamiliar cleanliness. Cecily decided to make some enquiries about his army service. ‘Perhaps he’s entitled to a pension,’ she suggested to Bertie later. Bertie promised to find out what he could.

As the shop closed, the phone rang and Peter asked if they were all right. ‘I’ve just seen the news about the fire in the local paper. Are you all right? Is anyone hurt? Is Van safe? Is the house damaged? Why didn’t you ring me?’ he asked, not giving time for answers between the
questions
.

‘Peter, we have a meal ready, please come over and share it and we’ll tell you all about it.’

Van began the explanation, admitting her part in the near tragedy.

‘They should never have agreed to what you offered without checking with Ada or Cecily first, so the blame isn’t yours,’ Peter told her.

She looked defiant. ‘I did it because I felt sorry for them. I’m glad I let them stay.’

‘Lucky the kittens weren’t out there – they might not have survived,’ he told her seriously. ‘The smoke would have been enough to kill them. That’s the risk you took. Are you sure you aren’t sorry you didn’t check with Cecily or Ada?’

‘I wouldn’t let Penny and Pip sleep in the stable,’ she said defiantly, ‘even
though
she
told me to.’ Glaring at her mother, she stroked the soft furry bodies purring beside her.

Ada went to bed early and Cecily stayed talking to Peter.

‘I know I can’t be anything more than a friend, but Cecily, my dear, I always want to be the one you turn to whenever difficulties arise. You know how fond I am of you. I want you to promise that I’ll be the first person you call, every time you need help, whether it’s as serious as a fire or as trivial as not being able to open a jar of pickle!’

He was smiling, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. There was something he wasn’t saying. She felt uncomfortable, unsure of what was coming next. Did he want to be treated as someone for emergencies only? How
ridiculous
that sounded. But he couldn’t be about to ask for something more of their relationship, not after all this time. She stood up and moved the kettle over the fire and said brightly, ‘Cocoa and toast all right? I’m starving!’ They ate, and talked about many things, but she was left with the uneasy feeling that something needed to be said. But not tonight, she pleaded silently. Too much had happened, and she couldn’t cope with more shocks or disappointments.

The next morning, as they began preparations for opening the shop, Willie came and told them that he’d received the first orders from the beach traders.

‘Another summer begins and I hope it’s a better one for you two than the last,’ he said.

It was unusual for Willie to make personal comments and they smiled at him. ‘We hope your summer is as perfect as the last one, Willie,’ Ada said. ‘For you and Annette and your son.’

‘I don’t think you can ask for more, can you?’ Cecily added. ‘You have a loving wife, a beautiful son and hopefully another child by the time Christmas comes again.’

‘And what of us?’ Cecily asked, when they were alone.

‘We’ve come full circle. The two of us here alone and neither sure how this year will end for us.’

‘Phil will be home. You know how it will end for you.’

Ada shook her head. ‘Phil won’t be the same person that I married. Who knows how he will feel about me, about our marriage. He can’t talk to me, face me, and he might still feel that way when he comes home. I might be staying here longer than you expect. You and me running the shop just as we always dreamed. No Dadda to interfere. We had our wish there, but it hasn’t been the dream we’d imagined, has it?’

‘Van facing up to the truth of who we really are and our friends
supporting us. We’ve said goodbye to many hopes and dreams. Dreams have been just that, ethereal, fanciful dreams. But we’ll cope and be happy, because that’s who we are: two women with a chequered past and a doubtful future, but a good business and some wonderful friends.’

‘True friends and that’s more than many can say.’

‘And who knows, Phil might want our marriage to continue.’

‘And Peter, dear Peter, as long as he’s in my life I won’t complain.’ She was certain that Danny was no longer in her life; he was just one foolish dream. Perhaps Peter would make her forget him, make the foolish hope of a happy future with Danny Preston go away, drift into nothing more than a bad memory. She didn’t discuss her dreams of a life with Peter. Dreams are ethereal things, easily shattered.

‘Next New Year,’ she said, ‘we’ll be laughing with the rest. Happiness is just around the corner, for us both.’

Time to Move On

The Runaway

Facing the World

Gull Island