All My Tomorrows (23 page)

As Ron parked the wheelchair by the bed Peggy held out her hand to Cordelia and the two women gently embraced. ‘I’m so glad you’re safe,’ Peggy murmured as she dashed away the tears. ‘Thank you for making the effort to come and see me.’

‘Well, of course I had to see you before I went home. I wanted to make sure you and little Daisy had come through all right.’ Her blue eyes were bright with unshed tears. ‘I was so sorry to hear about everything,’ she said softly as she held Peggy’s hand. ‘But you’ll come through this, Peggy, just like you do with everything else.’

‘I’m sure I will,’ she replied with a brave little smile, ‘but at the moment I feel as if I’ve been flattened by a steamroller.’

‘We’re a couple of crocks, aren’t we?’ Cordelia joked as she fidgeted in the wheelchair. ‘I feel positively ancient being carted about in this thing – and Ron’s driving skills are questionable to say the least – but without my walking stick, I would never have made it down those endless corridors.’

Peggy regarded her closely. ‘But apart from your arm, is everything else all right?’

Cordelia grinned. ‘About as right as it ever was, if you discount age, decrepitude and general wear and tear.’ She shrugged. ‘Unfortunately I won’t be of much use to anyone with my arm in this,’ she said, pointing to the plaster cast. ‘But I’m sure Ron and the girls will manage just fine until you get home, so you’re not to worry about a thing.’

Peggy suddenly realised the seriousness of the situation and looked helplessly at Ron. ‘But how can you possibly manage with all your other responsibilities?’ she asked him. ‘Daisy needs someone to watch over her all the time, and so will Cordelia, and the girls are so busy with their work . . .’

Ron cleared his throat. ‘Well now, Peggy, you see there is a solution, and no doubt you’ll find out soon enough, so I won’t beat about the bush . . .’ He shuffled his feet and stared at the floor.

Peggy was alarmed. ‘What solution, Ron? For goodness’ sake stop dithering and tell me.’

‘Doris has moved in.’

Peggy closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath. ‘Good grief,’ she sighed. She opened her eyes again. ‘Please tell me you’re joking, Ron.’

‘He’s not,’ said Rita. ‘She moved in this afternoon, and when we left to come here, she had Phyllis and Fran cooking the tea.’

‘Well,’ said Cordelia with a humph of displeasure. ‘That just about puts the tin lid on it, doesn’t it? How long is she planning on staying?’

‘Until Peggy is well enough to come home,’ admitted Ron. He reached for Peggy’s hand. ‘You are not to fret about this, Peg, do you hear? The girls and me have agreed to carry on as usual and not let Doris get under our skins, no matter how difficult it might be. There will be peace and harmony, Peggy. I promise.’

‘Not if my sister has anything to do with it,’ said Peggy fretfully. ‘But it’s so unlike Doris to be charitable to me and mine like this – let alone to actually move into Beach View, which she’s always loathed. There has to be a reason behind this, but I’m blowed if I can think what it might be.’ She clutched his hand. ‘Oh, Ron,’ she sighed. ‘I’m so sorry you’ve been left with all this to deal with.’

‘I’ve dealt with worse,’ he said with a wink. ‘The Hun didn’t get me in the trenches, and neither will Doris – so you rest easy and concentrate on getting better.’

Peggy reached up and tugged at his jacket collar until she could plant a kiss on his whiskery cheek. ‘I’ll be home before you know it,’ she said softly. ‘Thank you, Ron.’

Ron cleared his throat and actually went red. ‘Yes, well, we’d better get these two home. Cissy will be here in a minute and this old woman probably needs a decent cup of tea after the dishwater they serve in this place.’

Peggy blew a kiss to Cordelia and then nuzzled and kissed Daisy before Rita plucked her from her arms. ‘Promise me that one of you will bring her in every day.’

‘I promise, Auntie Peg – and don’t worry about Daisy, we all love her as if she was our own, and we’ll take very special care of her.’

Peggy kissed her goodbye and watched as they left the ward with her precious little Daisy. She felt bereft all over again, and the ready tears fell as she thought of them being at home without her – and the difficulties they would all have to face over the next few weeks.

What made it worse was the prospect of Doris reigning over her home. What on earth had possessed her sister to take on such a challenge when she knew nothing of running a busy household or looking after a baby? She’d always had cleaners and cooks and gardeners before the war; still employed poor little Phyllis to do the rough work – and had had a nanny to look after Anthony from the moment she’d taken him home from the hospital.

She lay there imagining the sort of hurt her sister’s spiteful tongue could cause, and the chaos she would bring to the easy-going routine of Beach View. She didn’t doubt that she’d look after Daisy, and that her home would probably be cleaner than ever before – but that wasn’t the point. Beach View had its own heart and soul, and a woman like Doris could rip them out in an instant and destroy everything.

‘There’s only one thing for it,’ she muttered. ‘I’m going to have to get better very quickly – and the only way to do that is to get out of this bed and start moving about.’

She tugged at the blanket and sheet and sat up. A knife of pain shot through her, making her gasp, but she determinedly edged to the side of the bed and swung her legs down. As her feet touched the floor and she stood, she had to bend into the deep ache in her wound. But she would not be defeated, and she cradled her heavily bandaged scar with her hands as she began to shuffle down the ward. She must look like an old crone, she thought, but she didn’t care, for there was a definite thrill of achievement gained with every step – the threat of Doris taking over at Beach View focussing her mind and bolstering her determination to get home as soon as possible.

‘What
do
you think you’re doing, Mrs Reilly?’

Peggy looked up to find herself staring into the granite features of the dreaded Matron. ‘I need to go to the lav,’ she replied.

‘You will use a bedpan,’ said Matron. She placed a very firm hand around Peggy’s skinny arm and began to steer her slowly back to bed. ‘I have had enough trouble already from your father-in-law, Mrs Reilly, and I will not stand any further nonsense from you.’

Peggy tried to free herself from her grip, but simply didn’t have the strength. ‘I’m a mother and grandmother and I will not be spoken to as if I’m a naughty child,’ she gasped as the pain surged through her and the room began to swim.

‘If you behave as a child, you will be treated like one, Mrs Reilly. I seem to remember having the same conversation with that disreputable old father-in-law of yours.’ Matron eased her down onto the bed. ‘This is my hospital, Mrs Reilly, and all the time you are in it, you will do what I tell you without argument.’ The grey eyes were steely as they looked down the long beaked nose. ‘Is that understood?’

‘Completely,’ said Peggy, who had absolutely no intention of following her draconian orders.

‘Good. You will soon be allowed to sit in the bedside chair, and then in about two weeks you will be permitted to walk to the end of the ward and back.’

Peggy stared up at her in horror. ‘How long will I have to be in here?’

‘At least a month,’ Matron replied tartly as she drew the curtains round the bed and marched off in search of a nurse with a bedpan.

‘I’ll give it ten days – two weeks at the most,’ Peggy muttered. ‘You’re not keeping me in here when my family needs me, you old dragon.’

Rita parked the van close to the front steps and Ron handed her Daisy before helping Cordelia onto the pavement. He glanced up at the front door, knowing that Doris was waiting somewhere behind it, and a long evening stretched ahead for all of them.

It was the first time in his life that he dreaded coming home and the realisation sickened him, but he put on a brave smile for the others, determined to make the best of things. ‘Would you be after me carrying you up the steps, Cordelia?’

‘I’m not a cripple or in my dotage just yet,’ she retorted. ‘I can manage perfectly well if you could just give me your arm.’

He let her grasp his arm as she made her slow way up the steps to the front door. Rita opened it and they were almost immediately swamped by the girls rushing to welcome them home. Daisy was plucked from Rita’s arms by Fran, Suzy and Sarah took charge of Cordelia, and Jane gave Ron a hug and took the parcel of dirty clothing from him. ‘She’s in the kitchen,’ she said in a hoarse whisper before hurrying off.

Everyone was talking at once and Ron left them to it. There was no sign of Harvey. From the sound of his frantic barking, it seemed he was still shut in the cellar. Ron stomped into the kitchen and found Doris sitting in Peggy’s chair reading a magazine while Phyllis battled with the saucepans on the range.

Ron didn’t bother to speak to either of them as he went to open the cellar door and was almost bowled over by an overjoyed Harvey. He ruffled his ears and patted his back as the dog licked his face and tried to climb up into his arms. ‘Why did no one let the dog out?’ Ron demanded as the girls trooped into the room with Daisy and Cordelia.

‘It’s not hygienic to allow a dog in the house,’ said Doris. ‘I gave strict orders to leave him there.’

‘You do not – ever – shut my dog out of the house,’ he said gruffly.

‘But it was you who shut him in the cellar to begin with,’ she said with maddening logic. She remained seated, the magazine on her lap. ‘If you must insist upon that animal having free rein in here, then it should be kept under control. It’s clearly undisciplined and far too big to be galloping about when there’s a baby’s welfare to consider.’

‘Harvey is part of the family,’ he replied, struggling to keep his temper, ‘and he will have the freedom of this house as he has always done. Daisy will come to no harm from him.’

Doris balefully eyed the dog, who didn’t seem to realise he was the subject of this tussle and rather spoiled everything by sniffing at Daisy and giving her face a resounding lick. ‘That is precisely the sort of behaviour I will not allow,’ she said coldly. ‘Francis, you will wash Daisy immediately and prepare her for bed.’

Fran glanced at Ron, and at his nod, took Daisy to the sink and began to clear it of the dirty cooking pots and fill it with warm water.

‘What on
earth
are you doing?’ said Doris, aghast.

Fran tucked her wild auburn curls behind her ears and frowned. ‘Well to be sure, Mrs Williams, I’m following your orders and washing Daisy.’

‘Not in the sink!’ she snapped. ‘Good grief, girl, what sort of upbringing did you have?’ The magazine fell to the floor as she stood and advanced on Fran.

‘But Peggy always washes her in the kitchen,’ protested Fran, ‘and I can see no harm in it.’

Doris snatched Daisy from Fran and dumped her in a rather startled Phyllis’s arms. ‘See to her, Phyllis – in the bathroom upstairs. Then bring her back for her bottle.’

Daisy didn’t think much of being passed from pillar to post in such a rough manner, and started to yell, throwing herself back in Phyllis’s arms so violently that it was only by a miracle that Phyllis didn’t drop her.

Ron stepped in and took Daisy, holding her against his shoulder, his large, rough hand gentling her as she howled furiously in his ear. ‘I will see to my granddaughter,’ he said firmly. ‘Someone give Cordelia a cup of tea, and the rest of you get on with laying the table, and dishing up tea. It’s way past six and me stomach’s so empty it’s clinging to me backbone, so it is.’

Doris looked at him with undisguised disgust. ‘
Supper
will be eaten in the dining room from now on,’ she said. ‘And it will be served at eight.’

‘I prefer to have my evening meal in the kitchen at six o’clock,’ said Cordelia, who’d silently watched everything from her chair by the table. ‘And it is a convenient time for the girls when they come in from work.’ She regarded Doris with little affection. ‘This is a busy household and the routine we already have suits all of us.’

Doris sniffed and eyed all of them disdainfully. ‘In that case, I will have Phyllis bring supper on a tray to my bedroom.’

Cordelia smiled up at Phyllis. ‘Are you moving in here as well, dear?’ she asked.

‘Of course she isn’t,’ snapped Doris. ‘She has her own home to go to.’

‘As sweet and helpful as no doubt she is,’ said Cordelia mildly, ‘I do hope you’re not expecting us to pay for her services.’

‘Phyllis has a fixed wage and I will, of course, continue to pay that,’ said Doris stiffly.

Cordelia reached for Phyllis’s hand and gave her a warm, sweet smile. ‘Are you happy about that, dear? Only you seem to work very long hours.’

‘My arrangements with my staff are none of your business, Mrs Finch,’ said Doris flatly. ‘Phyllis, get on with the cooking, and mind you don’t boil those potatoes to a watery mush.’

Phyllis swallowed and blushed, her gaze darting to Doris and back to Cordelia. ‘I don’t mind,’ she stammered. ‘Not really.’ She ducked her chin so her hair veiled her face as she checked on the vegetables boiling away on the hob.

Cordelia watched her for a moment and then accepted the cup of tea from Suzy. Grasping it in her good hand, she blew on it to cool it down and took a tentative sip. ‘Oh, that’s better,’ she sighed. ‘A proper cup of tea at last. You wouldn’t believe the dishwater they serve in that hospital.’

‘There is a war on,’ said Doris with a sniff. ‘One can’t expect luxuries now, you know.’

Cordelia’s bright blue eyes regarded her over her half-moon glasses and slowly took in the angora sweater, the pearls, tweed skirt and expensive shoes. Her smile was enigmatic, her silence eloquent as her gaze drifted to the gold lighter and the rare packet of Sobranie cigarettes before returning to hold Doris’s defiant glare.

Ron felt a warm glow of pride as he watched this little show of strength from Cordelia. Doris had met her match, and it amused him to realise that gentleness and calm were powerful weapons. He hunted about for Daisy’s clean nappies. They were usually stacked on the dresser, but for the life of him, he couldn’t see them anywhere.