I'll Get By (8 page)

‘No. I just talk like this on Mondays. It was nice of you to enquire, though.’ She grinned when he made an impatient hissing noise through his teeth. ‘We’re seeing you at the weekend for the dance, aren’t we? Are you ringing to cancel it?’

‘Certainly not! That’s got nothing to do with it. Don’t you eat lunch?’

‘Of course I eat lunch.’

‘Good, then let me ask you again. Are you free for lunch today?’

‘Well yes . . . but I’ve got to go to the market first, else we won’t have anything for dinner, and it’s already eleven thirty.’

‘Is there any reason why you can’t go to the market after lunch?’

‘Well no, but—’

‘I’ll pick you up at noon then . . . that is, unless you need an adult’s permission.’

‘You’re being rude and sarcastic.’

‘So I am.’

‘Well . . . you can apologize if you want to take me out to lunch.’

‘Ah . . . an ultimatum. I hadn’t expected one.’ There was a moment of silence that indeed felt like a stand off, then he said, and quite gently, ‘I’ll see you at noon then, Mags.’

‘Don’t bother,’ she flung at him, and hung up half-a-second after he did.

Just in case he hadn’t heard what she’d said, she began to get ready. It took all of twenty-five minutes to wash, roll on her stockings, don her checked dress and arrange her hair. She followed up a light dusting of face powder with lipstick, then dabbed cologne behind her ears.

Meggie felt self-conscious and on edge waiting for a man she hardly knew to take her out. She thought she heard a car, but her bedroom didn’t look out over the road and she wasn’t going to appear eager, even to her own eyes, by rushing to have a look.

Not that she expected Rennie to turn up, she thought, gazing at the clock’s large hand, which quivered on two minutes to the hour. When it took a sudden leap forward her heart jumped with it.

She would give herself a couple minutes to make sure, in case the clock was fast, she told herself. But anyway, she couldn’t go shopping looking scruffy.

‘When the doorbell rang exactly one minute later she had her coat on and her shopping basket on her arm. The hall clock gave its usual whirring sound and began to chime the twelve strokes of noon. Resisting the urge to run, she sauntered down the stairs and feigned surprise when she opened the door on the last stroke. ‘Oh . . . it’s you. I told you not to come. I didn’t expect . . . actually, I was getting ready to go to the market.’

His eyes impaled her, the reddish brown autumn of them guarded by sooty spikes of lashes. ‘Liar, you were doing no such thing. You were waiting for me to turn up on the doorstep. Stop playing games.’

She choked out a laugh. ‘I hope you’re not going to be grumpy all day.’

He smiled and brought a posy of sweet smelling violets out from behind his back. ‘I apologize.’

She was captivated. It was the best apology she’d ever had. ‘They’re beautiful . . . thank you so much.’

‘You’re beautiful.’ Much to her annoyance she blushed, and it was his turn to laugh. ‘You’re also very sweet, you know. It’s not often I get to take out somebody as young as you.’ He took the basket from her. ‘We can leave this in the car.’

‘Will you wait a moment until I put these in water? I don’t want them to wilt.’

Meggie had expected to be taken somewhere local, but they motored to Southend, which was about forty miles away. They sat in a café overlooking the long stretch of beach and eating fish and chips washed down with mugs of hot tea.

‘This was a long way to come for lunch,’ she said.

‘After working in a dusty office I needed some clean, fresh air in my lungs, and I hadn’t seen the sea for a while. That’s one of the penalties of being part of the legal profession.’

There was a blustery breeze coming off the water and grey clouds scudded across the sky. The air smelled of salt and the seagulls wheeled above, giving raucous squawks.

‘I’ve never seen such a long pier.’

‘It’s the longest in England. Would you like a walk to help blow the cobwebs away? In half an hour we must set off back home again.’

It was obvious he needed to walk. Outside, he took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. She could have pulled her hand away, but instead she enjoyed the moment for what it was. He was ahead of her. ‘We can go to the market up the road, the one we passed on the way in here. The one you usually shop at will be closed by the time we get back to London.’

The shopping was done quickly, but they got the late bargains. As they drove home the clouds built up and the sky darkened. Now and again handfuls of rain splattered the windscreen. By the time they arrived at the house the sky was thunderous and the air charged. The house looked gloomy, and she didn’t want to go inside by herself.

‘Thank you for a wonderful day, Rennie,’ she said, not wanting to leave the safety of the car.

He smiled. ‘I enjoyed it.’

There was a flash of lightning and she jumped. ‘Will you come in for a cup of tea?’

He glanced at his watch.

‘Please,’ she said when there was a rumble of thunder.

His glance measured her. ‘You didn’t strike me as a person who’d be scared of thunder and lightning.’

‘I’m not usually. I just don’t want to go into a dark empty house by myself. Not after the burglar. Silly, isn’t it? I’ll be quite all right once I’ve turned the lights on, and Aunt Es and Leo will be home in a couple of hours. If you can’t stay will you just wait until I’ve turned the lights on before you drive away?’

‘Actually, I’d love a cup of tea.’

She felt an enormous sense of relief when he followed her inside, and placed her basket on the kitchen table. The kitchen smelled deliciously of violets from the posy he’d given her. She held them to her nose for a moment. Afterwards she put both the kettle and the radio on.

They were just in time to hear the newsreader say, ‘News has just come in that German troops have occupied Czechoslovakia.’

She gazed at him. ‘Do you think there will be a war?’

He nodded. ‘I think it’s inevitable, don’t you?’

‘I keep hoping it will all go away. Will you have to . . . well, you know . . .
fight?
’

‘I imagine I’ll be called up eventually.’

‘And would you go?’

‘It would be compulsory. But anyway, I’d probably enlist if war happens to be declared. Even if given a choice it wouldn’t be fair to leave the fighting to all the other chaps. In fact it would be rather cowardly.’

‘You know Rennie, if there’s a war I think I’ll forget about going to university and join one of the women’s services instead. I can type and do shorthand, so I could make myself useful. My studies could probably be deferred until a later date.’

‘Yes, you could. You know, Mags, becoming a lawyer isn’t all fun, especially for a woman. Promise me you’ll think carefully about it, because once you’ve committed to it you’ll discover it hard work for the most part, and without much time left over to enjoy what life has to offer.’

‘Like war, you mean?’ She touched his cheek, feeling a bit weepy at the thought of him being placed in danger. ‘If you’re called up you’ll take care, won’t you? Don’t do anything dangerous or heroic.’

‘I’m not naturally brave, so I’ll try not to.’

‘My father was a war hero. He died before I was born. Everyone who knew him said he was a wonderful man. I wish I’d known him too.’

They gazed at each other for a moment, and then he drew her into his arms. When she gazed up at him in surprise he kissed her. It was unexpectedly tender and undemanding. ‘Thank you for caring about me.’

‘That’s the first time I’ve been kissed . . . properly, I mean. It was nice.’

He avoided her eyes. ‘Don’t read anything into it. I shouldn’t have encouraged you. You’re much too young for me.’

She wouldn’t have objected to an encore, but he’d probably kissed hundreds of girls, and she didn’t want him to think she was one of those fast types.

‘I’ll grow older.’

A laugh choked from him. ‘I’m sure I’ll keep up with the age gap.’

They drank their tea in the kitchen while the storm threw bolts of lightning about the sky. Thunder rumbled up through the soles of their feet as though they were part of it. Eventually the noise lost its intensity, but it left in its wake a howling gale and a heavy downpour of rain.

‘You’d better wait until this is over,’ she said.

There was the sound of the key in the lock and Leo and her aunt were blown into the house on a gust of wind, laughing together. Leo called out, ‘We’re home, Meggie, and soaked through.’

‘I’m in the kitchen.’

Leo’s voice got louder as he moved towards them. ‘Es started to walk home because I wasn’t there on time to pick her up, and the bus had gone. The storm got to her and beat her up before I did.’ He deposited a kiss on her cheek and gazed over her shoulder. ‘Hello . . . who’s this?’

Rennie had already risen to his feet. He held out a hand, ‘Rainard Stone. I’m the solicitor handling Margaret’s legacy.’

Aunt Es came in after Leo, her stocking clad feet leaving a trail of wet footprints behind her. Her hair was a draggle of rats tails. She smiled ruefully as she shed water all over the kitchen floor. ‘It’s nice to meet you before we go dancing together at the weekend.’

Rennie smiled at Esmé. ‘You look rather wet, Mrs Thornton.’

‘I am rather. I must go upstairs and change.’

‘And I must go too. I hadn’t realized how late it was.’

‘Must you, when we’ve only just met? Unless you have a prior engagement, stay for dinner. We’ve bought enough sausages haven’t we, Meggie?’

Rennie protested. ‘It’s tempting . . . but you haven’t had time to cater for a guest.’

Aunt Es won the argument with her killer smile. ‘Nonsense, I won’t hear of it. It’s bangers and mash day, with lashings of onion gravy on top, and there’s always plenty.’

‘That will be followed by one of Meggie’s delicious apple crumbles and custard, I hope,’ Leo said, shamelessly ingratiating as he got his order in for a pudding.

Rennie grinned at that, ‘It sounds more tempting by the second. May I use your telephone?’

‘Of course you may. I’ll leave you with Leo to sort it out,’ Esmé said, drifting off in the direction of the stairs. ‘I’ll change into something dry, and then come down and give you a hand, Meggie.’

‘Are you quite sure?’

Meggie laughed. ‘Not another word, Rennie. I bought some lovely fresh runner beans at the Southend market, and some carrots.’

Leo raised an eyebrow. ‘Southend?’

‘Rennie took me there for lunch today. He needed some fresh air.’

‘It’s a long way to go for it, but there’s plenty of that at Southend,’ Leo said.

‘He didn’t really give me the option of saying no.’

Leo laughed. ‘Well done, Rennie. Let’s leave the kitchen to the women and go and catch up on the news. We’ll crack open a bottle of wine while I give you the third degree. Since I hold the position of guardian while Meggie is in London, I don’t want to disappoint her.’

The thought mortified Meggie. ‘I’ll never speak to you again if you do. Besides which, apple crumble will be off the menu . . . and for ever.’

‘Now that’s what I call a punishment.’

Rennie chuckled when she said. ‘Honestly, Leo, you must be the most convincing liar on earth. And to think I actually believed you.’

‘You take everyone at face value. In fact, your lack of guile is quite refreshing. Don’t worry, love, I won’t embarrass you.’

The two men disappeared towards the hall, where Rainard had a short conversation on the telephone with someone. She couldn’t help but overhear some of it in the space created when the door opened to allow Aunt Es through, and it closing behind her.

‘I’m sorry, Pam, my sweet, but I’m dining with a client.’

Meggie wondered who Pam was.

Her aunt had changed into navy slacks and a lacy pink twinset with pearl buttons. Her hair was drying into its natural curls as she reached for an apron from the hook behind the door, and tied it around her. As she began to scrape the carrots she said, ‘Rennie Stone seems rather nice. Did you have a good time today?’

‘Oh . . . rather. At first I thought we were going to argue over the telephone because he thought I was being rude and I thought he was being just as rude. When I told him to apologize, he didn’t. And then . . . just when I was about to go to market he turned up on the doorstep with that bunch of violets in his hand – don’t they smell heavenly? He said he was sorry he’d upset me. I had to go to lunch with him then, else it would have been horribly embarrassing and too cruel leaving him standing there on the doorstep with a bunch of flowers in his hand.’

Aunt Es smiled. ‘Good job you had your best dress and make-up on then.’

‘Yes . . . it was rather. I invited him in because the house looked a bit menacing in the storm and gave me a bit of a shivery feeling, and I didn’t want to go in by myself.’

‘I know the feeling. I hate going inside by myself now, have done since we were burgled.’

Meggie laid out the ingredients for the crumble and fetched two bottles of preserved cooking apples from the pantry, Bramleys picked from the garden of her mother’s house at Eavesham and preserved for winter use. ‘Do you think two jars will be enough?’

‘It should be.’

She imparted a little confidence to her aunt. ‘Rennie kissed me. I was telling him about my father, and he just kissed me. It was rather nice. I was worried in case he might think . . .’ She lowered her voice and looked at the door. ‘I don’t want to give him the impression that I’m . . .
fast.
’

‘Be careful, Meggie. He’s a nice man, but he’s quite a bit older than you, and I really don’t think you should encourage him.

As Esmé was to say to Leo later, when they’d gone to bed. ‘Meggie is quite naive. Would you mind if I invited her to stay longer? I’m sure Livia wouldn’t mind. She wouldn’t be a drain on the finances since she gets a small allowance from her legacy, and she could probably find employment. I might be able to get her a temporary job at the hospital, in administration perhaps.’

‘My darling . . . anything that makes you happy makes me happy. Besides, she doesn’t cost much to keep, and she’s a good cook.’