‘Oh no, please,’ Jolka said. ‘We would not take your precious cake.’
‘Nonsense, I insist.’
Bobby went to fetch the cake tin and served them each a small slice.
There was silence as each woman sank her teeth into the treat. You learned to savour sweet things in wartime.
‘However will you manage your painting with two young children, Jolka?’ Topsy asked when she had swallowed her morsel of cake.
Jolka shrugged. It was clear that the idea of combining work with motherhood didn’t worry her the way it did Bobby.
‘There may be a little expense, if I find I cannot manage the house alone and need to pay for some outside help, but we are able to afford it,’ she said. ‘Still, it is difficult when Piotr mustbe away from us. I may have to be more selective about the commissions I take.’
‘You wouldn’t give up work for a while?’
‘Oh, no. I would go mad if I did not have my painting.’
‘I know how you feel,’ Bobby said. ‘I couldn’t bear not to have something to do with my brain. I hope I’ll never be in a position where I have to give up writing entirely.’
‘Things go well at your work?’
‘I’m to be promoted actually,’ Bobby told them with some pride. ‘Reg is taking a step back and making me deputy editress.’
Jolka raised an eyebrow. ‘Indeed? And your brother-in-law, he will work under you?’
‘Yes. That’s the part that’s worrying me,’ Bobby said, pulling a face. ‘Tony’s never been good at taking orders, and when it’s a woman giving them… I just hope he can learn to accept the situation.’
‘You must make him accept it,’ Jolka said firmly. ‘No doubt he will attempt to undermine you, but ultimately he must accept that you are in charge or seek another position.’
‘He’s my brother-in-law, Jolka. I wouldn’t want him to lose his job, for my sister and niece’s sake.’
‘Yes, this is a consideration. Just make sure that when he challenges you, he is challenged right back. Be alert for little things that undermine your authority.’
It was sensible advice. But how far should she push back against Tony, given that she would have to leave her position soon? She didn’t want to push him so hard that he resigned.
Bobby nodded to the last morsel of Jolka’s fruit cake. ‘Don’t forget your celebration cake. I’m sure it’s supposed to bring luck to the baby or something.’
Jolka smiled as she popped it into her mouth. ‘These days, I like to make the sweet things last.’
Topsy arched an eyebrow at Bobby. ‘I must say, Birdy, I think it’s high time you and Charlie started making beautiful, clever babies as well. You can’t leave it all to Piotr and Jolka.’
Jolka laughed. ‘Perhaps they might, Topsy, if their friends were not so rude as to turn up when they are… ahem. Recovering from headaches.’
Bobby could feel her cheeks pinkening and hastily shifted the focus of the conversation.
‘What about you, Topsy?’ she said. ‘Have you and Teddy gone any further with plans to adopt a child?’
Topsy tossed back her tea gloomily. ‘What point is there, when we can barely fit ourselves into that tiny cottage? Already I feel horrendously guilty that poor Maimie is sleeping in such a small room.’ Maimie Hobbes was Topsy’s former nanny, who in retirement lived with her one-time charge as a companion. ‘I’m glad the big house is helping those boys get better but it is frustrating, to be lady of the manor and all that rot while I’m having to live like a… a shepherdess or something.’
Bobby laughed. ‘More like the little goose girl, with Norman and his family filling the place up.’
‘What of the other house you own – Woodside Nook?’ Jolka asked. ‘That is bigger, is it not?’
‘Yes, but it’s ever so draughty, and hardly in the healthiest environment in the middle of a damp wood,’ Topsy said. ‘It wouldn’t do Teddy any good, and it would be dreadful for Maimie’s arthritis.’ She sighed. ‘Poor old Maimie. I really ought to take better care of her now she’s getting older.’
‘She isn’t so very old, is she?’ Bobby asked.
‘She’s not fifty yet. Still, she gets a lot of aches and pains, and I feel guilty about every one of them. I wish this bally war would just end, then I can have my house back, Maimie can be comfortable and we can start filling the place with children as Teddy and I long to.’
