‘Oh, but we’ll still be flower girls though, won’t we?’ Jessie asked anxiously. ‘Uncle Charlie promised.’
Bobby laughed. ‘No matter how we manage things, Jess, I promise the two of you will be there with baskets of petals over your arms.’
‘I do hope you can do it in May, when there’ll be plenty of flowers to be had.’ Mary looked rather dreamy. ‘A girl ought to be married in the spring, when the landscape is as blooming as she is. I can just see you, Bobby, ornamented by nature – always the best ornaments for a bride – and Charlie so handsome inhis uniform. What a happy day that will be! There was a time I despaired of seeing that young rascal respectably wed.’
‘Have you had a letter recently?’ Bobby asked, as casually as she could. She had seen Gil drop something in, but someone had scooped it up before she could see the envelope.
‘Aye, we had one this morning. Were there not one for you?’
Bobby felt as if she could breathe again. If Mary had had a letter, that meant Charlie must be safe.
But then why was there nothing for her?
‘Not this week,’ she said. ‘It’s been held up, I suppose.’
Mary nodded. ‘You can’t rely on post from military. I don’t know what they do with it. I’m sure half of it must get tipped in with the salvage or used to light campfires.’
‘Yes. I’m sure that’s it.’
It was strange though. If a letter from Charlie had come through to Moorside, why should those he had written to her at the house across the way have disappeared into the ether? While Bobby was relieved he was safe, she couldn’t help worrying that something else might be wrong – something that involved him and her.
Chapter 26
The sun shone as Athertons, Scotts and Parrys walked to the church to celebrate a coupling that, although it had been less than a year since the two people involved had first met, still felt too long in coming. Tony walked with Reg and Rob, seemingly anxious to make a good impression as he chatted and cracked jokes. Mary shepherded Florrie and Jessie, endeavouring to make sure they didn’t soil their best clothes by indulging in their favourite pastime of jumping in puddles. Bobby, meanwhile, took the opportunity to have a little quiet conversation with her sister.
‘It’s strange, isn’t it?’ she said dreamily to Lilian.
‘What?’
‘Well, this. Ten months ago, I saw a plane crash into a mountain. When we found Teddy, he was so broken, his breathing so weak, I daren’t let myself believe he’d survive the night. And now I’m to be maid of honour on his wedding day.’
‘They’ve had quite the love story, those two, haven’t they?’ Lilian said with an appreciative sigh.
‘And with the best of endings. It looked shaky for a while. Teddy was so determined Topsy could have a better life without him. It feels odd to think she could have been marrying Archie today.’
‘Her cousin won’t be coming, I suppose.’
Bobby laughed. ‘What, didn’t I tell you? Archie’s to give her away.’
Lilian blinked. ‘You’re joking! After she ditched him?’
‘It was a little more complicated than that. Archie played his part as much as any of us in bringing them together. Anyhow, he’s thrilled for them.’
‘A true happily ever after,’ Lilian said, simpering. ‘Let’s hope you’ll get yours soon too, Bobby. 1942 seems to be the year for weddings.’
Bobby nudged her, nodding in Tony’s direction. ‘Speaking of which, how’s life for the newlyweds?’
Lilian smiled at her husband, who was now deep in conversation with Reg. He caught her eye and smiled a little bashfully back.
‘He’s really trying, bless him,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to count any chickens. It is early days still. But now we’re out of that awful suffocating house of his mother’s, it finally feels like we’ve got the chance to be happy.’ She coloured slightly. ‘He said he loved me last night.’
‘He’s said it before, hasn’t he?’
‘Yes, but this felt different. Before, I felt like he said it because he knew he ought to. But this time, when he was holding me and looking into my eyes the way men do in films… it felt real, Bobby.’
‘Did you say it back?’
‘Not yet. I couldn’t say it unless I was really sure I felt it. But if things keep on as they are… then soon, I hope.’ She smiled softly. ‘I never would have believed Tony Scott could be the one for me, but adversity makes for strange bedfellows, as they say – sometimes quite literally.’
