‘Humph!’ Her uncle ignored the piece of paper and when she asked to be excused from the table, Amber wondered if her request had perhaps upset him. But then, she reasoned, he didn’t have to do anything he didn’t want to.
She went up to her room then to give Biddy time to clear the pots from the dining-room table and shortly after, she met Mrs Carter in the hall and they set off for their walk along the front. There was a Punch and Judy kiosk on the beach and they paused to watch the children’s faces as they giggled and clapped at Mr Punch with glee whist their parents looked fondly on. Others were busily building sandcastles with brightly painted tin buckets and spades while a few more daring children were paddling in the sea. The town was becoming busy with holidaymakers now and Amber couldn’t help but think how nice it must be to be able to afford to stay in a hotel and be waited on – not that she begrudged them their break. It was nice to see so many happy, smiling faces.
‘My uncle informed me tonight that he don’t think I should work in the shop anymore,’ Amber told Mrs Carter as they leant on the iron railings overlooking the beach that ran all along the sea front.
‘Oh, and how do you feel about that?’
Amber shrugged. ‘I suppose he’s right. The least people that know about this the better an’ I am showin’ well now.’
‘In that case we shall have to find you something to do,’ Mrs Carter told her. ‘I’ve got some nice soft linen, perhaps you could make some little nightdresses for when the baby comes.’
Amber’s face became solemn as she shook her head. ‘What would be the point, seein’ as I ain’t goin’ to keep it? I dare say they supply the clothes for the babies at the poorhouse.’
‘Even if they do, you’ll need to keep it just for a few days or so and we’ll need to make sure it has something to wear,’ Mrs Carter pointed out sensibly.
Suddenly the pleasure had gone from the evening for Amber and saying that she was rather tired she turned back towards her uncle’s house. Once there she went to her room where she lay on the bed, crying broken-heartedly. Suddenly everything seemed such a mess and she wondered if her life would ever be the same again. And all because she’d believed Barnaby Greenwood when he had told her that he loved her and that they would be together one day. She had fallen in love with him and gone into his arms like a lamb to slaughter, but she had meant nothing to him and now she must pay the price.
*
Two nights later, after a boring day sitting at her bedroom window watching the world go by, Amber tidied herself and went downstairs to wait for her uncle to return from work so that they could have dinner together. He was usually so punctual that you could have set the clocks by him, but tonight six fifteen came and went and there was still no sign of him. By the time it got to seven o’clock Mrs Carter was clearly very disturbed.
‘Oh dear, I do hope he hasn’t had an accident. This is most unlike him,’ Martha Carter fretted as she stared along the road from the window for at least the tenth time in as many minutes. ‘I’d better go and get Biddy to put his dinner on a pan of water on the stove or it will be stone cold and ruined. Would you like yours now?’
Amber shook her head, feeling sorry for the woman. She obviously cared a great deal for her uncle and she just wished he wasn’t so blind that he couldn’t see it. ‘No, thank you, I’ll wait for Uncle Jeremiah,’ she told her.
‘Then I’ll get Biddy to keep yours warm too,’ Mrs Carter said, bustling away to try and save their meal.
Deep down Amber was getting a little concerned too. Her uncle was a creature of habit, and in the time she’d been living there she’d never known him to be late for his meal once.
At last, at almost half past seven, she heard a key in the lock of the front door and she hurried from the dining room at the same time as Mrs Carter appeared from the kitchen. Suddenly, they both stopped dead in their tracks as they stared towards Jeremiah who was standing there with a large bag in one hand and a squirming puppy in the other, his face red with embarrassment.
‘Wh-what’s this?’ Martha Carter surged forward with a look of wonder on her face and he thrust the puppy into her arms.
‘Er .?.?. Amber mentioned that she thought you’d like a dog,’ he said gruffly. ‘So I, er?.?.?. got you this one?.?.?. It’s a bitch.’
‘Oh Jeremiah, she’s justperfect,’ Mrs Carter breathed in delight, her eyes shining.
Suddenly Jeremiah noticed how attractive she looked when she blushed, which made him blush all the more. It was the first time she had ever addressed him by his Christian name and he found that he quite liked it.
‘So, er?.?.?. is dinner spoilt?’ he asked for want of something to say. Amber had crossed to pet the little dog too and he almost felt as if he mightn’t have been there. Both women were clearly very taken with her.
‘Oh yes?.?.?. yes, of course, your meal.’ Mrs Carter was so thrilled with her gift that she’d completely forgotten about his dinner but now she turned and rushed back to the kitchen.
Amber looked on with a broad smile on her face as her uncle said awkwardly, ‘I got some dog food, dog dishes and a collar and lead for her. I wasn’t sure what else a dog might need but I’m sure you two will be able to see to anything else.’
Amber took the bag from him, resisting the urge to stand on tiptoe and kiss his cheek. Although she had told him how much Mrs Carter would love a pet, she really hadn’t expected him to act on it and it just went to show that he was wasn’t as hard as he liked to make out.
‘That was a lovely thing for you to do, Uncle,’ she told him softly. ‘I’ll just take these through to the kitchen and then we can have our dinner.’
‘Hmm!’ He quickly strode away to wash his hands, and when Amber entered the kitchen she found Mrs Carter and Biddy both down on their knees fussing over the new member of the household as she furiously licked every part of them she could reach.
‘She’s just adorable,’ Mrs Carter declared. ‘And I can’t believe that Mr Harding would do such a kind thing.’ Then, suddenly remembering the meals, she went to rise.
Amber held her hand up. ‘No, you settle her in,’ she urged. ‘I’ll take our dinners through on a tray. Oh, and you might like to think what you’re going to call her. She’ll have to have a name, won’t she?’
Mrs Carter grinned as the little dog rolled on her back for a tummy rub. ‘I think I shall call her Fancy,’ she declared and both Biddy and Amber nodded their approval. It suited her somehow.
By the time Amber had placed the meals on the table her uncle was seated and she smiled. ‘I believe the new addition to the family is going to be called Fancy,’ she informed him and again he looked uncomfortable as he ran his finger round the inside of his shirt collar.
