‘See you soon I hope,’ he said, and Florence nodded mutely. Then he kissed her on the cheek, and she knew she was blushing but hoped everyone would think it was the wine.
She and Jack donned their coats, scarves and hats and they walked towards the door.
‘You gotta kiss her, man,’ Ronnie called out.
Jack stood awkwardly beneath the mistletoe, his hands in his pockets. He bent and gave her a peck on the cheek.
‘Nah! That won’t do at all,’ Ronnie added. ‘Go on, son. Give it some welly.’
Ignoring him, Jack just pushed open the door and strode out. Had Florence seen longing in his eyes, just for a moment? Or was that only her wishful thinking?
The sky was clear and the moon was full as they walked home without speaking.
CHAPTER 24
Early April, 1945
Florence had postponed her second visit to her mother, but now that the weather was so much nicer, she asked for a few days off and took the train just as she had before, this time arriving as the blossom was at its prettiest. The war wasn’t over yet, but the cheerful flowers blithely declared that it soon would be. She remembered Claudette’s pinched white face the last time she’d seen her, but this time her mother met her at the door and immediately took both her hands in her own. Florence had worried Claudette might still be buried somewhere in her lost chances and broken dreams, but instead she was smiling. If there had been soul-searching since Florence’s last visit it wasn’t showing.
‘Chérie,it has been too long. I was hoping you might come sooner.’
‘I’ve been working, saving money to go to Malta. I did explain. And I’m trying to figure out how I might get there. Even when the war ends, I don’t think it’s going to be easy.’
‘You said your job was part-time.’
‘It is, evenings and weekends, buteveryevening and weekend except over Christmas.’
‘I can help you with money to get to Malta,’ Claudette offered. ‘Anyway, I’m glad you’re here now. Come on in and I’ll make some tea. I’m afraid it’s only mint tisane: just can’t get hold of decent black tea. They sweep it off the floor along with the dust, I’m certain.’
‘The shortagesaregetting worse. But it will be over soon won’t it, the war?’
Her mother nodded. ‘Just a few days ago I heard on the wireless that American troops had taken Okinawa, the last island held by the Japanese.’
At first, Florence thought her mother had forgotten her promise to be more open, as they spent much of the afternoon peacefully working together in the garden and listening to the wireless in the evening. The door to the past remained firmly closed, but her patience was rewarded on the evening of the second day when Claudette spoke up, almost out of the blue.
‘I did love the man you believed was your father,’ Claudette said. ‘You asked me about that when you were here before.’
Florence wondered if her mother was about to rewrite history, wondered if she might hear some anodyne version of the truth and she held her breath for a moment,aware of the open door to the hall and the ticking of the grandfather clock.
Exhaling slowly, she tried to hold in her own emotions. ‘Yes, and honestly I’m so relieved to hear it.’
‘He was a good man, but Friedrich … well, he was different.’
‘I liked him,’ Florence said simply. ‘And his son Anton, my half-brother. I don’t know how long after the war it will be until I can see them again.’
Her mother narrowed her eyes. ‘You definitely want to see them?’
‘I think so, but I’m not sure I could go to Germany … You said Friedrich was different from Father. Do you mind telling me in what way?’
Florence felt the atmosphere in the room change and a distant look came into her mother’s eyes. ‘Oh chérie … he was my soul, my life.’
Florence reached out a hand and her mother squeezed it.
‘When you were here before I was too shocked to speak. I had concealed everything for so long, buried it, tried to stamp it out. I thought I’d succeeded but when you said you’d met him and my secret was out, I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me.’
‘Maman,’ Florence murmured, feeling a little guilty to have caused such distress.
Claudette sighed and her eyes glazed over.
