MB06 - The Sunshine of your Smile, page 6
This left Rosie totally confused. ‘Sure, it must be meself that’s not very clever, ’cos I can’t see why Paddy should be in pain just because he was hiding his nuts.’
Tommy pulled her close and whispered in her ear. ‘I’ll tell yer about it when we’re in bed tonight, my dearly beloved wife. But for now, don’t yer think it would be good manners to make me mam and dad a cup of tea?’
Rosie jumped to her feet, her hand covering her mouth. ‘Oh, it’s forgetting meself I am. But I’ll not be taking all the blame, and that’s the truth of it. If Auntie Molly hadn’t been so entertaining then yer’d all be sitting with a nice cup of tea in front of yer now.’
‘That’s right, blame me, sunshine,’ Molly said. ‘Me shoulders are broad enough.’
Tommy followed his wife to the kitchen. ‘I’ll give yer a hand with the cups.’
‘That’s a good excuse, son,’ Bridie said. ‘But don’t think we’re too soft not to know it’s a few stolen kisses ye’re after.’
Bob’s hand covered hers. ‘Everyone knows their own tricks best, sweetheart. And I still remember that after we got married there was many a night the dinner got cold because we preferred a kiss to a plate of stew. And, if it comes to that, we still do.’
Molly looked over to where her husband sat and jerked her head. ‘Are yer listening to this, Jack Bennett? I’m beginning to feel left out, unloved and unwanted. Have yer nothing to say about how we used to sneak kisses in the kitchen?’
The look in her husband’s deep brown eyes sent a thrill down Molly’s spine because it held all the love he felt for her. ‘We didn’t need to sneak kisses when we first got married, love, because we had the house to ourselves. But having three children in three years didn’t leave us much time or privacy for romance after that. During those three years I don’t think we had a full night’s sleep without one of the babies crying to be fed. But yer don’t need a kiss from me to tell yer how much I love yer, do yer?’
‘No, I don’t, sunshine. I got a good one when I got you, and I know when I’m well off. And it’s not only our children that hampered our romantic inclinations, or have yer forgotten my mate Nellie? She’s always come the back way at night, so she could peek through the curtains and see what we were up to. In fact, it’s not that long since she last did it.’
‘Oh, she’s no right to do that, sweetheart,’ Bridie said. ‘Sure, I’d have something to say if a neighbour of mine came spying.’
‘I had something to say all right, Ma, but it’s like water off a duck’s back. Jack was there, he’ll tell yer. Yer can call her all the names under the sun but she doesn’t turn a hair. The other week, me and Jack nearly jumped out of our skin when we saw her peeping through the window. And when I asked her what the hell she was playing at, and why she didn’t come to the front door like other people, she calmly said she’d come to see what me and Jack were up to, and if she’d knocked on the front door, we’d have stopped doing it and she’d have wasted her time.’
Tommy had been keeping an ear cocked in the kitchen. Now he put a finger over Rosie’s lips. ‘Shush, my love, and listen. We’ve got plenty of time for kisses when we’re in bed. Listen to how me Auntie Nellie plays Peeping Tom.’
So the two youngsters listened as Bridie said, ‘Sure, and what did she think she’d catch yer doing in yer own house?’
Molly glanced towards the kitchen before saying, softly, ‘She said she thought she’d catch us half-naked, making mad, passionate love. And yer know how easily she can put an act on. Well, she pretended to have a right cob on because Jack was only reading the paper and I was darning a hole in one of his socks.’
‘I told her I was sorry to disappoint her,’ Jack said, ‘and if I’d known she was coming I’d have tried to oblige. But all I got in reply to that was insults. Apparently I’m too ruddy slow to catch cold, and she’s glad she married a man with red blood in his veins who’s crazy about her voluptuous body.’
The whistling of the kettle had Molly signalling to remind her husband the youngsters were in the kitchen and that sort of conversation was not fitting for their ears. Not that Rosie was bashful, far from it. When she first came over from Ireland she’d had Bridie’s heart in her mouth every time she spoke. After being brought up in the country, with horses, pigs and sheep all around her, she thought nothing of seeing animals mating, and was bewildered when Bridie said it wasn’t the done thing to talk about it in company. Especially if there were ladies or children present.
Tommy came through with the tray, followed by Rosie with the teapot. And as they were pouring out the tea and handing the cups around, Bridie asked, ‘Did yer see Jill tonight, me darlin’?’
‘Yeah, she never misses a night, Ma. I look forward to her coming, then not long after she leaves, Tommy arrives. And I see Doreen and the baby every day, so I’m lucky with me family in that respect.’
‘Jill never forgets her grandma and granda, does she, Bob? She comes to see us a few times a week with Steve. They call in on their way down to Nellie’s. And Jill looks so bonny, prettier than ever.’
‘I’m not making fish of one and flesh of the other, I love all my grandchildren.’ Bob smiled at Molly, the only child he and Bridie had. They would have liked more, but it wasn’t to be. ‘But Jill has always been the gentle, caring one of the family. She would never hurt anyone if she could help it, not even a fly. She’ll make a marvellous mother.’
‘I’ll agree with yer to a certain extent, Da,’ Molly said. ‘Jill was the perfect child. Good-natured, quiet, never cheeky. And this was more noticeable because Doreen was just the opposite. Noisy, hard-faced, cheeky, and always had to be in the right. She’d have her own way if it killed her. But I’ve got to say there has been a big change in her since Phil came on the scene. Now they’re married, she adores him, and Victoria. She’s a cracking little housewife, keeps the house beautiful, waits on Victoria hand and foot, and is the perfect, loving mother. She has certainly surprised me and Jack, and we’re very proud of her.’
Tommy nodded. ‘I agree with yer, Mam, our Doreen’s a different person altogether. She used to be a real tomboy, battering me and Ginger if we wouldn’t let her play footie with us. She was bossy, cheeky, and never stopped talking. I never ever thought the day would come when I’d be lifting me hat off to her. But I do now, ’cos she’s turned out to be a smasher. And it’s all down to Phil Bradley.’
‘Did they never hear any more about having their name changed to Phil’s real dad’s name?’ Bridie asked. ‘It seems ages since it was mentioned.’
‘Funnily enough, Ma, there was a letter from the solicitor this morning, asking Phil to make an appointment to call into his office. The letter arrived after he had left for work, but Doreen said she couldn’t bear the strain of waiting to know what was in it, so she opened it. And it rather looks as if it’ll be finalized very soon, and Phil will have what he’s always wanted – to have his real dad’s name. He’s always hated the name Bradley, and yer can’t blame him considering what the family were.’
‘It’s his mother I just can’t understand.’ There was sadness on Bridie’s face as she slowly shook her head. ‘A lovely boy like that and she never sees him. Sure, it would break my heart, and that’s the truth of it.’
‘I spend a lot of time thinking about her, and wondering what sort of a mother she is. No matter what the circumstances, I couldn’t have done what she did.’ Molly heaved a deep sigh. ‘It’s over twenty years ago now, and in them days, having a baby out of wedlock was something that didn’t happen to nice girls. But when she found out she was pregnant after the man she was to marry was killed in an accident, she would have been better trying to fend for herself than marrying a rotter like Tom Bradley. I’m sure her family would have rallied around once they got over the shock. And it can’t have taken her long to realize the man she’d married was a burglar and a thief. He never did an honest day’s work, just lived by robbing and selling the goods on at any market. If Fanny, had had any pride, or love for her son, she would have got away from there quick, instead of having another three children to the villain and letting Phil be pushed into the background all the time.’
Jack was nodding. ‘It was a rum do altogether. Phil doesn’t talk about it now, but he told me once that he used to get hammered by his step-father, and his half-sisters and brother, because he wouldn’t go out robbing or breaking into houses with them. And his mother used to stand by and do nothing. It was as if she was obsessed with Tom Bradley, and anything he did was all right with her – even her own son being beaten and made a laughing stock of because he didn’t want to be like them. Phil must have a strong will because as soon as he left school he got himself a job and is as honest as the day is long. But there must be times when he thinks of his mother, and it must hurt to know she didn’t care enough about him to protect him from the rotter who was his step-father.’
Rosie knew little about Phil’s early years because it was something the family didn’t talk about, for his sake. But Tommy still had one memory fresh in his mind. ‘It’s funny how things work out, though, isn’t it? I remember the night Phil caught his brother trying to break into Miss Clegg’s house, and how he beat him up. All the neighbours were out because of the noise, and I can clearly remember our Doreen calling Phil’s name, then running home crying. We weren’t to know he was the lad she’d met at Barlow’s Lane dance hall, the one she never stopped talking about. And she didn’t know he was one of the Bradleys until she saw him in the entry that night. It must have been a terrible shock to her.’
‘A lot of lives were changed that night,’ Molly said. ‘And it was mostly down to Corker. He knew it wouldn’t be safe for Phil to go home after stopping his step-brother Brian from breaking into Miss Clegg’s. Phil had beaten him up and Corker was wise enough to know that wouldn’t go unrevenged. So that was the night Corker became Phil’s guardian, and the night Miss Clegg took the lad into her home. And apart from the time he was in the army, he’s been there ever since.’
Rosie’s eyes were like saucers as she listened. All that she was hearing was new to her, she didn’t have an inkling. ‘Tommy Bennett, yer’ve never told me about this! Sure, I never knew Phil was beaten by that horrible man, and that his mother used to stand by and watch. It’s terrible people they are, to be sure. And wasn’t it good that Uncle Corker was there when he was needed, and Aunt Vicky, the little love, taking Phil in? And he had Doreen, of course, who was crazy about him.’
‘Ah, well, Phil wasn’t so lucky with regard to Doreen, sunshine, she wouldn’t look at him for weeks. In the mornings she’d open our front door about the same time as he came out to go to work, and wouldn’t even look across the road at him. It must have been a shock to her to find out he was a Bradley because they had a terrible reputation for robbing from their neighbours, causing fights in the street and using foul language. She just knew him as Phil, and he’d never told her where he lived, so she had no idea. She’d fallen for him hook, line and sinker, and had even asked if she could bring him home to meet me and her dad. So finding out in such a way who he was must have broken her heart and dented her pride.’
‘But it all came out right in the end, Auntie Molly, and sure, like me and my beloved, they’re very much in love. And because of you and Auntie Nellie finding Phil’s real dad’s family, he’s got everything in life he could wish for.’
‘You’re right, sunshine, he’s a contented and happy man. And I’d be grateful if what we’ve talked about tonight isn’t repeated to him. Why remind him of the mother who practically disowned him, and whom he hasn’t seen for years?
‘I’ll not be saying anything, Auntie Molly, yer can depend on that. Sure, it’s one big happy family we are now, and I’ll not be the one to put a spoke in the wheel.’ Rosie’s infectious giggle brought a smile to every face. ‘Seeing as not one of us have got a bicycle, I should have said I’ll not upset the apple-cart.’
Tommy pulled her close, eyes full of the love he felt for this beautiful Irish girl. ‘None of us has an apple-cart either, my love.’
‘Now didn’t I think of that as the words were leaving me mouth, so I did. But, sure, wasn’t it too late to take them back? So I’ll not say I won’t put a spoke in it, I’ll say I won’t upset the apple-cart.’
‘But we haven’t got an apple-cart to upset, sweetheart.’ Tommy’s laughing eyes twinkled. ‘So what about that?’
‘Ah, yes, but wasn’t it meself that thought we stand more chance of getting an apple than we do a spoke. And don’t yer think that’s very clever of yer dearly beloved wife?’
He chucked her under the chin. ‘The most clever thing yer did in yer life, Rosie, was to marry a fine, upstanding, handsome man like meself.’
‘And what about me?’ Molly asked. ‘Wasn’t I the clever one who brought this fine, upstanding, handsome lad into the world? Without me, none of this would have come about.’
Bridie squeezed Bob’s hand before saying, ‘It’s meself that’s sitting here wondering where any of yer would have been without me and Bob? So I think we should have some of the credit for all the handsome and pretty members of the Bennett family. Not only did we give yer the gift of life, we also passed our good looks on to yer.’
Both Molly and Rosie had the same desire to kiss the man and woman they adored. In the rush, they collided with each other. But Rosie remembered one of her mammy’s sayings, that the young should always give way to anyone older than themselves, and stood back. ‘After you, Auntie Molly.’
With a smile and a wink, Molly said, ‘I’m glad yer didn’t say age before beauty, sunshine, ’cos that would have spoilt my day.’ She hugged her mother and kissed her on both cheeks before moving on to her father. ‘That’s for being the best ma and da in the world, and also for being responsible for each member of the family having the looks of a film star.’
Jack decided he wasn’t going to be left out. ‘Seeing as our Tommy is the spitting image of me, I don’t know why ye’re all congratulating each other. Praise where praise is due, that’s what I always say.’
‘Ah, yer poor thing!’ Molly nearly choked him when she put an arm around his neck. ‘We forgot all about yer, sunshine, and I know how yer hate being left out. And how could I have missed the obvious when Tommy is sitting facing me, looking exactly the same as you did at his age? Isn’t that why I fell for yer in the first place, because yer looked good enough to eat?’
‘Don’t be trying to work yer way into my good books, Molly Bennett, ’cos I’m wise to yer now. And talking about being wise, I think we should be making tracks for home.’
‘Ah, are yer not staying for a game of cards?’ Bridie looked disappointed. ‘Just the one game, sure, it’ll only take an hour.’
‘We’d love to, Ma, but Jack promised Mary he’d have Bella home early, and yer know what a worry she is over her daughter. She’s always wrapped the girl in cotton wool, and had to know where she is all the time. Except when she’s at school, of course, and even then Mary is standing at the front door half-an-hour before the kids are due home.’ Molly straightened her back and flexed her arm muscles. ‘I don’t know what she’ll do when Bella starts work or finds a boyfriend. That should be interesting.’
‘None of us can help the way we’re made, sweetheart. Some people take everything in their stride, others worry where there’s no need to. But as I say, it’s the way we’re made and there’s little we can do about it.’
Molly glanced at the clock. ‘I think Mary will be at the hand-wringing stage now. In five minutes she’ll be standing at the window, and in fifteen she’ll be at the police station to report a missing child.’
‘Then off yer go, sweetheart, ’cos it’s no use worrying the woman needlessly. Tell Doreen that me and Grandpa will be calling tomorrow afternoon to see how Bobby is, and pay our respects to Victoria.’
‘If yer get there about two o’clock, Ma, Bobby will have been fed, so yer’ll be able to sit and nurse him for a while. You and Victoria can take turns.’ After kissing her parents, Molly grinned when she saw Rosie and Tommy lining up by the door for their goodnight kiss. On the day Rosie had arrived from Ireland, looking so lost in this strange land and with tears of homesickness waiting to brim over, everyone had wanted to show her she was welcome and there’d been lots of hugs and kisses. And ever since that day she had been treated like one of the family in the Bennett household and the McDonoughs’. Bridie and Bob had given the young Irish beauty their love and their home.
‘Goodnight and God bless, Auntie Molly, and you, Uncle Jack.’
‘Goodnight and God bless, sunshine, and you keep on looking after this young son of mine. I’m not as fussy as Mary Watson, but underneath I worry just as much.’
‘Have no fear, mother dear,’ Tommy said. ‘She waits on me hand and foot, and takes good care of Grandma and Grandpa. Like me dad, I got a good one.’
Chapter Four
There was a spring in Elsie Flanaghan’s step as she neared the corner shop. She was feeling very happy with herself because her washing had been done and was at that moment wafting in the breeze. With a bit of luck it would be ready for ironing in a few hours. But in the meantime she was in the mood for a good chinwag and gossip. And what better place for that than the corner shop? She had a rare piece of gossip to share this morning, the best she’d had in ages. The women would be hanging on to her every word, even those who usually gave her the cold shoulder.
When Elsie pushed open the door of the shop, however, her spirits fell. There were only four people in the shop, two she only knew by sight, and two who had made it plain several times that they had more to do than listen to someone pulling other people to pieces. Still, what she had to tell them would have them rooted to the spot. Or so she thought. For each one she approached said they were in a hurry to get the washing out, and in a matter of minutes Elsie was left alone in the shop with Maisie standing behind the counter waiting to serve her.
