The Teashop Girls Read online

  Anya leapt from her seat and gave Flora a hug. ‘You sound like the Churchill man – but promise me you never smoke cigar. They stink.’

  Mildred snorted with laughter. ‘Imagine if Flora was the Prime Minister. She’d be banging everyone’s heads together and telling them they were bad boys for fighting.’

  Even Miss Tibbs smiled as the other ladies of Sea View laughed. ‘I’m still afraid, all the same,’ she said in a quiet voice.

  ‘There is no need. I promise to look after you,’ Mildred said. ‘Now, I have a visitor coming to see us all, and what she has to say may be a little disappointing for some of you. So please be kind, and don’t judge,’ she said, ‘or you’ll all have me to answer to.’

  ‘This all sounds rather intriguing, my dear,’ Miss Tibbs said, brightening up at once at the suggestion something untoward was about to happen.

  ‘You could say that I’ve been tidying up loose ends in my life, and this is one that still needs tidying,’ Mildred said with a mysterious look towards Flora.

  ‘Is this about you giving that house to the three girls?’ Miss Tibbs asked, trying to find out what Mildred was up to.

  ‘No, that’s a loose end that has been well and truly tidied. Whatever you may think, I have no need for Captain’s Cottage; and as I have no offspring, it made sense to hand it to Lily, Rose and Katie and see them enjoy it while I’m still around. It’s called putting my affairs in order.’

  ‘You are not going to die, are you?’ Anya asked, looking worried. ‘I would be sorry to see you not here anymore.’

  Mildred grinned. She was getting used to the Polish woman’s turn of phrase. ‘I’m perfectly well, thank you. As I said before, I want to put my affairs in order while I can see people enjoy my money. I think of those girls as the family I never had, and if this war has taught me anything, it’s that we should live for today. Now, I’m going to stand outside and wait for my visitor in case she has a change of heart about coming in.’

  Flora watched Mildred leave the room, before looking to where Anya had picked up her knitting and was frowning at a dropped stitch. ‘Anya, dear, Mildred’s idea about sorting out the loose ends in her life made me think about you.’

  ‘What do you mean?’ Anya said with a frown. ‘My life is here now. I have no loose ends in Poland. The Germans killed everything I hold dear.’

  ‘But the reason you came here. You’ve done nothing to find your husband. You seemed to think he was at Manston, but with the threat of invasion now closer, chances are Henio could be moved away . . . Or worse,’ she added, hoping not to upset her lodger.

  ‘Take note of what Flora is telling you,’ Miss Tibbs interrupted. ‘Act now, before he is killed like the rest of your family.’

  Flora held her breath, wishing the older woman hadn’t spoken so tactlessly. Miss Tibbs could be a dear, but her ageing years meant she was sometimes a little blunter than necessary.

  ‘I am frightened,’ Anya said, ignoring Miss Tibbs’ sharp words.

  ‘Why would you be frightened?’ Miss Tibbs asked, looking with concern at the sadness in Anya’s eyes.

  ‘Henio has new life now. Will he still want to know naive young woman from Poland? I think it better I stay here in Sea View and be with my new friends, and work as Sally for Joe Lyons and grow to be old maid like you,’ she said. ‘To be close to Henio is enough for me . . .’

  ‘Did you not write to your husband at the Manston airfield?’ Flora asked. As far as she was aware, Anya had sent a letter months ago.

  ‘No, the letter was not sent. It did not feel right, and now it will never be sent.’

  Miss Tibbs looked distressed. ‘But, my dear, he is your husband. He must be wondering what has happened to you?’

  Anya shrugged her shoulders. ‘I wish to leave things as they are. Now, who wants the cuppa or the cocoa?’ she asked, bringing the discussion to an end.

  Flora wasn’t fooled for one moment. She knew that Anya had spoken to her of her fears about meeting Henio, but thought she still held a candle for him. Anya had travelled for hundreds of miles searching for Henio; to give up now was foolish. Had she lost her nerve? Perhaps it was time to step in and help the young woman once and for all.

  Miss Tibbs struggled to her feet. ‘I think I’ll have an early night. All this upset has made me feel quite tired,’ she said as she collected her knitting and book. The sound of voices in the hallway stopped her in her tracks. ‘Perhaps I’ll wait for that cup of tea after all,’ she said, returning to her seat.

  Flora’s mouth twitched as she tried not to laugh. Miss Tibbs was not one to miss what was happening at Sea View. She had to confess to wondering who Mildred’s visitors were herself. The smile left her face as Rose walked into the room, followed by Katie and Lily as well as a smiling Mildred. ‘What a lovely surprise,’ she managed to say, while trying not to make eye contact with her daughter for fear of what she’d see.

  ‘The girls have some news to share with you,’ Mildred said, stepping to one side as Anya walked in with a tray of teacups. ‘Sit yourself down for a minute,’ she instructed the woman. ‘I think it best you all know at once. Where is Joyce? I don’t want to have to repeat everything a second time.’

  ‘She’s working late, and she has young Pearl with her.’

  Mildred thought for a moment. ‘Perhaps it’s for the best. This news isn’t right for young ears.’

  Flora frowned. What was Mildred going to say?

  ‘I think it’s best I take over, as it’s my business that most of you won’t be happy to hear,’ Lily said, jutting out her chin defiantly.

  Mildred raised her hand to stop Lily speaking further. ‘I talked you into coming here, so I take full responsibility. What you are about to hear may shock you, ladies, but please keep your thoughts to yourself. I want no outbursts and no opinions. Do you hear me?’ she said, looking towards Miss Tibbs.

  ‘I’m sure we are all reasonable women,’ the older woman said, looking slightly miffed.

  ‘Oh, for heaven’s sake,’ Lily said, pulling off her coat so that everyone present could see she was pregnant.

  The room fell quiet apart from a small gasp from Flora. ‘Is this why you moved out?’

  ‘I had my reasons for leaving Sea View and moving in with Rose, but it wasn’t because of bringing shame to you, if that’s what you’re thinking,’ Lily said. ‘I just wanted to be with my friend while I came to terms with my future.’

  ‘It’s not as if you could kick Lily out for bringing the guesthouse into disrepute, now, is it, Mum?’ Rose said, as she sat down beside a quiet Katie and stared hard at her mother.

  ‘Now is not the time for this, Rose,’ Flora said. She had no wish for her daughter to air their differences in public. She desperately wished to be able to sit down and talk to Rose alone, rather than involve their friends at this stage. Rose didn’t yet know everything about the past, and Flora’s dearest wish was for her to understand and for them to be friends once more.

  ‘A baby is such wonderful news. I wish you much joy,’ Anya said. ‘Miss Tibbs, you must show me how to knit a layette for the baby.’

  Miss Tibbs simply sucked in her cheeks and stared at Lily’s bare ring finger.

  ‘That’s right, I’m not married – and I have no wish to be,’ Lily said, waving her ring-free hand in the air defiantly. ‘There’s worse things happen at sea. It took Rose and Mildred to show me I could keep the baby and bring it up with the help of my friends.’

  ‘You would have had the child adopted?’ Miss Tibbs exclaimed.

  ‘No, I wouldn’t,’ Lily said, looking hard at the old woman and daring her to say more.

  Miss Tibbs bent her head to study the cover of the book on her lap and kept quiet.

  ‘I think it’s very brave of Lily. And with Mildred generously giving the three of us her house, we know Lily’s child will have a very good start in life,’ Rose said.

  So that’s the reason Mildred made her decision, Flora thought to herself. ‘When will yo
u be packing up work?’ she asked.

  Lily shrugged her shoulders. ‘I’ll work for as long as I can, and Rose says I can transfer to being a Sally when carrying the heavy tea trays becomes a problem.’

  ‘You cannot take my job,’ Anya said sharply.

  ‘There’s plenty of work for everyone,’ Rose said, giving Anya a smile. ‘You’ve no need to worry.’ The last thing she wanted was to cause unrest amongst her friends while her heart was aching over Ben.

  ‘If you’d been here half an hour ago, you’d have been worried sick,’ Miss Tibbs said, keen to add a little excitement to the discussion. ‘Have you heard that the army are pulling back to St Nicholas? That means we will be alone here when the invasion happens.’

  Rose gave her another hard look. ‘Do you honestly think that Winston Churchill would leave us all at the mercy of the Germans? Deliveries are still coming through from Lyons in London, and I’ve not heard a thing about them closing the teashops down. Have you heard anything at the Ramsgate teashop, Katie?’

  ‘Not a thing,’ Katie said. ‘And we are as busy as we’ve ever been. If people were that worried they would have started to move away from the area, wouldn’t they? It’s not as if they are being stopped.’

  Anya reached for a newspaper on an occasional table by the side of her armchair. ‘People will be leaving soon. They will make me go as well. Look.’

  Flora took the newspaper and quickly scanned the words.

  ‘What’s up, Mum?’ Rose asked, forgetting for a moment that she and Flora were at loggerheads.

  ‘It seems that all aliens will have to leave the Thanet area. I had heard about this down at the ARP centre. But I don’t think it means you will have to go, Anya, or even be interned. Aren’t the Polish on our side? Why, your husband is fighting for our country. You are not to worry,’ Flora said, leaning over to pat the woman’s hand. ‘I’ll have a word down at the police station and get it sorted out. They were very helpful when you first came to live with us.’

  Anya nodded, but she didn’t look convinced. ‘I will be at work tomorrow bright and early,’ she said, looking first at Rose before glaring at Lily. ‘You can be my helper – but nothing more. Do you understand, Lilee?’

  Lily laughed. ‘Your job is safe, Anya, never you fear.’

  ‘Do you think there will still be a dance at Dreamland tomorrow?’ Katie asked. ‘The army was organizing it and we’ve all had invitations.’

  Mildred reached into the pocket of her overalls and pulled out a crumpled card. ‘I was given an invitation, but I’m not one for dancing. Here, you have it,’ she said, pushing it into Flora’s hand.

  ‘Oh, I don’t know about that. I’m not one for such occasions,’ she said, seeing Rose look hopefully in her direction. ‘But – yes, thank you, Mildred. I’ll gladly take the ticket. Will you come too, Anya?’

  ‘Why not? I may as well enjoy myself before the English army lock me up,’ Anya said, in a tone that made her friends wonder whether she was jesting or not.

  ‘It is going to be the Silvano Caprice band. He plays for ENSA now,’ Katie explained. ‘Rose used to sing for him,’ she added, looking at Anya. ‘Although I was surprised when you received that note asking you to sing with the band, Rose.’

  Rose shrugged her shoulders. ‘He needed a singer and I like to sing. I wouldn’t read too much into it.’ She smiled.

  ‘I would like to hear you sing before I leave,’ Anya said, looking sad.

  Flora shook her head. She must find time to go down to the police station tomorrow, as she couldn’t take much more of her guests and their problems – especially when she wanted more than anything to spend time mending bridges with Rose. ‘My daughter has a beautiful voice. It will be a treat to hear her sing,’

  ‘The place is packed,’ Katie said as they pushed and squeezed their way through the crowd already standing on the dance floor, waiting for the first dance of the evening.

  ‘Let us hope Hitler does not invade this evening, as he will find most of the town in the one place,’ Anya said loudly, trying to be heard above the noise.

  ‘Always the cheerful one, aren’t you?’ Lily laughed. ‘I for one intend to enjoy myself this evening. Hitler or no Hitler, I won’t be out much when this little one comes along, so I’m making the most of things.’

  ‘You cannot dance with men in your condition,’ Anya said.

  ‘Try and stop me,’ Lily said, nudging an airman and dragging him to the middle of the floor as Silvano raised his baton. The band went into a rousing rendition of ‘I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm’.

  ‘We must sit down before we get grabbed,’ Anya said, steering Rose and Katie to where Flora was sitting at an empty table. They all sat down gratefully.

  ‘How did you manage to get a table?’ Katie asked.

  Flora grinned. ‘I said we were from the convent and here to save people’s souls.’

  The women shrieked with laughter.

  ‘You look very pretty, my love,’ Flora said, looking at Rose in a becoming red georgette dress decorated with a large white rose on the waistline.

  ‘So do you, Mum.’ Rose returned the compliment, thinking how young Flora looked in the navy-blue silk suit she’d worn for Katie’s wedding. Perhaps she could be civil to her for the evening, if she really tried hard.

  ‘Look, Rose,’ Flora said leaning close. ‘About what you found in the attaché case. We need to talk . . .’

  Rose raised her hand to halt the conversation. ‘No, Mum, let’s not talk about that. I’ll talk about anything but that, so please don’t say another word.’ She looked up and smiled as a lad in an ill-fitting army uniform asked her to dance, and didn’t look back as he led her to the dance floor for a foxtrot. When she returned to the table, Flora was no longer there. Rose looked around the room and spotted her in the arms of an RAF officer as they shuffled slowly around the floor.

  ‘They look cosy,’ Lily said, as she slid a glass of lemonade across the table towards Rose. ‘You’d best drink this before you start to sing. If Silvano is true to form he won’t offer you a sip of anything while you’re up on the stage. What are you singing this evening?’

  Rose dipped into her handbag and pulled out a scrap of paper. ‘I’m starting with “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” and then going straight into “You Made Me Love You”. What do you think?’

  ‘The crowd will love them. Are you only singing the two?’

  ‘You never know with Silvano. He could kick me off without a thank you after two songs, or I could be up there for half an hour. He did say he has the score for “I Cried for You” and also “Perfidia”, so I’ve brushed up on the lyrics in case he throws them at me.’ She didn’t add that part of her wished she wasn’t here at all, as singing romantic songs brought back thoughts of Ben that she was trying to bury deep down inside.

  ‘I’ll be bawling buckets of tears by the time you finish those songs. The words get to me every time you sing them.’

  ‘That was fun,’ Flora said as she arrived back at their table, her cheeks glowing pink from dancing.

  ‘I’ll be going to the stage now,’ Rose said. ‘Wish me luck.’

  ‘Let’s get closer to the front so we can see her,’ Katie whispered to Lily as they watched Rose go up the short flight of steps to join Silvano Caprice on stage. He announced her as ‘England’s answer to Helen Forrest’ before she went into her first song. Her lilting voice soared across the large hall as couples danced to the popular ‘Smoke Gets in Your Eyes’.

  ‘This takes me back to my younger days,’ Flora said, almost to herself.

  Katie turned to ask Flora what she meant, but Lily put a hand on her arm to stop her. ‘Best not go there, love,’ she whispered.

  They cheered and whistled as Rose finished her first song and straight away started the first lines of ‘You Made Me Love You’. The crowd stopped dancing and stood watching as Rose, her eyes closed, performed the song as if she was living the lyrics.

  Silvano walked over to R
ose and kissed her cheek as she bowed at the end of the song. ‘Isn’t she great, ladies and gentlemen? Would you like another song?’

  The crowd cheered and clapped as Rose blushed. Having been so wrapped up in the words of the song, she always forgot that others were listening and liking what they heard. So many had danced with loved ones, or had happy memories of the songs, and that was some of the pleasure she felt when sharing them with others.

  Silvano whispered in her ear before returning to raise his baton, and the musicians started to play ‘I Cried for You’.

  Katie gave a big sigh. ‘I love this song – it is so sad.’

  ‘You English are very strange. How can you enjoy a sad song so much?’ Anya said as she sat down at the table.

  ‘There’s nothing wrong with having a bit of a cry along to a sad song. I often put on a record and have a bit of a wallow,’ Katie said. ‘This song reminds me of my Jack and how we danced together in the kitchen of our flat after our wedding. It was so romantic – but a bit on the chilly side, what with the windows iced up and the fire not having been lit. I’ll never forget it,’ she sighed with a dreamy look in her eyes.

  Anya tutted and looked towards the stage. ‘Rose is in another world too, going by the look on her face. Is she crying over some man as well?’

  Lily watched as Rose brushed a tear from her cheek while continuing to sing. ‘She never did hear from that Ben after they went to London together, did she?’

  ‘He was a nice bloke,’ Katie said. ‘Didn’t he come back injured from Dunkirk?’

  ‘I’ve no idea,’ Flora said, listening to the girls’ chatter. ‘No one tells me a thing these days. Her customers see more of my daughter than I do.’

  ‘They seem to love her,’ Anya said as she lit a cigarette. ‘She should sing for a job rather than look after Joe Lyons’ teashop for him.’

  The four women watched as Rose came to the end of the song and smiled sweetly at the crowd, who once again clapped and cheered for more.