Page 40 of The Winter Bride

Soon the mourners were eating and chatting amongst themselves as Annie sat back and watched as if in a trance. Unknown to Annie, Reggie had had his eyes fastened on her throughout the service and as Peggy and Levi went to get something to eat, he wasted no time in taking a seat at the side of her.

‘How are you feeling?’ His voice dripped honey as he made to take her hand in his, but she snatched it away.

‘How would you expect me to be feeling? I’ve just buried my husband!’ She stared at him coldly. ‘What do you want?’

‘There’s no need to be like that,’ Reggie purred. ‘It’s up to me to step in and make sure that you and Adam are all right now that Monty isn’t here any more.’

Annie glared at him. ‘I don’t need you to do anything. I’m more than capable of taking care of myself and Adam. And so – as I’ve told you before – keep away from us!’ She stood and flounced across to where Charlie and Joshua were standing.

Reggie’s eyes followed her, and he scowled. The little bitch could say what she wanted but he wasn’t done with her yet, not by a long shot!

Annie studiously avoided him for the rest of the afternoon and when all the food and drink was gone and the mourners finally began to depart, she breathed a sigh of relief.

‘Can we go home now?’ she asked Peggy.

She nodded. ‘O’ course we can, pet. Come on, yer look all in.’ Putting her arm about Annie’s waist she gently steered her towards the door. It had been a long hard day for all of them.

Chapter Twenty

February 1924

Two weeks after Monty’s death, Peggy and Levi had returned to their cottage, and suddenly the house felt empty, as if it had lost its soul. As young as he was, little Adam seemed to be missing Monty and Nancy regularly burst into tears. Monty had shown her nothing but kindness since she had moved in and she missed his friendly face. Even Alfred had changed, and moped about the place with his tail between his legs.

During the day Annie tried to stay cheerful for the sake of them all but at night when Nancy and Adam were in bed, she wept bitter tears. She had grown to love Monty and she bitterly regretted that she had never told him so. But it was too late for regrets and with her usual spirit she got on with things.

She hadn’t visited the shop yet, feeling that people would see it as a mark of disrespect so soon after Monty’s death, but she had started to feel claustrophobic and bored. She was also a little peeved to find that her presence in the shop wasn’t missed. Susan had it running like a well-oiled machine and could hardly keep up with the demand for the clothes. The profits far exceeded Annie’s hopes or expectations, and she wondered if it was time to branch out and rent another shop somewhere else.

Her mother-in-law called in at least once a week to see Adam and on one such visit she annoyed Annie when she said, ‘Well, at least you aren’t leaving Adam to go to the shop any more.’

Annie bristled – the woman had a habit of making her do that. ‘Actually I was thinking it might be time to consider opening another shop somewhere else.’

‘Whyever would you want to do that?’ Mrs Taylor-Lloyd raised her eyebrow disapprovingly as she sipped daintily at the tea Nancy had made for her.

‘Well, the Nuneaton shop is running perfectly well without me, and I feel like a new challenge might be good for me,’ Annie answered primly.

‘I believe that a woman’s place is in the home. Adam needs his mother around, unless you’d like me to take care of him, of course?’ the woman answered tartly.

‘There’ll be no need for that, thank you,’ Annie said firmly. ‘Nancy is more than capable of caring for Adam when I’m not here. And as for a woman’s place being in the home, I disagree. The war changed that when women had to do the work of the men.’

Mrs Taylor-Lloyd sniffed her disapproval. She’d learnt that Annie had a mind of her own. That was obviously one of the things Monty had loved about her, although she couldn’t for the life of her see why.

‘Well, at least give it a little thought before you decide. My poor Monty isn’t even cold in his grave yet. What would people think if you were to set off on a new venture so soon?’

Annie pursed her lips but remained silent. She’d realised a long time ago that she and her mother-in-law were never going to see eye to eye.

Twenty minutes later there was a knock on the front door and when Annie answered it, she found Reggie standing there.

‘I thought I’d bring the car round to take Mother home, seeing as it’s such a filthy day,’ he told her.

‘Oh . . . then you’d better come in. I think she’s almost ready to leave,’ Annie said reluctantly. For the last month, Reggie had used every excuse he could to visit and Annie was thankful Nancy was always there with her. She dreaded to think what might have happened if she wasn’t. She still didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him.

‘Ah, darling, how thoughtful of you,’ his mother simpered when she saw him. ‘Is it still raining?’

‘Cats and dogs, I’m afraid.’

Thankfully they left soon after and when they’d gone Nancy frowned. ‘I don’t like ’im. An’ it ain’t cos of his scars. I see ’im hoverin’ about out the front sometimes, just walkin’ back an’ forth, an’ he gives me the creeps.’

‘Just never let him in if I’m not here,’ Annie warned her and the girl nodded as she loaded the tea things onto the tray.