Megan of Merseyside
Read Megan of Merseyside Online
Authors: Rosie Harris
Contents
About the Book
She fell in love – he broke her heart
Young Megan Williams has come to Liverpool in search of work and a fresh start. She soon joins her father at Walker’s Shipping Company where his co-driver Robert Field takes a great interest in her. But she has fallen deeply in love with dashing Miles Walker and does all she can to discourage Robert.
Then, one fateful day, Megan’s world falls apart when her younger sister is killed in a tragic accident. Distraught, Megan is also faced with shocking revelations about Miles, which force her to realise he’s not the man she thought he was.
Heartbroken, but determined to get on with her life, Megan starts up her own business, but will she ever love again …?
About the Author
Rosie Harris was born in Cardiff and grew up there and in the West Country. After her marriage she resided for some years on Merseyside before moving to Buckinghamshire where she still lives. She has three grown-up children, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, and writes full time.
Megan of Merseyside
is her eleventh novel for Arrow.
Also by Rosie Harris
Liverpool Sagas
Turn of the Tide
Patsy of Paradise Place
Looking for Love
Winnie of the Waterfront
The Cobbler’s Kids
A Mother’s Love
Waiting for Love
A Dream of Love
Love Changes Everything
Whispers of Love
The Price of Love
Welsh Sagas
Troubled Waters
One Step Forward
Pins and Needles
At Sixes and Sevens
Sunshine and Showers
The Power of Dreams
Sing for Your Supper
Love Against all Odds
A Love Like Ours
The Quality of Love
Ambitious Love
A Brighter Dawn
For Rob and Andy Wotherspoon
And, of course, Edna, Alison and John
Acknowledgements
Once again many thanks to Georgina Hawtrey-Woore and all her colleagues. Also to Caroline Sheldon for her continued support.
Chapter One
MEGAN WILLIAMS KNEW
that there was something troubling her dad the minute he came home from work. Even after he had washed away the slate dust from his hands and face Watkin Williams still looked grey and rather preoccupied.
‘What’s wrong, Dad?’ she asked solicitously. ‘Don’t you feel too well?’
‘Your dad’s tired, that’s all,’ her mother said as she placed a steaming dish of potatoes in the centre of the table. ‘He’ll be all right once he’s eaten.’
‘No, Megan’s right.’ His frown deepened. ‘There is something you should all know about. I’m changing my job!’
‘Oh? Why is that, then?’ Kathy Williams asked mildly.
Megan felt a chill run through her as she saw the way her father’s mouth tightened and the fine lines around his dark eyes deepened.
‘As you know, things have been very slow at Pengarw. There’s been no overtime for months and now they’re even starting to lay men off.’
‘You mean they’re talking of giving you the sack!’ Megan exclaimed in a shocked voice.
‘I’m afraid so.’ Watkin sighed.
Kathy Williams frowned. ‘A minute ago you said you were changing your job. Now you’re
saying
you’ve been laid off. So which is it?’
‘One leads to the other,’ he said tersely. ‘It’s the end of the road at the Pengarw Slate Quarry, so I decided to find something else before they decided to sack me.’
‘You’re a right one for making a fuss about nothing, and no mistake,’ Kathy exclaimed. ‘Things might only be slack for a month or so,’ she added hopefully.
Nevertheless, her grey eyes clouded with sudden concern. Watkin had always been a conscientious worker and brought home a regular pay packet. Even though he handed over most of his wages for housekeeping, Kathy often found it hard to manage with their two girls, Megan and Lynn, both still at school, and she knew she’d never be able to make ends meet if he was on the dole.
‘Don’t worry. Something will turn up,’ she murmured, as much to console herself as him.
‘At my age it’s no good sitting around just waiting for better times or hoping for another job to drop into my lap,’ Watkin said sharply. ‘There’s precious little work going round here which is why I’ve already made up my mind about what I’m going to do. I waited until I’d sorted things out before worrying any of you about how serious things were.’
‘Does that mean you’ve got another job?’ Kathy asked.
Watkin nodded. ‘Yes, I have. I’ll still be driving a lorry, but it means moving back to Liverpool.’
Kathy’s face lit up and her mood changed immediately
from
one of concern to one of jubilation. Megan couldn’t ever remember seeing her so excited before.
‘We’re going to leave here and go back to live in Liverpool?’ Kathy Williams stared at her husband in delight. ‘Oh, Watkin, how wonderful!’ Her plump, round face creased into a beaming smile. ‘It’s my dearest wish come true! Better than any holiday.’ Impulsively, she hugged her husband and kissed him on the cheek.
‘You think moving to Liverpool will be a holiday?’ Megan stared at her mother in dismay. ‘I think it sounds more like a life sentence,’ she muttered unhappily.
She was deeply dismayed by the thought of leaving the slate-roofed stone cottage which clung like a limpet to the rock face at the top of the steep narrow road that led out of Beddgelert. It had been their home for the past five years and she felt distraught at the thought of moving away from the mountains that ringed the picturesque village like friendly giants. Their peaks rose proud against the skyline, pointing a warning when swirling grey clouds threatened rain or snow.
‘Our Megan’s got her rag up,’ Lynn chortled, her grey eyes gleaming maliciously as she saw the consternation on her sister’s face. ‘It’s because she doesn’t want to be parted from her boyfriend, Ifan Jenkins,’ taunted Lynn slyly.
‘Don’t talk so stupid!’ Megan rounded angrily on the younger girl, her dark eyes fiery, her full mouth a tight line.
‘Now, then, there’s no need to carry on like that,’
Watkin
reprimanded as Megan pushed her sister away.
He looked from one daughter to the other in bewilderment. ‘It’s not like you to get yourself so upset, Megan,’ he said uneasily. ‘Come on, now, let’s get on with our meal before everything goes cold.’
‘Going back to the ‘Pool will be like a new lease of life,’ Kathy interrupted ecstatically. ‘I can’t believe it! You say we’ll be living right in the heart of the city. That means we’ll be in the thick of things instead of being cut off from the real world and stuck out in the sticks like we are here.’
Her face was alight with happiness at the thought of big shops, noisy trams, crowds of people and the general bustle that the very name Liverpool conjured up for her.
Megan sensed that her own outburst had startled her father almost as much as his news had stunned all of them. If only he had warned them about what he was planning to do instead of springing it on them so suddenly. Surely he must have realised how upset she would be by such news?
She loved the grandeur and tranquillity of North Wales and had always thought he did as well. She was never happier than when the two of them were leaning on the bridge in Beddgelert, watching the crystal clear waters of the River Glaslyn flowing beneath the grey stone arches. Or when they wandered along the river bank, following the Glaslyn as it meandered its way down to Porthmadog and out into Cardigan Bay. As they walked he told her about Taliesin, The Lord Rhys, Llywelyn ap
Gruffudd
, Owain Glyndwr and all the other Welsh heroes of the past. Wonderful magical stories, a tapestry of folklore and fact.
‘In the end, it will be for the best, Megan,’ he assured her earnestly.
She looked away quickly, afraid he might see the silent accusation in her eyes. She felt so betrayed. She was quite sure he’d hate leaving North Wales as much as she would. Most of all, though, she felt hurt that he’d not confided in her before making such a decision.
There was a lump in her throat as she looked around her, memorising every item in the stone-flagged room: the two well-used armchairs, one either side of the slate hearth, an oak settle piled with blue cushions, the Welsh dresser with its display of pretty dishes and ornaments. There was a fire in the black-leaded grate despite the August heat, and in front of the polished steel fender was the blue rag-rug she’d helped Granny Williams to make when they’d first come to live with her.
‘We can always come back again, if it doesn’t work out,’ her father said placatingly, breaking into her reverie.
Megan nodded, but she knew they wouldn’t. To return would be a sign of failure. Her father was too inflexible ever to admit defeat.
A small, wiry man, Watkin Williams had a will of iron. He always stuck by his convictions. If they were wrong then he bore the consequences in silence. Having resolved to leave Beddgelert nothing would bring him back again.
Most of the other men he worked alongside at
the
Pengarw Slate Quarry had probably shrugged their shoulders when they’d heard rumours that they might be laid off. When it happened they’d sign on and draw their dole money and make the best of things, but Watkin’s principles wouldn’t allow him to do that.
He hadn’t mentioned the matter to his family because he regarded it as his responsibility to support them by bringing home a wage packet each week.
It would have been a waste of time to talk to his wife about such matters. Easy-going, Kathy Williams always took the path of least resistance. Watkin was the one who made all the decisions. She was quite happy to put off anything she considered tedious. If the sun was shining she would cheerfully leave the washing or baking until the next day and take a picnic down to the beach at Porthmadog. Or she would potter around outside in the garden when she should have been making the beds or cleaning the house.
Watkin tolerated her short-comings without a murmur. If she overcooked the weekend joint, they simply poured thick gravy over it; if she burned the apple-pie then they covered it with custard.
For all her happy-go-lucky ways, though, they were a united family. Kathy inevitably agreed with whatever her husband said whether she believed he was right or not. And because of this, Watkin always tried to do his very best for her and his two daughters and ensure they were all happy and content.
Megan, slim, dark haired and dark eyed, was nearest in looks and temperament to Watkin. They
thought
alike over most things and, like him, Megan was both determined and tenacious.