Paint on the Smiles (31 page)

‘I should go back to Ada, she might be on her own. I don’t think she’d have spent the whole evening with Melanie.’

‘We’ll go to see her as soon as the chimes end.’ Gareth promised, then persuaded her to leave the crowded hall. She managed to get to the cloakroom and collect her winter coat and matching hat. She had difficulty finding Gareth again but he was standing at the door, calling, waving. He took her hand and they walked with an increasing trickle of people heading towards the town centre and the big clock.

‘I think this coming year could be a special one for many reasons,’ Gareth said as they strolled along the well-lit streets to where a huge crowd had gathered to watch the clock signal the end of 1945. ‘For us, I mean,’ he said. ‘We’ve been through a lot since the time our wedding was cancelled. Perhaps now, being older and a great deal wiser and on my part a lot more understanding, we could start again. Who knows, we could reach a time when a wedding wouldn’t be unthinkable.’

‘It’s too soon,’ Cecily protested.

‘Oh, I’m not thinking of now, or next month. But perhaps this New Year will be the last we celebrate as two separate people, eh?’

She tightened her grip on his hand, her only reply, but he smiled and bent down to lightly touch her lips with his own.

‘Happy New Year, love,’ he whispered.

The promise, half made, half agreed, lightened their mood further and they began to dance along the pavement with Gareth singing. Soon others joined in and the crowd swayed to the tunes they sang with enthusiasm.

Over the heads of the crowd, Gareth saw the tall figure of Edwin standing beside Van under the brightly decorated Christmas tree.

Gareth danced Cecily over to join them, making a path for them without complaints.

‘Fancy spotting you two in all this crush,’ Gareth said, as he and Edwin shared a conspiratorial wink.

Cecily looked at her daughter and said brightly, ‘A very happy 1946, lovey,’ as though there had been nothing more than a momentary disagreement between them.

She moved to kiss Van’s cheek and was relieved when Van didn’t move away. Then as the chimes rang out and the crowd cheered, she was brought to tears as Van kissed her lips and hugged her. Then, disobeying her husband’s wishes by only a minute, she said in a tight voice, ‘Mam,
I’m sorry. Revenge doesn’t mean anything in the end, only regret and guilt. A Happy New Year.’

She hugged her mother again then moved to stand beside Edwin as he said, ‘There’s someone else here waiting for a hug.’ From behind him a small, nervous woman stepped out. ‘Come on, Auntie Kitty, give ’em both a hug.’

‘Mam!’ Cecily held her mother’s small body against one side, Van against the other. Over their shoulders, Gareth and Edwin nodded approval and they winked to each other again, before wrapping their loving arms around the three sobbing women.

Time to Move On
The Runaway
Facing the World
Gull Island
Goodbye to Dreams