The Price of Love (29 page)

Lucy tried to calm down but she still felt frightened and when Robert brought in their cocoa she was still shivering and tears were trickling down her cheeks.

Robert put their cups down on the table and sat on the arm of the chair. Then he put his arm round Lucy’s shoulder and murmured words of comfort to try and console her as if she was a child.

In minutes she felt so safe and reassured that she was gradually able to relax. They sat like that for quite a while; they didn’t talk but sipped their cocoa in companionable silence until her trembling gradually subsided.

Their closeness brought back memories to Lucy of happier times when they had always been close like this. It was something she had missed so much and, not for the first time, she wished she could turn the clock back.

As Robert took her empty cup from her and moved to put it on the table along with his own she felt a tremor of deep affection for him run through her.

When he turned round and held out a hand to pull her to her feet she was aware from his touch that the cool reserve that he’d shown ever since she had moved into his house seemed to have disappeared. The next moment they were in each other’s arms.

For the briefest moment Lucy stiffened, wondering if it was foolish to try and recapture what had once been something so memorable between them. Then her overwhelming longing and need for the closeness they’d known overcame her qualms and with a sigh of pleasure she relaxed in his arms.

His passionate words as he kissed her were at first gentle and soothing then his increasing ardour stirred her own feelings. As she submitted to his kisses and sensitive touch it was as if all the old magic was restored.

Once again she was being transported into realms of delight but this time it was far more intense than anything she’d ever experienced before in the whole of her life.

Robert was gentle and considerate, but far more passionate than she had ever known him to be. As they clung together in the flickering firelight, their lovemaking surpassed all her memories. She wanted their reunion to go on for ever but Robert, whispering how very late it was, brought her back to reality.

For several minutes they lay entwined, enjoying their closeness to each other. Robert’s sweet whispers expressing how he felt filled her with happiness. Then a plaintive cry from Anna shattered their bliss.

Once she stood up and his arms were no longer round her, the feeling of anxiety returned. Shivering uncontrollably she hurried upstairs. Automatically she checked on Anna and found that she was sleeping and that the blankets were tucked in around her. Still shivering she crept into her own bed and huddled there, hugging her knees in an effort to stop herself from shaking.

Seconds later she felt a movement and then Robert’s arms were round her once more as he slipped in beside her. Within a few minutes she was asleep.

When she woke next morning she was alone and for several minutes she lay there wondering if he really had been lying there alongside her the night before or whether that and their lovemaking had all been a dream.

Anna’s whimpering aroused her and, realising that she had overslept, Lucy hurriedly washed and dressed. She felt annoyed that it had happened today of all days, when it was important to make sure that Sam was up and ready to go along to Carter’s Cars.

All the time she was dressing Anna, Lucy kept asking herself if she and Robert really had made love the night before or not. If they had, then how would he react today?

To her immense relief Robert had already left for work by the time she arrived downstairs with Anna. Sam was up and he looked elated when she told him that he had to be at Carter’s Cars that morning by half past ten.

‘That must mean that they’re giving me back my job,’ he said confidently.

Anna was still fretful and Lucy assumed it was because she was hungry and so as quickly as possible she prepared breakfast for the three of them.

As she put it on the table Anna pushed her plate away saying that she didn’t want it and Lucy realised that she was looking flushed as if she was unwell.

‘Come on, now, eat it all up and then you’ll feel better afterwards,’ Lucy encouraged.

Anna sat at the table with her head propped up on one hand looking very dejected all the time Lucy and Sam were eating their breakfast. The moment Sam finished he stood up anxious to leave so as not to be late for his interview.

This time he was going on his own so Lucy wished him good luck and he smiled his appreciation. The moment he’d gone Lucy turned her attention to Anna who had hardly touched the food she’d put in front of her.

As she lifted her down from the table and sat down in the armchair to cuddle her, once again Lucy’s thoughts went back to the previous night and how she and Robert had sat in this very same chair. Then she had been seeking solace from Robert just as Anna was now snuggling into her arms for comfort and consolation.

It was so peaceful sitting there nursing the child and singing gently to her that before Lucy knew what was happening they were both fast asleep.

Lucy awoke with a start; she had no idea what time it was or how long they had both been sleeping. Very gently she transferred Anna from her arms on to the armchair before going into the kitchen to check the clock. She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw that it was after three o’clock.

She looked around her in dismay. She hadn’t even cleared away the breakfast things. Robert would be home in a couple of hours and she wondered how she was going to face him after what had happened; or had it all been a dream? she asked herself.

She scurried around as fast as she could, all the time hoping that Anna would go on sleeping long enough for her to wash the dishes, tidy up and prepare some vegetables.

Suddenly she remembered Sam and his interview and stopped what she was doing to go to the bottom of the stairs and call up to him to know how he’d got on. When there was no answer she ran up the stairs to his room and was puzzled to find that he wasn’t there.

As she got on with her chores she wondered if he had already started work. Surely not, she told herself. They wouldn’t want him to do so there and then. He’d be expected to report first thing Monday morning at the very earliest.

Her thoughts were diverted by Anna waking up and calling out to her. Knowing by now she must be really hungry because she had not eaten any breakfast Lucy stopped what she was doing and boiled an egg for her then buttered a slice of bread and cut it into thin strips before sitting her up at the table.

To her surprise Anna didn’t seem very interested although normally she loved eggy soldiers, as she called them. She did drink the cup of milk that was on the table by her plate but then she wanted to get down. Immediately she climbed back into the armchair and curled up again and closed her eyes.

‘Come on, sleepy head, you mustn’t doze off again or you won’t sleep tonight,’ Lucy told her. ‘I need you to help me lay the table,’ she added, holding out her hand.

Anna shook her head and stayed where she was, putting her thumb into her mouth and cuddling up to a cushion.

Lucy was so behind with everything that she decided that as long as Anna was quiet then she might as well leave her where she was and get on with all the jobs that needed doing.

The next couple of hours seemed to flash by and she didn’t think about Sam again because she was too concerned about Anna. The child was flushed and far from well and in the end she decided she might be better off in bed.

When Robert arrived home and asked her how Sam had got on at his interview she looked at him blankly.

‘You mean he’s not with you?’ she asked in surprise. ‘He went off at half past nine this morning and he hasn’t been home since. I thought perhaps he had started working already.’

‘Probably making the most of his freedom before he has to join the world’s workers,’ Robert laughed. ‘Anna’s missing as well, she hasn’t gone to look for a job, has she?’ he joked.

‘Anna’s not feeling too well,’ Lucy told him.

‘Oh, what’s wrong with her?’ he asked, his voice full of concern.

‘She has slept most of the day and I think she must be sickening for a cold or something so I popped her back into bed just before you came home.’

‘So it’s only Sam who’s missing. I’m sure he’ll walk in any minute now; he knows what time the food is on the table.’

Sam didn’t walk in, though. The two of them finally sat down to their meal and at Robert’s suggestion Lucy put Sam’s meal on a plate over a pan of hot water to keep warm.

‘I can’t think where he can be,’ Lucy said worriedly as she cleared away their dishes.

‘No, it is strange,’ Robert agreed. ‘You say he hasn’t been home at all since the interview?’

‘Not as far as I know,’ Lucy admitted.

‘You could have missed him; he could have come home while you were out shopping and then gone straight back out again when he found that there was no one here.’

‘I haven’t been out shopping today. Mind you,’ she added a trifle shamefacedly, ‘I did fall asleep. I was nursing Anna because she wasn’t too well and we both nodded off.’

‘Surely you would have heard him if he’d come in, wouldn’t you?’ Robert frowned.

‘I would have thought so, although I must admit we did sleep rather soundly.’

‘You mean you went back to bed?’

‘Oh no, certainly not. I was sitting down here in the armchair nursing her.’

As she said it, memories of the previous night when she and Robert were sitting there came flooding back and she felt her colour rising but Robert didn’t seem to notice and for a fleeting moment she felt piqued that he hadn’t said anything at all about their passionate lovemaking the night before.

‘So if he hasn’t been back at all, then where is he?’ he pondered.

Suddenly Lucy felt alarmed. Sam had been feeling very depressed about not being able to find a job and had built up such great hopes on going back to work at Carter’s Cars that, if he hadn’t been offered work, he would be feeling devastated. It would be the last straw and she felt worried about how he might react.

‘Perhaps I should go and see if I can find Brenda and see if he is with her,’ Robert suggested.

‘Brenda is working nights this week so I suppose they could have been together all day.’

‘It’s possible,’ Robert agreed. ‘They could even have been out celebrating because he now has a job.’

‘Of course! Why on earth didn’t I think of that earlier?’ Lucy exclaimed in relief. ‘Surely, though, Sam would have come home first to let me know what happened because he knows how anxious I was,’ she added frowning.

‘Well, let’s assume they spent the day together celebrating,’ Robert affirmed.

‘Even so, he should be home by now if Brenda’s on nights,’ Lucy said.

‘Have you any idea what time she would be going on duty?’ Robert asked.

‘I think it’s seven o’clock but I’m not too sure.’

‘Well, if I go along to the hospital, she should be there by now so I can find out if she’s seen him at all today.’

‘It’s not like Sam to be so inconsiderate unless, of course, he simply forgot,’ Lucy said lamely.

‘I’ll probably meet him halfway,’ Robert laughed. ‘You attend to Anna and make sure that she is all right and by that time we’ll both be back home again.’

Lucy was surprised when Anna said she wanted to stay in bed even though she’d been sleeping for most of the day. She still seemed to be rather weepy and her brow was hot to the touch as if she were coming down with a cold.

As she came back downstairs Lucy felt on edge; she kept looking at the clock expecting the front door to open at any minute and Robert and Sam to walk in.

She topped up the water in the saucepan to make sure that Sam’s meal was ready for him when they did come home. She laid up a tray with three cups and saucers then filled the kettle and put it on to boil in readiness to make a pot of tea for them all.

The minutes dragged by and became hours and she was still waiting for news. It was well after nine o’clock before Lucy heard the front door opening. Her spontaneous welcoming smile faded as Robert came in alone.

‘Where’s Sam? Haven’t you found him?’

Robert shook his head. ‘Neither sight nor sound of him anywhere,’ he said wearily. ‘I’ve walked miles; I’ve visited both the places off Scotland Road where you lived and I’ve walked down to the Pier Head and walked along by the river as far as possible.’

‘What about Brenda, hadn’t he been with her?’

‘No, she’s not seen him all day. I did promise to let her know he was all right but it’s a bit late for that now.’

‘If you don’t, she’ll worry all night,’ Lucy pointed out.

‘And if I do, then she’ll worry even more when she hears that none of us know where he is.’

‘Yes, that’s true. So what are we going to do?’

‘There’s not much we can do. He’s obviously gone off somewhere on his own.’

‘I know that, but where? And, what is even more to the point, why has he gone without a word to any of us?’

They stared at each other for a long moment in silence.

‘If it was any other chap then I’d say he’d gone on a bender to celebrate getting a job but that’s not what Sam would do,’ Robert said running his hand through his hair.

‘I suspect that he didn’t get a job, and that’s why he’s disappeared,’ Lucy said worriedly.

‘We don’t know that for sure,’ Robert told her. He pulled her into his arms and kissed the top of her head. Lucy felt confused; she knew he was worried about Sam, they both were, but his caress had been almost brotherly and once again her thoughts went back to the previous night and she wondered where all the passion had gone.

‘Don’t worry, Lucy, he’ll come home. I’ve looked everywhere I can think of even back at Carter’s Cars so we will just have to be patient and wait for him to turn up.’

Lucy couldn’t sleep for worrying about what had happened to Sam and where he might be or if he had met with an accident. She tossed and turned as all sorts of dreadful images kept going through her mind. She wished they had checked with the hospitals and alerted the police that Sam was missing and she was determined to do it the very first thing next morning.