The Price of Love (32 page)

‘No, no, nothing of the sort,’ Robert said calmly. ‘I wanted to check whether you had anything in mind before I propositioned you. I was wondering if you would be prepared to work for a very low wage for the next few months if you were offered a job that had decent prospects in the future.’

‘I don’t understand,’ Sam frowned, ‘it’s not some sort of charity set-up, is it? Because if it is, then I don’t want to be involved,’ he said tersely. ‘Do you know what he’s talking about, Lucy?’

‘No, I’m as much in the dark as you are.’

‘Me too,’ Brenda echoed looking first at Robert and then at Sam.

‘I’m thinking of breaking away from Carter’s,’ Robert explained, ‘and starting up my own business.’

‘You’re going to do what?’

The outcry came simultaneously from Sam and Lucy who were both staring at him in astonishment. ‘You’ve never said a word about this to me,’ Lucy exclaimed.

‘I don’t really understand what’s going on or what you are suggesting,’ Sam muttered in a puzzled voice. ‘What sort of business are you planning to start?’

‘Much the same sort of work as I’m doing now,’ Robert explained. ‘I’ll be repairing cars but doing it as my own boss. I’ve been thinking about it for a long time.’

‘If you’re going to start up on your own, then I don’t see where I fit into your plans. How on earth can I be of any help?’

‘You’d be working as my head mechanic and later on, when things are established and I can afford to take on more men, you’d be in charge of the repairs side of things,’ Robert told him.

‘Head mechanic! I have no proper qualifications, you know that,’ Sam reminded him a trifle bitterly.

‘I know you have no actual certificate to prove it, but I do know that you served an apprenticeship at the same time as I did and that it was only a few weeks short of completion and that’s good enough for me,’ Robert told him.

‘You’d take a chance like that in order to help me out?’ Sam asked, his voice registering disbelief.

‘I’m taking a chance but it’s not simply to help you,’ Robert assured him. ‘I’ve given it a lot of thought and planned the whole thing very carefully. I even have some premises in view but I would like to have your commitment before I go ahead because I might find it difficult to go it alone. With you there, then I’d know I had someone I could rely on one hundred per cent. Between us we could make a roaring success of the business.’

‘It sounds almost too good to be true,’ Sam said wryly. ‘I’ll work every hour there is to prove myself.’

‘There won’t be any need to do that,’ Robert laughed. ‘That’s part of the problem. At the start we will not have any customers and it may take a good few weeks, months even, to build the business up to where I can pay you a decent wage.’

‘I haven’t any money at all coming in at the moment,’ Sam reminded him. ‘As long as I have a roof over my head and enough food to eat then the money side of things doesn’t matter to me very much,’ Sam assured him.

‘Really?’ Robert raised his eyebrows. ‘I was under the impression that as soon as you had a job then you and Brenda were planning to get married.’

‘Yes, that’s true and we still are. I meant it, all right, but I am sure Brenda will understand if we have to wait for a year or so. That’s right, isn’t it?’ he asked looking across at her.

‘I suppose it is; it rather depends on how long you are talking about before the new business is on a proper footing,’ Brenda said, looking questioningly at Robert.

‘Well, let’s say a year. I hope it won’t take any longer than that because I’m planning to get married as soon as I can afford to do so. We don’t want to have to wait a moment longer than is necessary, do we, Lucy?’

Sam stared in surprise. ‘You’ve both kept that quiet! Congratulations, anyway – and in that case, then, I’m with you one hundred per cent,’ he said enthusiastically.

‘Good! I’ll start putting things in motion right away. I want to have everything set up and be ready to start work before I hand in my notice at Carter’s, so in the meantime, Sam, I shall be calling on you to do some of the leg work.’

‘Anything at all,’ Sam agreed.

‘As I said, I’ve already found a suitable place just off the Dock Road that I think would be the ideal workshop. It would mean that at first a lot of our work would be commercial vehicles but I’m sure you can cope with those.’

‘You bet I can. I can’t wait to get back into overalls and get myself greasy and my hands oily again,’ Sam said, grinning.

‘I will need to fit the place out so over the next couple of weeks that means that I’ll be scouting around for the right equipment or rather you will be,’ Robert told him.

‘That’s fine. I’m willing to do anything you ask of me,’ Sam told him earnestly.

‘Right, well, let’s map out a plan,’ Robert suggested. He went over to the sideboard and took out a pad of paper and a pencil from one of the drawers and the two of them moved over to the table and began making a list of all the things they considered would be essential.

‘I don’t think they need any help from us, do you, Brenda?’ Lucy said, smiling.

‘No, we may as well go and do the washing-up,’ Brenda laughed as she helped to collect up the cups and saucers they’d been using and carried them through into the kitchen.

While Robert and Sam planned their future strategy and worked out the cost of the equipment they were going to need, Lucy and Brenda had equally important matters to discuss.

‘Have you decided where you are going to live when you and Sam do get married?’ Lucy enquired when they’d finished washing up and had put everything away.

‘No, there hasn’t been any point in doing so because we have no idea when it is going to be possible. I will be able to start thinking about it now, of course,’ she added smiling happily. ‘It will have to be somewhere fairly cheap.’

‘You could live here with us. We’ve enough room and I’m sure Robert wouldn’t mind,’ Lucy said. ‘There’s a scullery off this kitchen that we could turn into a separate kitchen for you to use or you could share this one with me. I don’t mind either way. You and Sam could have the middle room downstairs and the middle bedroom. We would have to share the bathroom, of course, but that shouldn’t present too many problems.’

‘It sounds absolutely ideal; we all get on well,’ Brenda enthused. Then her face clouded. ‘You don’t think, though, that if Sam and Robert are working together as well as living together it might put a strain on their relationship?’

‘They may not be seeing all that much of each other at work once the business gets going and they wouldn’t see as much of each other in the evenings as they do now. You will be in your own rooms and we’ll be in ours,’ Lucy pointed out.

‘Yes, I suppose you are right,’ Brenda agreed.

‘The two of them trained side by side years ago when they were both apprentices at Carter’s Cars,’ Lucy added, ‘so they should know how to get on with each other in the work place and they were good friends then, too.’

‘That’s true and I am sure we could pull together equally well. We can draw up a rota for general cleaning like scrubbing the front step and looking after the stairs and hallway and cleaning the bathroom and keeping everything in good order.’

‘I’m sure it would work out fine,’ Lucy agreed.

‘Let’s hope, then, that Robert manages to get the business on a sound footing quite soon so that we don’t have to wait too long,’ Brenda sighed.

‘I agree with you there. We will probably need either to let rooms or take in a lodger to help out until then ourselves. I would sooner have you and Sam here with us than strangers,’ Lucy mused. ‘Is there any chance of you and Sam marrying right away?’

‘I can’t see Sam agreeing to that, can you?’ Brenda chuckled. ‘Mind you, it would have lots of advantages for all of us. For a start, Sam and I would be on hand to look after Anna whenever you and Robert wanted to go out.’

‘Yes, that would be useful,’ Lucy agreed, ‘and I could do any shopping you might need so you wouldn’t have to worry about that when you are working shift duty.’

Lucy went across to one of the kitchen cupboards and from the very back of it brought out an almost full bottle of port. ‘I think this calls for a toast, don’t you?’ She smiled. ‘I’ve been saving this ever since Christmas in case there was some special occasion and I don’t think anything can get more special than this.’

She put the bottle and four glasses on to a tray and together they went back into the living room where Sam and Robert were still engrossed in their own plans.

‘Time to celebrate,’ Lucy told them as she poured out the port and Brenda handed it round.

‘We’ve nothing very much to celebrate at the moment,’ Robert warned. ‘We’ve simply got the prospects of an empty shed on the Dock Road and a head full of ideas.’

‘So we’ll drink to that shed becoming a thriving business and all those plans you’ve made working out perfectly,’ Lucy told him. ‘By this time next year we hope we will both be planning something else; setting the date for our weddings.’

‘Surely you don’t mean that we should get married on the same day as you and Robert do?’ Sam queried looking first at her and then at Brenda.

‘Why not?’ Lucy enthused. ‘What could be nicer than a double wedding?’

‘We’ll have Anna as our bridesmaid; she’ll love being dressed up in a pretty dress and carrying our flowers,’ Brenda said smiling.

Lucy looked across at Robert seeking his approval and the deep love in his eyes as he raised his glass towards her meant that words were quite unnecessary.

‘Brenda’s already agreed that she would like to move in here with Sam and share the house with us when they do get married,’ Lucy announced.

‘Really?’ Robert looked from Lucy to Brenda and back again, bemused.

‘You’re not the only ones who can make plans for the future,’ Lucy told him teasingly. ‘We talked it all over; the only thing we can’t decide on is the actual date. Would it be too optimistic to say it might be possible in about a year?’

‘I’m not too sure about that; what do you think?’ Robert asked Sam.

‘I can’t believe what is happening all of a sudden. First I’m being offered a job, then marriage and now a permanent home as well. It’s all too much for me to take in, but of course I’m in favour of what you’re all suggesting,’ he said with a broad smile.

The four of them sipped their port in mutual harmony. The future looked hopeful but they all knew there was going to be a great deal of hard work ahead of them before their dreams could be fulfilled. So much depended on how successful Robert and Sam were in their new business venture.

‘We wouldn’t have any objections if you decided to move in here to live with Sam right away, Brenda; without waiting for your wedding day, I mean,’ Robert stated.

‘Would you consider doing that, Brenda?’ Sam asked looking at her hopefully.

‘I don’t see why not,’ she said thoughtfully. ‘You don’t object to that, do you, Lucy?’

‘Are you saying that you would be prepared to live in sin?’ Lucy asked in mock horror.

‘Yes, I am. That’s if you and Robert don’t mind doing the same,’ Brenda said with a broad smile.

‘Brenda! Do you know what you’re saying?’ Sam exclaimed his face going red.

‘I’m afraid they’ll have no option, Sam,’ she explained. ‘If we live here together then it means that they will have to give up one of the bigger bedrooms and unless Robert is prepared to make do with the box room then he will have to share with Lucy because Anna really does need a bedroom of her own.’

‘I think it is a splendid idea,’ Robert applauded. ‘After all, what difference does a scrap of paper make as long as you truly love each other?’

‘It does make it official and legal in other people’s eyes,’ Brenda stated.

‘Yes, that’s very true,’ Robert agreed. ‘I think we’d better leave such an important decision to you girls to sort out, don’t you, Sam?’

Lucy topped up their glasses with the remainder of the port. ‘Right, now I think we should drink to the fact that we know there’s a bright new future ahead for all of us,’ she said, raising her glass.

Although Lucy knew that setting up their workshop on the Dock Road was of prime importance to Robert and Sam, getting the two rooms in Priory Terrace ready so that Brenda could move in with Sam were equally important to her.

There wasn’t a great deal to do but Lucy insisted that the bedroom they were going to use needed a coat of paint to freshen it up.

‘I expect you will want to make a few other changes in there and perhaps choose some new curtains and put up some of your own pictures,’ she suggested to Brenda. ‘The same applies to the room that is to be your living room,’ she went on. ‘It’s supposed to be the dining room but because we usually eat in the living room it is rarely used.’

Decorating the two rooms took them less than a week. Lucy suggested that they should paper the walls and insisted that Sam and Brenda went together on her day off to choose the wallpaper. Sam seemed so pleased by the idea that Lucy left them to do the work involved in putting it up.

Anna was intrigued by all that was going on and it took Lucy all her time to keep her away from all the wet paintwork and to make sure she had something to play with to keep her happily occupied while they worked.

By the time the decorating was finished and Sam and Brenda had bought two armchairs as well as some new curtains their living room was transformed.

‘Now you two men can concentrate on the Dock Road shed with a clear conscience,’ Lucy told them as they gathered in there to admire the results of all their hard work.

‘That will be a lot harder than sticking some paper on the walls,’ Robert commented. ‘What’s more,’ he reminded her, ‘it means that it will take all of our little nest egg to buy the equipment we are going to need to fit it out properly.’

‘I’m sure it will but we’ve already agreed that it will be a good investment for our future,’ Lucy assured him, laying a hand on his arm. ‘If there is anything more I can do to help then you have only to ask and I’ll be only too pleased to do it. I’m sure I speak for Brenda as well.’

‘We’ll be on a tight budget both here at home and down there so what about making us up some sandwiches and a couple of flasks of tea each day? If you do that, we won’t have to stop whatever we’re doing to go scouting around looking for something and it probably won’t cost us as much either.’