Chapter 38
When the knock finally came on the door of the School House, Tilly, Dot and Amelia froze.
It was early November and an unusually crisp, bright and sunny day.
The light streamed in the kitchen window and danced in Tilly’s eyes, but her true sparkle came from within.
Gradually the spark ignited a flame and Tilly felt the heat surge through her body.
Could it be? It must be. He said he would come.
‘I want to see who it is,’ chirped a little voice.
Jemima squirmed through the forest of legs around her, scrabbling to be first to the door.
‘You can’t reach the handle, Jemima,’ Dot said.
‘Yes, I can, on tiptoe,’ Jemima argued. She was coming up for five years old and asserted her rights whenever she was challenged. Another Truscott woman in the making, was what Dot called her.
Tilly’s excitement had somehow rendered her immobile and she froze to the spot. Jemima zoomed past her and ran to the front door.
‘Come on, Tilly,’ Dot urged. ‘It might be him.’
All three women followed Jemima to the door.
‘Who are you?’ Jemima gasped, as she opened it. ‘You’re very tall,’ she added, looking up at him.
‘And you’re very cute,’ Jed replied.
‘What’s your name?’ Jemima asked cheekily.
‘His name is Jed, Jed Martinez,’ Tilly said, her eyes fixed on his.
‘Let’s not keep our guest standing on the doorstep.
Please come in, Mr Martinez,’ Amelia said, taking Jemima’s hand and pulling her out of the way.
‘Lovely to meet you again, Mr Martinez. Show Mr Martinez into the sitting room, Tilly. We’ll make some tea and cake.
I’m sure you two have a lot to say to one another.
Come on, Jemima, you can serve the cake. ’
Tilly and Jed stepped into the sitting room. Jed wasted no time in taking Tilly into his arms and kissed her with a tenderness that made her heart melt. Tilly couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. She held on to the man she loved as if she would never let him go.
‘I didn’t know if we would ever see one another again,’ Tilly sobbed.
‘And I knew we would,’ Jed replied. ‘As soon as I hit English soil, I was determined to find you again. I could feel you were still alive and now, here you are.’
‘Yes, here I am,’ Tilly said, smiling at him.
‘Here, blow,’ he said, handing her a handkerchief.
She took the handkerchief and was about to raise it to her nose, when she felt something tucked inside it.
‘What’s this?’ she asked, unfolding the cloth. ‘There’s something here.’
Tilly carefully unfolded the handkerchief and pulled out a sparkling diamond ring.
‘I guess all girls like diamonds, don’t they?’ Jed said.
‘This one does, anyway,’ Tilly replied.
‘Well, it’s this one I want to marry, so will you, Tilly, please?’ Jed asked.
‘Yes! Oh, yes, yes, yes!’ Tilly said, throwing her arms around his neck.
Jed slid the ring carefully onto Tilly’s finger and kissed her. By the time Amelia and Dot came in with the tea, followed by a bouncing Jemima, Tilly was weeping into that handkerchief.
‘What’s the matter, Aunty Tilly?’ Jemima asked. ‘Has he said something to upset you? If he has, I shall be very cross with him.’
‘I would never do anything to upset this lovely woman,’ Jed said. ‘I wouldn’t want to risk getting into your bad books, anyway, young lady. I get the impression that you have inherited the Truscott family genes.’
‘What are genes?’ Jemima said indignantly.
Tilly, Dot and Amelia laughed. ‘I think Jed means that you are like your mum and your aunty — you have a strong sense of right and wrong, and you are ready to stand up for those you love,’ Amelia explained.
‘I won’t let anyone upset my Aunty Tilly, if that’s what you mean,’ Jemima said.
* * *
Tilly and Jed spent several weeks together after that initial meeting, but eventually Jed explained that he really must go home to his family. His parents had been very patient in waiting for his return and now, five months after the war had ended, he must leave.
‘I’d like you to come with me,’ he said. ‘But I realise it’s a costly trip for you. I want us to be married here, in England anyway, but then I will take you to meet my folks. I want to show you off, the girl of my dreams. How about a honeymoon in the States?’
‘That would be wonderful,’ Tilly replied. ‘I can’t wait to meet them and to see the country of your birth.’
‘Well, it’s not like here, all quaint thatched cottages and green fields,’ Jed said.
‘When you go to Micklewell, you’ll see that life in the countryside is not all roses round the door either,’ Tilly said. ‘There’s plenty of dirty, back-breaking work to be done in those green fields.’
‘Anywhere is just fine by me,’ Jed said with a smile, ‘so long as you’re there by my side.’
So, Tilly waved him off on 1 February 1946 and Jed promised to return to be married in Micklewell in June. Tilly asked Fliss if she would come to the wedding.
‘I need my best friend to be there with me,’ Tilly said.
‘You don’t need anyone holding your hand, Tilly Truscott. You’ve lived through a war, driven through a minefield, dug your ambulance out of a mud bath and eaten about half a ton of sand. You’re perfectly capable of letting a man slip a wedding ring on your finger.’
‘It’s a big step, though, isn’t it, Fliss? Don’t you think so?’
‘You’re not getting cold feet, are you?’ Fliss teased.
‘No, of course not. It’s just . . .’
‘Just what?’ Fliss asked.
‘Well, I like my independence, don’t I?’ Tilly said.
‘You don’t have to stop being you, Tilly. Life is freer now than it was for our mothers. Look at Dot being able to take up teaching again, even though she’s a married woman and a mother. Times are changing and for the better. Anyway, on to another subject, why Micklewell?’ Fliss asked.
‘Because Micklewell will always be my true home and I want to be surrounded by those I love, in the place I love. Ronnie and Sarah have agreed to wait, so that we can all be married together, on the same day. All I need to know now, Fliss, is if your Captain Banks has popped the question.’
Fliss slipped off her gloves and there, on her wedding finger, was the biggest, sparkliest diamond Tilly had ever seen.
‘Turns out that he comes from a very wealthy family,’ Fliss said. ‘So, my parents are delighted. Looks like it’s happy endings all round, wouldn’t you say?’