Chapter Forty-Three
The next phone call that came the following week was from Annie’s mother.
‘I was wonderin’ if you’d care to spend Christmas ’ere with us?’ she asked.
Annie was so shocked that for a moment she couldn’t reply. ‘But where would we stay?’ she asked eventually.
‘Well, er . . . the thing is, Luca an’ I ’ave decided to try an’ make a go of it again so ’is trailer is empty now an’ yer could stay in there with Adam if you wanted to. We thought a family Christmas for all of us together was long overdue. What do yer think?’
Annie felt a large lump form in her throat.
She was being asked to spend Christmas with her family – her real family – for the first time ever.
It was what she had always longed for and dreamt of.
But then she thought of Nancy. As tempting as the invitation was, she didn’t want to leave her alone and she doubted Nancy would want to leave Jamie.
‘You’ll be comin’ for the weddin’ soon anyway,’ Charity went on persuasively.
‘So we thought when it’s over yer might as well come straight ’ere an’ stay till after the New Year.
It don’t make much sense for you to have to go all the way to London to just come back again. So will yer give it some thought?’
‘I think it’s a lovely idea,’ Annie said truthfully. ‘But I can’t confirm until I’ve asked Nancy what she wants to do. I wouldn’t want to leave her here all alone. Can I tell you my decision when you phone next?’
‘Of course,’ Charity assured her. She was just relieved that Annie hadn’t dismissed the idea. They chatted for a few moments more and when she put the phone down Annie made her way back upstairs to talk to Nancy.
‘So, I’m not sure what to do now,’ Annie admitted when she’d told her about the invitation. ‘I’d like to go but if you don’t want to there’s no way I’d leave you here all alone.’
Nancy chuckled. ‘Funnily enough, Jamie’s mam an’ dad invited me to stay wi’ them fer Christmas just the other day an’ I turned ’em down for exactly the same reason.
I didn’t want to leave you ’ere alone. But you must go, Annie.
Now that you’ve finally found yer family you should spend time gettin’ to know ’em. ’
‘If you’re sure you’re happy with it that’s what I’ll do then,’ Annie agreed.
Over the next week Annie was kept busy looking after Adam and making sure there was enough stock in the shop to last Ruth over Christmas. They were busy, as women wanting new outfits to wear over Christmas came and went, and trade had never been better.
The night before Annie was due to leave for Nuneaton, Nancy went to stay with Jamie’s parents, taking Alfred with her, and loaded down with prettily wrapped presents that Annie had bought for her and Jamie’s family.
‘And just make sure you don’t get peeking at them before Christmas day,’ Annie chuckled as Nancy wiped away a tear.
‘I won’t.’ She gave Annie and Adam a hug. ‘But I’ll miss you an’ look forward to seein’ you in the New Year.’
‘We’ll be back before you know it,’ Annie told her.
After Nancy had left with Jamie, she set to packing all the presents she had bought for everyone at home, along with the clothes that she and Adam would need.
She was excited yet also a little sad as she thought of Alex.
No doubt he would be spending Christmas with his wife and daughter.
If only he could have spent it with her, her life would have been perfect, but Annie knew that it was rare to have everything you wanted and tried to count her blessings.
Soon Peggy and Levi, two people she loved, would be man and wife and she had no doubt they would live happily ever after – they were perfectly suited to each other.
And then she and Adam would be spending their first ever Christmas with her real family.
There had been many times throughout her life when she’d thought this was never going to happen, so she felt guilty for wishing for more as she tucked Adam into bed early.
They had a very early start the next day and she still had a lot to do.
The journey to Nuneaton was uneventful and when they arrived at the cottage, Peggy was a bag of pre-wedding nerves.
‘Eeh, I can’t ’elp wonderin’ if I ain’t too old fer all this malarky,’ Peggy told her after giving her a warm welcome.
‘Rubbish,’ Annie scolded her. ‘People a lot older than you get married every day and you and Levi are perfect together.’
Peggy blinked back tears. ‘I can’t ’elp thinkin’, though . . . Maggie were my best friend fer many years. What would she say about all this?’
‘I think she’d want both you and Levi to be happy,’ Annie said firmly.
‘So we’ll hear no more of this nonsense.
It’s only two days to the wedding and I want you to enjoy it.
Oh, and while I think about it, I’ve got a little surprise for you here.
I was going to save it till the morning of the wedding, but I realised you’d want to pack. ’
Peggy looked bemused. ‘Pack what?’
‘A suitcase for you both. Because straight after the reception you’ll be catching the train to Broadstairs where I’ve booked you into a hotel for a week.
I know the weather is cold but I’m sure you’ll find things to entertain yourselves.
You can go to a show or for some nice walks and just relax away from work for a time.
’ She placed the train tickets in Peggy’s hands.
Peggy’s eyes filled with tears. ‘Ah, pet, yer shouldn’t have done that,’ she said with a catch in her voice.
‘It’s my wedding present to you both so just go and enjoy it.’
Peggy had only ever had one other holiday in Southend some years before with Levi and the family, and now she could hardly wait. It had been agreed that Annie and Adam would stay in the cottage until the day of the wedding, so Annie bustled away to take their bags upstairs.
That evening, as they sat with a cup of cocoa before bed, Annie asked tentatively, ‘So what’s happening with Reggie now?’
‘He appeared in court on a charge o’ murder,’ Peggy told her as she sipped at her drink. ‘An’ now he’s been remanded in custody in Winson Green Prison in Birmingham until ’is case comes up in Crown Court. I reckon he’ll be fer the noose when it’s ’eard.’
Annie shuddered as she thought of all the women he had attacked. ‘And Mrs Taylor-Lloyd? Is she still in Swan Lane?’
‘Aye, but word ’as it she’s as nutty as a fruit cake.
I reckon this ’as just tipped ’er over the edge.
She’s sacked all her staff an’ none of ’er posh friends are havin’ anything to do wi’ her.
Were she a nicer person I’d feel sorry fer ’er, but knowin’ her as I do, I can only say she’s asked fer all she’s got.
The woman ain’t got a kindly, charitable bone in ’er body. ’
Annie sighed and quickly changed the subject. She didn’t want to dwell on bad things so close to the wedding. She wanted Peggy to enjoy her special day, but she had to admit that it was nice to not have to keep looking over her shoulder for Reggie.
The next day she wrapped Adam up warmly and took him to collect a bunch of holly with bright red berries to place on Monty’s grave.
The churchyard was deserted when they got there and as she placed the holly in a vase in front of his headstone a solitary tear slid down her cold cheek.
Poor Monty, he hadn’t deserved to die as he had but as she knew too well, life could be cruel and those left behind had to get on with it as best they could.
She just hoped he was in a better place now.
Next, they visited the florist to make sure that everything was in hand for the wedding, and then she led Adam to the circus trailers to see his grandparents.
Both Charity and Luca were thrilled to see them and reluctant to let them leave at the end of the afternoon. Mercy and Barney called in to see them too, along with Noah, and it felt like a real family get-together.
Annie was in a happy mood when they left to go back to Peggy’s for dinner, until she saw a familiar figure walking towards her as she neared the town centre.
Her heart sank. It looked very much like her ex-mother-in-law, though not as she remembered her.
This woman looked dishevelled and was muttering to herself, and for a moment Annie thought she must be mistaken, until the figure drew closer and she saw that it was indeed Mrs Taylor-Lloyd.
She had just turned into Stratford Street so there was no way to avoid her and when the woman was almost upon her, she stopped dead to glare at her and Adam.
‘What are you and that brat doing back here?’ she demanded in her usual imperious tone. ‘Come to gloat about my Reginald, have you? That’s both of my sons you’ve destroyed now.’
Before Annie could comment she rushed on, ‘Don’t think I don’t know that he was drawn to you!
You’ve been like a magnet for my boys, but Reginald wasn’t handsome enough for you after his face was burnt, was he?
You broke his heart. And now they’re saying that my Reginald is a murderer, but it’s all lies, I tell you. ’
Annie knew he’d been caught red-handed but she didn’t comment.
‘I suppose you should be thanking me then,’ she said.
‘I can only imagine how angry you’d have been if I had taken up with Reggie.
It was bad enough when I married Monty!’ There was something about the woman that made her feel nervous, but she was determined not to show it.
She looked as if she hadn’t washed or changed in days and there was a light of madness in her eyes.
Annie breezed past her with her nose in the air and Mrs Taylor-Lloyd didn’t try to stop her, although her voice followed her until she turned the corner into Abbey Street.
‘That’s it, walk away,’ the woman screeched. ‘Everything went wrong from the day those Lilburn riff-raffs moved in next door.’