The Last Letter from Juliet - Melanie Hudson Page 0,61

had been completed. I threw my parachute over my shoulder, grabbed my overnight bag and caught a lift into Edinburgh. If I was quick enough, I’d be in time to catch the sleeper to London and from London – if luck was on my side again – the Milk Train to Southampton, arriving back at Hamble the next morning, tired but pleased with the delivery and ready for another day’s work.

Luck was with me. The following evening, I fell, exhausted and still thinking of Edward, into my cottage. Marie was out, which was a relief. With my resolve to keep away from Edward fading, I didn’t need any extra encouragement tonight.

Anna was asleep on the sofa when I walked into the lounge and flopped onto a chair. She stirred.

‘Hello, you,’ she said, sitting up. ‘You must be dead on your feet. There’s some Carnation in the kitchen, just opened, if you fancy one of my special bedtime brews.’

I closed my eyes. ‘Thanks, maybe in a moment.’

Anna grabbed Marie’s cigarettes and a box of matches taken from the Bugle and lit a cigarette. Her daily smoking rate had gone up significantly since flying the Spitfire. She inhaled and sat back in her chair.

‘I delivered your message, by the way.’

I kept my eyes closed.

‘And?’

‘And, nothing. I passed on your message and he said, ‘Thank you’ and I left. That’s it, more or less.’

I opened my eyes and sat up.

‘Didn’t he ask where I was or … or anything about me at all.’

Anna exhaled a long, slow breath and flicked ash into an ashtray.

‘He seemed upset – you know, disappointed – if that’s any help.’

I closed my eyes again, sat back in the chair, took a deep breath and sighed.

Anna sat forward and tapped me on the knee.

‘So?’

She wanted details. Who wouldn’t?

‘So … what?’

‘So … what’s the story? This is the man you were shouting for at the Empire the other night, isn’t it?’

‘Yes. I saw him across the room at the Empire, briefly, just before the air raid warning went up.’

I stretched and walked to the French windows that, on nicer days, were open. But today the weather had closed in just as I landed from my final flight, and as I watched the rain dance on the river, I couldn’t help but wonder if Edward had stayed on at the Bugle. If so, he was less than half a mile away. I glanced at my watch. Half past six.

Anna rested her cigarette on the ashtray, joined me at the window and put an arm around my shoulder.

‘We’ve still got some gin stashed away in the kitchen. How about I make us a little snifter and you tell me all about it?’

I shrugged. ‘There’s honestly nothing to tell.’

Anna didn’t believe a word of it.

‘Oh, yes there is. You looked like death when you read his note yesterday. And your shoulders are tense as hell.’

I allowed my shoulders to drop and smiled.

‘I’d love a glass of gin.’

I told Anna the story of Christmas 1938 and how I fell in love with a man called Edward Nancarrow during the week before my marriage to Charles. When I finished the story, Anna didn’t say anything but went straight to the hallway and grabbed my best woollen coat.

‘Now, I know I’m going to sound like Marie,’ she said, ‘but I think you should brush your hair and put this on.’ She handed me the coat.

I waited for an explanation.

‘He told me to tell you that he’ll be in the pub for two more days, that he’d wait for you – forever if necessary, should you change your mind.’

I bit my lip.

‘Oh, Anna. You don’t know how I felt about him – still feel about him. I have to be faithful to Charles – to all of the Lanyons. They’ve done so much for me. You can’t know how much I owe them. It’s risky.’

Anna shook her head.

‘You owe them nothing. And as for risky? Bullcrap, as Marie would say. What we do at work – that’s risky. This? This is just meeting up with an old friend. I’m not saying you should jump into bed with him, but dinner might be nice.’

I allowed Anna to help me into my coat. She dashed into her bedroom to grab a hairbrush, face powder and Marie’s lipstick. I drew the line at the lipstick.

‘But I’ll regret it tomorrow,’ I whispered, walking to the door.

‘Tomorrow?’ Anna took me firmly by the arms and stood in front of me. ‘Now then,