Gracie Read online

  After a final look around she closed her eyes and tried to imagine the complex group of invited family and friends in the room together, hopefully laughing, chatting and celebrating her and Sean’s marriage.

  Gracie McCabe was hoping against hope that she was making the right decision in marrying Sean Donnelly.

  She still felt wary about the two families meeting and how they would all interact, but she was less concerned about her own family being at the wedding after their meeting with Sean had gone so well.

  Gracie had been so cautious and nervy when they had arrived at the front door, but her father had immediately welcomed Sean, and encouraged her mother to do likewise. And then Gracie had watched in awe as her new fiancé had turned on the charm and her mother had softened in a way she had never seen before; the normally fierce and abrupt woman practically melting in front of her. It had certainly been an eye-opener to see the feminine side of her mother and it made Gracie smile every time she thought about it. Fred McCabe had been his usual amiable self and her sister Jeanette had giggled girlishly and blushed at Sean’s humorous flattery. Her other sister Jennifer had stayed unobtrusively in the background looking disinterested but despite that Sean had made every effort to charm her and include her in all the conversations.

  ‘He could charm the birds out of the trees, that one …’ Dot McCabe had said under her breath as they were leaving and Gracie thought that was the nearest thing to a compliment her mother could have uttered. For the first time in all those years she allowed herself to think there was a possibility of a truce between them.

  Gracie had been so relieved at the successful outcome, and so buoyed by its success, that it had been a bit of a shock when they’d made the journey to Ireland and she had discovered Sean’s mother was a completely different kettle of fish to the jolly mammy that he himself had described to her.

  The instant they had turned up at the Donnelly family home on the outskirts of Dublin, Gracie had realised that she was in for a rough ride. His mother, father, sisters, their respective husbands and some of the nephews and nieces were all waiting outside in a reception line on either side of the garden path and while Sean had excitedly bounced along and said hello to them all, Gracie had been left behind to face a maternal inquisition.

  Gracie had done her best to be as charming and receptive as Sean had been to her family but when it came to Sean’s mother she knew immediately that the woman had taken against her on principle. The three days spent in Dublin had been a nightmare for Gracie but she’d survived it by telling herself it wouldn’t have to happen often as they all lived such a long way away.

  His mother Rosaleen, two of his sisters and his cousin Patrick were arriving from Ireland the day before the wedding and would be staying at the Thamesview, along with Babs and George Wheaton, Ruby’s foster family from her time in evacuation, and their adopted daughter Maggie, who was going to be a bridesmaid alongside Ruby, her birth mother.

  Gracie’s parents and twin sisters were going to be at the wedding, as well as Ruby’s boyfriend, Johnnie Riordan, and a few friends from the Palace.

  Everything was in order.

  Mrs Sean Donnelly. Get down off the shelf, Miss Gracie McCabe, you’re going to be Mrs Sean Donnelly. You’re going to be a blushing bride … she sang to herself tunelessly as she twirled around in an imaginary waltz across the room and through the doorway, into the reception area. The hotel was eerily empty of ordinary guests, but each room would soon be occupied with the family members and guests who were travelling a distance. Gracie just hoped that everyone would get along for that one day.

  As she noted the unusual silence in the building Gracie wondered again at the kindness of her friend Ruby Blakeley, who had forgone four full days of bookings in her hotel to allow room for their wedding guests.

  ‘Ruby …’ she called. ‘Ruby, where are you? Do you want a cuppa? I’m just going through to the kitchen to make one.’

  Ruby put her head out the door on the far side of the hotel reception area and smiled at Gracie.

  ‘I’m still in the office and yes please, I’m gasping in here. I really wish I could conquer this typewriting lark …’ Ruby said. ‘Actually, shall we go and sit outside, make the most of this very strange peace and quiet? It’s almost spooky, it’s so quiet. This is the first time since I came here that there hasn’t been at least one guest in the building. Even in winter there’s usually someone.’

  ‘I know. It’s sort of scary …’ Gracie ran across the lobby. ‘Actually, I’ve an even better idea. Let’s go out for the afternoon. No one’s due to turn up until tomorrow evening so we could go and do the things we used to do when we first met, have some fun instead of sitting here all alone, twiddling our thumbs!’

  ‘Oh yes. I vote for ice cream for lunch and chips for tea, but not too much – you have to fit into your dress on Saturday!’ Ruby laughed. ‘I’ll finish off in here and for once we can just go out and lock up. I’ve had a notice printed for the door to say we’re closed until Monday so we can give it a trial run.’

  ‘Great. I’ll go and find Henry and let him know he’ll be behind locked doors all alone with the telephone!’

  Half an hour later the two friends giggled like schoolgirls as they ran down the steps of the hotel and crossed the road to the promenade.

  ‘Where shall we start?’ Gracie asked.

  ‘Kursaal, of course,’ Ruby said. ‘But no more eyeing up the handsome young men who work there, you’re going to be a married woman come Saturday …’

  ‘But there’s no harm in looking, is there?’ Gracie said mischievously. ‘I mean, who can resist a glimpse of muscle on the arms of a fairground boy?’

  ‘I suppose not, as it’s a bit of a custom when we go there,’ Ruby grinned as they linked arms and strolled in the direction of the town. It was a perfect day for an afternoon off; the sun was shining, the sea was glistening and both young women were happy in each other’s company.

  They walked slowly all along the promenade until they got to the entrance to the Kursaal amusement park; then Gracie and Ruby ran inside, giggling as they raced each other along the path to the first ride. They then slowly made their way around the park in exactly the same way as they had when they had first met in 1946, just weeks after they had both given birth to their first-born but illegitimate babies.

  A couple of hours later they stumbled over to the grass that edged the main area of the Kursaal amusement park and fell down in tandem. They were laughing fit to bust after three consecutive rides on the rumbling rollercoaster which had whipped their skirts, blown their hairstyles to smithereens and left them both with bright red cheeks and white knuckles.

  ‘That was such fun, Rubes,’ Gracie spluttered. ‘We’ve had some good times here together, haven’t we? I hope this isn’t going to be the last time we have fun, what with me getting married and you and Johnny being a real couple all bar the shouting …’

  ‘Of course it’s bloomin’ well not going to be the last time!’ Ruby said. ‘I tell you what, we should make a pact. Every year on this date we’ll have a day out together where we do stupid things and pretend we’re still silly single girls, even if we’re not. No husbands, no children, just us two.’

  ‘Oh yes, yes, yes! We’ll meet exactly here on the grass …’ Gracie looked at her wristwatch. ‘At noon, every single year from today, even if we do see each other every day between now and then. Agreed? We’ll call it our Silly Day, even when we’re sixty and decrepit. God willing, of course.’

  ‘Agreed. God willing,’ Ruby said as she held out her hand. Gracie took it and they marked the agreement with an exaggerated handshake. ‘Now, what next? Shall we walk the pier and have an ice cream before we go back? Big day coming up on Saturday and as the bride you need all the beauty sleep you can get.’ Ruby laughed and pulled a face.

  ‘As my chief bridesmaid, so do you … especially as we’re both getting on a bit now,’ Gracie said cheekily.

  ‘Speak for yourself, you
’re nearly four years older than me!’

  ‘You don’t have to remind me; that’s why I was so keen to get that ring on my finger before I really was an old maid. I could see myself turning into Leonora before long.’

  Savouring the warm summer sunshine, the two women walked slowly along the seafront from the Kursaal to the pier, talking all the way. They stopped at the boating lake and watched for a while but decided against taking a boat out.

  ‘Shall we walk down the pier or get the train?’ Ruby asked when they got there.

  ‘How about we walk to the end and then get the train back?’

  ‘Okay, chips on the pier and then we can get an ice cream and sit on the beach, it’s such a nice day.’ Gracie said. ‘This will probably be our last real gossip for ages.’

  Despite the fact that Gracie would still be working for Ruby at the Thamesview she would no longer be sharing the flat and her life with her and, despite being her best friend, Ruby would no longer be her nearest and dearest. In a few days’ time Sean would take her place, and their lives would take separate paths as a result. Thinking about this, Gracie felt sadness and happiness combined.

  ‘Okay. Now we’ll go and sit on the sand, like we did that first day …’ Ruby laughed as they queued at a kiosk to buy their ice creams after they arrived back at the pier station. ‘I can tuck my skirt in my knickers and if we wait for the tide to go out we can go paddling in the mud.’

  ‘Oh yes.’ Gracie shrieked with laughter. ‘Remember that day when I slipped and we had to go back and face the disapproval of Aunt Leonora? I thought she was going to ban me from the hotel forever.’

  ‘She did grumble a lot, I know, but I think that deep down she was envious of us,’ Ruby said thoughtfully. ‘In her head she would have loved to be out and about being reckless and silly, but she just couldn’t do it. It was all there inside her but she just couldn’t relax enough to let it out. Sad really …’

  ‘Yeah – I reckon she grumbled because she felt she had to, but actually she bloody enjoyed all the adventures through us without having to loosen her stiff upper lip!’ Gracie smiled.

  ‘I really miss her,’ Ruby sighed and looked out at the water. ‘She was so good to me. She didn’t even know me but she took me in and let me live with her … I know I moaned about her sometimes but I loved her. I think she must have felt likewise or she wouldn’t have left me Thamesview.’

  ‘Of course she did, and she left you the hotel because you loved it as much as she did. It was her baby – she gave it to you because she knew you’d take care of it.’

  ‘Oh, that is such a nice thing to say, Gracie Grace …’

  The two young women chatted nostalgically as they walked along, ice creams melting over their hands, looking for somewhere where there weren’t too many other people, where they could sit and reminisce. Eventually finding a spot which wasn’t crowded with day-trippers, they sat on the edge of a narrow strip of pebbly beach that was further away from the Golden Mile of arcades and slot machines.

  Tucking their skirts tight under their bare legs, Gracie and Ruby sat down side by side and finished their ice creams in companionable silence, before leaning back and turning their faces to the sun.

  After several minutes’ silence, there was a crunching on the pebbles behind them.

  ‘Excuse me, you two,’ a very correct female voice suddenly said behind them. ‘You don’t mind if we sit here, do you? It’s such a nice spot, away from the noise of all those screaming little kiddywinks further back that way.’

  Gracie and Ruby had both been deep in thought, but they sat up quickly and looked round in unison. Two men and a woman were standing behind them, looking ready to settle themselves on the beach near to where they were sitting but politely waiting for a response. One of the men was holding a folded tartan rug over one arm and a cavernous wicker basket on the other and the other man was carrying the jackets they’d obviously taken off because of the sun. There was no doubt they were looking to stay for at least the duration of their picnic.

  ‘Of course not! It’s a public beach. And we’re leaving in a minute anyway,’ Gracie shrugged, without taking too much notice.

  She was surprised at the question and also a bit irritated that other people were settling so close on the beach when there was room a little further away. She really wanted to chat with Ruby and enjoy their last outing together before everything changed; she just wanted a fun day with Ruby before her wedding.

  ‘Are you here on a day trip?’ the young woman asked as she took the rug from the man, before carefully laying it out just a few feet away from them. Trying to be subtle, Gracie glanced at her.

  She was a petite but buxom blonde with a wide smile, classy clothes and a shrill, upper-class voice that carried along the beach. It was obvious she’d dressed for a day at the seaside but without considering the beach.

  ‘No, we live here,’ Gracie answered politely. ‘We were just having a sit in the sun before we walk home.’

  ‘How exciting it must be to live at the seaside. We live in the country so we’re just here for the day – we drove down from Saffron Walden this morning. Well, Edward drove. It’s the first time we’ve ever been to Southend and we want to see everything; we’ve already had a good old look around the Kursaal and along by the pier. It’s all such fun! Harry and I went on the lake in a boat …’ she paused and her hand flew up to her mouth.

  ‘Oh, I’m sorry, you must think we’re so rude.’ She walked round in front of them and held out her hand to both Ruby and Gracie in turn. ‘I’m Louisa, and this is Harry, my darling fiancé …’ she said as she pointed to the man on her left, ‘and this is Edward, his big brother. Harry and I are engaged, we’re getting married next month and Edward will be best man. He came all the way back from Africa especially. How exciting is that?’

  ‘Shhh, darling,’ the man introduced as Harry said, as he held his hand up in front of her and smiled affectionately. ‘Not everyone wants to know all about our forthcoming nuptials’.

  ‘I’m sorry, Harry, I’m so excited I want the whole world to know!’ Louisa joined her hands together as if in prayer and almost bowed as she gazed adoringly at her fiancé.

  Gracie felt Ruby’s elbow in her ribs and heard her stifled snort but she didn’t react.

  She wasn’t looking at Ruby, Louisa or Harry, nor was she listening to them. Instead Gracie had met the gaze of the man introduced as Edward, and she was completely transfixed.

  She could feel herself starting to blush, but still she couldn’t look away from the man, who was looking into her eyes with an intensity she couldn’t decipher. There was the slightest hint of a smile around the edges of his mouth that inferred intimacy and Gracie was shocked; not only that he could look at her that way, but also that she didn’t turn away and break the eye contact. She couldn’t – she was hypnotised.

  Ruby nudged her again, this time a little harder. ‘Gracie? Haven’t we got to get back? It’s getting late and there’s still a lot to do.’

  Ruby’s words were loaded with meaning, but for once Gracie chose to ignore the ‘let’s get out of here’ signal, although she did force herself to look away from the man and break the connection.

  ‘It’s okay, we’ve got a while, let’s stay just a bit longer,’ she said, her eyes moving from Ruby back to Edward. ‘I’m Gracie by the way and this is my best friend, Ruby …’

  ‘Pleased to meet you, Gracie, and you, Ruby …’ the man said as his eyes flickered from one to the other before settling on Gracie.

  ‘Come on now, boys.’ Interrupting the conversation, the young woman clapped her hands sharply. ‘Let’s go and dip a toe in the briney, we didn’t come all this way not to at least get our feet wet. Chop, chop, shoes off, trousers rolled up! Let’s go and see if it’s as nice as it looks …’

  Louisa slipped off her shoes and tip-toed barefoot over the stones, down to the edge of the water, where the receding tide was leaving straggling bits of wet seaweed behind on the damp s
and. She was wearing yellow tailored knee-length shorts with a tightly fitted matching blouse and had a brightly coloured scarf tied artfully round her neck as a choker. She looked like a film star as she stood with one hand on her hip and the other carefully holding her hair back from her face. There was no denying the fact that she was a beautiful and privileged young woman.

  Everyone on the beach turned and watched as she dipped a toe in the chilly water, screamed and then turned and waved madly. Harry was just a few paces behind her, standing on one leg and carefully rolling his trouser legs up to mid-calf, but Edward stayed exactly where he was. Right next to Gracie.

  Both brothers were wearing similar beige slacks and white open-necked shirts and both had light brown floppy hairstyles but Edward’s hair was gently sun-lightened across the front and he sported a suntan that was deep and noticeably exotic. Next to him, his brother Harry looked pale and mousey.

  ‘Come on, Teddy, and you girls as well, this is such fun even if it is freezing! Why is it so cold when the sun is so warm?’ Louisa shouted with a faux shiver as she splashed daintily in the shallows.

  Although Edward wasn’t moving, Gracie could see Ruby was tempted as always by the water. ‘Go on, you go and have a splash with them,’ she smiled, ‘I’ll just sit here and relax for a bit. Go on …’

  Ruby put her head on one side and looked curiously at her friend for a few moments. ‘Are you feeling okay? I thought you might fancy a bit of a splash around today. It’s such a nice day, and it might be …’

  ‘No, I’m alright,’ Gracie interrupted quickly. ‘I’m happy to watch for the mo’. I’m comfortable sitting here but I might come down in a bit …’

  As Ruby headed towards the water, Edward edged over from the comfort of the rug and sat beside Gracie on the pebble-splattered sand.

  ‘Let me introduce myself properly. I’m Edward Woodfield, but my close friends call me Teddy. As you know, Harry is my brother and Louisa is his fiancée, and we live in rural Essex. Very rural, out in the sticks Essex, heading up to Suffolk. Saffron Walden. You’ve probably not heard of it!’