Cathy Kelly 3-Book Collection 1: Lessons in Heartbreak, Once in a Lifetime, Homecoming. Cathy Kelly

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      ‘Poor bloke, I feel sorry for him,’ Maisie whispered to Lily. Maisie was definitely tipsy now, rosy-cheeked and sleepy from the cocktails. ‘Doesn’t know what he’s got himself into, I reckon. He’ll soon find out.’

      ‘Here goes!’ shouted Sybil.

      ‘Girls, watch out!’ shrieked Diana.

      The bouquet was high in the air and then Lily looked up to see it falling, falling, right towards her. At the last second, she grabbed Maisie and shoved her in its path.

      ‘Lawks!’ squealed Maisie as the flowers fell quite literally on top of her.

      Everyone laughed, especially Lily.

      Then she felt a strong hand on her waist, gripping her body in the navy spotted crêpe de Chine, the heat of the embrace burning through to her skin.

      ‘I wanted to say goodbye, Nurse Kennedy,’ said Jamie, his face bent so it was inches away from hers.

      In the throng of the crowd, they were pushed against each other.

      Their lips met, fiercely and hot.

      And then, in an instant, he drew back.

      ‘Till we meet again?’

      Lily could do nothing but look at him as the two men went out the door, comrades and relatives crowding them.

      ‘Here comes the bride,’ sang Maisie tunelessly, waving her bouquet and putting her arm around Lily.

      ‘Wasn’t it lovely?’ she sighed.

      Lily’s eyes were on the door where Jamie had been moments before.

      ‘Lovely,’ she breathed, and touched her lips where he’d kissed them. She’d been kissed before but never like that. Why had she played stupid games with him? Why walk away when they were dancing?

      She felt furious with herself. That inherent spikiness in her character had let her down again. Now he was gone and who knew when she’d see him again?

       September 1944

      Sybil had pulled out all the stops for her wedding party, part two, but even so, it fell short of the grand celebration she’d hoped for.

      Instead of a formal dance, she had to put up with nothing more than a small dinner party in Philip’s grandmother’s house in South Audley Street, a rather grand mansion that had been closed up since 1942, with every stick of furniture shrouded in Holland covers. After dinner, the party was moving on to The 400, a glamorous nightclub which Diana often frequented and where Lily had never been.

      Lily was quite sure Sybil had only agreed to invite her to the party because they’d need an extra pair of hands to help with the cooking and the tidying up. She could imagine Sybil balking at the idea of Lily being a guest, and almost hear Diana, shocked, insisting that she wouldn’t dream of asking her friend to help if she wasn’t invited.

      ‘It’s going to be super,’ Sybil said blithely the day of the party, as she, Diana and Lily surveyed Philip’s grandmother’s house and tried to work out what to do first. Sybil had been there since the day before and appeared to have done not one iota of tidying up, Lily decided, looking at the layers of dust everywhere.

      ‘We’re going to be exhausted by the time we’ve made this house presentable,’ snapped Diana, who, along with her mother, was furious with Sybil for going ahead with the party in the first place.

      ‘It’s not safe in London any more, Sibs,’ she said. ‘Even Philip says it’s not safe because of the V-2s. I don’t know why you wouldn’t listen to Mummy and settle for a small party at home at Christmas.’

      Since D-Day, even Londoners hardened to the sound of air raids had learned to fear the scream of approaching doodlebugs. And now there was a new, even deadlier threat in the shape of V-2 flying bombs which came with no warning and left entire streets devastated.

      For the first time during the war, Lily was in a state of constant fear.

      ‘It’s bad enough I had to miss out on a honeymoon, I’m not going to let this silly Baby Blitz ruin my party,’ she sniffed.

      Lily stopped what she was doing. ‘Listen, Sybil,’ she said, between gritted teeth, ‘I’m here on my day off because of Diana, not you. So please keep quiet about the “Baby Blitz” because you wouldn’t call it that if you’d seen its after-effects in the hospital every day.’

      For once, Sybil shut up.

      ‘Sorry,’ Diana muttered to Lily when Sybil had gone off to another room, ostensibly to find a vase for the late roses from the garden. ‘She doesn’t understand.’

      ‘I don’t know why,’ Lily said angrily. ‘I know she’s insulated at Beltonward, but honestly, Diana, she must see what people are living through. You tell her what you see every day, how can that not touch her?’

      Diana shrugged elegantly. ‘Sibs is like Daddy: she only understands something if it affects her directly. Don’t let this ruin tonight, we all need some fun. Please, Lily? You’re going to love The 400.’

      Lily allowed herself to smile. She longed to ask if Lieutenant Jamie Hamilton was among the guests, but didn’t dare. She hadn’t so much as mentioned his name since that night. She didn’t want anyone, even Diana, to find out how she’d felt about him.

      Anyway, if he was there, she thought, she’d ignore him. If he was that keen to see her again, why hadn’t he made an attempt to get in touch? The D-Day push that had put paid to Sybil’s honeymoon was long over; he’d had three months to get in touch and he hadn’t.

      No, if he was there, she wouldn’t even speak to him, that was for sure.

      

      ‘Hello, Lily,’ he said that evening at eight, his voice just as she remembered. He was more tanned, and he looked wonderful standing in front of her in his uniform.

      He was one of the last of the party of twelve to arrive: everyone else was standing around the dining-room table finishing their drinks. Thanks to Sybil’s flowers and Lily’s skill in laying a table, it all looked perfect. Diana had toiled away stewing the chicken – ‘think it’s rabbit, actually,’ she’d told Lily – that Sybil had brought with her from the country.

      ‘Hello, Jamie,’ she said.

      ‘I hoped you’d be here tonight,’ he said.

      ‘And I am,’ Lily replied. She wasn’t going to make it too easy for him. Once she’d realised he was coming, from reading Sybil’s careful table plan, she’d felt her excitement grow.

      ‘I wanted to get in touch with you,’ he began.

      ‘Did you?’ asked Lily lightly.

      He nodded.

      Lily watched him scan the place names and then reach down the table to swap names СКАЧАТЬ