A Perfect Christmas

Chapter TWENTY


After the day he’d had, Glen felt the need for a drink stronger than tea and had gone off to the local corner shop to treat himself and Jan to a couple of bottles of beer each. He had to admire her self-control. She obviously knew that the strike had been staved off in some way and Glen knew she was desperate to hear his account of what had happened when he had paid a visit to the office today. And, of course, how he’d got on with Miss Thomas. Had he told her who he was, and if so what had her reaction been? When he returned with the beer and they were seated opposite each other in the fireside chairs, he’d be ready to tell her all.

Back at the flat, Jan vigorously wiped away at burned splashes on top of the old enamel cooker, which helped to ease the frustration slightly. She was desperate to hear from Glen how his visit to Lucy had been. She stopped her rubbing and frowned as she heard a purposeful knock on the door to the flat. That was quick, for Glen to have got to the shop and back so soon. He’d hardly been gone a minute or so. She could have sworn, though, she had seen him take his key off the hook by the door before he left. As she reached it and noticed his key wasn’t there, she assumed he must have lost it.

Opening the door, she said, ‘Challenging Roger Bannister’s record for the one-minute mile is . . .’ Her voice died away as she pulled the door fully open and saw who the visitor actually was. ‘Harry!’ she uttered, shocked.

He walked past her into the front room. Jan stood staring after him blankly for a moment. When she’d recovered herself she found him standing in the living area, waiting for her to join him. As soon as she did he said darkly, ‘So Mrs March was right and it was you she saw coming in here one night when she was visiting a needy parishioner. She knew who you were from visiting our house when you opened the door to her.’ His tone accusing, he continued: ‘While you were trespassing there recently you stole money that was intended for the needy. Money that generous people had donated, some going without themselves in order to do so. How can you live with yourself, knowing you’ve done such a despicable thing?’

Jan raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Er . . . just remind me again, Harry. That money was intended for people in desperate need, wasn’t it?’

‘Yes, it was.’

‘Well, I was one of those people after you threw me out without anything more than the clothes on my back. So it went to a needy person, didn’t it?’

He looked stunned but found he couldn’t argue with that, so didn’t. ‘You took some of my clothes too.’

She gave a nonchalant shrug. ‘Because I knew someone else in dire need, and in the circumstances I didn’t think you’d mind.’ Over her shock now, Jan folded her arms, looked him square in the eyes and said, ‘So Mrs March is the name of your do-gooding friend, is it? Is that all she does for you, Harry, a few cleaning jobs around the house and cook you a meal?’

He shot her a disapproving look. ‘No need for that attitude, Janet. I won’t have you speak about Mrs March that way. I wouldn’t have managed to keep house without the help of the good ladies of the congregation.’

She responded sardonically, ‘No, you wouldn’t have time for housework, would you? Not with every minute taken up with helping the deserving.’

He ignored her jibe and said, ‘Mrs March also noticed a man coming in here with you that evening. She said that by the way you acted together, you obviously knew each other well.’

Jan scowled angrily at him. ‘Not in the way that you’re implying we don’t!’

‘So you deny you’re living together, even though there are signs of a man all over the place,’ he said, casting his eyes around, noting Glen’s slippers by a chair, the unread evening newspaper over the arm of it.

‘Actually we are living together but as friends, clubbing together to fund a place to live in because otherwise we couldn’t afford it. We sleep in separate bedrooms,’ Jan added defensively.

He cast his eyes around again before bringing them back to her. ‘How can you live in a place like this? It’s barely more than a hovel.’

‘Like this! Let me tell you, it might not be Buckingham Palace but it’s a far cry from living on the streets.’

‘I grant you that much. But it can’t be compared to the house you left.’

‘The house you threw me out of and told me never to darken the door of again, you mean?’

His face tight, Harry snapped, ‘I found you in bed with another man. What did you expect me to do . . . make you both a cup of tea?’

Jan shook her head sadly at him. ‘You still haven’t accepted any responsibility for driving me into another man’s arms, have you, Harry? I’m sure God is very grateful for your dedication in serving him and I hope, like you do, that his reward to you will be a place in heaven where you can make your apologies to Keith for allowing him out on the night that he died. But in the process you’ve turned your back on the people who loved you . . . on me . . . starved me of love and affection, giving it all instead to the people you were helping while I became nothing more than a housekeeper to you.’

‘I asked you to join me in becoming a servant of the Lord, Janet.’

She said in all sincerity, ‘Oh, I would have been quite happy to do some good turns for the needy now and again, but I wasn’t prepared to give up my life to it, like you were.’ She gave a deep sigh and looked at him tenderly. ‘We used to be so close, did everything together. You were constantly telling me how much you loved me and physically showing you did too, like I did then. Where did that Harry go?’

He looked her in her eyes and said flatly, ‘He died the night our son did, Janet.’

She heaved a deep sad sigh then asked, ‘Look, why are you here exactly?’

‘Well, you never came back to beg my forgiveness . . . but then I know you can be stubborn. So I’ve come to say I forgive you and tell you you can come home.’

‘Oh, I can, can I? You really think I’m going to come home just to be your housekeeper again?’

‘You’re my wife and a wife’s place is by her husband. You made vows before God to honour me until death parted us, remember that, Janet.’

‘It was a different man I made that promise to, Harry. You’ve already told me that man is dead so there’s no point in my coming back in the hope he might return one day.’

‘Are you telling me you’re not coming back?’

‘Not to live like I was before, Harry, definitely not. I can’t, I’m sorry.’

‘Well, in that case, I want a divorce.’

She felt stunned for a moment, not expecting to be asked that, then she forced a laugh. ‘Oh, so you can make an honest woman of Mrs March, I take it?’

‘I told you, I will not have you speak about her like that, Janet. Mavis is a good woman. She’s as committed as I am to the church and we get on very well together.’

Jan had a vision of them both sitting by the fire at night after returning from distributing food to the homeless in the city or attending a church service, reading passages from the Bible together as they sipped their hot milk. She heaved a deep sigh and refused to think about that any more. ‘Look, Harry, we were very much in love, had a wonderful marriage and were both happy believing we’d end our days together, but unfortunately we had a terrible tragedy to deal with and we’ve ended up going our separate ways. It’s a very sad business. I don’t begrudge you your happiness, Harry, and if Mrs March can be the kind of wife you want for yourself now, then I won’t stand in your way. I’ll sign the divorce papers as soon as I get them. I couldn’t find my belongings at the house – I assume you’ve packed them up ready for me to collect. I’d appreciate it if you’d get someone to bring them here for me when you can. And, Harry, I do wish you every happiness.’

She stepped over to him and gave him a peck on his cheek.

He looked surprised by her gesture. Tears glinted in his eyes momentarily. He flashed her a wan smile and said softly, ‘I wish you every happiness for your future too. Goodbye, Janet.’

She followed him to the door and saw him out. They were both aware it was doubtful they would see each other again. They moved in different circles now.

Jan dashed out to meet Glen the moment she heard his key in the lock. He hadn’t even got through the door before she was saying to him, ‘Give me one of those bottles, I really need it.’ Taking one from his hand, she dashed back to the kitchen with it. Glen followed her, feeling bemused. Something was obviously amiss with her, but considering he’d not been gone more than fifteen minutes he couldn’t imagine what. He watched her snap the cap off the bottle. Not even taking the time to pour it into a cup – they had no glasses as yet, feeling they were a luxury to be afforded when they got paid again – she raised it to her lips and took several long gulps. Then she gave a loud burp, reddened in embarrassment and said, ‘Pardon me.’

Frowning at her, he asked, ‘What’s going on, Jan?’

She took another long swallow from the bottle before she told him. ‘Harry came round. You’ve not long missed him.’

Glen was surprised. ‘Harry Owens was here?’ He couldn’t understand what the man would need to see him about that was urgent enough to pay him a visit at home. How would he know his address anyway as Glen hadn’t told him?

Jan shook her head. ‘No, not him. My husband Harry . . . the last person I expected ever to knock on the door. It’s shaken me up. He told me that one of his fellow church members was visiting someone around here on a mercy mission and recognised me as I came home one night.’ She took another long swallow from the bottle before she continued, ‘He came to tell me he’d forgiven me and he was allowing me to go home.’

Glen was shocked by how much this news unsettled him. Just as shocked to realise he would miss her, and not just a little. Regardless, he wouldn’t be much of a friend if he didn’t show her he was happy for her. He forced a bright smile to his face and told Jan, ‘Well, I wish you the best but I’m sure you won’t need it.’

‘I’m sorry to disappoint you but I’m not going back, so you can take that happy expression off your face.’

He was shocked at himself again when he realised how glad he was to hear that she was not going back to her husband. Glen had no choice then but to admit to himself that, in the short space of time he had known her, he’d grown very fond of Janet Clayton.

She was continuing, ‘Our marriage was over the night Keith died and Harry and I both know it now. He’s met someone else, someone who suits the man he has become, and he wants to marry her. I’ve told him he won’t have any trouble from me over a divorce. Anyway, I don’t want to talk about his visit any more. Now I think I’ve been patient enough! I want to hear your account of what happened at work today.’ She drained her bottle and picked up another, parted it from its top and this time picked up a cup to fill as well. She handed these to Glen, telling him, ‘Go and make yourself comfy in your chair while I sort myself out another drink. I’ll follow you through.’

A minute later Jan sat looking expectantly at him. ‘So how did Lucy take the news that you’re her father? I bet she was shocked.’

He took a long swallow of his drink then shocked Jan by telling her, ‘She’s not my daughter, Jan. She’s not Lucy.’

‘She’s not! Then . . . then who is she?’

‘Her name is Caitlyn Thomas.’

‘Oh! Well, that doesn’t mean she isn’t Lucy, Glen. Nerys just changed her name, that’s all.’

‘That was my immediate thought, but I managed to find out that she’s eighteen just after Christmas, and Lucy would only have been seventeen at the end of January. And she has a birth certificate to prove it.’ To Jan’s distress she saw tears glinting in Glen’s eyes when he continued, ‘I still see so much of Julia in her, though. She has her eyes, her hair colour . . .’

Jan cut in gently, ‘That’s because you want to see Julia in her, Glen. We can all see what we want to at times, even when it’s not really there.’

He nodded. ‘Yes, I realise that.’ He took a deep breath and gave himself a shake. ‘This means that Nerys had a year-old daughter herself when we met and I can’t understand why she hid the fact from me. After all, it wasn’t as if I had an aversion to children, not with one of my own, was it? And who was looking after her while Nerys was with me?’

Jan’s mind was turning somersaults and she was talking to herself more than to him, trying to get them in order. ‘So this Caitlyn Thomas would be Lucy’s elder sister . . . well, not her real sister . . . but they might not know they’re related or even if they did . . .’

‘Jan, Caitlyn told me she hasn’t got a sister. She’s an only child.’

‘Oh! Oh, I see. But then that means . . .’

‘That Nerys must have had Lucy adopted or put in an orphanage.’ Deep sorrow filled his face as he uttered, ‘I’ll never find her now.’

Her face stern, Jan wagged a finger at him. ‘Eh, now, don’t you dare give up hope. We’ll find Lucy, if I have to break into the archives at City Hall myself to get her records and find out where she is.’

Glen could not help but smile at the vision that rose before him of Jan kitted out all in black, her face blackened with boot polish, skulking around City Hall looking for the best place to break in.

She was saying, ‘Despite the fact that the authorities won’t tell you who adopted Lucy or her whereabouts, I’m sure they would pass a letter on from you to her, and then it’s her choice whether she contacts you or not. Which of course she will, Glen. Any child would want to meet their natural parent, even if it’s just from curiosity, but I’m sure Lucy couldn’t fail to want to get to know you better, once she’d met you. Anyway, there’s also the chance that Nerys had her privately adopted and that means she will know the names of the people and where they are . . . or where they were if they have moved since, but it shouldn’t be that hard to track them down. If she did have Lucy privately adopted then it wouldn’t be any skin off Nerys’s nose to tell you who she gave her to after all this time, would it? She’s got what she wanted from you after all, and I doubt the couple who took Lucy can do anything to prosecute Nerys as it would all have been off the record and might not even have been legal, if you see what I mean?’

Jan saw hope return to Glen’s eyes. He said to her, ‘Nerys can’t stay away for ever, can she? I’ll just have to bide my time until she gets back and tackle her then for the information I want. If she’s got an ounce of common decency in her, she’ll tell me.’

‘We’ll go and tackle her,’ Jan told him. ‘Two people standing firm against her won’t be as easy to get rid of as one. Anyway, that’s sorted. Like you said, all we can do now is wait patiently until she gets back from her jaunt.’ She drained the last drop of beer from the bottle, drank it back then got up. ‘Ready for another?’

He nodded. ‘Don’t mind if I do.’

‘Me neither. Then you can tell me what happened in the office when you went up. Oh, I’ve just remembered, I’ve already drunk my share of the beer. It’s not that I’m a drinker, but it’s been slipping down so well.’

He grinned. ‘You can share my other one with me.’

She smiled back at him. ‘You’re a gent, Glen Trainer, and don’t dare let anyone tell you otherwise.’

After sharing the bottle equally between them and having settled comfortably back in her chair – or as well as she was able to in the lumpy old thing – Jan said to Glen, ‘Right, I’m all ears.’

A troubled expression clouded his face. ‘Well to tell you the truth, Jan, I might have got Miss Thomas to see sense, but I’m not proud of myself for the way I managed it.’

A picture flashed into her mind. He had tied Caitlyn Thomas to a chair and was standing over her, gun in hand, threatening to kill her if she didn’t do what was necessary to put an end to the strike. Then she gave herself a shake. She might not have known Glen long but she knew he wasn’t the sort to hurt a fly. ‘So what did you do, then?’

With his eyes fixed on the glowing wood in the grate, he said, ‘As soon as I discovered she wasn’t in fact Lucy, the need to save the factory from possible ruin and the workers from losing their jobs was paramount. I was very conscious that I hadn’t much time before the union chaps would be knocking on the door delivering their ultimatum, so I went in all guns blazing, so to speak. I really gave her some home truths, Jan. Was very blunt with her.’

‘It wasn’t her you were angy with, though, was it, Glen? It was her mother you wanted to set straight, having just learned the latest lie in a long string of them. She promised to care for Lucy, didn’t she, raise her as her own while you were inside . . . and she didn’t at all but passed her on to strangers.’

He nodded. ‘Yes, it was all that in my mind and it was wrong of me to take it out on Caitlyn Thomas. But still, my harsh words did seem to make her take a good look at herself and she couldn’t have liked what she saw as she told me she didn’t want to be that person any more. So some good might have come from it. I think out of all I said to her, what had the most impact was when I told her that if she didn’t do something to change her ways, she’d end up a lonely old woman. She was crying, Jan. It didn’t make me proud to see I’d made a woman cry. And the worst thing of all was when she asked me what she should do to make herself into a better person. I did my best by telling her a couple of things she could do but said that the only person who could really help her was herself. Once she’d dropped her superior attitude, I found her to be a very pleasant young woman.’

Jan looked thoughtful. ‘Do you think she will manage to change herself? I mean, leopards don’t change their spots, do they?’

He pondered this for a moment before he said, ‘I agree that as a general rule they don’t, but there is always the exception. Miss Thomas was adamant that she didn’t like the person I’d made her see she was. I warned her that it’s not going to be easy for her, changing the habits of a lifetime, but I did get the impression she was determined to. So hopefully she will succeed, Jan.’

‘Well, from the gossip I heard in the canteen, she’s certainly trying, I’ll give her that. Dilys came back from delivering the afternoon tray of tea up to her in the office and told us that she found Miss Thomas and Miss Trucker deep in discussion. Well, it was Miss Trucker that was doing all the talking and Miss Thomas was listening to her apparently. Dilys got the shock of her life because Miss Thomas actually thanked her for the tea. I heard via the union representative when they came back and told us the outcome of their visit to the office that she’d agreed to all their terms, admitted to them she wasn’t up to the job and promised to get a temporary manager in to run the place until her mother gets back. You could tell they were all shocked by this turnaround in her.’

‘She offered me the job of manager.’

Jan exclaimed, eyes lighting up with excitement, ‘She did? My God, this is the answer to your prayers, Glen! Just accept it long enough to have a good rummage through the files, Nerys’s address has got to be in there somewhere, and with a bit of luck you might find something incriminating you can use against her to make her hand back the company.’

He tutted at her. ‘Jan, if Nerys was clever enough to plan and carry out her scheme to frame me, she isn’t going to be daft enough to leave any incriminating evidence around, is she?’

She conceded this. ‘Well, thinking about it, not in the office admittedly, but somewhere at her house . . . and as manager you can find her address in the private files without having to use any underhand means.’

‘And then we break into her house? Come on, Jan, look at us, two middle-aged people who have never broken the law in their lives . . . well, I certainly haven’t, although there were times when I was close to it after not eating for a few days. But I still couldn’t bring myself to steal from anyone. I’d have been too worried I’d taken food from a child’s mouth. I doubt you’ve ever done anything wrong either.’

A guilty look crossed Jan’s face. ‘Well, I have actually.’ She saw Glen glance at her in surprise and with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes, told him, ‘I’m ashamed to admit that I stole a penny out of my mother’s purse once to buy some sweets. I was only seven at the time. And then I felt so guilty I couldn’t eat the sweets so I gave them away and never did it again. And before you say anything . . . as far as I’m concerned, that money I took from Harry’s church fund was not stolen as it was used for the purpose for which it was intended.’

‘You have a point, I suppose, but despite the fact we wouldn’t be sitting toasting ourselves by this fire and have a bed to sleep in tonight if you hadn’t helped yourself to that money, I still don’t feel comfortable about it. I will make donations to the church when I can afford to. I suppose as you’ve admitted your crime-ridden past then I should too.’

She eyed him, intrigued. ‘Oh, what did you do that was illegal then?’

‘Not exactly illegal but I did blatantly lie to my father once. I’d told him I was going to a friend’s to study for my exams, which was where I was going, but it wasn’t to study as he was having a party while his parents were away. I was fourteen at the time.’

‘Did your father ever find out?’

Glen nodded. ‘I got as drunk as a lord on my friend’s father’s best Scotch and passed out on the sofa. When I didn’t come home at the time I should have my father became worried and came to collect me, found me in the state I was in and banned me from going out for a month. He showed no sympathy whatsoever for the dreadful hangover I suffered, which it took me days to get over.

‘Anyway, neither of us deserves jail, Jan, but if we got caught breaking into Nerys’s house, well, that would be different. I’ve been in jail, remember, and I wouldn’t recommend it. And there’s a problem about me taking the manager’s job even for just long enough to have a look through the files. It would be just my luck if Nerys chose that moment to return and caught me behind the desk. She could have a field day then. Throw me out without a by-your-leave, accuse me of taking advantage of the situation to extort money or steal goods, and have the police brought in to investigate. Don’t forget, I’ve already got a criminal record. Although they won’t find any wrongdoing this time, I’d still be out of a job.

‘And don’t forget also, Jan, some people at work know that you and I are good friends and live in the same building. They could even know it’s the same flat we live in together and believe we’re a couple . . . you know how nosy folk are. That means you would automatically be seen as my accomplice, be thrown out as well, and in the circumstances I can’t see them paying us for the days we’ve worked, can you? So we’d both have no jobs at a time when it’s hard to get another, being close to Christmas. There’s no way we could pay the rent on this place, which is due next Friday, so where would that leave us? Back where we were just days ago, in that shop doorway.’

The look on Jan’s face told him that was unthinkable to her.

Glen continued, ‘I know it’s pathetic, but can you imagine what it would be like for me, managing a company I used to own and for the woman who stole it from me? For just that reason alone I couldn’t take the job, Jan. My male pride, you see.’ He paused for a moment to drain his cup of beer, then tip the remains of the bottle into it. ‘I’ve been giving my position a lot of thought. Up to now I’ve been lucky that the people I’ve come across in the factory have accepted my explanation about my name, but I haven’t been everywhere yet and there’s a chance that there might still be people working for the firm who worked for me. If they recognise me and start talking about the past, it will get back to Nerys and she’ll cause trouble.

‘Being realistic, Jan, I think I’d best find another job before she gets back. I don’t need to work at the firm any longer, do I, as I’ve found out the information I needed and can’t get any further in my search for Lucy until I can tackle Nerys face to face about it.’

Guilt flamed in Jan’s eyes and she said reproachfully, ‘I never stopped to consider the consequences there could be for you when I bamboozled you into working at Rose’s.’

‘I’m just as much to blame because neither did I at the time. Too bent on finding Lucy’s whereabouts to think further than that.’ He smiled at her. ‘You were just trying your best to find a way to help me, that’s all.’

Jan looked thoughtful. ‘Well, now we’ve got to make a plan for how we’re going to get you up to the office to tackle Nerys when she does come back. I suppose I’ll have to ask permission from Hilda to use the telephone as I have an emergency, then get hold of you at your new workplace as soon as I hear word Nerys is on the premises. Then you’ll have to make up some damned good excuse to your new boss and hope he’ll give you permission to go out, then get over to the factory as quickly as you can, hoping Nerys doesn’t leave meantime. It’s going to be like planning a military operation.’ Jan heaved an exasperated sigh. ‘God, all we want is the chance for you to talk to the bloody woman. How hard can it possibly—’ She stopped dead in mid-flow and, to Glen’s surprise, started laughing.

‘What’s so funny?’ he asked her.

‘Us. We’re still not thinking clearly. Pair of old duffers we are. The answer is staring us in the face. We follow her daughter home after work. She’s not old enough to drive so keep everything crossed she doesn’t catch a taxi or get the family car to pick her up. Hopefully she catches the bus like the rest of us menials.’

Glen was feeling mortally inadequate for not thinking of this solution himself but he was glad Jan had. It seemed to have the best potential for his achieving his goal. He said enthusiastically, ‘I’ll do it tomorrow night. I’ll . . .’

Jan piped up, ‘You can’t be the one to follow her, Glen. Caitlyn Thomas knows you, and if she catches sight of you tailing her she could get suspicious. I need to be the one to do this. Tomorrow’s Saturday and the office staff don’t have to work like us factory lot do so I doubt she will. It’ll have to be Monday night. Oh, dear, seems like a long weekend’s in front of us. Anyway, I’ll tell Hilda I’ve got somewhere important I need to be straight after work so I’ll have to leave as soon as the hooter blows. I’ll hide somewhere I’ve got a good view of the factory gates and as soon as I see Miss Thomas coming through them, I’ll tag on behind her, keeping at a safe distance. Hopefully she’ll be in too much of a hurry to get home to take much notice of what’s going on around her. And it’s dark that time of night, so that’s on our side . . .’

The plan sounded a good one to him but, regardless, several problems struck him. He said to her, ‘But, Jan, you’ll have been on your feet all day and be tired. And it’s freezing weather. You could catch your death if for some reason Caitlyn Thomas stays late in the office.’

She told him, ‘Well, I’ll be sitting down on the bus, and I’ll make sure I wear two pairs of knickers.’

He grinned. ‘Well, it seems it’s all go then.’ Another thought struck him then. ‘But Caitlyn knows you too, Jan. You brought a tray up to the office this morning so she’s seen your face, hasn’t she?’ He eyed her quizzically. ‘Er . . . by the way, why were you acting so oddly when you brought it in this morning?’

She looked at him for a moment before shifting awkwardly in her seat. ‘Well . . . er . . . you see, I wasn’t entirely honest with you . . . I didn’t lie, but I didn’t tell you either as I didn’t want to upset you since you believed at the time that the young woman in the office was your daughter. If I had told you I’d met her, you would have asked me what she was like, and I didn’t want to tell you so—’

He cut in, ‘You’re babbling, Jan. What is it you’re trying to tell me?’

‘Just that I crossed paths with . . . well, the girl we now know is Nerys’s own daughter, not yours, the first morning she came in. In fact both of us have come across her before. She was the girl in the church who kicked up a fuss when we went inside that night to rest.’

The incident came back to Glen. ‘Well thank goodness she hasn’t recognised us this time around, considering the state we were in then. She’d know the information I’ve told her about my background is a pack of lies.’

‘No one would realise the man that was in the church is the same one sat opposite me now,’ Jan said. ‘There’s no comparison. In my opinion she was too concerned at the time that we’d spoil her wedding to take much notice of us. At least, I assume it was her wedding, only as she’s still a Miss, something must have stopped it happening. Perhaps her fiancé didn’t like her attitude and called it off before it was too late. If that’s the case I do feel a bit sorry for her. She will have had a hard lesson to learn.’

Jan paused for a moment. ‘That first morning, I had a run-in with her and she ended up sacking me. Accused me of committing treason! Thankfully the boss’s secretary arrived then and I made a quick exit, glad the young woman hadn’t asked for my name. I did tell Hilda what had happened but she just told me to get on with my work and she’d deal with it. Thankfully I heard no more. I was acting strangely this morning because I was concerned she might recognise me and remember, but I don’t need to worry about bumping into her now with the union agreement to reinstate those she sacked unfairly, do I?’

Glen smiled. ‘I wondered why you were behaving differently. Now I know.’

‘Please don’t hold it against me for not telling you what she was like. How could I tell you that the daughter you were longing to get to know again was . . . well, as I thought at the time, a nasty piece of work who had escaped from the lunatic asylum?’

‘Jan, if the roles had been reversed, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you either. I only hope I can sleep tonight, thinking about what we hope to do on Monday. I do hope nothing happens to put a spanner in the works.’

She nodded in agreement. ‘Me too. I think some hot milk is called for. Hopefully between that and the beer we’ll both get a good night’s sleep.’ When she returned with cups of warm milk, Glen thanked her for his and said, ‘Tomorrow afternoon I thought I’d come home and get changed then take a trip around the area and have a look at the factory vacancies boards, to see if there’s anything suitable going.’ He would have liked to ask Jan to accompany him, but didn’t want to in case she preferred to have some time to herself while he was out. He would have been very surprised to have learned how disappointed Jan was that he didn’t ask her.