Read Online The Way We Were by Marcia Willett - Free Book Online Page A

mean?’ Tiggy asks later. They've already discussed Tiggy's surprise at Aunt Em's appearance and Uncle Archie's Paddington Bear-like attraction. About Uncle Archie being everyone's uncle?’
    â€˜Well, it's true. Poor Aunt Em. Uncle Archie simply can't resist a cry for help and everyone knows it. He loves to be organizing and fund-raising and in the thick of it. I think it's because she's waited all these years for him to stop going to sea so that they can be together and it's been a bit of an anticlimax.’
    â€˜She seems quite a bit younger.’
    â€˜Oh, she is.’ Julia kneels down on the rug in front of the fire and begins to pull the logs together, prodding them with the poker to make a blaze. ‘It was a tremendous romance, Pete says. Uncle Archie was a typical career officer, confirmed bachelor and so on. And then he met Aunt Em and she completely knocked him sideways. Although she was brought up by some dreary old aunts she's such a live wire and everyone loves her. The kids absolutely adore her. It was a great shame that she couldn't have any of her own.’
    Tiggy feels a twinge of anxiety. ‘Does she know about me?’
    â€˜Of course not.’ Julia looks up reassuringly from her crouching position. ‘But she's bound to find out before too long.’
    â€˜I know. It's stupid of me.’ Tiggy shivers, edging closer to the warmth, remembering Mrs Armstrong's shocked and disgusted expression. ‘It's just that I can't bear the thought of how people will react.’
    â€˜But you were going to be married at Easter. It wasn't just a one-night stand,’ says Julia. And if you'd told Tom about the baby, you'd have been married by now and nobody would ever have known.’
    â€˜I wasn't certain, you see,’ says Tiggy wretchedly. ‘You kid yourself that you've got the dates wrong or it's because you're worrying about it. You know how it is.’
    She breaks off, knowing that Julia has never been in such a frightening position, experiencing the earlier sense of isolation. Julia watches her sympathetically, remembering Tom's striking good looks but also his faint air of unapproachability. Pete had really liked him.
    â€˜After all,’ she says, with unexpected intuitiveness, ‘even when you're engaged it's a bit tricky coming out with that kind of news, isn't it? And Tom was just a tad intimidating, wasn't he, being that much older? He was so terribly … complete.’
    Tiggy looks at her with surprise. ‘That's exactly right,’ she agrees. ‘He was very self-contained. Oh, not in a cold way, but he didn't need people in the way I did. Do. I needed reassurance that he really loved me. When I first guessed about the baby I was immediately frightened that he'd see it as a nuisance. Or a threat or something. When I was sure, I held back from telling him because he was so set on doing the Horseshoe under snow. It was a big thing with his climbing group and I didn't want him to have anything on his mind.’ She bends forward so that her forehead rests on her knees. ‘I wish I'd told him,’ she says, muffled.
    Julia pokes at the fire, rather at a loss for words; anything will sound trite.
    Presently Tiggy raises her head. ‘It's wonderful being here,’ she says. ‘You've saved my life.’
    Julia looks embarrassed but pleased. ‘It's nice for us too, you know,’ she says.
    â€˜What did you think of Tiggy?’ Em asks as she and Archie drive back to Blisland.
    Archie reflects on the question. He liked the girl; very pretty with all that long dark reddish-brown hair. There's probably some fancy word for it. Auburn? Too light. Anyway, it's pretty hair. And she had a nice straight way of looking at you. Good eyes too. Greeny-blue, like the sea on a hot day. And that little dusting of freckles is rather attractive. Bit on the thin side for his taste, not like Julia who is a good armful when you give her a