Read Online Through the Storm by Maureen Lee - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Maureen Lee
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come back for Penny.’
‘That’s all right, luv. Me dad’ll take Penny. You take the other things.’
Jessica had left the gas light on low in the living room, and the fire was burning cheerfully in the grate.
‘Don’t put her on the floor,’ she said to Jack when he came in carrying Penny. ‘There’s no fireguard. I’ll take her upstairs with me and assemble the cot.’
‘I’ll do the cot for you, it’s no job for a woman,’ he mumbled. ‘Where is it?’
Jessica felt amused. Her father had taught her how to strip a lorry’s engine and put it back together. She’d been his chief mechanic when there’d only been the two of them trying to get the haulage business off the ground. She could have assembled the cot in a jiffy. Nevertheless, she replied, ‘It’s in the front bedroom. I thought I’d have her in with me till she gets used to things. It might all seem a bit strange at first.’ Penny was used to her own white painted nursery with teddy bear transfers on the walls.
Jack put the little girl in Jessica’s arms without a word and tramped upstairs. Jessica took her into the back kitchen, sat her on the draining board, and washed her face and hands and cleaned her teeth. ‘You can have a bath in the morning, a different bath than usual, in front of the fire.’
Penny waved her arms in delight, as if she understood every word and looked forward to the treat. ‘And Mummy will give you a nice drink of milk in a minute.’
She breastfed her daughter at least once a day, unwilling to give up the last real physical link between mother and child. There was still a sense of wonderment when she saw Penny’s rosy lips sucking greedily at her white breast that she’d actually become a mother after all those barren years – and it hadn’t been her fault, after all.
There was a shout from upstairs. ‘It’s done.’
‘Is this where you want it?’ Jack asked when Jessica entered the bedroom carrying Penny. He’d erected it on the far side of the bed, against the wall. ‘It’d have stopped you opening the wardrobe if I’d put it on the other side.’
‘That’s fine.’
The big double bed, with its tumble of blankets and sheets and the green satin eiderdown thrown carelessly on waiting to be made, seemed to loom significantly between them. Jessica wondered if it reminded him, as it reminded her, of that night,
the
night, when both of them had seemed to reach a higher plane, a sort of seventh heaven, full of delights and delicious feelings she wasn’t aware existed. It had been good with Arthur, but she’d never thought it possible it could be as good as it was with Jack. And to think all that tenderness and passion was hidden behind his gruff, taciturn exterior, and she, Jessica Fleming, was the only one who knew it was there!
‘When did you say Arthur was coming?’ he asked suddenly.
He’d been good friends with her husband, and he was an honourable man, Jack Doyle, as straight as a die, a man who under normal circumstances would regard sleeping with another man’s wife, let alone the wife of a friend, as little short of traitorous. But the minute he’d walked into the room across the road, events had gone completely out of control. Neither could help themselves.
‘I didn’t say he was coming. I just said he might.’
‘That was a good job he got. It’d be a shame if he gave it up.’
‘Wild horses wouldn’t drag Arthur away from the museum.’
Jack looked puzzled. ‘But …’ he began.
‘I’ve left him,’ said Jessica. There! She’d put it into words. She and Arthur had been fencing around each other rather cautiously for days. There’d been no mention of Jessica leaving permanently, not even of a proper separation; they’d behaved as if she were merely going away for a while, though both had known in their hearts she was going for good.
‘I hated it there,’ she said spiritedly. ‘I missed Liverpool. I couldn’t wait to get back.’
‘A woman’s place is
‘That’s all right, luv. Me dad’ll take Penny. You take the other things.’
Jessica had left the gas light on low in the living room, and the fire was burning cheerfully in the grate.
‘Don’t put her on the floor,’ she said to Jack when he came in carrying Penny. ‘There’s no fireguard. I’ll take her upstairs with me and assemble the cot.’
‘I’ll do the cot for you, it’s no job for a woman,’ he mumbled. ‘Where is it?’
Jessica felt amused. Her father had taught her how to strip a lorry’s engine and put it back together. She’d been his chief mechanic when there’d only been the two of them trying to get the haulage business off the ground. She could have assembled the cot in a jiffy. Nevertheless, she replied, ‘It’s in the front bedroom. I thought I’d have her in with me till she gets used to things. It might all seem a bit strange at first.’ Penny was used to her own white painted nursery with teddy bear transfers on the walls.
Jack put the little girl in Jessica’s arms without a word and tramped upstairs. Jessica took her into the back kitchen, sat her on the draining board, and washed her face and hands and cleaned her teeth. ‘You can have a bath in the morning, a different bath than usual, in front of the fire.’
Penny waved her arms in delight, as if she understood every word and looked forward to the treat. ‘And Mummy will give you a nice drink of milk in a minute.’
She breastfed her daughter at least once a day, unwilling to give up the last real physical link between mother and child. There was still a sense of wonderment when she saw Penny’s rosy lips sucking greedily at her white breast that she’d actually become a mother after all those barren years – and it hadn’t been her fault, after all.
There was a shout from upstairs. ‘It’s done.’
‘Is this where you want it?’ Jack asked when Jessica entered the bedroom carrying Penny. He’d erected it on the far side of the bed, against the wall. ‘It’d have stopped you opening the wardrobe if I’d put it on the other side.’
‘That’s fine.’
The big double bed, with its tumble of blankets and sheets and the green satin eiderdown thrown carelessly on waiting to be made, seemed to loom significantly between them. Jessica wondered if it reminded him, as it reminded her, of that night,
the
night, when both of them had seemed to reach a higher plane, a sort of seventh heaven, full of delights and delicious feelings she wasn’t aware existed. It had been good with Arthur, but she’d never thought it possible it could be as good as it was with Jack. And to think all that tenderness and passion was hidden behind his gruff, taciturn exterior, and she, Jessica Fleming, was the only one who knew it was there!
‘When did you say Arthur was coming?’ he asked suddenly.
He’d been good friends with her husband, and he was an honourable man, Jack Doyle, as straight as a die, a man who under normal circumstances would regard sleeping with another man’s wife, let alone the wife of a friend, as little short of traitorous. But the minute he’d walked into the room across the road, events had gone completely out of control. Neither could help themselves.
‘I didn’t say he was coming. I just said he might.’
‘That was a good job he got. It’d be a shame if he gave it up.’
‘Wild horses wouldn’t drag Arthur away from the museum.’
Jack looked puzzled. ‘But …’ he began.
‘I’ve left him,’ said Jessica. There! She’d put it into words. She and Arthur had been fencing around each other rather cautiously for days. There’d been no mention of Jessica leaving permanently, not even of a proper separation; they’d behaved as if she were merely going away for a while, though both had known in their hearts she was going for good.
‘I hated it there,’ she said spiritedly. ‘I missed Liverpool. I couldn’t wait to get back.’
‘A woman’s place is
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