Free A Christmas Promise by Annie Groves Page A

Aunty Olive – she’s not …’ His words were jumbled as he excitedly tried to explain. ‘She’s coming home! Tilly’s coming home – today!’
    Olive felt her legs buckle and, if Barney hadn’t been there to hold her up, she was sure she would have sunk to the ground with relief. Tears of joy coursed down her cheeks as she took the telegram and tried to make sense of the words.
    ‘Oh, thank you, God! Thank you! My darling girl is coming home for her birthday!’ Olive cried, hugging Barney, while Nancy, unbeknown to her, let out a long stream of pent-up breath.
    ‘Well, Olive, I never thought I’d see the day when you cried in the street,’ Nancy said, quickly regaining her equilibrium.
    ‘Nor me, Nancy.’ Olive was laughing now. She hadn’t heard from Tilly for so long that this telegram had suddenly become a godsend. Tilly couldn’t wait to see everybody again, it seemed such a long time since she was last home. As the train swayed from side to side the rhythm of the engine lulled her. Tomorrow was her twenty-first birthday – the day when she and Drew had planned to marry and live together as man and wife for the rest of their days. But it wasn’t to be. Drew had gone back to America last year and she had never heard from him since.
    Automatically her fingers sought the Harvard ring he had once placed on the third finger of her left hand. He had promised that he would never ask for it as long as he still loved her, and she had promised that she would never give it back as long as she loved him – and it still nestled on a gold chain close to her heart. Tilly felt her throat tighten as her head rested against the leather seat. She was tired and had been travelling for many hours, and the train was packed with soldiers and service personnel.
    ‘Is everything all right, Tilly?’ Rick asked as a slow smile played about his lips. They had been courting for a while now, and though they were happy enough, Tilly hadn’t felt that zing of breathless excitement when Rick put his arms around her as she had when … no, she mustn’t think of that any more. Drew had gone; he was in the past. Her future was a glorious journey of discovery. It was early days in her and Rick’s relationship and she didn’t want to rush things the way she had wanted to with Drew. Tilly nodded and gave a lazy smile back. She was tired now and she longed for the ease of her comfortable mattress back home, the pampering she knew she would receive from her mum and the welcome oblivion of sleep.
    She hadn’t been home for months and had missed everybody terribly, but she couldn’t keep in touch with Mum or the girls while she had been training at a top-secret place known only as Station X.
    Her work was strictly hush-hush and must never be spoken about to anybody, not even Mum. Maybe this would be her last leave before being sent somewhere else. Where that would be she did not know.
    ‘D’you fancy going to a dance tomorrow? Or would you prefer to have dinner at Quaglino’s?’ Rick asked. ‘Seeing as it’s your special birthday.’
    Tilly surmised he wouldn’t choose to take her to such an exclusive, high-class establishment; Rick preferred singsongs around an old piano in a public bar. But the mere mention of the restaurant name once again brought back memories of Drew, and how he had held her hand across the table. Then their eyes had locked as she felt herself cocooned in the deepest fathoms of his soul as his forefinger lightly traced the outline of her face. That was the Christmas they vowed to be together for ever. But it wasn’t to be. She knew that now.
    ‘Hey, daydreamer, are you listening to me?’ Rick nudged her elbow and Tilly could feel the heat rise to her cheeks.
    ‘Sorry, I was miles away,’ she said hurriedly. She gave a self-conscious laugh, knowing that she didn’t feel the same way about Rick as she did about Drew. But she was a fool to continue having feelings for a man who obviously didn’t care