Free Unforgettable by Jean Saunders Page A

plenty of things to tell Dolly too. She had sent one letter to her friend to tell her the situation when she first arrived home, but there had been no reply, and Gracie had assumed sadly that Dolly had found another friend and that the contact was broken. But now all that was changed.
    You’ll never guess, gel
, Dolly wrote,
me and Jim are walking out proper now, and he can be a proper gent when he likes. That’s not so often, mind, but I ain’t complaining. We went dancing up West the other night, though I had to be extra
nice to him for the privilege, if you know what I mean. Jim ain’t really big on dancing, and him and Billy only went to the Palais that night on the look-out for a bit of skirt
.
    They’re pulling down the Palais now, but they still ain’t sure what caused the fire. Old Lawson reckons it was people smoking, but he’d say that anyway. He’s got a new girl in your place now, name of Sheila, but she’s not up to much, and I reckon he’ll get rid of her soon. He’s always shouting that he’s lost the best machinist in the place, meaning you, Gracie. We all miss you. Even Billy was asking about you the other night
.
    Old Ma Warburton’s increased my rent until I get somebody else to share the digs with me, but I ain’t keen on finding anybody. I always liked sharing with you, so let me know when you can come back. Oh Gawd, I know what that means, and I hope your mum ain’t too bad, Gracie, honest I do. I still want you to come back soon though
.
    Your old friend
,
    Dolly Neath
    PS. I ain’t seen nothing of your saxophone player
.
    Gracie’s smile faded by the time she reached the end of the letter. She really wished Dolly hadn’t mentioned Charlie, however obscurely. It brought it all back so sharply. In the same instant, she knew she was glad that she
had
mentioned him, if only to say she hadn’t seen anything of him. But what had she thought? That he was going to appear miraculously in whatever dance-hall up West that she and Jim had gone to? Coincidences like that only happened in the movies or in books.
    She wrote back straight away, because by doing so it felt as though she and Dolly were sharing confidences again in their poky little room at Ma Warburton’s.
    Dear Dolly
, she wrote,
I can’t tell you how glad I was to hear from you. I thought you’d forgotten me. I know it’s not that long since I left London, but it seems like years. I’m back in the old routine all right. My dad is still boozing, and Mum’s getting worse every day. The doctor’s as good as said she won’t last out the summer, and I’m sorry if I sound gloomy, but it’s not much fun to watch somebody dying and know you can’t do anything to help except just be there
…
    Gracie was tempted to screw the letter up and start again. But she and Dolly had always been able to say anything to one another, so she carried on …
    I’m sure I’ll come back to London sometime. Mum wants me to do so, when it’s all over. Apart from looking after her, I’m taking in dressmaking alterations, and not doing too badly. Mum likes the sound of the sewing machine. She says it makes her feel she’s still in the land of the living
.
    She paused again, her throat thick and then quickly changed the subject.
    I daresay you’ll be glad to hear I met an old friend recently. His name’s Davey and he’s a sailor. We went to a dance before he went back to his ship and he’s going to write to me, so it’s not all misery here
.
    I still think you should be careful as far as coalman Jim is concerned, Dolly. I thought he was a bit of a flash card. Remember me to Billy next time you see him
—
and the girls at Lawson’s
—
and anybody else I know. Write again soon
.
    Your friend
,
    Gracie
.
    She wouldn’t go so far as to say
remember me to Charlie Morrison if you see him
, because it seemed