Classic Bestsellers from Josephine Cox: Bumper Collection

She quickly brought Jack into her mind. He did not possess the same wealth or standing as Luke Hammond, but as far as she could tell he had never lied to her. He had never pretended to be anyone but the man he was, and she respected him for that.

With Jack in mind, and the desire to look nice for him, she took her burgundy dress out of the wardrobe, clean underwear out of her drawer, and after deciding on her long brown coat, she laid it all out on the bed and took herself to the bathroom to get ready.

‘By! You look good enough to eat, lass.’ Having finished his tea, her father was stretched out in front of a cheery fire when Amy came down. ‘Where are you off to then?’

Amy kissed each of her parents on the cheek. ‘Daisy said there’s a good film on at the Roxy,’ she answered. ‘We thought we might go there.’

‘Oh, aye?’ Giving Marie an aside wink, Dave said coaxingly, ‘Are them two lads going with yer an’ all?’

Amy had to smile. ‘Have you two been talking about me?’ she accused, wagging a finger.

Marie was unperturbed. ‘Aw, go on with yer. O’ course we have, lass. You can fetch the young man home, if yer like. Me an’ your father would like to meet him, wouldn’t we, Father?’

Dave nodded. ‘Aye, we would that. Besides, I need to cast a wary eye over this young man o’ yourn. I’ll not have you taking up with a bad ’un like Don Carson.’

Amy chuckled. She could cope with the mention of her former fiancé these days. ‘You’ve probably already “cast an eye” over him,’ was her teasing, parting remark. ‘After all, you see each other most every day.’

As she dashed away, she could hear him calling after her, ‘What’s that supposed to mean? Hey! How do we see each other? COME BACK ’ERE!’

Amy chuckled all the way down the street. ‘You’ll know soon enough,’ she murmured, ‘and when you do, I think you’ll agree that Jack’s a good bloke.’

And the more she sized him up for her father’s approval, the more she came to understand how fine a man Jack really was.

Daisy was waiting at the tram-stop as usual. Agitated and upset, she was pacing the ground, head down, and her thoughts still back at home with her feuding parents.

‘I’ve decided,’ she told Amy as they walked to the Roxy where they had arranged to meet up with Jack and Roy, ‘I’ve had enough. I can’t stand the shouting and fighting any longer. Soonever I can get enough money together for a deposit, I mean to find a place of my own to rent. There are rooms advertised in the Evening Telegraph that are perfectly respectable. Happen I can find a house where there are other single ladies.’

Amy was not surprised. She had long seen it coming. Time and again, Daisy had threatened to leave home and it had never come to anything, only this time Amy could see she meant it.

‘Tell them what you intend doing,’ she suggested. ‘Happen it will make them see sense.’

Daisy poured scorn on the suggestion. ‘It would be a waste of time,’ she declared. ‘They haven’t got an ounce o’ sense between them. They drink and fight, then make up, and drink and fight all over again. This time our mam broke the mirror and, according to some folks, that’s seven years’ bad luck. And look at that.’ Rolling up her sleeve she showed Amy a long, deep cut over which she’d taped some gauze. ‘When I tried to pick up the pieces of broken mirror, she went for me. Like a bloody wildcat she was.’

Amy was horrified. ‘It looks deep to me,’ she exclaimed, bringing them both to a halt. ‘I think we should go to the infirmary and let them have a look at it.’

Quickly rolling her sleeve down, Daisy resumed walking. ‘It’ll mend. I don’t need to go to no infirmary!’ And try as she might, Amy could not persuade her.

Worried for Daisy’s safety, Amy offered her a way out. ‘Come and stay with us. The back room’s going begging. You can have that.’

‘Thank you. You’re a good friend.’ Daisy was visibly moved by Amy’s kind offer. ‘In fact you’re my only friend. But I can’t move in with you.’

‘Why not?’

Daisy explained, ‘For one thing I know your mam uses the back room for storage, and for another, it wouldn’t be fair on her. She works hard in that shop, and the last thing she wants is to take me on, with my noisy ways and bad habits.’

Amy argued that her mam would have no objections, but Daisy was having none of it. ‘Grateful though I am, lass, I prefer to do it my way.’ She gave Amy a sly little wink. ‘Besides, I’ve an idea that I might be getting wed afore too long. What would yer think to that, eh?’

‘Has Roy asked you already?’

‘Not in so many words, but I reckon it’s on the cards.’ Daisy gave Amy a playful nudge. ‘I reckon tonight’s the night, love,’ she chuckled, ‘and I’ll jump at the chance.’

‘Don’t get wed just so’s you can leave home,’ Amy warned. ‘That’s not a good basis for a long life together. Jump in with both feet and you might live to regret it.’

Daisy lowered her voice. ‘Shall I tell you summat?’

‘You will anyway, so go on. What’s on your mind now?’

‘If Roy asked me straight out to be his wife, the reason I’d say yes is because I love him.’ Her eyes lit up. ‘He makes me laugh, and when he kisses me, I shiver all over.’ She shivered now just at the thought of it. ‘I hate every minute when I’m away from him, and when I see him, my heart leaps and jumps and I’m all butterflies inside. That’s love isn’t it, lass?’

Amy laughed. ‘Sounds like it to me.’

Arm in arm, with Daisy going on about how devoted she was to Roy and how lucky she was to have met him, they went down the street at a good brisk pace.

It wasn’t long before Daisy wanted to know, ‘How do you feel about Jack?’

Amy shrugged. ‘I’m not sure.’ At that moment, it was Luke Hammond who was playing on her mind.

‘D’yer love him?’

Amy was visibly startled. ‘Who?’

Daisy groaned. ‘Who d’yer think? Jack, o’ course! D’yer love him?’

Amy had to ponder that one, but not for too long. ‘I like him a lot,’ she answered, ‘but I’m not sure if I love him – at least not in the way you seem to love Roy.’

Daisy persisted. ‘Does he make you laugh?’

‘Sometimes.’

‘Well then, yer halfway there, lass.’ Daisy gave her a knowing nudge. ‘You like him a lot. He makes you laugh. So, does he make you shiver when he kisses you?’

Amy blushed. ‘Don’t be so nosy.’

Undeterred, Daisy lowered her voice to a whisper. ‘Have you two done it yet?’ she asked shamelessly.

Amy shook her head. ‘If we had I don’t know as I would tell you, but we haven’t.’ She gave her a sideways smile. ‘Sorry to disappoint you.’

‘Bloody hell, lass! Yer do fancy him don’t yer?’

‘Of course. He’s good-looking, I like him a lot, and he’s probably everything I could want in a man.’

‘So, why haven’t yer done it yet then?’

Now, when Amy compared herself and Jack with Daisy and Roy, the answer presented itself. ‘I’m not headstrong like you, Daisy. I can’t go diving into things without working out the consequences. Besides, Jack is different from Roy.’

‘I know what you mean about me diving in headfirst,’ Daisy agreed, ‘because that’s the way I’ve allus been. But I’m not sure what you mean about Jack being different from Roy.’

Amy attempted to explain. ‘The way I see it, Roy is much like you. You’re like two sides of the same coin – light-hearted and game for anything. You seem to see life like a roller-coaster, up one minute and down the next, and you don’t care what tomorrow might bring. Am I right?’