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Back A Season for Hope Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty
  43. Chapter Forty-One
  44. Chapter Forty-Two
  45. Chapter Forty-Three
  46. Chapter Forty-Four
  47. Acknowledgements
  48. About the Authors
  49. Also by Rosie Goodwin
  50. Welcome to the world of Rosie Goodwin!
  51. Letter from Author
  52. Meat and Potato Pie
  53. The Precious Stones series
  54. The Days of the Week Collection
  55. Mothering Sunday
  56. Victorian Tales from Memory Lane
  57. Memory Lane Club

When Amber returned the clean laundry to Greenacres a couple of days later Nancy confirmed that her mother was agreeable to her moving in with them. ‘But it ain’t posh,’ she warned. ‘An’ the little ’uns can be a reet pain in the arse at times. You’ll have to share a room wi’ me four little sisters. The other two lads that are still at home have got the other room an’ me mam an’ dad sleep downstairs in the kitchen.’

‘I’m sure it will be fine,’ Amber assured her gratefully.

‘In that case me mam said just turn up whenever you’ve a mind to,’ Nancy responded.

Over the next week, Amber saw the cottage slowly empty as people bartered for the few bits of decent furniture that Alice had. The only thing she kept was the bone china tea set that had been a wedding present to her and Eli from Jeremiah. It was edged with gold and painted with tiny forget-me-nots and she found that she couldn’t bear to part with it, so it was carefully wrapped in newspaper and packed in a trunk to be sent ahead to Scarborough. The oak dresser that it had been displayed on, which had been lovingly polished over the years until you could see your face in it, was sold and eventually all that was left were the two beds they slept in, two chairs and a few pots and pans.

‘I don’t mind leavin’ these for whoever gets the cottage next,’ Alice told Amber sadly as they sat together in front of the fire for their last evening. ‘It might be a young newlywed couple who’ll be glad of ’em.’

Amber nodded, feeling thoroughly miserable. It was hard to believe that just one year ago they had all been together, a happy, loving family. Now some of them were dead, the two younger boys were working miles away and somewhere the newest member of the family, her baby daughter, would be hopefully living happily with her new family.

‘I’ll miss you, lass.’ Alice reached out to squeeze Amber’s hand, her voice choked.

‘And I’ll miss you too. But don’t think you’ve seen the last o’ me. I shall come to see you just as often as I can. After all, it ain’t as if Scarborough is a million miles away, is it?’

‘No, course it ain’t.’ But for both of them, the imminent parting was breaking their hearts.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Three

‘Mrs Ruffin, I just wanted to let you know that my mother-in-law has instructed me to hire a nurse for my wife.’