‘Oooo, I say. Fancy that, your George taking a young lady out! It’s about time, he’s a lovely chap and he deserves to have a nice girlfriend,’ Aunty Min said.

‘He’s got to ask her out first. I told her that George might not have the nerve, so she’s going to come with me to the market tomorrow and make it obvious that she likes him,’ Kath said with a wink.

Lena heaved a sigh. ‘I hope this girl is right for him. After all, he’s been barking up the wrong tree with you, Sarah.’

‘We’re friends, close friends, and I’m really fond of George, but just not in that way,’ Sarah said, her cheeks flushing again.

‘Right,’ said Joan, ‘I’ve finished pinning your dress so you can take it off now. Just make sure you don’t lose any more weight.’

‘I’ll try not to.’

‘Albert seems to be a lovely man,’ Aunty Min said.

‘Yes, he is, and a wonderful cook too. He’s always spoiling me with fancy lunches,’ Lena said, and patted her tummy.

‘Cor, a man that can cook! I can see why you’re marrying him now,’ Kath said.

‘There’s more to Albert than just his cooking. It’s the little things he does for me, like when he knows I’m coming over, he always has my favourite biscuits in, even though he ain’t got a sweet tooth. He’s a proper gent, holds doors open, puts Vera Lynn records on when I know he can’t stand her, and yesterday he told me I can redecorate his house to my taste. He wants me to feel like it’s my home.’

Sarah liked Albert but, hearing Lena talk about him, she realised Roger had never been thoughtful like that with her.

‘You’ve got yourself a good one there, Lena. My Bob was like that. Nothing was ever too much trouble for him. He used to go out of his way to make sure I was happy. I remember this one time, when I was pregnant with Emily. I had a craving for mashed potatoes, of all things, but I was out of spuds. It was late in the evening and all the shops were closed, but my Bob walked for seven miles in the rain, jumped over the fences at Hampton’s fields and dug me up a whole bleedin’ sack full of potatoes. He got home after midnight, drenched through to the skin and with a bad back after lugging them spuds all the way home. As if that weren’t enough, he peeled and boiled them too,’ Joan said.

‘I remember that,’ Kath said, ‘’cos I asked him why he just didn’t go down the allotments to pinch some.’

‘Yeah, the silly bugger said he never thought of that. Still, we ended up with enough potatoes to last us a month,’ Joan said and laughed.