No sooner had she left the room than his mother said, ‘How do you feel about this girl, George? Do you like her?’

‘Yes, she’s all right, Mum … but she ain’t Sarah,’ George replied honestly.

‘I thought as much. Give it time though, Julie may grow on you.’

‘What, like fungus?’ George asked and chuckled. In all fairness, he liked Julie. She wasn’t bothered about his scars, and they got on well. He’d had the impression that she’d been expecting a good-night kiss when he’d dropped her home, but he couldn’t bring himself to make the move. It didn’t seem right, not when the only woman he really wanted was Sarah.

Sarah came back into the kitchen and sat down at the table. George thought she looked quite sexy with her just-got-out-of-bed hair, and tried not to make it obvious that he was eyeing her lustfully.

‘Albert’s coming to pick me up later and we’ll be moving some of my things over to his house. Are you going to be around today, George? We could do with some strong muscles,’ Lena asked.

‘Yes, no problem. We can take my van as well if you want. Let’s face it, Mum, the amount of shoes and bags you’ve got ain’t going to fit into Albert’s boot.’

‘Very funny, but you’re probably right. I’d better start packing. I need to chuck a lot of stuff out.’

‘Hang on,’ George said. ‘Don’t you dare throw anything away! Hello – your son has a second-hand clothes stall!’

‘Oh, yes, of course, sorry, George. You can go through it before I chuck it out,’ Lena said, and, winking at Sarah again, she added, ‘and of course, you’ll want to sort through it too.’

George couldn’t imagine that Sarah would want anything of his mother’s, but the atmosphere in the kitchen was cheery. It was nice, almost like before tragedy had struck, and he was pleased to see a glimmer of the old Sarah shining through.

Chapter 50

Lena’s wedding day finally arrived, and her house was a hive of activity with Aunty Min, Joan and Kath all buzzing around. George had been sent to Albert’s for the night, and instructed to ensure the groom remained calm today. He also had to make sure that he got him to the church on time.

‘Sarah, sit down. I’ll do your hair next,’ Kath ordered.

She did as she was told. Kath was a dab hand with hair, and Joan was busy finishing off the final details on Lena’s dress. Aunty Min flapped around looking busy but actually doing very little.

‘For Christ’s sake, Min, you’re making me nervous. Find something useful to do, like making us all a cup of tea,’ Lena barked at her sister.