The policemen greeted her a ‘good evening’ as they passed, but their friendly manner did nothing to abate her qualms. Neither of them had been her father, but she still had concerns that he would one day turn up and ensure she was never able to tell the truth about him. She pushed her fears to one side. She had enough to be worrying about with starting her first ever real job in the morning.

Once indoors, Tommy didn’t take long to settle and fall asleep, and Sarah decided it would be wise for her to do the same. However, as soon as her head hit the pillow, she realised she was full of nervous energy, her mind turning as she wondered what it would be like to work in a shop. George had reassured her there was nothing to worry about, but his words hadn’t calmed her fears. She wanted to be good at her new job, but years of her mother telling her she was useless had left her doubting her own self-worth. If it turned out that her mother was right, Sarah felt she’d be letting Tommy down, as well as Lena and George.

Stop it, she chided herself. This was her chance to prove that she wasn’t useless, and, feeling more determined than ever, Sarah eventually drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 22

The next morning, Lena checked her watch. It was ten to ten so she expected Sarah to walk through the door at any minute. She hoped the girl wouldn’t be late on her first day. George had talked her into taking her on, but Lena still had her doubts. She thought Sarah seemed nice enough, but she had no experience and little education. Her regular customers were looking forward to meeting her, though one had mentioned she’d heard a rumour about Sarah’s mother being a drunk and a prostitute. Since meeting the girl, Lena had put the rumour down to nasty gossip, and had decided that if it was true, then Sarah was nothing like her mother. At least, she hoped not.

The door opened and Sarah breezed in. Lena thought she looked petrified and could see straight through her cheery manner. ‘Good morning, pet, right on time. That’s a good start.’

‘Hello, Lena,’ Sarah chirped, but Lena could hear the crack in her voice.

‘First things first … Get yourself out the back through there and take your coat off. You’ll find a spare pinny on the peg. The toilet is on the left and the stove is on the right. Put the kettle on and make us both a cup of tea, then we’ll get down to business.’