Peggy smiled. ‘Oh yes, but like Rita, I’m keeping that to myself until the girl’s ready to tell us.’

Cordelia raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s most unlike you, Peggy Reilly. I’d have thought you’d be making wedding plans by now.’

‘I never said I wasn’t,’ she replied with a wink.

15

The past few days had flown by and Peggy was relieved that Saturday had come round. She could lie in for a while longer and look ahead to a lovely quiet day with nothing much to do other than watch Charlie play his first rugby match, and think about the new curtains she’d ordered for the big room upstairs that would soon be hers if things went according to plan.

The factory was busy with new orders flooding in, and she’d been kept on her toes making sure they were fulfilled and delivered on time. Solly was like a dog with two tails in his delight at how well everything was going, and had given Peggy a generous pay rise – which turned out to be very useful indeed now that Ron had started decorating the bedrooms. Wallpaper and paint were costly, and soon she’d have tradesmen to pay as well.

She’d met with the plumber, electrician and plasterer and they would start next week on the basement, so Charlie would have to move upstairs into Jane and Sarah’s old room now Ron had finished in there. There was still a lot of clearing up to be done in the basement, but she’d made a good start on it during the evenings, and Charlie had built a bonfire in the garden to get rid of all the accumulated rubbish.

She stretched and yawned before slowly getting out of bed, and, still in her nightclothes, went in search of a nice cup of tea. Daisy was still asleep, so she’d leave her for a while and have a few minutes to herself.

Cordelia was already at the breakfast table with Charlie who was stuffing down toast and baked beans as if his life depended upon it. ‘For goodness’ sake, Charlie, stop gobbling your food. You’ll get indigestion,’ Cordelia admonished mildly.

‘I’ll be late for the team meeting if I don’t get a move on,’ he said through a mouthful. ‘We’ve got a match this afternoon and the coach wants us to have a good warm-up session.’

‘What time are you playing?’ asked Peggy, sitting down with her cup of tea. ‘We’d love to come and watch, wouldn’t we, Cordy?’

‘Three o’clock,’ he said, pushing back from the table. ‘Grandad and Uncle Frank are coming, and as it’s the first game of the season the club’s laying on tea for everyone, so don’t be late, or you’ll miss out. They’re a bunch of gannets down there.’

‘We’ll be there,’ said Peggy, a smile twitching her lips at his audacity for calling others gannets when he could put away enough food to feed a family for a week. ‘Will you be back for lunch?’