She sat down with a fag and a cup of tea to watch the rising sun chase the shadows from the back garden. Martin would be back in time for dinner from the latest delivery into France; Rosie and Ron were providing the drinks. Cissy was due to arrive from London at some point in the day, and Frank had asked rather shyly if it would be all right if he brought Brenda along to the dinner. Of course she’d said yes, for she was thrilled they were getting on so well, and that Brendon seemed quite happy about it. Brendon, Betty and Anne would come straight from school with the children, and John and Doris would get here after John’s physio appointment at the hospital. There was an open invitation to all the others to pop in whenever they could, and although it would mean feeding the five thousand, everyone had willingly chipped in, so there would be enough of a spread to make a good show.

Peggy thought about Jack who was still struggling to get through all the work he had now he was also selling cars as well as mending them, and could only hope that Jim would realise what a fine opportunity it offered for a stable job and income. However, that was for another day. Jim had to settle in first and get used to them all again.

The only dark cloud on Peggy’s horizon was the possibility that Bob wouldn’t be here, although he’d promised he’d do his very best – and surely Jim would understand that the farm seasons waited for no man, and as he was now a full partner with Aunt Vi, it was his livelihood and his future.

‘Morning, Mum,’ said Charlie cheerfully, plonking down into a kitchen chair. ‘What’s for breakfast?’

Peggy chuckled. ‘Trust you to bring me down to earth on a day like this,’ she teased. ‘Go and see if those new chickens have laid anything. If they haven’t, it’s toast and cereal as usual.’

He came back a few minutes later with three brown eggs. ‘Bob said it’ll take a bit of time for them to settle in and start laying properly, but this is a start.’ He put them carefully in the crock by the range. ‘Any news from him by the way?’ he asked, sitting back down.

‘No, but I expect he’ll telephone tonight to speak to Dad.’ Peggy popped one of the eggs in to boil and loaded the new toaster with bread slices. ‘Don’t hang about after football practice,’ she warned. ‘It would be awful if you weren’t here when your dad arrives.’

Charlie rolled his eyes. ‘As if I’d not be here. Honestly, Mum, I’m as excited as you to see him again. And I bet he’s getting impatient on that slow old train.’

Peggy smiled. ‘I expect he is,’ she murmured, remembering how quickly he could get fed up if made to hang about for anything too long.

Jim had found the journey home to be achingly slow, for the train stopped at every station and halt along the way. He’d shed his overcoat as the day had warmed up considerably and was now feeling cooler in his tropical whites, but his impatience was rising as the last part of the journey seemed to take an age, and the only way to relieve the nervous tension was to get up and pace back and forth along the corridor, which earned him a few mutters of annoyance from the other passengers.