Asleep on her feet, Lottie didn’t argue.

‘Don’t forget to set your clock, and be back here for five,’ Lily advised. ‘Else you’ll get no wages on Friday.’ She gave her booming laugh.

Half an hour later, Lottie was in a deep sleep when she felt a hand sliding up her skirt. ‘Hey!’ Scrambling up, she pressed herself against the wall, relaxing only when she saw it was Dave who had crept up on her. ‘Don’t ever do that again,’ she screamed. ‘You frightened the bloody life out of me!’ For one split second, she wished she was back home, with her mam and the family.

‘Don’t gimme the wide-eyed innocent!’ he sneered. ‘You can’t tell me I’m the first to have his hand in your knickers.’

Ignoring his spiteful remark, she got out of bed and went to the stove. ‘D’you want a brew?’

‘Why not?’ He rolled into the warm spot she’d left behind.

‘How come you’re not working?’

‘You first.’

‘There’s nothing doing at the stall. Lily sent me back to get some sleep.’

‘It’s always like that mid-afternoon.’

‘Is that why you’ve come back?’

‘No, and stop being so bloody nosy!’

‘So, why aren’t you working?’

He sniggered. ‘You’re a defiant little bugger.’ But he liked it that way. ‘We’ve shut the Waltzer for an hour or two,’ he explained. ‘There’s a grinding noise coming from the motors. It’s already gone haywire once this morning. Tom’s taking a look at it now.’

‘What if he can’t fix it?’

Stretching his long legs over the bed, he saw her bending to the stove, and wanted her there and then. ‘Tom’s good with motors,’ he said. ‘He’ll have it right in time for the rush tonight.’

Handing him his mug of tea, she was not surprised when he set it on the floor and grabbed her by the wrist. ‘I’m lonely.’

‘So?’ She knew what he wanted, and it made her feel good.

‘So, put your tea down and get on this bed.’

Lottie climbed on the bed and one thing led to another. The wagon rocked and rolled, and those who knew Dave knew what that meant. ‘He’s at it again!’ they laughed. ‘Randy bugger.’

Afterwards, they sat and drank their tea and talked. ‘I don’t know what to make of you,’ Dave told her. ‘I’ve had women before, and I’ve never let them get to me. It wouldn’t matter to me if they walked out the door and I never saw them again. In fact, I’ve chucked the buggers out the door quick enough and been glad of it.’

Lottie recalled what Lily had said. ‘Would you chuck me out the door?’

‘I might.’

‘You’d miss me if you did.’

‘Maybe.’

‘You’d have to chuck me out,’ she confessed. ‘’Cos I would never leave of my own free will.’

He gazed at her lovely face and the cut of her shapely figure, and he knew he would never throw this one out. ‘There’s summat about you,’ he admitted. ‘You make me laugh.’