Roz gaped at him. It simply hadn’t occurred to her that this was giving the wrong impression. She had just wanted to make sure she wouldn’t be overheard when she spoke to him.

‘So?’ said Bernie, looking expectantly at her. ‘How did it go with Felix?’

Roz wanted to tell him the truth, but she had made a promise to Joyce. ‘Good. Felix is doing well; I feel a lot better about the situation.’

He glanced down at her ring finger which remained bare. ‘I see there was no proposal of marriage?’

Roz looked alarmed. ‘Is that what you thought he was going to do?’

He clicked Goliath on with his tongue. ‘I would if I was him, and you were my belle.’

‘Oh,’ said Roz quietly, ‘well no, there was no proposal.’

‘His loss,’ said Bernie, winking at Roz, who was looking as though she had the weight of the world on her shoulders, probably because she did. This hadn’t gone unnoticed by Bernie, who furrowed his brow in concern. ‘Is everything alright?’

She went to nod then shook her head. ‘The new girl, Suzie, she’s the one I lived with when I first arrived in Liverpool …’

Misreading her statement, he glared ahead of him. ‘Then she can sling her ruddy hook,’ he said angrily. ‘If I’d known who she was—’

Roz placed a hand on his forearm, to quell his anger. ‘That’s not the problem, there’s been a revelation …’ She explained about Joyce, Suzie’s reaction and her request for Bernie to teach her. ‘I wouldn’t normally ask,’ Roz continued, ‘but it would mean a lot to Joyce, and I can’t help but feel sorry for Suzie knowing that I, too, thought the worst of her father.’

Bernie’s eyes twinkled at her from under thick lashes. ‘And what about you? Would it make you happy?’

Feeling rotten to the core, she nodded.

Placing his hand over hers, he smiled. ‘Then I shall teach her all she needs to know. Would you like to come out with me for a meal tonight? To celebrate you coming home?’

She knitted an eyebrow. ‘I’ve only been away a couple of days!’

He smiled. ‘It felt an awful lot longer to me, and I rather hope that now you’ve made up your mind we might spend a little more time together.’

Roz stared at him. How on earth had he come to that conclusion? She hadn’t said anything about her relationship with Felix, yet from what Bernie was suggesting, it sounded as though he thought them to be apart. The urge to tell him the truth rose uncontrollably, but he spoke before she had the chance.

‘Unless you think that I need to spend the time with Suzie? Because if that’s the case perhaps I should take a rain check, make her see she’s being unreasonable, and that she should allow one of the land girls to show her what’s what. It might even do her some good …’