‘Thank you, I have a lot to do this morning as I’m sure you will appreciate,’ she said in her most firm and professional manner.

‘Of course.’ Her heavy workload seemed to amuse him, and she felt like saying he could offer to share it if he found it so funny. ‘I must get back to my desk soon as well. No, I just wanted to say that I might have found your Tommy a bike.’

‘Oh, really?’ That stopped her in her tracks. Danny had all but promised one to Tommy, but they were hard to come by, and he’d been asking around everyone he knew these past few days. So far the only lead had come from Tommy himself, claiming that Alfie Delaney, no less, had offered to get him one. She and Danny were determined to avoid that at all costs. Nothing Alfie did was ever out of the goodness of his heart – that was if he even had one.

‘Yes, you know Commander Stephens has a young family? Maybe not; he doesn’t say much about them, as they’re over in Cheshire most of the time now and he misses them.’

‘He must do,’ said Kitty, remembering that the superior officer was a kind man, although he didn’t suffer fools gladly. But then Frank was no fool, and would only have seen the good side of him, she suspected.

‘His younger son was given a bike for his birthday, but it’s far too big for him,’ Frank went on. ‘They’ve found him a better one, one that’s the right size, and he’ll sell the first one at a bargain price as they don’t have room to keep it until the lad’s grown into it. How about that?’

Kitty felt a rush of happiness, knowing how much it would mean to Tommy. She felt she owed it to him to get this right, as he’d been so desperate to join the Merchant Navy and she didn’t want him to feel that his new situation was second best in any way. ‘Frank, that would be wonderful,’ she said.

‘I’ll let him know you’d like it, shall I?’ Frank offered, trying not to be distracted by the sudden gleam of delight in Kitty’s eyes and the way her cheeks blushed rosy pink at the idea of giving a present to her little brother. He knew how responsible she felt for him.

‘Oh, yes, please do that. I’m so grateful,’ she said, all her previous annoyance gone.

‘Right, I’ll see him later today. Come, let me hold the door for you, you have so many files in that stack you’re holding,’ he said.