She beamed back at him, taking in his weathered face, the new wrinkles at his eyes from days out in the open on the fierce Atlantic crossing. ‘It won’t be long enough, Eddy; it will never be long enough.’

‘We’d best make the most of every minute.’ He stroked her cheek and grinned in return. ‘Where’s everyone else?’

‘Pop’s working on the salvage clearance, your mam’s gone to the victory garden to get in some fresh food for your tea, Sarah’s on her shift …’

‘Then let’s start as we mean to go on.’ He stood up, took her hand and drew her to stand beside him. ‘What do you say? Are we still in my old room?’

‘Eddy!’ Violet pretended to be shocked, but really she was delighted. ‘In broad daylight! What would your mam say?’

Eddy grinned wickedly. ‘What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her.’ He began to lead her towards the stairs. ‘And you know what? Even if she did know – she’d say go right ahead.’

‘You look dead smart, our Kitty.’ Danny regarded his sister with admiration as they stood in their kitchen. He couldn’t help it – when he thought of her it was always in her old overalls from the days when she’d managed the local NAAFI canteen. Now she was in a vivid cherry red jacket and elegant dark blue tailored frock, with matching navy pumps. ‘I thought you said there weren’t any shops in your last place? Looks as if you’ve been using up your coupons all right.’

Kitty shook her head. ‘Don’t be daft. I couldn’t have got this down in Sussex. I had to change trains in London so I met up with my old friend Laura, and when she learned I was going to be a godmother, she said I had to have something smart, so she gave me this.’ She twirled around. ‘She’s not short of money and can always find a way around the clothing rations somehow. It’s who you know, I suppose.’

‘Lucky you know her then,’ said Danny, straightening his collar and checking it in the tarnished little mirror over the sink. He was going to the christening in his naval uniform, which was the smartest outfit he possessed anyway. Somehow buying new clothes hadn’t been a top priority for the past couple of years. ‘How long have we got, do you think? It won’t take us long to walk.’

Kitty thought for a moment that she’d forgotten the way to the church and how far it was, because she hadn’t been there since she’d joined up. Then she recalled how she’d always used to time the cooking of the Sunday roast around getting there, going to Mass and coming back. She did a quick sum. ‘We’ve got about fifteen minutes, I’d say. We could have a cuppa.’