Ron looked at his watch again and then tried to relax into the comfort of the couch and in the tranquillity of this little room. Beach View was always noisy, which he didn’t mind at all, but since Doris had moved in the atmosphere was already different, even though she’d only been there two days. She’d had Peggy running about after her and had insisted upon having the large bedroom at the front, which meant Rita and Ivy had to move to the top of the house.

Doris seemed to be genuinely mourning the loss of her snooty friends, but when it dawned on her that their loss meant she was now the leading light in the town she’d perked up no end and begun to plot and plan how she’d run things her own way from now on. She’d also taken full advantage of Peggy’s sweetness and relief that she was still alive, and seemed to delight in telling everyone what to do – especially him.

Ron gave a deep sigh. It was a very great shame that her estranged husband had decided to be away this particular weekend. Where Ted was, or who he was with, no one seemed to know, but as far as Ron was concerned, the quicker he got back and took Doris off their hands, the better. He could only pray the man was willing to do such a thing, for if Doris stayed much longer, Adolf the rooster would not be the only victim of manual strangulation.

Ron began to get worried as the little clock on the mantel chimed one and then two. There was still no sign of Rosie and he was beginning to fret that something might have happened to her – or that she’d changed her mind and wasn’t coming after all.

He began to pace the floor, going repeatedly to the window to see if he could spot a car coming down Camden Road. But the silence was profound, the foggy night closing in as the minutes ticked away and the clock chimed three.

Ron slumped into the chair again, positive now that she wasn’t coming. Lost in his misery he was startled by the slam of the back door, and scrambled to his feet. And there she was, his lovely, smiling Rosie, home again and walking straight into his arms, where she belonged.

Dear Reader

Dear Reader,

Here we are again back in Cliffehaven with Peggy Reilly and all the lovely people who live at Beach View. The five long years of war is still dragging on, but there is now a glimmer of hope that the tide is turning, and very soon the men will be coming home.