Ruby had smiled to herself as he’d excitedly rattled on, for he made it all sound so easy, and yet she knew it wouldn’t be – not at such short notice and with rationing tighter than ever. As for the shopping spree, it would have to wait until she’d given in her notice at the factory and done her final shift so she got her full week’s pay. Mike seemed flush with money at the moment, but he’d soon find that weddings were expensive if carried out on such a lavish scale, and Ruby certainly didn’t want them landing in Canada with little or nothing in their pockets to pay their way.

Having eaten her fill and cleared away the dishes, Ruby brought the curtains in from the line and as it was still early, ran an iron over them, and then got Mike to help her hang them back up so the neighbours didn’t get an eyeful of what they were up to. Taking this as a hint, Mike tumbled her into bed and they made slow, sweet love until the sound of the church bells reminded them they had other, rather pressing things to do.

Ruby was positively glowing with happiness as she watched Mike stride up the hill towards the Officers’ Club. She had never felt so loved, or content with life, and she almost had to pinch herself to believe it was real, and that within days she would be Mike’s wife.

She snapped out of her thoughts and hurried into the station to find Stan just as the London train pulled out. Stan had been the first person she’d met when she’d arrived in Cliffehaven, cold and hungry, and still bearing the bruises from her husband’s latest beating. He and Ron Reilly had rescued her from the assigned billet where her husband had tried to rape her, and taken her to Beach View. Peggy’s loving care had given her strength and courage to face the man who’d made her life such a misery, and when he’d been killed in an accident shortly after the confrontation, she hadn’t shed a tear.

Her mother, Ethel, had followed her down to Cliffehaven and made a beeline for the widowed Stan who had a nice railway cottage and a steady income. Against all advice, Stan had married her, but Ethel soon revealed her true nature by being arrested for stealing food from the Red Cross and selling it on the black market. Poor Stan had been devastated to realise how well he’d been fooled, but with the love and support of Ruby and all his friends, he’d slowly recovered and was back to his ebullient self. Ethel was still in prison, and as far as Ruby was concerned, she could stay there.