Despite Ivy’s persistent probing and barely disguised curiosity, Rita had kept Peter’s proposal secret and only worn his ring when she’d gone to visit him. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed by the grandness of it, but she knew it would elicit too many questions which she was not yet ready to answer. At first she’d worn it on a chain around her neck but then, terrified of losing or damaging it as she went about her work at the fire station, she’d hidden it away in a matchbox amongst the paraphernalia she kept in the bottom drawer of her bedside chest.

It worried her that she was unable to talk to anyone about her dilemma – not even Peggy, who was usually the first person she’d turn to in a crisis – but she soon realised she was waiting for her father to come home, because any decision she reached would affect him the most, and it was only right that he should be the first person she would confide in.

Rita had been on duty all day, so she hadn’t been able to get to the Memorial to see Peter, and now it was too late for visitors. Perhaps it was for the best, she thought dispiritedly, for the news she’d received today wasn’t exactly cheering, and Ivy would probably need a friend tonight if Andy hadn’t taken her off to console her elsewhere.

She trudged up the steps into the kitchen that Monday evening to be greeted enthusiastically by a delighted Harvey. The sight of him made her smile, for Beach View hadn’t felt the same without him.

‘Hello, boy,’ she said, making a huge fuss of him whilst trying to avoid her face being licked. ‘Where did you spring from?’

‘Ron brought him round just after you left for the fire station,’ said Peggy, placing a fresh pot of tea on the table in front of Cissy who was painting her fingernails. ‘He and Rosie went off to Brighton on their honeymoon today, remember?’

She eyed Rita with some concern. ‘Whatever’s the matter, love? You seem to be walking about in a dream just lately.’

‘Nothing,’ Rita replied quickly. ‘I just forgot, that’s all. So much has happened lately it’s all become a bit of a blur.’

‘Sit down and drink a cuppa. Tea’s almost ready.’

‘I need to wash and change first. I’ll be down in a tick.’

Rita escaped the kitchen and Peggy’s attentions and took the stairs two at a time. Shoving through the bedroom door she came to an abrupt halt. Ivy was sitting on her bed, holding the matchbox in one hand, Rita’s ring in the other, a triumphant grin on her face.