Across the Mersey - Annie Groves [105]
‘I thought I might go over and see Vi this week, seeing as she hasn’t written back to me,’ Francine announced, changing the subject.
Now it was Jean’s turn to look wary. She could feel the heavy anxious thud of her heart, and that same feeling of foreboding she had already experienced returned.
So much had happened since Francine had left; she and Sam had moved so that they could put the past and their loss behind them, and have a fresh start; Edwin and Vi had left Liverpool for Wallasey. As much as she loved her younger sister she was afraid of the problems her return could bring – for all of them, but most of all for Francine herself.
There were some things – some sadnesses, some secrets – that were surely best left undisturbed.
‘Why don’t you give it a few more days?’ she urged Francine. ‘Vi might not have had your letter yet, and you know what she’s like, she’s never been one you can get round easily, unless you’re her Bella, of course. Spoils her rotten, she does, and talk about not being able to see the wood for the trees and not seeing how she’s winding her round her little finger …’
‘She should never have had Jack.’
Francine’s statement was so abrupt that it left Jean floundering for a response.
‘Well, he’s so much younger than the other two.’
‘She doesn’t love him, I’m sure of that.’
‘Of course she does,’ Jean automatically defended her twin. ‘But she’s had a lot on her mind this last year, what with Edwin’s business and them moving house again, and then Bella getting married.’
‘She’d never have sent him away like she has if she did,’ Francine continued, completely ignoring Jean’s attempt to defend Vi.
‘She’s only done what she thought was best for him, Fran. Me and Sam were in two minds about evacuating the twins,’ said Jean. ‘We only decided against it because I couldn’t have gone with them, not knowing that Sam would then be fending for himself.’
‘You see,’ Francine pounced triumphantly, ‘you would have gone with them. You’ve just said so yourself. You wouldn’t have sent them off on their own. Can you imagine what Mum would have said, Jean? She’d never have done anything like that to one of us.’ Tears had filled her eyes and Jean’s heart ached with a pity that overwhelmed her anxiety.
She couldn’t deny Francine’s claim, but encouraging her wasn’t going to do any good and wouldn’t help anyone, least of all poor little Jack.
Francine and Vi had never really got on. They had always been complete opposites, and Francine’s decision to become a singer, and Vi’s marriage to Edwin, had not just widened the gap between them, it had also armed it with hostility.
Jean knew there was some truth in Francine’s accusations but she also knew that getting Vi’s back up with hostile remarks about her role as a mother wasn’t going to improve things and could end up making them even worse. On top of that she had her own burden of guilt to carry.
‘Me and Sam would have had Jack …’ she began, ‘but …’
Immediately Francine hugged her contritely. ‘I wasn’t getting at you, Jean.’
‘Vi’s got Edwin to deal with, remember? I don’t like speaking ill of folk behind their backs, but well, he wouldn’t be my choice of a husband.’
‘He never wanted her to have Jack, not really.’
Jean said nothing. She knew after all that it was the truth. Much as she loved her younger sister and had been delighted to have her back home and living with them, there was no getting away from the fact that there were old sores in their shared past that it wouldn’t be wise to go disturbing.
‘I’d better look sharp otherwise you’re going to be late for your rehearsal,’ Jean told her, deliberately changing the subject.
‘Yes,’ Francine agreed. ‘We’ve got our first show coming up soon at Seacombe barracks. I reckon they’re testing out the shows here to see which work best, ready to send the cast overseas, so with a bit of luck you won’t have me hanging around making a nuisance of meself for too long, Jean.’
‘There’s no need to go saying that. You aren’t a nuisance. Me and Sam are glad to have you here, Fran,’ Jean told her stoutly.