Across the Mersey - Annie Groves [85]
Once they had learned that their elder siblings were going dancing on New Year’s Eve the twins had insisted on putting them through their paces and teaching them the steps of the new dances from America; wild crazy jitterbug movements that had had Grace laughing and gasping for breath, and Luke complaining that he’d break something.
‘I reckon that Grace has got a hot date as she keeps on looking at the door. Bet it’s that ambulance driver that’s so keen on you, Grace,’ Iris teased, making everyone laugh, although Grace could see that Luke was wearing a questioning older-brother look.
‘Teddy did say he might be here, and I’ve promised him the last dance,’ she revealed.
‘Ooohh, I told you he was sweet on you,’ said Jennifer.
‘We’re just friends, that’s all,’ Grace insisted truthfully.
‘Well,’ said Hannah, ‘perhaps you’d better tell him that because he’s coming this way now.’
Grace turned round to see Teddy coming towards her, smiling. She smiled back happily, and then saw him check as he realised that another man was seated next to her.
‘Move up, Luke,’ Grace urged her brother.
The two men eyed one another appraisingly.
‘Grace has brought her brother along with her, seeing as he’s on leave,’ said Hannah, breaking the male deadlock and taking pity on Teddy.
Immediately Teddy was all smiles, extending his hand to shake Luke’s, and sitting down next to him. Within seconds the two men were engrossed in a discussion about the war.
‘It’s New Year’s Eve and I want to dance and forget about the war,’ Lillian pouted.
Taking the hint, Luke excused himself to Teddy to get up and go over to her. Within seconds of Luke and Lillian taking to the floor, or so it seemed to Grace, the other girls had all been asked to dance, leaving her and Teddy on their own.
‘The floor looks a bit crowded now – do you mind if we sit this one out?’ he asked her.
Good-naturedly Grace assured him that she didn’t, even though in reality she was a bit disappointed. He offered her a cigarette and took one for himself, lighting them both.
‘You’re a smashing girl, Grace, one of the best. The kind of girl any chap would be proud to call his own.’
Grace shook her head at him, still trying to pretend she didn’t mind about not dancing, but as though he had guessed what she was feeling, Teddy put out his cigarette, reached for hers and put it out as well.
‘Come on, let’s dance,’ he told her gruffly.
‘I thought you didn’t want to dance,’ Grace protested.
‘You want to dance, don’t you?’ he told her, smiling. ‘And that’s good enough for me.’
Grace was touched that he had changed his mind on her account. He was a good dancer, holding her firmly but not too close, nicely light on his feet and with a sense of rhythm.
The band played on without stopping; none of the dancers left the floor, as though everyone was determined to take what pleasure they could from the evening to store up against the bleakness of what might lie ahead.
Whilst they danced Teddy talked, asking Grace about her Christmas and she asked him in turn about his. She knew that he lived with his parents, and from what he had told her about them Grace sensed that they were a family very similarly circumstanced to her own. Teddy’s father owned the small greengrocer’s shop, where Teddy also worked when he was not driving his ambulance.
‘Phew, you’re dancing me off me feet,’ Teddy joked, putting his hand over his heart. ‘I could do with a bit of a sit-down to get me puff back. Serves me right for nattering too much.’
He did sound a bit breathless, and although she could have danced all night, and indeed would have loved to have done so, Grace immediately agreed that they return to their table.
‘So you reckon you’re going to continue with this nursing lark, do you?’ Teddy asked her.
‘Yes. I want to complete my training more than anything.’
Teddy smiled at her as though she had said something that pleased him and then reached for her hand, holding it in his own beneath the table.
They sat out a few dances after that, gradually joined by the others as they