‘It’s frighteningly easy when you get started. You have to keep reminding yourself that these are people you mustn’t hate, because if you do, you’ve got no one left to love. But then-’
His voice trailed off into silence. He was looking at something she couldn’t see. Laura wondered if he still knew that she was there.
‘Gino,’ she said softly, laying a hand on his arm.
He made a sudden sound of impatience. ‘Listen to me. I’m getting maudlin.’
‘I’m a good listener,’ she said.
‘Thanks but there’s nothing to talk about. Love comes and goes every day.’
‘Not real love. If it’s very real and true-as I think it was with you-it changes the course of your life. It changes
He smiled. ‘Bless you, but who’s crying? I got over Alex months ago.’
And if you believed that, Laura thought, you’d believe anything. But it was clear that he’d confided more than he’d meant to, and was now backtracking in self-protection.
He squeezed her hand briefly and went upstairs to bed.
CHAPTER FOUR
THE man at the bar was the same one who’d claimed Laura’s attention the night before. Gino recalled seeing him just before he himself had nodded off.
He seemed to be in his early forties, tall, heavily built, with a good head of hair, expensively dressed. When he laughed he showed white, regular teeth. Surveying him critically, Gino supposed that many women would have called him handsome. Certainly Laura seemed to enjoy his company. She was laughing freely and with no sign of tension.
For a moment she was the girl of the snapshots, before grief and worry wore her down. Some part of that girl was still there, he thought, just as her face was still beautiful with that light glowing from within.
The man seized her hand and kissed the back of it. She remonstrated, but not very severely. It took a wave from another customer to recall her to her duties, looking flushed and a little embarrassed.
Gino slipped quietly out of the pub.
At home he lay on his bed, fully dressed, and went downstairs when he heard Laura come in. She was in the kitchen, humming as she made the tea. She pointed to a cup and he nodded.
‘You sound happy,’ he said.
‘No, not especially,’ she said with a touch of self-consciousness. ‘Well, maybe a bit.’
‘A good evening in the pub?’
‘Yes, business was brisk.’
‘I expect you meet a lot of smart-asses, who think a barmaid is fair game,’ he said casually.
‘You know I do. You’ve seen them.’
‘I don’t mean the old boys, but the younger ones might be more of a handful.’
‘I know how to deal with them. Nobody fools with me.’
‘Nobody?’
‘Not unless I let them.’
‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Oh.’
‘Is something the matter?’
‘Nothing,’ he said hastily.
‘You sounded funny.’
‘I’m just a bit tired. I’ll drink this and go to bed.’
He was a little put out by her refusal to confide in him. They were supposed to be friends, weren’t they?
But he told himself that it was her business if she didn’t want to talk about it. And with that he had to be satisfied.
Every morning, in the packing department, a variety of attractive young women would compete to bring Gino his tea.
‘He’s got all the girls sighing for him,’ Claudia said at the boarding house one night. ‘You should see Maisie and Jill, practically scratching each other’s eyes out for one of his smiles.’
‘That’s not Maisie and Jill,’ Gino said, playing up to her. ‘It’s Lily and Rose, or do I mean Patsy and Cindy, or-’
‘All right, big-head,’ Claudia quenched him.
‘I take it you’re enjoying your job,’ Laura teased.
‘It has its moments,’ he admitted.
‘Are they all your girlfriends?’ Nikki demanded with innocent fascination.
‘All of them,’ Gino confirmed solemnly.
‘Have you got lots and lots of girlfriends?’
‘Lots and lots and
‘Why you and not the others?’ she wanted to know.
‘Because I’m Italian, and Italy is the land of Casanova.’
‘Who was Casanova?’
Gino opened his mouth and closed it again.
‘Serve you right,’ Laura said, laughing. ‘When will you learn to be careful what you say to Nikki?’
‘Why has he got to be careful, Mummy?’
‘Eat your tea,’ she said hastily.
Mercifully Nikki allowed the subject to drop, and it wasn’t raised again until she’d gone to bed, and Sadie declared with relish, ‘They’re taking bets all over the factory. The hot money’s on Tess.’
‘Which one is Tess?’ Claudia wanted to know.
‘You know, the little sexpot with red hair, always sashaying around the place putting all the goods on display.’ Sadie made an exaggerated figure eight with her hands. ‘They say she’s a proper little raver. Isn’t that right, Gino?’
But Gino was on his guard by now, and although he winked knowingly, all he said was, ‘Ladies, my lips are sealed.’
They would have been astonished to learn the truth. In fact, they would not have believed it. Tess had a voluptuous figure and big blue eyes, but behind those eyes was a steely efficiency, as Gino had discovered on the day she explained exactly what she wanted of him.
‘I’m gonna kill that rat, Perry,’ she’d muttered, handing Gino his tea one morning.
‘I thought you were crazy about him.’
‘I am, but I’m gonna kill him. His roving eye has roved too far this time. Quick, he’s coming. Smile at me.’
Slipping into his allotted role, Gino gave her an infatuated smile right under Perry’s nose. Thereafter they played out the farce whenever necessary and so far it had kept Perry almost, if not entirely, faithful.
They would leave work together, or meet for a drink in the evening. There was a decent pub near work, but it was an ugly, beery place, a dump.
‘Let’s go to The Running Sheep,’ Gino suggested. ‘That’ll teach Perry you’re worth something better than this place.’
Heads turned in their direction as they entered. Tess’s blatant charms made a stunning impact, and Gino had a feeling as if the old days had returned. He’d been the man who could get any girl, who played the field as if life contained nothing better. Which had been true, once.
He saw Tess seated and approached Laura at the bar.
‘A bottle of champagne, please.’
She glanced at his companion. ‘Let me guess. It’s Maisie-or Jill, or Rose, or Lily-’
‘Cut it out,’ he said, grinning. ‘That’s Tess.’
‘The sexpot! Wow! Yes, I can see that you’ve got something to celebrate.’
