Sweet Memories of You (Beach View Boarding House) Read Online Free

letters had been forwarded on from her previous place, and she’d reluctantly replied to them without giving a hint as to where she was or what she was doing. At first, his letters had been harmless enough – usually full of self-pity and the struggles he was having to make a new life for himself and find work. But just lately they’d taken on a different tone which made her feel decidedly uneasy, and she’d consigned them to the fire and not replied to them.
    Doreen moved restlessly against the pillows. His threats had been guarded, but the underlying message was that his visits to their daughters in Wales had proved far too expensive, and if she possessed a shred of decency she should send him some money on a regular basis so that their girls wouldn’t feel totally abandoned by both parents. It was emotional blackmail – a talent that Eddie had perfected over the years, and as time had gone on, and the demands had become more insistent, she’d felt herself begin to weaken.
    The guilt overwhelmed her, for she hadn’t had the chance to see Evie and Joyce since they’d been evacuated from London, and she should be with them now, not lying in a London hotel bed with Archie. She tried to relax, to accept that a week simply wouldn’t have been enough time to go all that way, but the guilt persisted. As for Eddie, it was all very well him going on about not finding work – of course there was plenty to be had if only he wanted it, but enlistment or a post in a factory was not something a man like him would even consider. Eddie preferred to spend his time gambling and womanising. As for sending him money …
    ‘Dor? What’s the matter?’ Archie rolled over in the bed and reached for her.
    ‘Nothing,’ she said quickly.
    ‘You can’t fool me, gel,’ he said softly. ‘What is it?’
    ‘I was just thinking about Evie and Joyce,’ she replied. ‘It’s been so long since I’ve seen them.’
    He stroked the hair back from her face and kissed her forehead. ‘I’ve been selfish, wanting you to myself for this week,’ he murmured. ‘But on my next leave, we’ll go straight down there.’
    ‘That would be lovely,’ she said on a sigh.
    He reached across her and turned on the bedside light. His dark blue eyes regarded her thoughtfully. ‘There’s nothing else bothering you, is there? Eddie hasn’t been causing trouble?’
    She shook her head and determinedly pushed aside her worries over Eddie’s letters. ‘Absolutely nothing,’ she assured him.
    He smiled back at her as he drew her into his arms. ‘In that case …’
Cliffehaven
    Peggy had decided to leave Ron to snore a little longer while she got on with things, for that way, he wouldn’t get under her feet. It seemed that Harvey, his large brindled lurcher, was similarly inclined to have a lie-in, for there had been no sign of him either.
    The rain hadn’t let up, but the wind seemed to have died down as the tide went out, and Peggy could only hope that the weather would clear in time for their walk to the Town Hall later in the morning. Having donned her wrap-round pinafore and tied a scarf over her freshly washed hair, she riddled the fire to a blaze in the Kitchener range and heated up the porridge. Then she washed and fed a grizzling Daisy, who was in no mood to be coaxed into anything this morning, and put her in the playpen with her toys so she could get on with things.
    Ron’s only decent suit had been sponged and pressed last night and his shirt collar starched, and they were hanging on the back of the kitchen door. His shoes had been polished, but the matter of finding a clean tie was something she’d have to sort out later – just as she would have to deal with Ron’s abhorrence to wearing one.
    Peggy stirred the porridge with little enthusiasm as her thoughts skittered over all the things she had to do. Her larder was fairly well stocked with the jams and pickles she’d made the previous year, and Ron’s garden at the back of the