Sitting on a wooden beam, John patted the space beside him. Ruby chose to sit on a concrete slab opposite. Sitting beside him felt over-friendly, too close to be able to regulate her feelings for him. She sat straight-backed, and envied his ability to relax. He fired triggers of pleasure she’d never experienced before, just by crossing his legs or adjusting his jacket front. Any movement sent shivers through her body and the urge to sidle up beside him was swiftly suppressed. She doubted he felt the same. To a man like John, she would be just a child of war to add to his collection of images.
‘Ruby, please don’t think I’m intruding into your life, but your unhappiness—’
Lifting her hands to stop him talking, Ruby gave a soft smile. ‘My unhappiness is easing. It’s days like today which hurt. The flowers are for my brother. Ten today … I mean he would have been if this hadn’t happened,’ Ruby said and swept one arm around the desolated area.
John said nothing in return and she watched him fiddle with his camera. He was better-looking than most of the boys she’d admired at school. She noted his clean-shaven face, his lean jowls and the small pulse beating in his slim neck. Ruby longed to reach out and stroke his strong jaw line, to link her fingers with his. She jumped when he lifted his head, catching her staring.
‘Do you mind I’ve photographed you with the flowers?’ he said, his voice soft and concerned, his accent adding to his desirability.
‘Not really. It means today won’t ever fade.’ Ruby turned away and looked at the flowers, their colours bright against the charcoal and brown of the ground. Her brother would have preferred a comic, but flowers were the gift you gave the dead. A comfort for the living.
‘It’s a shame you can’t capture their colours. They’ll live on in your photograph, but they’ll be black and white for ever,’ she said, and turned back to John.
‘The way photography is advancing, one day everything will be as it really is – no more black and white rainbows,’ he said.
Ruby gasped and put her hands to her mouth, instantly regretting the childlike movement. For some inexplicable reason, she wanted John to see her as a grown woman. She inclined her head as if in thought, then looked skyward as if searching for something.
‘I can’t imagine a black and white rainbow. How strange. Sad too, as a rainbow lights up the sky with its colours. I’d like to see one in black and white though, just to see what it looks like.’
‘I’ve got a few. I’ll bring one next time I see you. Talking of colours … The red mark on your wrist … I couldn’t help seeing –’ John said, and pointed to her arm.
Ruby gave her body a slight shake, as if shrugging off something undesirable. Then she seized the opportunity to tell the truth.
‘John, I’m not Tommy’s mother. Earl is not my husband, despite threatening me to make you think I am, after you left. He’s also got it in his head that you might be a threat to Britain. He’s a bully too.’ Her words were rushed with embarrassment.
John stared at her, his mouth open with surprise. ‘Ruby, he hurt you, and Tommy?’
Ruby nodded. ‘He told me he’d hurt Fred if I didn’t pretend to be his wife. He tried to kiss me.’
John swore, then looked at her with a guilty apology in his eyes.
Ruby screwed up her nose and clenched her hands together ‘I need help, John. I can’t ask Helen, Beatty or Fred this time, and I have no one else. It’s luck we met here. Meant to be, I think. I’d be silly not to ask you what I should do about it.’
Ruby noticed his jaw twitch as he listened. Then, striking a match against a brick, John lit a cigarette and puffed on it before he spoke again.
‘Obviously, I’ll help you, Ruby. You cannot live with this sort of bullying. He sounds a dangerous man. He’s Tommy’s uncle, you say?’
‘Tommy said so, but now I’m wondering if it’s a lie. The poor child is so scared whenever I speak about his mother. I thought I saw her today, but even that might be another woman scared of Earl.’
‘Do nothing. I’ll visit the shop tomorrow, after I’ve had a think about what we can do about this situation. Men like him are dangerous, and we must tread carefully. I’ll help, Ruby. Go home, and don’t worry any more. You have a friend in me, and Earl will never try to kiss you again.’
Without worrying who saw them, Ruby reached up and kissed John’s cheek.
He gave a grin. ‘Ah, if I get one of those for every time I speak about rescuing you from an evil bully, I wonder what will happen when I put my words into action.’
‘I wonder,’ Ruby said with a hint of daring in her voice, and returned the grin.
‘Get yourself home before we get ourselves into something we can’t control, Ruby Shadwell, and thank you for trusting me.’
‘When I saw you, I knew I could. Thank you, John.’
John turned her by her shoulders in the direction of Spon Street, and Ruby waggled her fingers goodbye.
CHAPTER 22
After collecting bread and her ration allowance of butter, Ruby headed for Shadwell’s, her mind calmer after talking with John the previous day. Arriving at the shop, she saw Earl talking with Beatty on the doorstep. It looked to her as if Beatty was guarding the door with her broom, and side-stepping to prevent Earl from entering before opening time. Taking a deep breath for courage, furious with herself that she’d allowed this man to have a hold over her shop, Ruby strode towards them.
‘Well, hello, Ruby,’ Earl called out, his voice loaded with false friendship. Ruby ignored him. Pretending she hadn’t heard him address her, she focused on Beatty.
‘Everything all right here, Beatty?’ she asked.
‘All fine and dandy. Ready to start the day – in half an hour,’ Beatty replied, adding extra emphasis on the last four words. She stepped aside to let Ruby pass by and enter the shop and then turned back to face Earl. Ruby had to smile at the standoff between them, but she wouldn’t allow Beatty to antagonise him too much longer. She didn’t trust the man not to push his way inside and hurt Beatty in the process.
‘I said hello, young lady.’ Earl growled out his words to Ruby’s back.
Swivelling around to face him, Ruby forced her lips into a false smile. ‘I’m sorry, Earl. I didn’t hear you, too busy chatting with Beatty. Where’s Tommy – at school? Not that there’s much schooling going on around here. Do you know, I heard there were six children having to do their English lessons in Mrs Dennison’s back room.’ The more Ruby chatted the more she saw Earl’s face twist with anger. She knew she’d annoyed him by ignoring his greeting but, with Beatty present, Ruby hoped he’d keep his temper.
‘He’s with his mother,’ Earl said and stepped inside the shop. It annoyed Ruby when he pushed her aside and moved into the centre of the shop, but she remained calm, thinking of John all the time she spoke.
‘I’m surprised you’re still around, though. What with all that is happening abroad. I thought you had –’ Ruby tapped the side of her nose ‘– important secret work to do. I don’t know how you do it; I find it hard to keep a secret. Do you bite the side of your mouth to stop blurting it out?’