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Tony was particularly attentive as they made their way back to the bar after their dance. ‘Where exactly will you be tutoring the students?’ he asked. ‘If you need to convert a room into a classroom, maybe I could give you a hand –’

‘Thanks, Tony, but it’s all sorted,’ Ellie told him, smiling. Although his attentions were irritating, she was glad Alan could see that another man obviously found her attractive.

Everyone was buying her farewell drinks, and Ellie knew she was drinking far more wine than she should, but this was her special night, and she was excited at being on the threshold of a new and wonderful life.

As the combo switched tempo and began playing jazz, Tony appeared again and dragged her onto the dance floor. Although Alan was talking to a group of his factory workers, Ellie knew he’d still be watching her. She was enjoying the heady sensation of being the focus of two men’s attention, and she was now deliberately flirting with Tony as he whirled her around the dance floor. She wanted to make Alan jealous. She wanted him to know that she could be with other men if she wanted to, but that she’d chosen to be with him instead.

As Ellie returned to the bar, with Tony still hovering eagerly in the background, Alan was suddenly by her side. His expression was bland, although she knew from the intensity in his eyes that he wasn’t feeling quite as calm as he appeared.

‘You’ve no idea how jealous of Tony I am!’ he whispered in her ear. ‘He seems to be monopolising all your time tonight, and there’s nothing I can do about it.’ He smiled mischievously. ‘But I can’t fault his taste in women!’ Then he spoke more loudly for effect. ‘Can I get you another drink, Ms Beckworth?’

‘Thanks – a glass of white wine, please.’

Having procured the drink from the barman, Alan handed it to Ellie.

‘You shouldn’t be looking so happy,’ Ellie whispered teasingly. ‘After all, you’re losing a valuable employee!’

‘Sorry,’ he said regretfully, although it was clear he wasn’t sorry at all. ‘It’s just that I’m starting a whole new secret life with the woman I love. I’m finding it hard to hide my excitement.’

Just then, Tony muscled his way to the bar again, and seized Ellie for another dance. Laughing ruefully, she allowed him to lead her out onto the floor. She could see that other groups of workers were nodding towards her and Tony. She could guess that she and the factory manager were now pegged as a potential couple.

Buoyed up by other people’s observations and several pints of lager, Tony chanced placing a kiss on her cheek. Ellie was beginning to regret flirting with Tony earlier, because he seemed to be assuming that there was now some connection between them. And since she and Alan had agreed that it would look better if she left on her own, she’d have to avoid any offer from Tony to share a taxi home.

Professing exhaustion, Ellie left Tony on the dance floor and unsteadily made her way back to the bar. It was now getting late, although there was no sign of the party winding down.

‘Can you order a taxi for me?’ she whispered urgently to Alan. ‘And make sure I’m not sharing it with Tony?’

When her taxi finally arrived, Ellie slipped quietly out of the social club without saying goodbye. It was easier that way. In the warmth of the taxi, she sat back and hazily considered her future. One segment of her life was finally ending, but another much more exciting one was just beginning.

C
HAPTER
5

D
arren looked at her uncertainly. ‘You’re changing your name?’

Laura nodded. ‘Yes. Now that I’m married, I want to be known as Laura Jones.’

Her boss chewed his lip as he studied her across his vast desk. ‘Isn’t that a bit drastic? I mean, you’ve been lecturing here for what – nearly ten years? Everyone knows you as Laura Thornton. Why would you change it?’ He fiddled with his pen. ‘Surely you can keep your professional name separate? Can’t you just be Mrs Jones in your private life?’

‘I’ll never be “just” Mrs Jones!’ Laura said hotly. ‘I’m proud to be changing my name. Jeff and I will eventually start a family, so it’ll be best if we all share the same name.’

Darren grimaced, hearing echoes of Jeff’s words at Laura’s wedding. He cared about Laura very much. She’d always been a strong, independent woman – a little impulsive, but an efficient and valuable member of his staff, and he wasn’t at all happy about what was happening to her. Her whirlwind courtship and hasty marriage was anathema to his own careful nature. He didn’t like Jeff either, although he had to admit that no one would ever be good enough for his Laura.

He made it clear that he wasn’t pleased. ‘But you’ve always said you’d never change your name – don’t you remember all those chats we had in the canteen? You were always so adamant
that, as the last Thornton of your generation, you wanted to keep your family name alive, even if you got married.’

Flushing, Laura nodded, annoyed with Darren for having reminded her, and feeling guilty for abandoning her family’s identity. ‘Well, I’ve changed my mind. Life changes, people change.’

Darren grimaced. ‘This is going to involve quite a lot of paperwork,’ he muttered. ‘It might take me quite a while to get it all done.’

‘It’s not that big a deal, Darren. If the passport people can do it, why can’t you?’ she replied.

Laura was growing more and more annoyed at having to defend her decision. She’d encountered surprise and incredulity when she’d announced her change of name to colleagues and friends. In fact, several people had made veiled suggestions that the decision hadn’t entirely been hers. It made her very hot under the collar. Surely it was no one’s concern but hers and Jeff’s? Okay, so she’d always sworn that she’d never change her name, and she wouldn’t be doing it now except that it seemed to mean so much to Jeff. Making him happy seemed a small price to pay for the niggling guilt she was feeling at abandoning the Thornton family name. Kerry had given a derisive laugh when told of the name change, then had tried to cover it up by changing the subject, and now Darren was making her feel as though she was abandoning her late parents and brother as well.

Laura wished everyone could just be happy for her. She and Jeff were building a life together – she was simply changing her name to show her commitment to him and to their future.

Darren adjusted his glasses. ‘Have you told the others in the department yet?’

‘I mentioned it to Maria, and I saw Timmy in the canteen –’

‘What did they think?’

Laura felt embarrassed and angry all at once. She didn’t need to justify her actions to anyone. ‘They’re happy for me – what else would you expect?’

In fact, both her colleagues had been surprised, and clearly disapproving. Timmy, at least, had had the good grace to try and hide it. ‘What does Darren think?’ he’d asked, and Laura had felt annoyed with him. Since when did she need to consider how Darren felt about her personal decision to change her name? ‘I haven’t told him yet,’ she’d replied angrily, and had been surprised at the brief flicker of sadness she’d detected in Timmy’s eyes. Maria had been more direct: ‘W – haaat?’ she’d screeched. ‘Are you losing your marbles, Thornton? Oh, sorry, I mean “Jones”!’

Darren grimaced. ‘Well, Laura, I guess it’s your decision.’

‘Yes, it is,’ she said evenly. There was no point in getting annoyed with her boss, because he was the best in the world and she loved working with him. He’d come around before long.

With a deep sigh, Darren began shuffling papers around on his desk. ‘Well, I’m always here if you ever want to talk.’

Laura could feel the anger rising inside her again. ‘About what?’ she asked sharply, knowing full well what Darren meant.

‘Anything,’ he said, looking straight at her. ‘My door is always open.’

As Laura left the room Darren sighed, finding that a Shakespearean quote summed up his feelings exactly: ‘The lady doth protest too much, methinks,’ he muttered, as he heard the door close. He was worried about Laura, and furious with Jeff. What kind of man would urge his new wife to abandon her family name, especially when it meant so much to Laura and represented so much of what she had already lost? Didn’t Jeff understand her at all? If
he
’d been in that lucky position – of being married to the adorable Laura – he’d want her to
treasure her memories. They were part of who she was, not something to be discarded for the sake of Jeff’s ego.

He sighed. Before Jeff had blundered into Laura’s life, Darren had allowed himself to imagine elaborate scenarios in which Laura had eventually realised that the man she truly loved was sitting at his big desk, right under her nose … But the vivacious Laura would never have looked at a plodder like him anyway. Sighing, he reached for the file containing the department’s accounts. There was nothing like a pile of boring paperwork for distracting him from pointless daydreams …

As Laura made her way down the corridor to her own office, she felt annoyed and unsettled. She was only changing her name, for heaven’s sake. Why did people seem to think it represented a whole lot more? Clearly no one was happy about it. Except Jeff.

As she thought of her new husband, her heart soared with joy. They’d prove everyone wrong. She’d immediately order a new plaque for her office door that would read: ‘
Dr
Laura Jones’.
Eventually she and Jeff would have several little Joneses, and they’d all live happily ever after. At last she’d be part of a family again.

C
HAPTER
6

‘E
llie, are you in?’

Annoyed, Ellie recognised the voice – it was Tony Coleman from the factory. She’d been going to ignore the knocking on her front door, until she remembered that she’d left her new bike outside. He’d know that she was in.

Ellie opened the front door. ‘Yes, Tony? What can I do for you?’

His face red, Tony shifted from one foot to the other. His hands were behind his back, but Ellie could see that he was holding a bouquet of flowers.

‘Just checking to see that you’re okay, now that you’ve left the factory,’ he mumbled. ‘Everyone misses you, and since I was out for a stroll during my lunch break, I thought I’d call and see if there was anything you needed –’

With a sigh, Ellie stepped aside and gestured for him to step inside. It would be bad manners to leave him standing on the doorstep, although she hoped his visit would be brief. He was clearly moving his interest in her up a notch, and she knew she’d eventually have to tell him she wasn’t interested. She ushered him into the open-plan living room.

‘Would you like a cup of tea, Tony?’

He nodded, his face suffused with relief. He wasn’t being evicted straight away. He might be given enough time to explain his intentions.

In the kitchen, Ellie turned on the electric kettle, wondering how quickly she could get rid of him. She suspected that Tony was about to launch into some kind of declaration, and she wanted to make her position clear before he did, thus saving him from any embarrassment. She intended claiming that she was still grieving for her late husband, but she suspected that Tony would still try to persuade her that an occasional visit to the cinema with him would lift her spirits and couldn’t do any harm …

Ellie checked her watch. Alan would be calling by in the early afternoon, and she needed time to take a shower and get changed into something sexy before he arrived. She needed to get rid of Tony as quickly as possible.

As she carried a tray laden with tea and biscuits into the living room, Tony was immediately on his feet, trying to help, dropping the flowers and only succeeding in getting in the way. Ellie silently poured the tea, anxious not to give him any encouragement. She had to admit that she was guilty of flirting with him at the party in the social club in order to make Alan jealous, so she’d brought this unwelcome intrusion on herself.

Tony cleared his throat, the mug of tea undulating in one trembling hand, the bouquet of flowers now clutched in his other hand. ‘Ellie, you know that I really like you –’

Ellie’s heart gave a jolt. Through the window behind Tony’s head, she could see Alan’s car turning in at her gateway and heading up the drive, and there was no way she could warn him. Tony was babbling on about how much she meant to him, but she was no longer listening. Her heart was beating wildly at the thought of their affair being uncovered. How ironic to be unmasked after she’d actually left the factory! Ellie was having nightmares at the thought of an unsuspecting Alan entering the house and calling her darling, making some sexual comment or starting to take his clothes off in the hall, as he often did in readiness for their lovemaking.

As Tony continued to waffle, it occurred to Ellie that if she could get him outside onto the veranda, Alan would have a chance of seeing him before he got out of his car. Although he couldn’t now avoid speaking to Tony, it might give him time to think up some excuse as to why he was there.

‘Tony, let’s take our tea outside onto the veranda,’ she said brightly, trying not to let her anxiety spread to her voice, and steering him outside before he had a chance to object. ‘It’s a lovely day, isn’t it? Oh, goodness!’ she added brightly. ‘That looks like Mr Alan’s car! I wonder what he’s doing here?’

By then, Alan’s car was pulling up outside, and Ellie waited, terrified, to see how things would unfold.

‘Oh, hello!’ Alan said pleasantly, as he stepped out of the car. He didn’t look in the slightest bit embarrassed, and he smiled first at Tony, then at Ellie. ‘Great weather today – I hope there’s a heat wave on the way!’ he said, coming up the steps onto the veranda and shaking both their hands.