A Perfect Christmas (32 page)

She stood aside, saying to her visitor, ‘Please come in.’

Cait was only too glad to.

It was Glen’s turn to be surprised when he saw Cait arrive in the living room. He stood staring at her blankly for a moment, the same questions going through his mind. He noticed she was holding a bulky manilla folder and wondered what was in it. ‘Miss Thomas, very nice to see you,’ he greeted her politely.

She noticed Glen was holding some scraps of crepe paper and a pair of scissors. ‘Oh, I’ve disturbed you putting up your decorations,’ she said apologetically.

Jan shot him a look, telling him not to dare say that two strips of crepe paper and a spindly tree was it.

‘You haven’t at all, Miss Thomas. We’d decided we’d had enough tonight and would finish it off tomorrow evening.’

She said then, ‘You’ll be wondering why I’ve called. Well, I need your help, Mr Trainer, on a matter it wasn’t wise to discuss with you at work.’

He was intrigued. ‘Let me take your coat for you,’ he offered. She took it off and handed it to him. ‘Please, take a seat.’ He indicated the sofa, hoping she chose to sit on the part that wasn’t quite so worn and uncomfortable as the rest.

‘Would you like some tea?’ Jan offered, hoping Cait wouldn’t notice that the patterns on the second-hand cup and saucer did not match and nor did she have any biscuits.

Cait replied with enthusiasm, ‘I would very much, thank you.’ She took a seat on the sofa, far too glad to be near a fire after being out in the cold for so long to notice how uncomfortable it was.

Since she always had the kettle simmering on the stove, just off the boil, it didn’t take Jan long to make the tea. When she came through with two cups for them she said politely, ‘I’ll leave you to talk,’ and went into her bedroom.

After taking a much-needed drink from her cup and replacing it in its saucer, Cait said to Glen, ‘I’ll get to the point, Mr Trainer, as I don’t want to interrupt you for too long.’ She then reminded him of her agreement with the unions to put a qualified person in charge of the factory and explained that the post had been advertised in the
Mercury
. The responses were in the manilla folder she had with her. Cait ended by telling him, ‘Obviously I have no idea what qualifications I should be looking for in the candidates, so I wondered if you would take a look and indicate those you think have what it takes to fill the role. I’m sorry to put you to this trouble only you told me you’d run a business like Rose’s in the past and I haven’t anyone else I can turn to who knows the ins and outs like you do, Mr Trainer.’ She tentatively held out the folder of application letters towards him.

Glen made no attempt to take it from her, just looked at her thoughtfully for several long moments before saying, ‘In my opinion what you’re doing is a waste of time.’

She looked taken aback. ‘I don’t understand. I said I’d find someone better equipped to head the company in order to avoid the strike.’

He nodded. ‘Yes, and at the time I believed that was the right thing to do. But I don’t need to sift through these letters to know that none of the applicants will prove suitable. Any man with the right credentials to head a firm like Rose’s will already be employed in a similar capacity, and would only consider moving to another company if the job offered were a step up for him: bigger firm, more money, that kind of thing. They would not even consider leaving a permanent job for a temporary one that might only last a few weeks, on the remote chance it might be longer. I can guarantee you that all the men who have applied are shop-floor workers who think they have what it takes to run a company. One or two might even be right, but there’ll be no one with relevant experience. For the rest, the only reason they’re willing to take a temporary job is so they can make themselves a bit of money before their incompetence is found out. And even should I be wrong and one or even more of the applicants is just what the company needs, I doubt it’s possible to have someone in place this side of New Year.

‘By the time you’ve interviewed them and checked their backgrounds, if they are in work they’ll have to give notice and then you’re looking at the middle of January at least before they can start. Mrs Thomas will surely have returned from her holiday by then and might not approve of the man you’ve taken on or else decide to run the place herself, then the poor chap will be out of a job before he’s even started.’ Glen saw an opportunity to find out when Nerys planned to return and hoped he’d put his question to Cait in such a way she wouldn’t suspect there was anything more behind it than he was superficially asking. ‘Have you had word from Mrs Thomas as to when she plans to come back?’

Cait wondered why he would want to know, but regardless couldn’t bring herself to tell him that her mother wouldn’t consider her plans any of her daughter’s business. Besides, Nerys believed that she had moved out of the house by now, and was living independently, so her return wouldn’t be of any consequence to her daughter anyway. Cait shook her head.

Glen was sure he’d seen a momentary flash of sadness in the young woman’s eyes and wondered if matters were all as they should be between mother and daughter. Whether they were or not, though, was none of his business. He was just disappointed that he was still having to hang about for Nerys’s return before he could tackle her about Lucy. He said to Cait, ‘Well, I’ve never been abroad but I understand it’s not at all easy to telephone back home. Maybe Mrs Thomas has tried but couldn’t get a connection.’

She smiled. ‘Yes, that’s most likely the reason. My mother will have her hands full, though, as my father is not a well man and needs a lot of looking after. They’ve gone to a warmer country at this time of year, in the hope it would do him some good.’

So Nerys had married again. Seemed a bit of a coincidence, though, to Glen that the man she had married just happened to have the same surname as Nerys’s maiden one. He smiled at Cait. ‘Hopefully it will.’ He looked thoughtful. ‘When the union reps insisted you step aside for someone more capable of overseeing the company, they weren’t meaning you should go to the lengths of employing someone new. You could just appoint someone already employed by the company as caretaker till your mother’s return.’

Cait eyed him sharply and told him with conviction, ‘Mr Trainer, I may be young and naive but I did manage to work that out for myself. I asked you if you’d take on the job after finding out that you had the relevant experience, but when you made it clear you weren’t interested I asked Miss Trucker for her advice on who else she thought might fit the bill out of the current employees. It was her opinion that there wasn’t anyone. I didn’t know what else to do but look outside for the right person, in order to honour my agreement with the union.’

Glen inwardly smiled to himself. It was readily apparent that Caitlyn Thomas had been true to her word and had worked hard to change herself into a much more affable person, but he was glad to see that in the process she had not lost her spirit and did after all seem to have more than empty space in her head. He felt that with the right guidance and training, she showed the potential of being capable of running a business such as Rose’s. When he had owned the firm, like his father before him, he had always kept an eye on the younger members of staff and if any showed signs of possessing the ability to further themselves, he would encourage them to do so. Some had gone on to manage other firms, a couple even ran their own businesses. He wondered why Nerys hadn’t already begun the process with her daughter, starting her at the business and allowing her to work from the bottom up as his own father had done with him. Nerys must have had her reasons, he supposed.

Sensitive to her own behaviour nowadays, Cait was feeling mortified about the way she had just spoken. She had slipped back into her old haughty ways. She blurted out, ‘I’m sorry, Mr Trainer, I didn’t mean to speak so rudely to you.’

He smiled at her. ‘You didn’t. You were under the impression I wasn’t giving you credit for having any intelligence, you were insulted and decided to put me right. You did so very eloquently, without any show of your old attitude at all. You were obviously serious about changing your attitude and have worked hard on yourself to make that happen. To have come so far in such a short space of time, you deserve a pat on the back. Anyway, it should be me apologising to you for not giving you the credit you deserve for thinking of advertising the job when there was no one suitable to fill it in the company. It’s very commendable you wish to honour your agreement with the union.’

She sensed from his tone that, regardless, he did have an alternative suggestion. ‘I get the feeling that you think there is another choice, Mr Trainer? If I’m correct, I’d like to hear it, please.’

So she was astute as well, it seemed. She had been hiding all these good qualities in herself under a misguided display of superiority to others, but at least they were surfacing now. To Glen’s way of thinking it was better late than never. He hadn’t at all liked this young woman when he had first met her but found he was quite warming to her now. ‘You’re right, I do have another suggestion. Just carry on as you are until Mrs Thomas comes back. Now that you have started to work with the staff and not against them, the company isn’t suffering. From my observation as I go about my work in the factory, the foremen are keeping the workers in line and the workers are more concerned with their plans for Christmas than with what’s going off upstairs – and with keeping their noses clean so as not to risk losing their Christmas bonus. I’m sure Miss Trucker has her eye on the office staff, making sure all the work is kept up to date there. At this time of year most businesses are winding down until after New Year, except for the shops, of course. After New Year it’s slow for a few weeks while the retailers are getting rid of their old stock in their sales. Things don’t usually pick up until about mid- to end-January when some of the staff at Rose’s will be kept busy making sure the orders for the new spring stock are packed up and delivered to the customers in time. The rest meanwhile will be busy making summer shoes and ordering in the ready-made stock from abroad, while others are showing buyers our autumn designs for them to place their orders. The factory starts making those as soon as they’ve finished on the summer range. It’s a never-ending cycle, Miss Thomas. Your mother will surely be back by then.’

Cait looked confused. ‘But what about my agreement with the union representatives?’

‘Well, they’re under the impression that you’re doing your best to find someone suitable so, as far as they’re concerned, you are honouring your agreement with them. As long as the men they represent are happy with the way things are in the workplace, then they have nothing to grumble about.’

At the thought of the implications for herself of what Glen was suggesting, she said without thinking, ‘Oh, but then that means . . .’ Cait’s voice trailed off as she realised just what she’d been about to voice. That she wouldn’t be free to start getting her new life off the ground. Worse, that she’d have to stick around and see how her mother reacted to discovering she had dared defy her by staying in the house, and had even rummaged round in her parents’ bedroom as well as helping herself to money she had found in their safe. She just didn’t want to see them again, not now she realised how little they thought of her. Cait had never felt able to open up to others about her personal life, though, abiding by her mother’s rule that it was no one else’s business. Although she would very much have liked to share her burden with someone, hear that it wasn’t her fault her parents didn’t love her but a lack within them, she just couldn’t bring herself to.

She realised Glen was looking at her quizzically, waiting for her to finish what she had been about to say. She gave a small laugh and told him, ‘I’m sorry, my mind has just gone blank. I can’t remember what I was going to say.’

He would have believed her had she looked at him when she said it, but she didn’t, addressed the fire instead, and he noticed the look of great sadness in her eyes. He wondered what she could possibly be so sad over? Then he remembered Jan’s speculations about the called-off wedding, and wondered if it could have anything to do with that. He smiled and told her, ‘It happens to the best of us.’

Meanwhile, sitting in her bedroom, the blankets wrapped tightly round her to ward off the bitter chill in the unheated room, Jan wished the pair sitting by the fire, all snug and warm, would hurry up and finish their conversation so she could return and join them. She’d only been sitting on her bed at the most for twenty minutes but to Jan it felt like twenty hours. When she had made Glen and Caitlyn a cup of tea she had not been able to bring one with her into the bedroom as they only had two cups, and now Jan was desperate for a hot drink. Until their visitor showed signs of making her departure, though, it would be rude of her to go and interrupt them.

Taking her blankets along with her, Jan crept over to the door and put her ear to it. She could hear the muted sound of voices, which told her that Glen and Caitlyn Thomas were still deep in discussion. Then an idea struck her as to how she could have her cup of tea without appearing intrusive. She wasn’t being a very good hostess, was she, if she didn’t offer their guest another drink? Then, while she was making it, she could have one first, drink it quickly, then wash out the cup, refill both of them and take them through. Jan thought this was an ingenious idea.

Shrugging off the blankets, she came out of her bedroom and made her way to the perimeters of the living area. ‘Excuse me butting in; I just wondered if either of you would like another drink?’

She had crept in so quietly that neither of them had heard her. They turned their heads in surprise for a moment then both of them smiled at her.

Glen told her, ‘We’ve finished what we were talking about, Jan, so you’re not intruding.’ He flashed a look at Cait then. ‘We are finished, aren’t we? There isn’t anything else you need help with?’

She shook her head. ‘No, there isn’t, thank you. I can see the sense of what you advise.’ She looked at Jan, considering her question. It would take her at least an hour, maybe more, to get home, and Cait suspected it was colder now than it had been when she’d arrived. Having another cup of tea before she left would certainly help her brave the weather. ‘I hope I’m not overstaying my welcome, but I’d really like to accept your offer of another cup of tea before I set off home.’