Homecoming (8 page)

‘About what?' Martin turned on the gas fire.

‘Lily, she's turned out bossy.'

‘So you'll stay over?'

‘Yes, please.' Emily glanced around the shop floor to check a supervisor wasn't watching her. She had been reprimanded twice for talking to Robin in the store and didn't want another dressing down.

‘I'll pick you up around eight, you'll be ready?'

She nodded and moved towards a woman who was hovering at the lower end of the counter.

‘Wear something special. That red dress with the low neck.'

She smiled assent. It was as much as she could do to keep from laughing aloud as she recited the store's approved opening gambit: ‘Can I help you, madam?'

After almost a year of being frozen out by her old friends, she was finally back in with them. A party – Robin had invited her to a party – and he had said that it had been Angela's idea to ask her to stay overnight. She couldn't wait to tell Larry.

‘You and Lily have given me a welcome fit for a king, but you must be wondering why I'm here.'

Martin offered Brian a cigarette. ‘Old friends don't need an excuse to call.'

‘I have a proposition to put to you.' Brian took the cigarette and flicked his lighter, lighting Martin's cigarette before his own. ‘I don't know if I ever mentioned my …' He hesitated.

‘Your?' Martin looked at him in amusement.

‘My family's a bit complicated – my cousin and half brother-in-law would probably be the most accurate description.'

‘I didn't know you had a half sister to have a half brother-in-law.'

‘I have a half sister and a half brother, both years older than me, but Ronnie isn't married to my half sister, the half sister he married died years ago when I was a baby. Anyway, he's married to my cousin now.' He frowned at the confused look on Martin's face. ‘That probably didn't make sense.'

‘None,' Martin concurred cheerfully.

‘You don't have to agree with everything I say.'

‘I won't if you try to explain your family again.'

‘The ones I want to tell you about are Powell and Ronconi.'

‘The garage people! That Powell is you?' Martin exclaimed. ‘The ones who own the biggest garage chain in South Wales?'

‘Before you get too excited, that Powell is my cousin, not half-brother. Anyway, to cut a long story short, my family is the kind that rallies round when one of us hits trouble. After I was invalided out of the Met, Will and Ronnie came to see me –'

‘Will and Ronnie being Powell and Ronconi?'

‘I just said they were,' Brian reprimanded. ‘Pay attention! They suggested that I might like to manage a car dealership they were in the process of buying in Swansea.'

‘Good God!'

‘Yes, me, the car salesman.' Brian made a wry face. ‘I never saw myself selling anything, but I said I'd give it try and as it's Fords …'

‘The cars will flood out without any effort on your part.'

‘That's what they're hoping. They're putting up half the money; the other half is part my compensation and part bank loan I've taken out. Now, I'm going to need a mechanic and I thought, who do I know who loves dirt enough to spend half his life under a bonnet covered in grease and muck?'

‘You want me to run the service and maintenance side for you?' Martin tried to rein in his enthusiasm long enough to consider the implications of Brian's offer, but it was impossible. Ever since the morning he'd received the letter offering him an apprenticeship he'd dreamed of opening his own business.

‘To be honest, no,' Brian prevaricated. ‘When I said that the other half of the money was coming from my compensation and a bank loan, I exaggerated. I'm looking for a partner not an employee. Powell and Ronconi have bought the garage, we have a dealership, showroom, office, petrol pumps, yard and two large workshops, but the workshops will be empty. The mechanic who is running the service side at the moment is retiring and he has sold his tools to his nephew who is setting up in Carmarthen. So if you want to manage the service and maintenance side, the first thing you'll have to do is equip both workshops because all you'll be left with is the inspection pits.'

‘There'll be no tools at all?'

‘None. I won't lie to you, Marty, it won't be easy. From the figures we've compiled, you'll have to lay out the best part of a thousand pounds on equipment and that's without paying your share of the loan on the buildings. Of course, you'll get to keep all the profits from that side of the business, but it's going to be a while before you recoup your outlay, let alone make anything, and I won't be able to help you financially. There'll be staff to pay. I'll need at least one other salesman and a girl to run the office and I doubt if you'll be able to cope with everything on the repair and servicing side on your own, so you will have to find enough to pay one apprentice, two might be better. And it will take time to get everything up and running. My cousin warned it always does after a change of ownership. I've some costings based on other Powell and Ronconi garages. Two years and we should break even; three and we'll be making a modest profit. Five, we won't be rolling in it but we will own the garage outright and be making more for ourselves than we could expect to earn working for anyone else.'

‘How much money are you looking for besides the tools?' Martin questioned cautiously.

‘Another thousand pounds before we break even, but I reckon you could finance two apprentices out of that.'

‘Two thousand in total!'

‘Not all upfront but don't forget you won't be bringing in much of a wage for the first couple of years.'

Martin's hopes sank. ‘Thank you for thinking of me, Brian, but I couldn't come up with anything like that kind of money.'

‘Yes, you could.' Lily stood in the doorway holding a tray. ‘Brian's offering you a chance to make your dream come true, Marty. You'll be working for yourself, partnering a friend you trust. I can't thank you enough for thinking of us, Brian.' Lily set the tray of coffee and biscuits on the table in front of them.

‘Be realistic, Lily, where would I get two thousand pounds?'

‘We have savings.' She poured the coffee and handed Brian a cup.

‘Last time I looked there was nearer two hundred than two thousand pounds in our savings account.'

‘There's the money Auntie Norah left me.'

‘Oh no, we're not touching that,' Martin protested heatedly.

‘And if that's not enough we'll mortgage the house,' she continued blithely.

‘Over my dead body,' he declared vigorously. ‘And if you were eavesdropping long enough –'

‘I was not eavesdropping. I just happened to overhear a few things Brian said as I came in.'

‘Did you hear him say that there wouldn't be any profits for the first two years?'

Recalling just how much money her aunt had left her, she pushed all thoughts of her pregnancy to the back of her mind. This was a chance in a million and she was determined Martin wasn't going to lose out. ‘We'll manage. We have the rent money Sam and Mike pay …'

‘And, if they move out?'

‘We'll rent to someone else. There's never been any problem finding lodgers, with the housing shortage. And we could turn the top floor into a flat. There are four rooms up there. It wouldn't take much to convert one into a kitchen and another into a bathroom.'

‘It would cost a fortune.'

‘We'll borrow it from the investments Auntie Norah left us and make it back in rent money within six months, just as we did when we had a proper bathroom and kitchen installed in the basement.'

‘Whether you come in with me or not, any chance of me renting the flat?' Brian asked.

‘There.' Lily smiled triumphantly, sugaring Martin's coffee and handing it to him. ‘We've already found another lodger and one who wouldn't mind sharing our kitchen and bathroom until we organise a conversion.'

‘You really want me to do this?' Martin asked Lily. ‘Just after I've been promoted to foreman?'

‘Foreman, congratulations.' Brian looked uneasily from Martin to Lily. ‘The last thing I want to do is cause an argument between you two. Foreman's a good position.'

‘But it's not like owning your own business, which is all Marty's talked about ever since I've known him.' Lily looked intently at her husband. ‘You could go your whole life without getting another offer like this. You'd be insane to turn it down.'

‘You really think I should take it?'

‘Absolutely.' Lily sat on the arm of his chair.

‘It would mean putting some things on the back burner, including what we talked about last night.'

She looked down at her hands wondering how much longer she could keep her pregnancy from him. Hopefully long enough for him to sign all the legally binding papers. ‘I know.'

‘All right, but I have conditions. First, I make an appointment with the bank manager and I'll raise a loan. Me, not you,' he glared at Lily. ‘I am not touching your inheritance from your aunt and the deeds to this house stay locked in the bank vault.'

‘The money from my aunt and the deeds to the house are as much yours as mine.'

‘I am not touching the money or the deeds,' he repeated sternly, looking her in the eye. ‘And I don't want you breathing a word of this to anyone until I get the loan.'

‘Yes, oh masterful one.'

Brian exploded with laughter. ‘You've got yourself a handful there, Marty.'

‘You don't know the half of it.'

Brian extended his hand. ‘Partners.'

‘If I get the loan,' Martin qualified. ‘Partners.' He shook Brian's hand. ‘And you'll stay over tonight and come to Jack's with us this evening?'

‘I'd like to, thank you.' Brian thought for a moment. ‘Is Jack going back to the warehouse?'

‘He wasn't keen on the idea when I spoke to him last night.'

‘Don't suppose …'

‘He's no mechanic,' Martin warned.

‘But he might make a salesman.'

‘He might at that.'

‘I'll ask him.' Brian rose to his feet. ‘Do you mind if I use the telephone to let my family know that I won't be returning to Pontypridd tonight?'

‘It's still in the hall,' Lily said. ‘Sam and Mike pay the bill as they need it for work. Looks like we'll have to revise that arrangement once you two become businessmen.' She kissed Martin's cheek. ‘Congratulations.'

‘I haven't got the bank loan yet,' he warned.

‘But you will. I just know it.'

‘Stunning,' Judy complimented, Emily walked into the living room in a strapless, red satin, ballerina length evening dress and black silk stole.

‘Party in my fiancés house.' Emily glowed with excitement, dropping an overnight case next to the door. ‘His sister has invited me to stay over.' She hoped the mention of Robin's sister would make the arrangement sound more respectable. ‘I have no idea what time I'll be back tomorrow.'

‘Does it matter?' Judy smiled. ‘Enjoy yourself.'

‘I will.' Emily drew back the curtain and looked out of the window. A car horn sounded outside. ‘That's Robin.' She picked up the case and ran to the door. ‘Have a good weekend,' she called back as an afterthought, before slamming the door.

‘I'll try,' Judy murmured disconsolately and went into the bedroom. Kicking off her shoes, she wandered into the bathroom, put the plug in the bath and turned on the hot tap before returning to her bedroom and opening her wardrobe door. Emily had looked so glamorous that most of her evening frocks looked dowdy by comparison. She flicked through the rail before settling on a dark green taffeta.

Back in the bathroom she tipped a handful of salts into the water, stripped off and lowered herself into the water. Despite all the duty visits she had made to the salons that afternoon, she had spent more of the day thinking about Sam than the business. Her mother was right, if she loved him there was no reason for her not to marry him and soon – and if she didn't …

She lay back and allowed the hot water to wash over her. If she didn't, what the hell had she been doing with him for the last eighteen months?

‘The beer was delivered this afternoon, thank you.' Jack took John's overcoat and hung it in the hall cupboard.

‘Katie's idea, not mine.' John watched Helen settle his wife into an easy chair with a cushion at her back.

‘I thought you might have come with Martin and Lily.'

‘We travel everywhere alone these days in case we have to make a dash to the nursing home.'

‘Helen said the baby could come at any time.'

‘A week to go according to the midwife.' John gave his wife another anxious look. ‘I'm not so sure. Does Katie look well to you?'

‘Tired,' Jack said, ‘but that's only to be expected, isn't it?'

‘I suppose so.'

John looked so concerned, Jack searched for something reassuring to say. ‘Katie's always been stronger than she looks.'

‘I hope you're right.'

‘Glass of beer.'

‘Yes, please,' John nodded, as he joined Katie in the living room.

‘Surprise.' Martin pushed open the front door and walked in with Lily, Brian, Roy, Joy and Billy, whose head was lolling sleepily on Roy's shoulder.

Helen rushed over to them. ‘I've a bed all ready made up for Billy upstairs. I've piled bolsters around the middle so he won't roll anywhere.'

‘Thank you, Helen, that's thoughtful.' Joy took Billy from Roy.

‘Third door on the right,' Helen whispered, following Joy up the stairs.

‘Good God, Jack, where did they change you?' Brian looked his old friend up and down. ‘You used to be such a skinny little runt, I had to be careful not to tread on you when I walked around the flat.'