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  As always, Amy had to laugh. 'You're a wicked bugger!' she chuckled. 'Anyway, what were we saying?'

  Daisy reminded her, 'We were saying how all the rich blokes are either fat, bald, or wed.'

  'That's true, an' all,' Amy replied. 'So, even if they do cast an eye in your direction, they'd only be after one thing, and we all know what that is, don't we?'

  Daisy gave a knowing wink. 'It means they'd be after a bit of "how's your father".'

  'Right,' Amy confirmed.

  'I'm not really sure I'd mind either,' Daisy answered. 'I'd mek the buggers pay top whack for their entertainment. Then I'd get my own place a damn sight sooner!'

  'Behave yourself,' Amy told her. 'We both know you wouldn't sell yourself like that. Look, we're here now, and don't make eyes at every man in the room, or they'll get the wrong idea.'

  'Trust me,' Daisy said.

  Linking arms with Amy, she pushed her forward. 'I don't want no trouble. I'm just here for a good time. All right, lass?'

  'So make sure you stick to that,' Amy said. She knew from experience that when she and Daisy went out together, the evening could end unpredictably.

  As they went through the doors and into the bar, Amy glanced at Daisy, who was already casting her net for any good-looking, unattached young men.

  She smiled inwardly. Daisy was Daisy and try as you might, you would never change her.

  'By heck!' Daisy gave Amy a sly little dig with her elbow. 'Look, lass!' Grabbing Amy, she then drew her aside, at the same time pointing to the two young men at the bar. 'It's them!'

  Following Daisy's gaze, Amy heart sank when she recognised the two blokes they'd tangled with last spring. 'You're right,' she whispered. 'It's them all right.'

  Daisy began backing away. 'We'd best get out of here, before they see us.'

  'No!' Standing her ground, Amy declared, 'We're not leaving. We've as much right to be here as they have.'

  Daisy couldn't believe her ears. 'Bloody hell, lass,' she groaned. 'Have you forgotten what happened?'

  'I haven't forgotten,' she replied defiantly, 'nor have I forgotten what that devious little squirt was up to when I interfered. For all I know he meant to have you by any means he could, and if I hadn't dived in, he probably would have done. No, Daisy. We're staying! If anybody needs to leave, it's them.' With that she marched forward to the bar, with Daisy clinging on to her arm for all she was worth.

  In a strong, clear voice Amy ordered, 'Two sarsaparillas please, barman, and a packet of pork scratchings.'

  Daisy whispered, 'What did you order them for?'

  'Because we always have pork scratchings.'

  Daisy groaned. 'Well, you can pay for 'em, and you can eat 'em. I ate enough food at your house to last me all week.'

  Addressing the barman, Amy said, 'Forget the scratchings. We'll just have the sarsaparilla.'

  Grumbling and groaning he replaced the packet of scratchings on the shelf. 'Women!' he muttered. 'Never can mek their mind up.'

  Catching sight of the two young men out the corner of her eye, Daisy tugged at Amy's sleeve. 'Don't look now, lass, but they're coming this way!'

  Wishing they had given the Grand a miss tonight, Amy told her, 'Ignore them, and they'll go away.'

  But they didn't, and a moment later they were standing before the girls; the tall one looking unsure of himself, and the other one braving it out as though nothing had happened. Amy couldn't believe the nerve of them.

  'Well! Would you believe it?' It was the short one who spoke first. 'We meet again, eh?' Encouraged by the twinkle in Daisy's eyes, he reminded her, I'm Roy Williams.' Gesturing to his friend, he addressed himself to Amy. 'This 'ere's my mate, Jack Tomlinson.'

  Angered by his bare-faced cheek, Amy confronted him. 'I think you'd best clear off,' she answered haughtily, 'before I call somebody to have you thrown out.'

  His mate quickly stepped forward. 'There were misunderstandings on both sides. What say we call a truce?' Looking from one to the other, he waited for an answer.

  'Depends.' Daisy spoke out. It was clear she was still attracted to the other young man, who by now was giving her the wink.

  'On what?' Appraising Daisy from head to toe, the smaller man smiled confidently.

  'On two conditions.'

  'And what might they be?'

  'Firstly, you apologise for what you did.'

  Looking uncomfortable, he dropped his gaze to the floor. 'I was carried away. I didn't mean anything by it.'

  'That's not an apology!'

  'All right! I'm sorry.' He turned to his friend. 'We're both sorry.'

  'That's right,'Jack readily agreed. 'We're sorry about what happened. It ruined what seemed like the start of a good relationship.'

  'Now then! Is that enough for you?' Roy asked Daisy.

  'Yes. Your apology is accepted.'

  'So we can be friends, can we?'

  'Not yet,' Daisy reminded him. 'I said there were two conditions.'

  'So, what's the second?'

  Daisy surprised them all with her quick smile and her bold answer. 'Now that you've apologised, you can dance with me.'

  'DAISY!' Drawing her aside, Amy was flabbergasted. 'What the devil are you playing at?'

  'Look, Amy, if they want to make friends, why can't we?' Giving her glass of sarsaparilla to Amy, Daisy reasoned, 'I think they've learned their lesson.'

  'Well, I don't! That Roy fella is arrogant as ever.'

  'Don't worry, lass,' Daisy whispered. 'I can handle him now.'

  Amy couldn't help but worry and said so.

  Daisy wasn't listening. 'I've seen the other blokes on offer round here,' she said, 'and I wouldn't give 'em house room.'

  Just then the music struck up; Roy asked her if she wanted this dance, and like the devil-may-care creature she was, Daisy fell into his arms and quickly led him onto the dance floor.

  'Well, I never!' In spite of a niggling worry in the back of her mind, Amy had to smile. 'I can talk till I'm blue in the face, and she takes not one blind bit of notice.'

  'And what about you?' Suddenly, Jack was standing before her, his warm gaze inviting. 'Fancy a twirl on the dance floor, do you?'

  'No, thanks all the same.' She had a feeling he was genuine in his apology but she felt embarrassed about the whole incident and didn't want reminding.

  Excusing herself, she walked the few paces to a nearby table where she set the drinks down.

  He followed her. 'Do you mind if I sit beside you?'

  She was annoyed yet curious. 'Sit where you like,' she said, 'but don't think you're forgiven for what you and your mate did.' Best to face it out, pretend she hadn't panicked.

  He sat down. 'Can I ask you summat?'

  Taking a sip of her drink, Amy shrugged. 'Ask away.'

  'Will you please tell me what I did wrong that night?'

  'What d'you mean?'

  He explained, 'Just now, you said I mustn't think I'm forgiven for what me and my mate did. So. All I'm asking is, what exactly did I do that was so wrong?'

  'When he was attacking Daisy, I thought you went in to help him,' she answered lamely. But even at the time she hadn't been certain that was the way it had happened.

  'You're wrong.' He sounded sincere. 'Like you, I saw what was happening and needed to put a stop to it. When I got between you it wasn't to help Roy, believe me. It was your friend I was trying to help.'

  'If that's the case, I'm sorry for what I did,' she admitted reluctantly. She'd felt embarrassed about it long enough. It was time to make amends.

  He gave a wry little laugh. 'You're a dangerous woman, though.' He observed her slight build, the mop of brown hair and those bright blue eyes, and his heart turned over. 'I would never have guessed you could throw like that,' he said admiringly.

  Amy smiled, aware that he was teasing her. 'Neither did I.' Under his intense scrutiny she felt neither embarrassed nor angry, but curiously warm inside.

  'You managed to put me out of action for three days
,' he told her, exaggerating so she knew he was laughing with her. 'What's more, I had to lie to my boss. If I'd told him what really happened, the men would have taunted me mercilessly.'

  As he talked and smiled and looked back with amusement at what she'd done, Amy began to see a different, pleasant side to him. 'I might have been a bit too quick in throwing that brick,' she confessed. 'But I really thought you were as bad as your friend.'

  His smile was all-embracing. 'You don't think that now, do you?'

  Amy shook her head. 'I'll admit, I'm beginning to see you in a different light.'

  'Is that good or bad?'

  'Good…I think.' In fact she had thought about that night often, and each time she was increasingly certain she'd got it wrong where he was concerned.

  'So, will you dance with me?' he asked, and Amy agreed.

  In spite of Amy's earlier worries, the whole evening was surprisingly enjoyable, and by the time they were preparing to leave, their relationship was developing fast.

  As for Daisy, her attraction for Roy was strong as ever. 'I'm as much to blame for what happened,' she told Amy in the toilets. 'I must have given him the idea that I wanted it every bit as much as he did.'

  'That's no excuse for coming on like he did.' Amy wasn't happy that Daisy had forgiven him so easily. 'If you ask me, there's a darker side to him than meets the eye. I know I can't tell you what to do, but I'm asking you to stay on your guard. Will you do that for me?'

  Daisy groaned but promised all the same. 'All right, mother hen,' she quipped cheekily, I'll stay on my guard.'

  Then she laughed her impulsive, hearty laugh, and Amy couldn't help but laugh with her. 'You're incorrigible!' Amy said, and Daisy told her she didn't even know what the word meant.

  When they returned to their table, Jack was at the bar getting more drinks, while Roy was impatiently pacing the floor. 'At last!' He threw out his arms in frustration. 'Whatever it is you women do when you go to the toilets together, it seems to take you one hell of a long time! What do you do, anyway?'

  'That's for us to know and you to find out!' Daisy retorted.

  'Hmm! You're a brassy bugger and no mistake!' He had fallen for Daisy hook, line and sinker.

  They drank their drinks and danced until their feet ached. When the last waltz was over, they made their way outside.

  'Which way are you headed?' Jack asked Amy.

  'Let's just walk.' Heading off in the direction of the marketplace, Amy wasn't altogether happy about telling them where she lived. Since Don Carson had let her down she'd got out of the habit of trusting men. The and Daisy will soon have to make our way home,' she warned amicably.

  As they walked they chatted, and the more they chatted the more they found friendship.

  'What kind of work are you two in?' Jack asked the girls.

  Amy hesitated while Daisy answered in a rush, 'Amy runs Atkinsons' Corner Shop with her mam, and I work at Tooley's Cafe.' Puffing out her chest, she added proudly, 'I'm in charge most of the time, on account of Ma Tooley's forever gadding about. She likes the men, y'see? Goes off for days on end and leaves me to it. Mind you, I like being on my own. That way I don't get nagged at every five minutes. Besides, when she's not there, I get to use the old chip pan an' grill.'

  'Use the old chip pan and grill, eh?' Roy laughed out loud. 'I can't think of anything more exciting.'

  'Hey! Who asked you?' Daisy gave him a sharp dig in the ribs for his cheek.

  Jack smiled down on Amy. 'So? You run a corner shop with your mam, eh?'

  Amy wished Daisy hadn't told them, but now there was no use denying it. 'That's right,' she said.

  'What about you two?' Giving Roy another nudge in the ribs, Daisy asked, 'What work do you do?'

  'We both work at Hammonds, only I'm a mechanic and he's the foreman, lucky bugger! And if yer don't mind, I'd like you to keep yer elbows to yerself. I'll be black and blue all over if you keep digging me in the ribs!'

  'I'm not a "lucky bugger", as you put it,' Jack protested half-heartedly. 'I've worked hard for what I've got, and anyway, you've only been there for a year, while I've been there ever since I left school. All you have to do is knuckle down and your time will come.'

  'Hmm! Like hell it will.' Roy had no self-worth.

  Because of Roy's complete lack of confidence in his future, Jack confided a snippet of information. 'You're already in the manager's good books. I know for a fact he's had a word with Mr Hammond on your behalf.'

  Roy's face lit up. 'You're kidding, aren't yer?'

  'No,' Jack answered, 'you've been noticed. So from now on, you'd best watch your Ps and Qs.'

  Having now arrived at the meat-pie stall alongside the marketplace, Roy dug his hand in his pocket and drew out a cache of coins. 'Right! Meat pies all round, is it?'

  Amy and Daisy declined politely, exchanging secret looks of horror at the idea of more food.

  A few minutes later, they were all seated on one of the empty stalls, swinging their legs, the two men chewing on their meat pies with Roy slavering all the way.

  'Ugh! You mucky pup!' Daisy gave Roy a playful push.

  'You've dripped gravy all down your front!' The gravy ran from his chin to his shirt and over part of his lapel.

  Wiping his hand over it and making matters worse, Roy turned to Jack. 'Has he really had a word with Hammond?'

  Jack nodded. 'I've already told you. I heard him saying what a good worker you'd turned out to be. According to him, it wouldn't be too long before you were moved up a notch or two.' He wagged a finger. 'But you don't know anything about it, all right? I never told you.'

  As a rule he would never have divulged such privileged information, but he had long suspected that Roy was ready to pack the work in and look for something else, and he needed encouragement to carry on. 'Keep on the way you're going, and there's a future for you at Hammonds, that's all I know.'

  Roy grinned like a Cheshire cat. 'Right, matey! Enough said.'

  Daisy put paid to his grinning. 'Look at that, you sloppy devil!' Pointing to his shirt, she groaned, 'Now, there's a lump o' meat stuck to your collar.'

  He slid an arm round her. 'So, I'm a sloppy devil. Does that mean you don't love me any more?'

  'Gerroff!' But this time she didn't push him away, so he kept his arm round her shoulders, delighted when she didn't complain.

  Daisy too was secretly delighted. We're two of a kind, she thought, and was happier than she'd been in ages.

  'I can't believe you both work at Hammonds,' Amy told them. 'My dad works there, driving wagons. He travels so far, he doesn't usually come home during the week.'

  'Well, I never! That's what I want to do,' Roy informed her. 'I'd really like to drive the wagons. I've asked for training, but I'm last in the line, seeing as I was last into the factory.' Plucking the lump of meat pie from his collar he popped it into his mouth. 'I thought I didn't stand a cat in hell's chance, but after what Jack just told me, I'm over the moon. What's more I wouldn't care if I was out all week.'

  Daisy didn't think much to that. 'What about your sweetheart?' she asked. 'How do you think she'd feel about that, eh?'

  'I've not got a sweetheart,' he said cunningly, 'so it won't matter, will it?'

  Searching for some reassurance as to her own standing, Daisy was reluctant to let the matter go. 'You might not have a sweetheart now, but what about in the future?'

  'I don't expect I'll have one in the future,' he winked, 'unless o' course,you're offering to be my sweetheart?'

  Daisy's eyes shone. 'We'll have to see, won't we?'

  'Looks like those two were made for each other,' Jack whispered in Amy's ear.

  Amy agreed. 'They got off to a shocking start,' she said, 'but you're right. They do seem to be getting on really well.'

  She had believed Roy to be a bad lot, but now, she wondered if maybe Daisy had been honest when she said how that first evening had ended was as much her fault as Roy's. Even so, she told herself now, that wasn't to say he was
an angel.

  Recalling the previous conversation between herself and Amy, Daisy saw the chance to get an opinion from Roy. 'What d'you think of Luke Hammond?' she asked.

  'He's all right,' Roy said casually. 'Mind you, we don't see much of him on the shop floor. He tends to get on with other things, though he does walk through the factory every day, talking to the foreman and managers and such. He's not one o' them bosses who leave others to do his work. He likes to know what's going on…keeps his finger on the pulse, as they say.'

  'That's right,' Jack readily agreed. 'And if there's ever any trouble he soon sorts it out, when nobody else can.' He lowered his voice in respect. 'If you ask me, he's got more than his fair share o' troubles at home. I expect you've heard how his wife got beat up and now she's got some sort of brain damage…has these weird moods…'

  'Aye, that's right,' Roy chipped in. 'Once she came round the factory, looking for him, asking questions and causing trouble. Stunning-looking woman, though. You'd never think she were round the bend.'

  Choosing to change the subject, Amy asked, 'So you think Luke Hammond is a nice bloke?'

  'The best boss I've ever worked under,' Roy said. 'He keeps the factory rolling and keeps his workforce informed as to what's happening. I expect your dad's told you how we all thought we were for the high jump some time back, but it was exactly the opposite. When work got tight, Hammond went out and snatched a contract from under the noses of the big boys; enough to keep all of us in work for the foreseeable future. He gets my vote, I can tell you that!'

  Curious about Amy's father, Roy asked, 'What did you say your Dad's name is? Atkinson?'

  'What's that got to do with anything?' Amy thought it was one thing them knowing where she and Daisy worked, but it was another thing discussing her father.

  Sensing a deal of hostility, Roy realised he had not yet redeemed himself in Amy's eyes. 'Just curious, that's all.'

  Feeling uneasy, Amy turned to Jack. 'I'll have to say good night,' she said. 'It's time me and Daisy were headed home.'

  But Daisy had other ideas. 'If it's all right with you, lass, I won't be coming home with you tonight.'

  Amy didn't like what she was hearing. 'So, where are you going?'

  When Daisy hesitated, Roy answered, 'She's coming home with me.'