Elm Tree Road by Anna Jacobs Page A

sitting reading the newspaper and he hardly said a word to her all evening.
    She didn’t know what to make of their conversation.Did it mean he was willing to try a bit harder to get on? She’d guessed he was unhappy deep down, of course she had, but this was the first time he’d admitted it.
    He was quieter for the next week or two, and didn’t threaten any violence. He even said the stew was good one night. And he gave her back a shilling. He didn’t say it was for the one he’d taken from the housekeeping, but why else would he have done that?
    It wasn’t enough to mend the distance between them, though. They were like two strangers living together, more polite maybe, but he still mostly ignored his daughter. That upset Nell a lot.
     
    Just before Renie was due to arrive, Cliff asked, ‘How long is she staying?’
    ‘A week.’
    ‘You’ll enjoy that, at least.’
    ‘Won’t you enjoy hearing about London?’
    ‘No. It’s Swindon I want to hear about.’ He looked sad when he said that.
    ‘Then write to your family,’ she urged.
    ‘Not until I’ve something I can be proud of to tell them.’
    ‘But—’
    ‘My family are my business, just as your sister’s yours.’
    When he got that tight look on his face she gave up trying to talk to him because it was as if he’d closed his mind to the world.
     
    Since the matron at the hotel understood the difficulties of Sunday travel, the staff’s holiday weeks always beganon a Saturday. Renie was to arrive in the afternoon.
    Nell would have gone to meet her at the station in Rochdale, but she was ashamed of the shabby pram one of the ladies at church had lent her, on condition it was given back when no longer needed. Besides, it’d have cost money to take the train into Rochdale, money she didn’t dare spend.
    Still, she consoled herself with the thought that her sister knew her way here.
    When she heard footsteps coming into the court, she rushed to the door and burst into tears, hugging Renie and holding her at arm’s length, then hugging her again, till her sister laughed and tugged her inside.
    ‘Look at us,’ Renie said. ‘Crying as if something bad has happened when we should be happy.’
    Nell stared at her sister, envying the matching ankle-length skirt and longish tailor-made jacket over a pretty blouse. ‘How smart you look! Is that the latest fashion in London?’
    Renie looked down at herself and smiled. ‘Yes. I bought this suit second hand, but it fits me well, doesn’t it? Might have been made for me.’ In turn, she studied her older sister and pulled a face. ‘I remember that skirt. Doesn’t he buy you any new clothes at all?’
    Nell flushed in shame.
    ‘There I go again!’ Renie gave her another big hug. ‘I’m never going to be famous for being tactful, am I?’
    ‘How do you manage with the customers?’
    She shrugged. ‘I don’t know. They’re different, somehow. They seem to like me waiting on them, give me good tips.’ She knelt down beside her niece, who was sitting on the ragrug playing with some wooden blocks. ‘Isn’t she bonny? I do wish you lived nearer so that I could watch her growing up.’
    For a moment or two, Sarah studied her solemnly, then held her arms out to her young aunt to be picked up.
    ‘She doesn’t usually go to anyone else,’ Nell said in surprise.
    ‘Just you and Cliff.’
    ‘Just me. He’s not … um … interested in babies.’
    Renie looked at her across the top of her niece’s head. ‘Things still not going well? You never talk about him in your letters.’
    Nell shook her head, not trusting her voice. She listened to Renie talking to Sarah, then, when she was in control of her emotions, said as brightly as she could, ‘How about a cup of tea?’
    ‘I’m dying of thirst. Make us a big pot and I’ll drink it dry.’
    Cliff came home from work soon afterwards. Saturday was usually a short day but he sometimes worked overtime. Nell didn’t know what he did with the extra