Sing as We Go by Margaret Dickinson

instead of going to the cinema.’
    ‘In the dark?’
    ‘We’ll call at a nice little pub where no one will know us.’
    ‘Can you be sure of that? There was a woman in the restaurant last week who knew you. She came and spoke to me after you left.’
    ‘Was there?’ he said casually. ‘Well, an awful lot of people know me. It’s the job, you know. Ah, here we are. This is my car.’
    At the kerbside stood a dark green open-top car.
    ‘This is very smart,’ Kathy said and was rewarded by the beam of delight that spread across his face.
    ‘It’s an Alvis Roadster,’ he said proudly as he opened the door for her. ‘Hop in.’
    Kathy wasn’t quite sure how to ‘hop in’ and ended up scrambling into the vehicle in a most undignified and unladylike manner. She giggled as she imagined what Aunt Jemima would say if she could have seen her.
    Tony went round the other side and vaulted neatly over the low door and slid down into the seat.
    ‘Now why didn’t I think of doing that?’ Kathy said and they both laughed.
    ‘Are you going to be warm enough? March is a little early to have the hood down, but I never put it up unless it’s raining.’
    ‘I’ll be fine,’ Kathy assured him, tucking her scarf around her neck. ‘I’m used to outdoor life, remember.’
    As he drove out of the city, the wind blew in her hair and she felt exhilarated by the speed and the freedom.
    ‘Now I know how Mr Toad felt,’ she shouted to him above the noise of the engine.
    ‘Who?’
    ‘Oh, never mind,’ she laughed.
    The country pub was cosy and informal and they both relaxed. Though there were no other women in the pub, no one seemed to give her a disapproving glance and, even if they had, she wouldn’t have cared. For the first time in Tony’s company, Kathy felt she could be herself. This was more her kind of scene. She felt more at home in a country pub than in the formal surroundings of a fancy city restaurant. For the first time she could forget that he was the boss and she just a lowly employee. Here, she could feel she was his equal. Tony too seemed more at ease. He laughed and joked and teased her gently.
    ‘You know, you really are a very pretty girl. So fresh and unspoilt.’
    ‘Unsophisticated and ignorant, you mean,’ she laughed. ‘A real country mouse lost in the big city.’
    ‘No, I don’t mean that,’ he said gently and his dark brown eyes looked deeply into hers. ‘But you do seem more at home here than in the city, I must say.’
    Kathy shrugged. ‘Well, I’ve lived all my life in the country. This pub is very like the one we’ve got in Abbeytoft.’
    ‘And who used to take you to this pub? Have I got a rival for your affections?’
    Kathy laughed as she felt herself blush. ‘No, it was only Morry.’ Then she felt guilty at dismissing him as ‘only Morry’. Swiftly she said, ‘Morry is my best friend’s brother. He – he’s a good friend to me too. And he’s Miss Robinson’s nephew.’
    ‘Ah! Do I detect a bit of matchmaking?’
    ‘They can try,’ she answered pertly. ‘But it won’t work.’ She forbore to tell him that it never would have done in a million years. That would have sounded very cruel to Morry.
    He moved closer to her along the bench seat, picked up her left hand and touched her fourth finger. A shiver of delight coursed through her. ‘So,’ he murmured, his voice low and deep, ‘You’re not “spoken for”?’
    Kathy’s heart felt as if it were turning somersaults in her chest. ‘No,’ she whispered. ‘I’m not spoken for.’
    ‘Good,’ he said with an air of authority. Then he raised her hand to his lips and kissed it, while his brown eyes caressed her.
    On the way back towards the city, he pulled to a halt down a country lane and stopped the engine. Then he turned and took her in his arms, kissing her gently on the mouth.
    ‘But now, my darling girl, you can consider yourself “spoken for”.’

 

    Ten
    ‘Amy’s coming for Easter,’ Jemima