A Mother Forever by Elaine Everest (free children's online books txt) 📕

come up and see if you were all right. The women are getting jittery in case you’ve changed your mind.’ He joined her at the window.

‘I was reminiscing. It seems to be the day for it, with so much happening in our little road.’

‘It certainly is a day for looking back as well as forward,’ George agreed as he put his arms round Ruby. ‘Do you remember the day we moved here – and Stella helped you when you lost the baby?’

‘It’s something I will never forget. The kindness of the Green family, and how those boys suffered during the Great War. It’s as if it happened yesterday. Time has flown by so fast. Did I tell you I received a lovely card from Frank? He wasn’t up to coming today. Oh, he gave his reasons, but I felt it would have been too hard visiting the town and digging up so many sad memories. He’s never been the same since Stephen died, bless him.’

‘Once this is all over, we must go down to Eastbourne and visit Uncle Frank. I have my faithful Box Brownie, so hopefully there will be some photographs to show him as well. That’s if I haven’t chopped everyone’s heads off,’ George chuckled. ‘I’m sure Frank will be delighted to meet the new Mrs Bob Jackson.’

‘I’m not sure how I’ll get used to being called Ruby Jackson, after all these years of being Ruby Caselton,’ she said. Returning to the dressing table, she picked up the photograph. ‘I hope I’m not letting him down.’

‘Oh, you daft woman,’ her son said fondly. ‘Dad would be so proud of you. In fact, I like to think he’s up there now in a celestial pub in the clouds, raising a pint pot to all of us. I’m not sure my Irene would be with him, although she’d be pleased for you all the same. Marrying a retired police sergeant is something she’d be impressed with. Possibly she would raise a glass of dry sherry.’

‘I am doing the right thing, aren’t I?’

George sighed. Anyone who knew Ruby would say that Bob had brightened her life in recent years. He smiled at the thought of how their paths had crossed so many years before, when Bob, then a young constable, had spent hours in the cupboard under the stairs sheltering from a raid in the first war alongside Ruby. She was only dithering now because of her loyalty to his late dad, even after the merry dance he’d led her for so many years before he rescued her from the terrible disaster down at the Gilbert factory. George could have lost his mum that day. Twelve of the workers had perished – one of them from this very road. Since that day in 1924, his parents had hardly left each other’s sides, making up for all the lost years until his dad passed away just before Christmas 1937.

Eddie had been as good as his word: apart from an occasional glass of bitter at family parties or down the working men’s club, he’d been a reformed character. George knew that his parents had had a good life together, even if it had taken them twenty years to settle into it. Now his mum had met Bob – and he and his son Mike had slotted into the fold of the Caselton family and friends so well.

‘Yes, Mum. You are doing the right thing in marrying Bob, and you know it. So come on – let’s put your hat straight, and then we can get on with the party afterwards. It’s not just your wedding we are celebrating, but the end of the war as well. I’ll see you downstairs,’ he said, kissing her cheek.

Left alone, Ruby stared at the little photograph, then lifted it to her lips and kissed the glass. ‘There will always be a place for you in my heart, Eddie Caselton,’ she murmured, before placing the photograph away in a drawer and closing it slowly.

She drew a breath, then said to herself, ‘Time to move on.’ And went to join her family.

Acknowledgements

My fear when writing these acknowledgements is that I will forget someone who played a part in the creation of this book. My deepest apologies if I do. I appreciate everyone who plays a part in helping my stories leap from my mind onto the page.

My agent, Caroline Sheldon, and her lovely staff who are there at the end of the phone when I need help and advice. Caroline Hogg, my brilliant editor at Pan Macmillan, along with Samantha Fletcher, Camilla Rockwood and the editing team who work their magic on my words. I apologize again for the rubbish you have to wade through. Bethan and Meghan from ED PR for getting news of my books out to readers – you do a wonderful job, thank you. Some of you may have come across my new website and blog, and it would still be in the imagination of this dinosaur if it wasn’t for the skill of author and web designer, Charlotte Duckworth. Thank you!

Writing A Mother Forever took me to another moment in time. Although this book is set in Erith, just like the Woolworths series, it is set in an earlier time period. It was such an adventure to move back through the years to 1905, the year trams appeared in the streets and the riverside town was thriving. The streets were lined with beautiful houses and there was an abundance of shops, with Alexandra Road just a few years old. As I took those first tentative steps into this new world, I had many questions about the town that I feared getting wrong. So, who better to turn to than the team at Bexley Archives. I’ve lost count of the many gems I’ve come across while delving into the records, or attending library talks and the Bexley Book Buzz Literary Festival, or just dipping into the records. I’m fascinated by the stories