Liverpool Angels Read Online Free PDF

range in Maggie’s kitchen that evening, nursing a mug of tea each. ‘I’m amazed Mam hasn’t already guessed; she always says there is a certain “look” about a pregnant woman’s face,’ she mused. ‘Are you pleased?’
    Maggie nodded and managed a smile. ‘Of course I am. I wouldn’t mind a girl this time.’
    ‘I’d like a daughter too. Make a nice change from those two little hooligans of mine, but I’ve told Bertie not for a few years yet. I’ve enough to do as it is,’ Agnes confided, a note of firmness in her voice.
    ‘And what did he say to that?’ Maggie asked, raising an eyebrow.
    Agnes grimaced. ‘Not a lot. I was adamant though. I’m determined I’m not going to be like some women in this street, ending up with hordes of kids and worn out by the time I’m forty.’
    They both fell silent, thinking of the recent tragedy: childbirth was dangerous and Beth wasn’t the first woman in this street to lose her life. Maggie felt a frisson of anxiety pass over her. She might consider going into hospital this time, for her confidence in Mrs Kemp had been seriously undermined.
    ‘Have you told Billy?’ Agnes asked, watching her friend’s face closely and wondering just what reaction Maggie would have had from him at the news.
    ‘I blurted it out when we had a bit of a row, the night Mr Thompson came.’
    ‘And?’
    Maggie sighed and frowned. ‘He just hasn’t mentioned a word about it since, Agnes. I sometimes wonder if he’s even realised. He’d had a few drinks when I told him.’
    Agnes raised her eyes to the ceiling. That was typical of him. ‘Was he very drunk?’
    ‘No, just merry, but that mood didn’t last long.’
    ‘Then he must realise. Do you think he’s keeping quiet because . . . well, because he’s not pleased?’ If he was displeased then he had no right to be, he’d had no small part in the matter, Agnes thought.
    Maggie bit her lip and gazed into the fire. There was very little she and Agnes didn’t share. They’d always confided their hopes, dreams and anxieties to each other. ‘Lately he doesn’t seem to be very happy about anything and it’s got nothing to do with Beth. In fact I don’t think he was too upset over her death at all.’
    Agnes pursed her lips and refrained from saying that in her opinion the only person Billy McEvoy really did care about was himself. ‘Is it because he often can’t get regular work?’ she asked. It was depressing but he wasn’t the only man in this city who didn’t have a steady job – far from it.
    ‘That and he . . . he just seems sort of offhand with me now. He never wants to stay at home with me and Eddie. He never offers to take Eddie out anywhere. Oh, I know he doesn’t have the money to spend on the child but he could take him down to the river to see the ships or for a trip on that new overhead railway, or even on the ferry now the weather’s getting warmer.’ Billy seemed different lately from the cheerful, easy-going lad she’d married. She wasn’t sure just when he’d started to change and she really didn’t know what was wrong with him; she sometimes wondered if it was something she’d done or said. Times were hard but she didn’t complain. Had she changed? She didn’t think so.
    Agnes understood only too well how there was never enough money for treats for the kids. It was hard enough to feed and clothe them but at least Bertie did spend time with the twins when he got home from work. Billy McEvoy was just selfish in her opinion. ‘So, will you tell him again that he’s going to be a father or will you wait until you’re showing and he won’t be able to ignore the fact?’
    Maggie reached for the teapot to refill their mugs. Now that she had told Agnes of Billy’s silence on the matter she felt hurt, as if talking about it had made her face the fact that he didn’t seem to have any interest at all in the baby. ‘I don’t know. I suppose I’ll tell him again, Agnes, just to make sure