she refused primly.
âItâs pointless trying to pretend that youâre not with me. Now that Sara has seen us together, itâll be all over Tonypandy in an hour that weâre courting strong.â
âBut weâre not!â she exclaimed indignantly.
âIf weâre not, why did you meet me?â
âBecause you promised to try to find me a coat,â she blurted thoughtlessly.
âMercenary little thing, arenât you? Will you shoot me if I tell you that I failed?â
Stung by his use of the word âmercenaryâ and struggling to hide her disappointment, she said, âThank you for trying,â as graciously as she could.
âThe very least I can do for such a gushing display of disappointed gratitude is to buy you lunch.â
âNo, thank you. I really do have to look in the shops for a coat.â
âAnd afterwards, weâll visit Sali and the children,â he continued as if she hadnât spoken.
âI would prefer to call on them alone.â
âBecause if we call on them together, Sali will think that weâre courting?â he asked.
âYes.â
âLet her.â He thrust his free hand into his overcoat pocket as they approached the ticket booth and pushed two silver threepenny joeys through the window. âTwo returns to Pontypridd, please, Tom.â
Rhian waited until he had pocketed the tickets and they had walked on to the platform before opening her handbag. She lifted out her purse and extracted three pennies. âI will pay for my own train fare.â
âI invited you out.â
âAnd I refused to go with you.â
âYouâre here,â he pointed out maddeningly. âAnd we made plans to have lunch and visit the Park Hall.â
âYou made plans, I didnât.â
âYou wouldnât disappoint me, would you? Not now weâve come this far together.â He smiled and looked into her eyes again and her heart seemed to move up into her throat, choking her.
When she finally found her voice she mumbled, âI donât want to give you the wrong impression.â
âSo far, the only impression youâve given me is that youâre inordinately fond of the word ânoâ.â
âIf we do lunch together and go to the Park Hall, it will be as friends. The sort of outing I would make with one of the girls I work with in Llan House.â
âThatâs the only way you will go out with me?â he asked keenly.
âYes,â she retorted firmly.
âThen thatâs the way it will have to be.â He took her three pennies and pushed them into his pocket. âBut you will allow me to try to make it more?â
âNot today.â
âNext week?â he suggested optimistically.
A signal clunked lower down the track. A whistle blew and a train chugged slowly and noisily towards them, belching out smut-laden steam.
Rhian remembered Bronwenâs story about her sister, and imagined the devastation Ruby must have felt at losing a boyfriend she had been fond of. And it would be so easy to become fond of Joey â if she allowed him to get close to her. âNot ever,â she said decisively.
Ignoring the other diners in the City Restaurant, Joey pushed his dessert bowl aside, leaned across the table towards Rhian, and continued relating his life history.
ââ¦Â So, when the colliery management refused to give my father, Lloyd, Victor and me our jobs back after the strike because Dad and Lloyd were strike leaders and union officials, we thought weâd have to leave the valleys. None of us had ever considered working anywhere other than the pit. Even now, Lloyd considers himself lucky because he succeeded in finding a management job with another mining company.â
âBut you are happy working in Gwilym James?â she asked.
âOnly since they made me manager of the Tonypandy store,â he replied half-seriously.
Leslie Charteris, David Case