Wish Me Luck Read Online Free PDF Page B

was screaming and shouting and hitting out at my dad when he tried to calm her down.’
    ‘Good Lord!’ Robbie frowned thoughtfully for a moment and then said slowly, ‘My mother was sort of – well – odd. Not hysterical or anything, but you saw how shocked she was when she heard your surname.’
    Fleur nodded. ‘Did she explain why?’
    Robbie shook his head. ‘No. Shut up like a clam. She went very quiet and seemed lost in a world of her own. I couldn’t reach her, if you know what I mean.’
    ‘Oh, I know exactly what you mean. I bet it’s the same sort of look my dad sometimes has. As if he’s lost in the past.’
    ‘That’s it. That’s it exactly.’ They stared at each other for a moment before Robbie said slowly, ‘You … you don’t think there was – well – something between them, do you? Between your dad and my mother? Years ago?’
    Fleur nodded. ‘There must have been because . . . because in amongst all my mum’s shouting and hysterical crying she said, “All these years, you’ve never stopped loving her.”’
    ‘And you think she meant my mother?’
    Again, Fleur nodded, but now she said no more. She couldn’t for the heavy feeling growing within her chest, a feeling of ominous foreboding.
    Robbie blew out his cheeks as he let out a long sigh. ‘Crikey! Now I see why Ma wouldn’t come with me today and why you’re waiting for me in the lane.’ His blue eyes were dark with disappointment. ‘I take it I’m not welcome at your home?’
    She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak for the lump in her throat.
    He sighed again and sat up, resting his arms on his knees and linking his fingers. His back was towards her as he said flatly, ‘So, you don’t want to see me again?’
    Fleur sat up too and touched his arm. Slowly, he turned to face her. They gazed at each other for a long moment before she said, ‘I do want to see you again. I mean – that is – if you want to see me.’
    ‘Of course I do.’
    She smiled and felt a warm glow at the swiftness of his reply. ‘But,’ she went on, ‘we’ve just got to realize what we might be getting ourselves into. We won’t be able to visit each other’s homes.’
    ‘You can come to mine. Ma won’t mind.’
    ‘Are you really sure about that?’
    ‘Well. . .’ She could see the sudden doubt on his face.
    ‘She was very kind to me last night,’ Fleur went on, ‘and even after she knew who I was, but that doesn’t mean she’ll want to see me again. Have me visiting, reminding her . . .’ There was a long silence before Fleur said, ‘So do you see why I say, “as long as we realize what we’re getting ourselves into”?’
    ‘Yeah,’ Robbie’s mouth tightened. ‘Right into the middle of a Shakespeare play by the sound of it.’
    Fleur laughed, stood up and held out her hand to pull him up. ‘Just so long as you know I’ve no intention of committing suicide over you like Juliet.’
    He stood close to her, still holding her hand and looking down into her dark brown eyes. ‘And that’s another thing.’
    ‘What is?’ she whispered, suddenly frightened by the serious look in his eyes.
    ‘Death. Not by suicide, of course. But I face it every time we take off on a bombing run. And you’re not in exactly the safest job there is, are you? Airfields are constant targets for the enemy.’
    ‘I know,’ she said quietly. ‘But we’re only in the same boat as thousands of others. We . . . we’ve all got to take our happiness when we can, haven’t we?’
    Robbie nodded. ‘Damn right we have. And damn the past and all its secrets. We’re living in the present.’ Though he didn’t speak the words aloud, as he took her into his arms and bent his head to kiss her Robbie was praying silently: Dear Lord, grant me a future with this lovely girl. Don’t let me end my days in a burning plane, or her buried beneath a pile of rubble on a bombed-out airfield. Let us grow old together, with our grandchildren at our knees .