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The scaffolding was being taken down outside when Amy left for work on Wednesday morning, a little earlier than usual. The men’s wolf-whistles and cheeky comments followed her as she hurried up the hill, but Amy was too worried about Carol to pay them any mind.

She feared that something dreadful must have happened to Carol’s dad and walked as fast as she could, arriving at the flat on Lavender Hill out of breath. Carol let her in, eyes red-rimmed and her face pale as she told Amy that her father was dead.

Amy was shocked, and stammered, ‘Oh, Carol, I’m so sorry.’

‘None of us are going to work today,’ Carol said as Amy followed her upstairs. ‘Dave and Paul are going to arrange the funeral, but I doubt it’ll take place before Christmas.’

The brothers nodded a greeting as Amy walked into their living room, where she said again, ‘I … I’m so sorry to hear about your dad.’

‘At least this’ll give the gossips something else to talk about,’ Carol said bitterly. ‘Paul wants to invite Dad’s old mates to the funeral, ones he worked with or drank with in the local pub, so the news will soon spread.’

‘I’ll come, and I’m sure my parents will too,’ Amy said.

‘Thanks, I’d like that,’ Carol said, her composure wavering as she blinked back tears.

‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ Amy asked.

‘I don’t think so, but it’s good of you to offer,’ Carol croaked.

As the conversation died out, Amy felt awkward, and inadequate. She didn’t know what to say, how to offer any words of comfort. They had just lost their father and must be inconsolable. Paul flopped onto the sofa, put an arm around Carol and she leaned against him.

Amy felt that her presence was intrusive and said softly, ‘I’d better go or I’ll be late for work.’

Carol nodded, and telling them not to get up, Amy let herself out, her heart heavy with sadness.

Celia carried a tray up to Thomas and placed it across his lap. ‘Jeremy has gone to the unit again. He left half an hour ago.’

‘I’ve told him there’s no need.’

‘Darling, he’s just keeping an eye on things for you … making sure the men don’t slack while you’re away.’

‘Len Upwood is a good foreman and if needed, which I doubt, he’s perfectly capable of keeping them in line.’

‘I know, but I think Jeremy is getting restless and it gives him something to do.’

‘Well, as long as he doesn’t get in the way, I suppose it’s all right,’ Thomas said. ‘Anyway, I feel a lot better today so I think I’ll get up.’

Celia decided that it was time to start acting on Jeremy’s plan and said, ‘The living room has barely warmed up yet so eat your breakfast and stay there for a while. It’ll be nice for Amy to see that you’re up when she calls in, and Jeremy won’t have to be a chaperon any more. Not that he minds, he’d do anything for you, and Amy must like him as she seems to hang on to his every word. I think Jeremy finds it a little embarrassing, but it’s been lovely

of him to keep Amy company for you while you’ve been so ill.’

With that, Celia left the room, telling Thomas that she’d be back for his tray in a little while. She’d made her opening shot – and from the frown she’d seen on Thomas’s face, it had hit the target.

‘I’m sorry, Rose. It’ll just be me and Stan on Christmas day,’ Phyllis told her cousin when as usual, before starting the housework, they were sharing a cup of tea. ‘Celia Frost has invited Amy to her place for dinner.’

‘You don’t look too happy about it.’

‘I’m not. We always spend Christmas together and Amy should’ve refused.’

‘I doubt it was an easy choice for her. Celia Frost is going to be her mother-in-law, and knowing the woman, no doubt Amy wants to keep on her good side.’

‘Huh, I doubt she’s got one. But changing the subject, we had a policeman knocking on our door last night.’

With eyes rounding, Rose asked, ‘What did he want?’

‘Well, it was a bit odd really. As you know, Frank Cole has got two sons and the copper wanted their address. We thought they might be in trouble, so we kept shtum at first, but then he said it wasn’t a criminal matter,’ Phyllis said, pausing to drink her tea.

‘What was it then?’ Rose asked.

‘The copper wouldn’t go into details, but we got the gist that it was something to do with Frank … that he might have had an accident or something.’

‘Oh no, I hope it isn’t anything too serious,’ Rose said.

‘Stan seems to think it must be. He said if Frank was capable, he’d have got in touch with the boys himself and there’d be no reason for the police to be involved.’

‘Yeah, I think he’s right,’ Rose said. ‘What a shame though. It seems to be one disaster after another for that family and it makes you count your blessings.’

‘Yes it does,’ Phyllis agreed, thinking that Rose had turned out to be one of hers. Rose had been so good to her and life was so much easier now that she was earning more money.

One of the best things was yet to come, and Phyllis thanked her lucky stars that Rose had come back into her life.

Paul and Dave left the morgue, both sickened by what they saw. Their father had once been strong, and handsome, but the life he’d been living had taken its toll and in death he looked like a withered old man.

They were now waiting to pick up his belongings, Dave moaning because he still thought it was a waste of time, and when they were handed the package, at first Paul had to agree. He didn’t now though, and after reading the letter that had been found in his father’s pocket, his grief was replaced by fury. They chucked the foul clothing in the nearest bin, while Paul spat out, ‘I could kill him.’

‘It’s a bit late. He’s already dead.’

‘He should have told us, Dave.’

‘You read the letter. She asked him not to and let’s face it, you can understand why.’

‘All this time, and this is the last thing I expected,’ Paul said. ‘Wait a minute, according to that date Dad got this letter in June.’

‘Yeah, so?’

‘Don’t you realise what this means? She’s still in there and we can visit her.’

‘She might not agree to see us.’

‘We could give it a try.’

‘How do you think Carol’s going to take it when we tell her?’ Dave asked.

‘Let’s go home and we’ll soon find out,’ Paul said, thinking that it was a daft question. Carol was going to he shocked – as deeply as they were.

Jeremy returned from the unit at midday. Len Upwood had continued to be surly, and as it had been impossible to assert his authority, Jeremy had gone into the small office where he’d flicked through the papers and orders. When the telephone rang he’d answered it, writing swift notes, and then seeing Len in the doorway, he’d taken great satisfaction in telling the man to get back to work, the call none of his business.

He’d taken the notes and driven home, surprised to find Tom up. Jeremy felt pleased with himself as he told his brother about the possible contract, but got an unexpected reaction.

‘Did you talk to Len? It’s a big development and he’ll know we need to get working on a quote.’

‘He was busy, but don’t worry, I can give you a hand.’

‘Jeremy, do you know anything about glazing and the costs involved?’

‘Well, no, but it can’t be that hard.’

‘There are a lot of factors to be taken into account; frames, glass supplies, manpower costs, and that’s just a start. Show me those notes.’

Jeremy handed them over, and after a brief look at them, Tom said, ‘These are useless. I told you that Len knows what he’s doing and if he’d taken the call he’d have asked the right questions.’

‘I was only trying to help.’

‘This is just a hindrance, and in future stay out of things you know nothing about,’ Tom snapped as he stood up. ‘I’ll have to ring Len and tell him to call the developer for more information.’

Jeremy was left inwardly fuming. Tom had been a stick-thin boy with asthma who was being bullied at school when Jeremy left home, and he hadn’t looked much better on his return. He was still thin with a weak chest, but now Jeremy was seeing a different side to his brother, one he hadn’t expected. He’d thought Tom would be easy to manipulate, that getting an equal share in the business would be a doddle – now though, he wasn’t so sure.