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me,’ she smiled nervously. ‘And if you still want to, we’ll get engaged on Sunday.’
    ‘If I want to? Wild horses’ couldn’t stop me.’ He glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one had sneaked into the shop while they’d been talking. As it was empty he leaned over the counter and kissed her.
    ‘We’ll have a party in the restaurant.’
    ‘What about the café?’
    ‘Angelo can run it.’
    ‘On his own?’
    ‘I have.’ There was an indignant tone in his voice that reminded her so much of his oldest brother Ronnie, she began to laugh.
    ‘What’s so funny?’
    ‘You. I can see that I’m going to have to put my foot down from the outset. If I don’t, you’re likely to start trying to boss me around the way you do your brothers and sisters.’
    ‘They’re annoying, you’re not.’
    ‘Tina’s my best friend.’
    ‘Say that again and you’ll go down in my estimation.’ He looked down at the ring card. She’d pushed her finger through the middle hole. ‘If you’re sure that’s your right size I’ll get one.’
    ‘I’d prefer to choose my own.’
    ‘Trust me.’
    ‘I already do,’ she whispered, handing back the card as the door opened and a crowd of small children flooded into the shop.
    William stared despondently at the teeming rain as he carried empty trays from the counter into the kitchen at the back of Charlie’s shop and stacked them next to the sink ready for washing. He usually looked forward to Thursday. It was half-day, the only day in the week he could count on getting off work early in the afternoon. Since the cinemas had reopened, he and Tina had taken to spending every Thursday afternoon curled up next to one another in the back row, arms and legs entwined as they watched the film, stealing kisses when the newsreels showed lines of goose-stepping Germans, Hitler meeting Mussolini, the crews of the Exeter and Ajax being cheered by London crowds, or the British Expeditionary Force landing in France.
    He wasn’t even sure whether Tina was angry with him after last night. They had parted so quickly, he hadn’t had time to ask her if she’d meet him. He didn’t even know if she had the afternoon off from the café. And because he wasn’t certain how much time he had left before he’d be sent his travelling orders, he wanted to take her somewhere more special than the back row of the Palladium or the Park cinema. He racked his brains trying to think of a place where they could be alone. If it had been summer, he could have taken her to Shoni’s pond, or the park. He might even have suggested it now, cold as it was, if this miserable downpour showed any signs of letting up.
    ‘You look as though you’ve found sixpence and lost a shilling, William,’ Alma commented as she carried another empty tray out of the shop for him to wash.
    ‘That’s just about how I feel.’
    ‘You’re sorry you joined up?’
    ‘It’s not that. It’s the weather. I’d like to go out this afternoon but there’s nowhere to go.’
    ‘How about the pictures? It Happened One Night is on in the Palladium. Charlie’s taking me.’
    He wondered again if it was worth risking rebuff and asking Tina to go with him. Perhaps if he went to the café and found her there, she’d talk to him.
    ‘If you want to go now, I can finish up here,’ Alma offered generously.
    ‘You mean that?’
    ‘It’ll only take me as long as it will take Charlie to set up the market stall ready for the morning. As you’ll have no choice about putting in a full day there, make the most of the time you’ve got now. Go on, off with you.’ She glanced at his grubby apron and overall. ‘And if you’re seeing Tina, you’d better use our bathroom for a wash and brush-up. Only don’t pinch too much of Charlie’s cologne. He notices when it goes down too quickly.’
    ‘You’re a gem.’ He untied his apron and kissed her on the cheek.
    ‘Don’t let Charlie catch you doing that. Not with your reputation,’ she