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slid an exploring hand over her breast. ‘How soon can we be married? I can’t wait too long. I could eat you all up here and now.’
    Cathie felt her cheeks grow hot as she gave a little giggle. ‘We can fix a date for the wedding any time you like. But I haven’t even met your parents yet, nor have you met my mother, which you are now about to do. Mam suggested I invite you for Sunday dinner, I do hope you can come?’
    ‘Not today,’ he said, looking surprised by the suggestion. ‘My mother and father are anxious to have me home. We’ll need to arrange that for some other time.’
    ‘Oh, of course!’ Even as Cathie agreed, disappointment bit deep in her. But then perhaps she hadn’t been thinking clearly. Naturally, his parents were keen to see their only son again, after all this time away fighting in a war. It was easy to forget that other families were close when her own was not. She also thought with some regret of the expenseof the half shoulder of lamb she’d left roasting in the oven. ‘Can we at least walk some of the way together?’
    ‘It will be my pleasure.’ Linking her arm in his, he hitched his kitbag on to his other shoulder and they set off to walk along Deansgate.
    Cathie felt a little downhearted that, even though she was his fiancée, she had not been included in his plans for his first day home. Surely on such a special occasion she should have been allowed to share it? In all the time they’d been going out together, not once had he thought to invite her to meet his family. Alex lived on St John Street, as his father was a doctor who worked at the local hospital. Unlike where she lived, close to the Potato Wharf district, it was quite a smart area even if it was still in Castlefield. Cathie couldn’t help but wonder if that was the reason.
    For now though, she should be simply relieved to see how fit Alex looked, marching as if on parade, straight-backed with his head held high, if unshaven and his expression somewhat stern. All her anxiety and worries had evaporated in seconds on seeing him as, unlike Steve, Alex seemed perfectly normal with no sign of any injuries. After six years of war, being only nineteen when he’d been called up in 1939, he was now a grown man of vast experience. And if there was a slight sense of distance between them, surely that was to be expected after these long years apart.But it was wonderful that they were together at last. Her future secure.
    ‘I look forward to you coming some other time, at your convenience. I should warn you in advance that my mother, Rona, is not an easy person, being rather selfish, and very full of herself. She doesn’t believe in sitting still for five minutes. She has ever been obsessed with giving herself a good time, always going off somewhere: to dances, band concerts, pubs or horse racing. Having a bit of fun is how she terms it.’
    ‘There’s nothing wrong with that,’ Alex said. ‘I dreamed of doing very much the same when I was stuck out in the desert in Egypt.’
    ‘I’m sure you did,’ Cathie said, filled with remorse for having implied that living a full life was somehow wrong, even if she had only been attempting to explain her self-obsessed mother. ‘And we all had fun when peace was declared. Did you get to celebrate VE Day?’
    ‘No, I was still overseas,’ he responded grimly.
    ‘Oh, you poor thing. We went to Albert Square, everywhere ablaze with lights and hordes of people all dancing and singing ‘Roll Out the Barrel’, ‘White Cliffs of Dover’, ‘Bless ‘Em All’, and loads of other popular songs. It was fantastic fun. Manchester was so jam-packed with folk there was no room for traffic, not even the buses could get through. There were flags everywhere, posters saluting the Allies, fireworks going off. There were thanksgiving services at various churches, and the King spoke to us on thewireless. Oh, it was a wonderful celebration with dozens of street parties held over the next few days.