Read Laceys of Liverpool for Free Online Page B

left it on the step to cool, by which time Alice had poured the tea. They sat opposite each other across the table, Alice in the place where her mother used to sit.
    ‘How’s Cormac getting on at school?’ Danny asked the same question every day since his grandson had started, mainly because he liked hearing the answer.
    ‘As I said before, Dad, he’s taken to reading like a duck takes to water. The teacher’s ever so pleased. He was sitting up in bed looking at a book when I left.’
    ‘Good.’ He smacked his lips with satisfaction. His grandson had always lived in the shadow of his cousin, Maurice, and it was nice to know Cormac was better at something for a change. From what he could gather Maurice was only average at school.
    ‘Our Orla wants to see you to ask about the Great War. It’s something they’re doing at school.’
    ‘Tell her to come round Saturday. I’ll get some cakes in.’ He would never have admitted it to a soul but Orla, with her enthusiasms and quick temper, was his favourite of the girls. He was already looking forward to Saturday.
    ‘You’ll do no such thing,’ Alice remonstrated. ‘If you want cakes I’ll make ’em for you. I’ll send some round with Orla.’
    At the mention of cakes, Danny remembered the mince pies. He removed one from the bag, ate it with obvious enjoyment and quickly demolished the other.
    Alice regarded him suspiciously. ‘Have you had anything to eat since you came home from work?’
    ‘’Course, luv,’ he assured her. He could only be bothered with making himself a Piccalilli sarnie.
    ‘I wish you’d come round to ours for your meals.’
    ‘You’ve enough to do, luv, without having another mouth to feed. And I’m always there for me dinner on Sundays, aren’t I?’
    She reached across the table for his hand. The eyes that had seemed so bright when she came in had dulled. ‘I’d sooner you were there all the time.’ There was a catch in her voice. John was apt to mind his tongue in the presence of his father-in-law and it was nice to have someone on her side, someone who would never turn against her, no matter what happened.
    ‘It wouldn’t be right, Alice,’ Danny said gruffly. He knew why she wanted him, as a buffer between her and her husband, but the situation in Amber Street had to be worked out between the main participants. Lately, though, he felt increasingly tempted to give John Lacey a piece of his mind. It wasn’t right, him taking things out on the folks who loved him most, particularly when the folks concerned were his dearly beloved daughter and his grandchildren.
    Within the space of months, Danny had seen Alice turn from a happy, tranquil young woman into a sad, listless creature who rarely smiled. Lord knew how she’d feel when the hairdressing job went, which was likely to happen any minute. At least it provided some respite from the atmosphere at home. If only he could
do
something to put things right.
    Alice released his hand. ‘Anyroad, Dad. I’m here on the cadge.’
    ‘Just say the word, luv. What’s mine’s yours, youknow that.’ He would have given his life for her and her children.
    ‘I need some money.’
    Danny didn’t show his surprise, though he knew John earned reasonable wages and had never kept her short. He dug into his pocket. ‘How much?’
    ‘I need more than you’ll be carrying in your pocket, Dad.’
    ‘Me wallet’s upstairs.’ He got up. ‘I’ll fetch it.’
    To his horror, she put her head in her hands and burst into tears. ‘I must be daft,’ she sobbed. ‘I must need me head examining. I told the woman to leave the letter till tomorrer, but I couldn’t get twenty-five pounds together in a month of Sundays, let alone a few hours.’
    He felt himself go pale. ‘Twenty-five pounds, luv? It’d take me all me time to scrape together five, and then I’d have to wait till tomorrer when I get paid. What the hell d’you need all that much for?’
    ‘For Myrtle’s. The salon’s