The Shop Girl's Soldier_A Heart-Warming Family Saga Set During WWI and WWII by Karen Dickson

Author:Karen Dickson [Dickson, Karen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 52566588
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 2020-03-19T00:00:00+00:00

‘You’re very quiet,’ Ellie-May remarked a short time later as they prepared to close the shop for the evening. She was wiping the meat trays. Frank had been in and out of the shop all afternoon, his expression sullen, his blue-grey eyes slate-like in their intensity. His response to her attempts at conversation had been curt at best. Ellie-May frowned at him. ‘Is something the matter?’

‘You tell me,’ Frank snarled as he locked the door, slamming the bolts across with unnecessary force. Ellie-May felt the familiar sick feeling in her stomach.

‘What do you mean?’ she asked, unable to disguise the nervous quiver in her voice. Genuinely puzzled, she followed him up the stairs to the flat above. They had barely gone through the door when Frank rounded on her.

‘You disgust me!’

‘What?’ Taken aback, Ellie-May could only stare at her husband, open-mouthed in shock. ‘What do you mean?’ she asked in a small voice.

‘Your behaviour earlier; the way you were carrying on with that Turner chap!’

‘What?’ Incredulous, Ellie-May could only stare at him. ‘For goodness sake, Frank, he’s Penny’s school teacher. We always have a laugh when he comes in here; he’s that sort of person. His wife is the same.’

‘It’s demeaning,’ Frank spluttered. ‘And humiliating.’ He stood in the centre of the room, silhouetted against the dusty sunlight streaming in through the windows. He was visibly shaking. ‘You do it on purpose, don’t you, to humiliate me?’

‘Do what? Frank, I don’t know what you mean.’ Ellie-May rubbed her throbbing temples.

‘You’re determined to rub it in my face, aren’t you?’ he snarled, spit flying from his lips. ‘You’re determined to humiliate me because I’m not the one you wanted.’

Ellie-May opened her mouth to reply, but the words wouldn’t come, she was so flabbergasted by Frank’s accusations.

‘I’ve always been second-best. You treat me like dirt because I’m not bloody Jack!’

‘Frank . . .’ Ellie-May whispered, her hand flying to her mouth. ‘That’s not true. I’ve been the best wife to you that I can be.’

‘Oh, yes?’ Frank snapped. ‘You really believe that, do you? Then how do you explain this?’ He turned on his heel and marched into the bedroom, Ellie-May hurrying after him, her heart thumping.

‘What are you doing?’ she demanded in genuine distress as Frank yanked the drawer out, throwing her underwear to the floor.

‘Ah, here we are. I knew you had it squirrelled away somewhere.’

‘You’ve been through my things?’ Ellie-May was aghast.

‘You’re my wife,’ Frank said angrily. ‘I have every right to search your drawers.’ He waved the photograph in front of Ellie-May’s face. Her heart contracted at the sight of Jack’s face. It was the studio photograph she and Jack had had taken before he went away to France. A sob caught in her throat. Contrary to what Frank clearly assumed, she hadn’t looked at the photo in years and it was a shock to see it now.

‘You were his whore,’ Frank said, his face puce with anger. ‘Well, guess what, Ellie-May, he’s dead! Gone. He left you in the lurch, carrying his brat.

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