A Wartime Welcome by Rosie Meddon

Author:Rosie Meddon [Meddon, Rosie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Clemmie sighed. As she stood watching the girls from the parachute factory file into the Great Hall, she hoped they would behave, hoped they would heed Dorothy’s warning to them just now about this evening being an opportunity to extend a welcome and foster good understanding, rather than being a chance to meet a husband. In their summery pastel-coloured dresses, they certainly looked fresh and pretty, not to mention eye-catching. It made her regret that she’d had nothing nicer to wear than just the better of her two skirts – navy cotton gaberdine with piping on the pockets for embellishment – and her plain white blouse with the rounded collar. As garments, they would have been acceptable for what her mother liked to call ‘Sunday Best’. And while they might be clean and smart, alongside such a profusion of colour they made her feel plain and dowdy, which, when she’d asked Gwen to pin her hair for her, hadn’t been what she’d had in mind.

In truth, though, what did it matter? With time since to reflect, what she’d been hoping for from the evening now felt prickle-inducingly foolish; no amount of primping and preening was going to suddenly render Squadron Leader Dunning speechless with desire for her. He was a grown man, not an adolescent. He was worldly and intelligent, serious. He was also confined to a wheelchair. She flushed with embarrassment; what on earth had she thought was going to happen between them? He was hardly going to ask her to dance. Nor to go for a stroll with him afterwards. So why, if she knew all of that, was she unable to get him out of her head? Why, just lately, had he become the first thing she thought about each morning and the last thing each night? Moreover, why, at the prospect of seeing him at a meeting, did she come over all hot and panicky? If she wasn’t secretly hoping for something to happen, what was that all about?

Hearing the entrance doors creaking open, she looked up to see a line of khaki-clad young men filing in, at their rear Major Hogue and Major Hearst. And to her astonishment, already in the far corner of the room was Squadron Leader Dunning. How had she not noticed him arrive? She must go and say hello.

‘Miss Huxford. Good evening,’ he greeted her warmly as she drew near.

‘Good evening, Squadron Leader Dunning.’

‘You look very smart.’

Smart, perhaps. But not pretty; not like the girls who had dresses from before rationing.

‘Ladies and gentlemen.’ The hum of conversation around them fell quiet and Clemmie turned to see Austin Young from the city corporation standing on the little stage. Proceedings were getting under way, and she suddenly felt incredibly nervous. What if the evening was a flop? She scanned the room; a couple of American officers seemed to be admiring the architecture of the hall. Their men, however, seemed rather more taken with the girls from the parachute factory. ‘If I might have your attention for just one moment.

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