Christmas to Come: a heartbreaking coming of age saga set in London's East End Carol Rivers (best sales books of all time .txt) 📖

lifted her shoulders. 'I don't know.' She looked exhausted as she shook her head. 'Yes, I do. The answer is he's never liked catering. You know that. I suppose I have got a quick tongue and I don't suffer fools gladly. Lenny is no fool, but he's a man and men don't think like women. He was happiest making the hooch with your Micky. But after the fire I thought we stood a chance of making the business into a good earner between us. And to his credit, these last few years he had had cooked and cleaner his arse off. Oh Gawd, Bella, I don't half miss him.'

'Did you say anything to upset him?'

Gina laughed emptily. 'Everything I say upsets him these days. I have to keep my trap shut or else we're at it like cats and dogs. Can't afford to let the customers see that, or young Tina either.'

'Let me make you a cup of tea and we'll talk about where he could be.' Leaving Gina gazing into the fire, she went into the kitchen and put on the kettle. Where had Lenny disappeared to? He had very few friends and wasn't the type to go out on the town.

When the tea was made she took it into the front room and set it on the table. Gina was staring into space.

'Drink this and tell me all about it,' Bella urged.

Gina looked disdainfully into her cup. 'You've not got something stronger, have you?'

'You won't be thinking straight if you're tipsy. Now, what was the tiff over?'

'Lenny's not been himself for some time. Moody and sharp to the customers. Going off down the pub every night. Of course, I wasn't having that. I mean, if he's going to drink our profits away, then what's the point of all our hard work? The last holiday we had was after the warehouse fire, remember? Well, I suggested we take another one. Margate or Brighton, somewhere by the sea, a nice boarding house. But he wasn't having it. He said a week's holiday wasn't going to cure what was wrong with us. I asked him what did he mean and he said he'd had enough. That I didn't make him feel like a man. I couldn't believe my ears. The next morning, Sunday, I woke up to find him standing by our bed, his suitcase packed. I got the fright of my life. There was me without me face on and he's just standing there, looking down at me like flipping Gulliver off on his travels.'

'Did you try to stop him?'

Gina looked away. 'Course I did.'

'And?'

'And – he just walked out.'

'Just like that?'

Gina turned to frown at her. 'Don't you believe me?'

'Yes, but it sounds as if – well, as if he planned it, packing his case like that. I mean, did he do it whilst you were asleep or before?'

Gina stared at her for a long time, then suddenly shrugged. 'I don't know. I hadn't given it a thought.'

'Have you asked at the pub?'

'No. I've got my pride, you know.'

'Has he got any special friends he might go to?'

Gina shook her head. 'No. No. Only – '

'Who?'

Gina said uncertainly, 'Well, Micky of course.'

Now it was Bella's turn to look puzzled. 'Micky would have told me if he'd seen Lenny.'

Gina nodded slowly and the two women sat in silence. After a while there were noises above and little footsteps outside. Teresa and Michael came bursting.

'Auntie Gina,' Michael shouted, throwing his arms around her.

'How's my boy, then?' Gina hugged him, then smiled at Teresa. 'Are you feeling better, love?'

Teresa nodded, grinning.

'Come here then and let me give you a smacker.' Gina reached out for Teresa's hand and drew her close planting her full lips on the little girl's cheek.

Bella watched Gina making every attempt to seem her normal self. But Bella knew that inside she was hurting. Where had Lenny gone? And more importantly, why?

Chapter 22

That night, when Micky came home, Bella explained about Lenny.

'Gina was always a nag,' he replied abruptly as he scoffed his dinner. 'And fancy making him work like a woman!'

'That's not fair,' Bella protested. 'Lenny didn't have to stay at the cafe. He could have got a job.'

'I'll tell you why he didn't,' Micky came back with as Bella sat down at the kitchen table. 'Because he never heard the end of it after the fire. Gina took away his confidence and tied an apron on him instead. He was putty in her hands and she played on it.'

'How do you know that?'

'He told me.'

'When?'

' 'Struth, Bells, I can't remember. Anyway, you know those two, they'll be back to tearing each other to shreds before you can say Jack Robinson. Now, if we could drop the subject, I'm going to have forty winks. I've been on my feet all day and I'm knackered.' He drank the last of his ale and walked out to the front room.

Bella cleared the dishes from the table and put them into the sink. By the time she caught up with him, hoping to discuss the rest of the day's events, he was asleep in the chair. His tie was loose and the buttons of his shirt undone at the neck. His black hair fell over his forehead and his long lashes lay on his cheeks. Bella knew he would be there long after she had gone to bed.

Sighing softly she returned to the kitchen and began to clean the dishes. She thought about Gina and Lenny. Was Micky correct in believing they would be back together again soon? They had been together a long time and even though Lenny might not like working for her, the business was thriving. Could either of them turn their backs on the money? The more Bella thought about it the more she became convinced that Micky was right. This was just a quarrel and Lenny would soon put in an appearance.

As for her own evening, it was past nine o'clock. She and Micky had