Time to Move On by Grace Thompson Page A

tragedies? Go in and make a cup of tea, we’ll join you as soon as we’ve finished serving.’
    ‘But there was no need to be so rude!’ Seranne pushed past two women customers, still irritated by Connie’s apparent lack of sympathy, as a man standing at the counter picked up his order and faced her.
    ‘Nice to see you again, Miss Laurence,’ said Luke, with a solemn expression. ‘Eggs, water, you do have fun.’
    She looked about to explode and he looked away, and it wasn’t until he left the shop that he showed amusement. Seranne Laurence was attractive , but really pompous.
    Inside, before she went through into Connie’s kitchen, Seranne glared at his departing back.
    Back in Jessica’s Victorian Tea Rooms, Jessie and Paul were discussing Seranne’s hastily made decision.
    ‘Don’t worry,’ Paul said, ‘it’s probably a brief defiant gesture. She’ll be back in a week or so. She’ll miss you too much to stay away.’
    ‘If she doesn’t, I’ll need some help,’ Jessie said. ‘I can’t run this place alone. And even if it is only for a few weeks, I’ll need an assistant, and an experienced one too.’
    ‘I’ll do what I can,’ Paul said.
    Jessie ignored his offer, an amateur was not what she needed. ‘I’ll ring the employment exchange and see if there’s anyone available.’
    An hour later she had interviewed two girls and taken them both on promising to choose one of them at the end of a week. She still hoped that Seranne would be back and she wouldn’t need either of them.
    Paul’s thoughts didn’t echo Jessie’s. He hoped Seranne would stay away. She would interfere with his plans for the future – a future that didn’t include a dated, old-fashioned tea rooms.
     
    Leaving Connie at the shop, Geoff took Seranne to Badgers Brook and with pencil and paper she made a list of what she would need. ‘Bedding, cutlery and china, cooking utensils. My mother will probably help me with enough to start with. After all, there’ll only be me.’
    ‘Maybe, but don’t be surprised if you need more. Badgers Brook loves visitors.’
    More whimsy, she thought with a smile.
    A week later she moved in. Her mother and Paul brought a carloaded with necessities including some food to help fill her pantry. It was late when they arrived and too dark for her mother to see anything of the area. They did find Gwenny Flint’s fish and chip shop open, and they sat in the kitchen of her new home and enjoyed their first meal.
    Seranne wanted her mother to look around the house, get the feel of it, love it as much as she did, but Paul was impatient to leave and she was suddenly alone, in a house with only gaslight in a few rooms, and candles to light her way to bed. It was frightening and at first she wondered if she would manage even one night there. She made a hot drink and sat by the remnants of the fire and sleep began to overcome her. Locking the doors, pulling on the chain to put out the gaslights, she made her way up the stairs, undressed and slept soundly until morning.
    She had arranged to start at the café the following week, planning to spend a few days settling in and exploring the neighbourhood. First on her list was to register with a grocer’s shop for her food ration.
    Mrs Harvey welcomed her and prepared her first week’s food ration. When she saw the amount of food she would have to survive on she was shocked. The whole amount didn’t fill a dinner plate. Having left all that to her mother she had no idea of how amazing the women were who had coped with shortages since 1940. She decided that most of her meals would be taken at the café!
     
    Twice more Paul left Jessie in the tea rooms and drove to Cwm Derw with more of Seranne’s belongings and every time she watched him leave, Jessie felt more dismayed. Any hope of an immediate return seemed less and less likely. Of the two girls she had employed, one seemed vaguely possible although she would need training, but she didn’t want her