Winners and Losers by Linda Sole

but I wouldn’t change my life if I could.’
    â€˜What will you do about the dower house? I suppose you could sell . . .’
    â€˜No, I shall have it done up and let it if I can,’ Emily said. ‘I shall see what the pictures bring – but there is a house in the village I might sell when it comes empty. The tenant is getting rather elderly; I dare say it will be empty in a couple of years or so. It is a good house and should fetch a few thousand pounds.’
    â€˜Let me know how you get on. I’ll come again when I can, but that may not be until nearly Christmas. We shall have the harvest soon and then the potatoes. We only have one field down to barley so that won’t take long, but I usually take piecework once we’ve got Dan’s crops out of the ground. It’s the only way I can earn a bit more money.’
    â€˜Well, have fun,’ Emily said. ‘Don’t work all the time.’
    â€˜I shan’t do that, believe me. I belong to a club – it’s jive and jazz, and the lads wear those thick crêpe soles and long jackets with narrow trousers.’
    â€˜Are they the ones they call Teddy Boys?’ Emily raised her eyebrows at him. ‘I’ve seen photos in the newspapers. I didn’t know it had caught on where you live. You don’t wear clothes like that?’ Her eyes went over him. He was wearing jeans, a shirt and leather slip-on shoes.
    â€˜I would if I had the money.’ Connor grinned. ‘The fashion is catching on fast. I listen to jazz when I can, but I have to be careful because the kids are asleep by the time I get in. I’m saving for a portable radio I can take to work with me. I’ve seen something about them being produced abroad and they should soon be available here. We have a band at the club most weeks. We can’t afford the top guys, but it is fun. Sometimes I sing with the groups.’
    â€˜I had forgotten that you can sing,’ Emily said. She leaned forward to kiss his cheek. ‘It doesn’t seem five minutes since you arrived. You’ve been working so hard that I have hardly seen you.’
    â€˜It was interesting. Maybe I’ll go into the building business for myself one day.’
    â€˜If you want to make a change, come here,’ Emily said. ‘I could use some help on the estate. I don’t mean land work; there are various projects I may think about if I can get a little money together.’
    â€˜I’ll think about it when the time comes, but I can’t let Dan down,’ Connor said. ‘I had better get on the train now. The guard is closing the doors.’
    â€˜Off you go.’ Emily stood back to wave him off. ‘Write to me, Connor.’
    â€˜Of course – when I get time.’
    Emily sighed. Connor would send a card for her birthday and at Christmas, but he was unlikely to write unless something was wrong at home.
    She stood waving until the train steamed out of the station, then turned and walked back to her car. She would miss him even though he hadn’t been around all that much. Emily missed the other members of her family, but she doubted that either Dan or Frances would visit her, which meant that she had to find the time to visit them.
    It really ought to be Frances. She hadn’t heard from her sister for almost a month, which was unusual; Frances normally wrote regularly. Emily would have to find the time to visit her, even if only for a few days.
    â€˜I am sorry, Mrs Danby – but you made the second booking yourself,’ Tara Manners said. ‘I know I wrote Mrs and Mrs Saunders in the forward booking register.’
    â€˜It was my fault,’ Frances agreed and nodded to her receptionist. ‘I am not blaming you. I didn’t consult the forward bookings when I took Mr and Mrs Jones’ booking. I’m afraid it means we shall have to give Mr Saunders an upgrade to the penthouse suite – at the