Happiness for Hazel Read online

  “Maybe I'll ask him after your birthday, love. When you turn nineteen, I might be able to persuade him to relax and give you some freedom.”

  “Thanks, Mam.” Hazel’s heart skipped a beat, and her thoughts turned to Glenn Bradshaw. Perhaps she would be allowed to go into town with Eunice one Saturday evening. Perhaps she might see him there. Perhaps he would notice her and want to talk with her again.

  The handsome young man hadn’t been back to the café since that Thursday two weeks ago, but she hadn’t given up hope that he would return.

  He’d been charming and attentive, and she longed to see him again. She’d never before experienced anything like the sensations that Glenn Bradshaw’s touch had made her feel. Now she knew what the film actresses meant when they talked about a man going to your head, or getting under your skin. Glenn Bradshaw had certainly done both.

  Was Glenn going to be the man she would marry? Would she find the kind of happiness with him that her mam and dad had together?

  Just thinking about the possibility of happiness with Glenn Bradshaw gave her goose bumps and she found it difficult to sleep each night. Images of him filled her waking thoughts, and when she did eventually fall asleep, she dreamed of him. Was she falling in love, she asked herself each morning when she woke?

  Chapter 3 – First Kiss

  The weather had turned unseasonably warm, and she was taking her break outside the kitchen door in the tiny sheltered courtyard at the back of the café. Sitting on a milk crate, she balanced the plate of pie and mash on her lap. The March sunshine felt warm through her coat. She was hoping the Easter weekend would be just as nice. Her mother had planned a picnic in the park for her birthday celebrations and the weather at the beginning of April was always unreliable. She would be nineteen on Easter Sunday.

  The party was meant to be a quiet family affair, with just the four of them, but Eunice told her mother about it and now, of course, the Simpsons were coming too, and some more people from the street had asked to be included. If the weather was kind to them, her nineteenth birthday could be one to remember.

  She had almost finished her rushed meal when a shadow fell across her knees. She looked up to see what was blocking the sun, hoping it wasn’t a dark cloud and her heart jumped when she saw Glenn looking down at her. “What are you doing here?” she asked, dropping her fork.

  “I came to see you. Is that allowed, or would your boss object?” He leant against the wall next to her and took out a box of cigarettes. “Would you like one?” He offered the packet to her.

  She shook her head. She’d never smoked a cigarette and didn’t want to start smoking now. She knew she’d probably make a fool of herself by choking. Eunice had tried one of her older brother’s cigarettes with disastrous results. She didn’t want to risk being sick on Glenn’s feet. “I don’t smoke,” she said.

  “Of course, you don’t.” His voice was as deep and rich as she remembered, and it filled her with warmth. She watched him, mesmerised, as he lit the cigarette and put the packet away.

  “What would such a nice girl as you want with one of these things?” He took a long pull from the cigarette and blew the smoke over her head. “You don’t know what you’re missing, though.”

  Hazel felt emboldened and asked, “What does it make you feel like? I mean, when you smoke? Why do you do it?”

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “The smoke makes me feel confident, I suppose. It fills me up with this calmness that takes over my whole body. It makes me feel relaxed.”

  “You make it sound as if you’re having a cup of Horlicks!” She giggled.

  The sound of his deep rumbling laugh filled Hazel’s insides with strange sensations. She couldn’t lift her eyes to his face. She didn’t know whether he was laughing at her or at her feeble attempt at a joke.

  He squatted by her side and reached to lift her chin. When their eyes met, he smiled. “You are funny, Hazel. Pretty and funny. What a lovely combination.”

  She tried to lower her chin, but he held her firmly.

  “I think you might be an enchantress, like in the fairy stories. You’ve bewitched me, haven’t you?”

  Hazel frowned. “No, I, err, I…”

  His dark eyes locked with hers. “I can’t stop thinking about you. You’re inside my head every minute of every day, and when I fall asleep, you’re in my dreams.”

  “Oh, err, I, I, I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I don’t mean to be.” She didn’t know what else to say to his confession. His words echoed her own experience but it would have seemed too forward to tell him so.

  He laughed again and released her face. “Oh, Hazel, you’re priceless!”

  “Am I?” She felt out of her depth with this man. He seemed so sure of himself, and she was an inexperienced young girl who knew little about the wider world. Still, he was making her feel alive. His words of praise were lifting her confidence, and his touch was making her insides sparkle with unaccustomed surges of energy. “Do you really think about me all the time?” she asked.

  “They’ve given me a nickname at work because of you.”

  “Have they?” She smiled shyly. “What do they call you?”

  “Daydreamer.” He stood tall, took another pull on the cigarette, and stared into the distance. “I’m losing money over you. The other blokes make fun of me, but it isn’t funny when my wage packet is lighter because I can’t shovel fast enough when my head is full of thinking about you.”

  “Is that right?” She began to feel guilty, but his sly grin told her he was teasing. “Oh, you!” She flapped her hand at his jacket. “Don’t tease me!”

  “You’re such an innocent; you make it easy for me to tease you. I can’t help it.”

  “I wish I wasn’t such a gullible fool, though!” She giggled. “I’ll be nineteen in a few weeks. You’d think I’d have a bit more sense about me by now, wouldn’t you?”

  “When is your birthday?”

  “The ninth of April.” She blushed, hoping he might suggest buying her a present, but realised she could never accept anything he bought her because her parents didn’t know about him.

  “Nineteen on Easter Sunday, eh? I’ll have to get you something special for your birthday.”

  “Oh, I wasn’t hinting for a present or anything. Please don’t trouble yourself.” She worried how she would explain a present from him to her parents.

  “What are you doing to celebrate?”

  “Mam’s arranged a picnic in Clarence park in the afternoon.”

  “What if it rains? A picnic could be risky at this time of year, couldn’t it?”

  “We’ll take over the band-stand if it rains, but I doubt we’d all fit in.”

  “Having a big party, are we?”

  “Just some friends and neighbours. I think they want to combine my birthday with celebrating Easter.”

  “I might take a stroll in Clarence park myself, on Easter Sunday afternoon.”

  Hazel’s heart jumped again. “Why would you do that?”

  “To see you, of course.”

  “Oh, but my dad wouldn’t like it!” She worried that Glenn’s presence might get her into trouble with her father.

  “He won’t know I’m there if you don’t want him to.” Glenn hunkered down beside her again and took her hand. “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, Hazel. I’ll keep my distance, and nobody will know who I am or why I’m there. I’m not daft, love.”

  “But why would you trouble yourself to come if you can’t join my party?”

  “To be close to you. Just breathing the same air as you makes me feel happy inside.”

  “Does it?” She couldn’t quite believe what she was hearing.

  “Don’t you feel the same way?”

  His face looked hopelessly forlorn, reminding her of the old, silent, moving pictures with overacting characters. She couldn’t help giggling.

  “You’re wounding me!” He put the back of his hand to his brow. “How could you treat me so badly,
after I opened my heart to you?”

  “Don’t be silly, Glenn. I hardly know you!”

  He dropped the melodramatics and smiled. “Don’t you want to get to know me better?”

  She nodded, not daring to voice her hopes.

  “That’s good enough for me.” He flicked the butt of his cigarette into the gutter. “I’ll see you tomorrow, but I’ll look forward to seeing you on Easter Sunday as well, eh?”

  She nodded again. “If you’re sure you want to come.”

  “Wouldn’t miss your birthday for the world, now would I?”

  “Promise?”

  “I promise!” His eyes creased at the corners when he smiled at her.

  They heard some clattering from the open kitchen window.

  “I’d better get back to work.” Hazel reluctantly got to her feet.

  “Will you take your break here again tomorrow?” He stood close beside her.

  She nodded, feeling a burst of elation radiate throughout her insides. “Will you come to see me here again?”

  “I’ll try my best, but I might not finish work in time. Meanwhile, I’ll take a little something to keep me going, eh?” He bent to put his lips on hers for the briefest of moments.

  Shocked, she put her fingers to her lips, trying to suppress the strange tingles he’d placed there. He grinned, pecked her cheek, and left as quickly as he’d arrived.

  She walked on clouds for the rest of the day. Glenn Bradshaw had kissed her on the lips. She couldn’t wait to tell Eunice. She’d had her first kiss, and she wasn’t quite nineteen. What would her father think if he knew?

  Cynthia had to chastise her twice for not remembering the orders properly. She dropped a plate and not long after that; she splashed milk on a customer’s hand while pouring it into a cup.

  If she’d said sorry once, she must have said it a dozen times that afternoon. She was relieved when the working day ended. She put away her pinafore and reached for her coat.

  “I hope you bring my Hazel back tomorrow,” Cynthia said as she took the key from a high shelf. “I’m not too sure I like the one who came to work this afternoon.”

  “Sorry, Cynthia. I don’t know what’s come over me.” She blushed and looked at the tiled floor.

  “Could it have anything to do with that young collier I saw you smooching with outside?” The older woman grinned and her round cheeks dimpled.

  “I wasn’t smooching!” Hazel protested. “I didn’t know he was going to kiss me! He did it before I could stop him!”

  “Don’t panic, love.” Cynthia pushed Hazel out of the back door and turned to lock it. “Your secret is safe with me. Just try not to let it interfere with your work. That’s all I’m asking.”

  “Thanks, Cynthia. I’ll try.”

  “Eunice is waiting. Go on with you.” Cynthia gave her a push. “I bet you can’t wait to tell her your news, eh?”

  Hazel grinned widely. She couldn’t help it. Her boss was right. She ran along the back lane to reach her friend who waited at the corner as usual.

  “What’s put that spring in your step?” Eunice asked as she linked her arm through Hazel’s.

  “Glenn Bradshaw came to see me this afternoon, and he kissed me!” she blurted.

  “Really!” Eunice turned to look at her. “You lucky thing! What did it feel like?”

  “Well, do you remember when we tried kissing the backs of our hands to see what a kiss might feel like?”

  Eunice nodded; her blue eyes like saucers.

  “Well, it wasn’t anything like that at all!” Hazel boasted. “It was magical.” She closed her eyes and pressed her arm against her friend’s. “His lips left tingles on my mouth, and my belly felt as if it were full of slithery snakes.”

  “Yuck! That sounds disgusting!”

  “No it doesn’t!” Hazel giggled. “It was wonderful.” She sighed deeply. “I wish I could explain it properly.”

  “Will you let him do it again?” Eunice asked, squeezing her arm.

  “I might.” Hazel grinned. “If he wants to.”

  “Oh, I think he’ll want to all right!” The shorter girl puckered her lips. “Mwah!” She kissed the air. “According to our Raymond, that’s all the lads talk about at work.”

  “What? Kissing?”

  “And the rest!”

  “What do you mean?” Hazel didn’t know anything about the intimate side of a loving relationship but she was curious.

  “What do you think happens between a lad and a lass when they climb into bed, like in the films?”

  “They go to sleep, I suppose, after a bit more kissing.”

  “I think I’ll ask our Ray to tell me about it. We should know what happens in the marital bedroom, don’t you think?”

  “Why would we need to know a thing like that?”

  “In case your sweetheart proposes!” Eunice collapsed against Hazel, laughing heartily.

  Hazel couldn’t believe the topic of their conversation. She’d only just experienced her first kiss and here was Eunice galloping ahead to the honeymoon. Glenn was lovely, though. He was kind, charming, and considerate. His brief kiss had ignited a longing inside her. She wanted him to kiss her again.

  He must think about her a lot, just as she had thought about him. He’d confessed to having a conversation with his pals where he worked. She remembered what he’d said about his nickname. “Glenn’s pals have named him, Daydreamer because he’s always thinking about me at work.”

  “Really!” Eunice laughed. “Then he must have it bad, love.”

  “Do you think so?” Hazel felt a small thrill erupt inside her chest and realised it was true. “He said he’s going to come to the park on Easter Sunday just to see me.”

  “I hope you told him not to!” Eunice turned wide eyes to Hazel. “Tell me you told him not to come!”

  Hazel shook her head. “Don’t panic! He’s going to keep his distance. He’s not going to cause trouble for me, is he now?”

  “Don’t be too sure about that,” Eunice warned. “If anyone sees him and realises why he’s there, you’ll be in more trouble than you’ll know how to handle.”

  “You worry too much.” Hazel patted her friend’s hand that rested on her arm. “You and I are the only ones who will know he’s there. I can’t wait for you to see him. He’s so handsome he makes my tummy wobble every time I see him.”

  “Better not eat too much birthday cake, then. You might be ill with all that wobbling and slithering going on inside you.”

  “Oh, Eunice!” Hazel giggled. “Just wait until it happens to you. Then you’ll know what I’m talking about.”

  “I should be so lucky. Who’s going to take a shine to someone like me?”

  “Don’t say things like that about yourself, Eunice. You have some lovely qualities. I keep telling you to make the best of yourself but you won’t even try. I can’t believe your mam hasn’t shown you how to use makeup. She wears enough of it.”

  “You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear, no matter how good a seamstress you might be.”

  Something caught Hazel’s eye in the window of Mrs Wilson’s gown shop and she stopped to admire it once again. The dusky pink dress was still in the same place she’d seen it the last few days. The fabric was arranged beautifully around the porcelain model. The dress hugged the shoulders, skimmed the hips and fell in soft folds around the thighs. The softly draping skirts reached to just above the ankles.

  “Oh, what I’d give to own a dress like that.” She leant against the window, pressing her brow to the cool glass. “Isn’t it the most beautiful thing you ever saw?”

  “It is pretty,” Eunice admitted. “But it’s not the kind of dress for such as us, is it? I mean where would a girl like me wear such a thing?”

  “If I owned it, I’d wear it every chance I could. The vicar would see it every Sunday at church. I could wear it for my first trip into town with you and Raymond.”

  “Did you ask your dad, then?”

 
“Mam is going to have a word after my birthday. She says he might let me go with you when I’m nineteen. If I could be wearing that dress, everything would be perfect.”

  “You couldn’t afford the bow at the neck, let alone the dress!” Eunice quipped. “Anyway! What would folks around here think; when they see you wearing something like that?”

  “I don’t care what anyone else thinks. If Mrs Wilson thinks she can sell a dress like that around here, I might be the one to buy it from her, so there!”

  “In your dreams, maybe.”

  “You’ll see!” Hazel began to have an idea. “One of these days, I will be allowed to walk out with Glenn Bradshaw, and when I am, I’d like to be wearing something like that.”

  “You’re daft in the head, Hazel Harris. As if you could afford a frock like that.” Eunice made to walk away from the shop window. “Come on, we can’t stay here all day daydreaming.”

  “Wait a minute; I’m going to ask if I can try it on.” Hazel felt a boost of confidence and went to open the shop door before it left her.

  “You’re not, are you? You wouldn’t dare!” Her friend turned back. “Oh, My Lord, you would!” Eunice hurried back to join her and followed Hazel into the shop.

  Chapter 4 – Cautious Flirting

  She saw Glenn often at the café. The mine where he was employed worked a three-shift overlapping rota that changed weekly. When Glenn did a night shift at the colliery, he would call at the café for his breakfast before going home. She got to see him, but it wasn’t the same. She had to work and could only spend a few minutes with him while she took his order and delivered his meal.

  When he worked the day shift, she didn’t see him as often, but sometimes he would arrive just as she was leaving work and he would walk her partway home. Eunice would stay back, keeping her distance until Glenn left her a few streets from home.