Page 94 of The London Girls
She hadn’t named the new one; it just hadn’t seemed right the second time, not when Olivia had been the one to help her name Petal.
‘I saw Ava today,’ Florence said.
‘Oh? How was she?’
She glanced at Jack as he turned in his seat slightly to face her. ‘She was great. I mean, it was sad remembering Olivia today, but Ava is always great. I only wish I could see her more often; it was so wonderful when she used to live with us.’
Florence turned the ambulance towards their headquarters and the remnants of the theatre they passed each day, but instead of driving on, she pulled over.
‘Is something wrong?’ Jack asked, sitting up and looking out of the window.
Florence smiled, turning in her seat to face him. ‘No, nothing’s wrong,’ she said, trying to decide if she was going crazy, or just overtired, or possibly both. Or maybe it was simply that it was Olivia’s birthday, and it had made her realise all over again just how short life was.
‘Then what are we doing here?’ Jack asked.
Florence took a breath and reached for his hand. ‘Jack, once this war is over, would you like to get married?’
Jack made a noise in his throat that made her laugh, and she watched him expectantly, her heart racing as she prayed she hadn’t made a mistake in asking him.
‘Yes,’ he finally said. ‘I’d actually like that very much.’
Florence cupped his cheek, brushing her thumb across the roughness of his stubble, gently pressing her lips to his. Jack feltlike home to her; he felt like safety and warmth and love, and she knew that she didn’t ever want to let that go.
‘It has to be for something, doesn’t it?’ she whispered. ‘It can’t be for nothing.’
Jack kissed her again, his fingers warm against her wrist. She could see the tears in his eyes, and knew her eyes would reflect the same pain, the same combination of loss and hope that she felt battling inside her every day.
‘We’d best make a trip to see your grandmother on the way home then,’ Jack murmured. ‘Ivy would hate for us to be keeping a secret like that from her.’
Florence laughed. He was right. If her grandmother wasn’t the first to know, she’d never forgive them.
When Florence pulled the ambulance back on to the road, she couldn’t stop smiling. Because suddenly there was hope, and before then, since Olivia had gone, there’d only been sadness. And she knew her friend would have wanted more for them. If she were here, she’d have been the first to celebrate their engagement, which made what Florence had done seem like the perfect way to honour her death and remember her by.
I’ll never forget you, Liv. Never.
AVA
Ava pulled into the dispatch headquarters, enjoying the rumble of her engine, moving her hands over the handlebars and wondering when she’d next be sitting astride a bike again. Motorcycles had become more than a job to her; they’d become her life.
It had been a long night, but a successful one, and in some ways she hadn’t wanted it to end. She’d savoured every moment of her ride; the wind in her face, the rumble of the engine, even theache in her back from sitting astride the motorcycle for so long, it all felt so familiar to her.
But end it had, and now she could see her husband pacing, his face lighting up when he saw her parking.
‘Ava! I was starting to worry.’
She dismounted. ‘I took it a little slower coming home,’ she said.
‘Were there obstructions on the road? Did something happen?’
‘George, stop,’ she said, taking off her gloves and shaking her head at the worried expression on his face.
His eyebrows were drawn together as he looked at her, and as she always did, she counted her lucky stars that she’d found him. Or, more importantly, that he’d been patient enough to give her a chance.
‘I took it slow because I’ve decided to retire,’ she said. ‘Tonight was my very last dispatch.’
George looked like he was about to choke. ‘I’m sorry, yourlastdispatch? Are you injured? Has something happened that I’m not aware of?’
Ava placed her palm over her stomach, smiling so hard it was almost impossible for her to get the words out. Poor George, he looked so worried. ‘Darling, I’m pregnant.’
