Jane Gilley - The Woman Who Kept Everything

The bill came to £5.90 but Tilsbury didn’t have any more than the fiver Jocelyn had given him. And there was NO way he’d ask Gloria for the extra. This was supposed to be his treat to her. He hadn’t taken her out in ages and it felt good doing something for her after all this time.

‘Couldn’t we do a deal here, love? Me an’ the missus – well, we’re quite poor, you see. Don’t have much at our age apart from our meagre pensions. Don’t even go out much, either, you know?’

The youngster was on her own whilst the other waitress was outside taking orders and clearing tables. Tilsbury had clocked that there didn’t seem to be anyone else in charge, on the premises.

‘Um well, okay. But what I could do is cut the scone in half, with the two teas and then – I’m not supposed to – but I could give you two biscuits as well. And then I can charge you for one tea and one cream tea for £4.05. Let’s say £4.00. And you’ll get the biscuits for free. Would that be all right?’

Tilsbury chuckled to himself. Clever girl. He’d still got a deal and some change to boot.

He nodded with a big grin. ‘That’d be just fine, my love!’

He carried the laden tray over to Gloria sitting by the window. She’d deemed it a little too blowy to be sitting outside. But her eyes lit up as Tilsbury set the table with their cream tea.

‘Cor, Tils. I haven’t had a ruddy cream tea in absolutely years!’

‘I know, my love. So get stuck into that one then. Bet you’re glad you came out with me now, aren’t you!’

Gloria nodded vigorously, chomping down on her half of the scone, caked with cream and strawberry jam.

‘S’lovely!’ Gloria murmured, as a few crumbs spilled onto her lap.

* * *

A cream tea amongst the colourful herbaceous perennials of the Park Garden Tea Rooms was completely delightful and both Gloria and Tilsbury sat patting their tums, afterwards, in appreciation.

Gloria reached out and got hold of Tilsbury’s hand.

‘That was crackin’, Tils. And I do thank you from the bottom of me heart. You’ve always been a good ’un to me, ducks!’

‘I’ve always had a soft spot for you, you know.’

Gloria wrinkled her nose. ‘Oh, I know that, ducks, and I love ya to bits, too!’

‘Right, well, Glor, we’ve still got some time before I takes ya back to yer miserable son. So, I’m thinking … How about – now wait for it! I remember you saying this to me, last year. How about a trip to the seaside ? You said you hadn’t been to the seaside since you were a girl!’

‘ What? We can’t go there! We’re miles away from the sea and I don’t think that contraption outside will get me any further than back home, Tils.’

‘Course it will, Glor. It got us here didn’t it?’

‘Yeah but that was only a couple of miles.’

‘Now look, my love. When will we ever get to do summat like this again? This is a gas! I’m lovin’ it and I don’t want today to end. Do you? Besides the sea ain’t that far away. An hour tops!’

Gloria looked out the window. Young families walked with children. A dog chased a frisbee. It was a pretty nice park as parks went.

Tilsbury sighed, despondently.

‘But look, Gloria, what if Cleggy decides to put you in a nursing home, miles away from anywhere? We’d never get to see each other again. We’d never get to go to the sea or anywhere else. We’d never get to have any kind of fun ever again, Glor, would we? Remember those tea dances we all used to go to? That’s all finished, now, my love. We – we’re kinda near the end of those times now, aren’t we, Glor?’

He reached out and stroked Gloria’s scarred hands.

‘Can’t we – look! Can’t we just have this one last wonderful day to remember for the rest of our lives? We’re not gonna get another chance like this to create a new mem’ry now we’re nearly in our eighties, are we, Glor?’

Gloria shrugged, thinking he was probably right. Life was over when you hit a certain age, she knew that much.

‘And, you’re right, me scooter probably won’t last much longer but I truly believe it will get us to the beach … Just for that one last time, eh, Glor?’

Tilsbury noticed that tears were starting to form in Gloria’s eyes.

‘Oh Tils!’ Gloria said, dabbing at her eyes with a serviette. ‘You’ve got me thinkin’ about things again, ducks. And, yes, we did have some crackin’ times, didn’t we? All of us together: you, me, Arthur and Jocelyn once upon. They were good times. You’re right. But we’re a couple of old fogies now. I ain’t got the energy to be tearin’ around all over the place. Look we’d best be off, now, Tils. I’ve truly had a lovely time, today, though. And it’ll still be a wonderful mem’ry to look back on.’

Gloria slowly rose from her seat and struggled into her coat again with Tilsbury’s help.

He looked so downbeat Gloria couldn’t meet his gaze. But she was reliving the past, now he’d mentioned it. She was thinking about how their lives were, indeed, fluttering towards the bottom of the hill they’d once climbed so eagerly in their youth. She let out a sigh as they ambled down the steps of the café, arm in arm to steady themselves and across the freshly cut lawn to where Tilsbury had parked the scooter.

Gloria studied the etched, weather-beaten lines across Tilsbury’s sunburnt face. She knew her seventy-nine-year-old face had its own share of lines both from worry, when Clegg was a boy getting into scrapes, and those joyous times when Clegg and Val had angelic babies of their own. She’d known some very happy as well as some very sad times.

But Tilsbury was right.

There really wasn’t much else to look forward to, now, at their time of life. Gloria also realised that Clegg wouldn’t want her to live with them for the rest of her life, either, whatever her hopes might once have been for that. And from what she’d learned recently, she was certain he’d make darned sure that an old people’s home, somewhere, would soon start calling her name …

So she came to her second big decision of the day.

‘Oh stuff it! Crumblies be gone! C’mon then, Tils. Start the motor. Let’s see where this old heap’ll take us one last time …’

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