Betty felt torn in two. For some of the day she floated around the bakery remembering Sam’s sweet kisses, her thoughts lost in the music and movement of the dance, but for the rest of the time she worried about Robert. It was a dead cert that he would come back for her, expecting her to return to Bristol to get on with their life together. He might turn up at the bakery today for all she knew, unkempt in his one and only raggedy old suit, his hands like sandpaper blocks and his stomach empty with no wife to cook him a decent dinner. She almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

‘Where’s your head today, Betty?’ said Audrey as Betty stood staring into space, contemplating her future.

‘I expect it’s with that Canadian soldier who taught her how to jitterbug,’ joked Lily, who was in the bakery helping while Mary played with Joy in the backyard. ‘When are you seeing him again, Betty?’

‘I-I… don’t know,’ she said. ‘It’s all rather complicated.’

‘I’ll say,’ said Audrey with a sympathetic smile. ‘But what’s life if it’s not for sorting out complications? Hey Betty, why don’t you invite your Canadian soldier to the bakery for a meal, a smoke and a chat? I’m sure he’d appreciate the welcome. William and Uncle John would like to have another young man around. William is, well, William’s… in need of distraction and Uncle John needs a reason to sit down and rest. When he’s not baking in the bakehouse, he’s mowing the lawns for the neighbours whose men have gone off to war, so they’re nice and neat when peacetime comes. Yes, what we need is Sam to come for dinner, to give everyone a reason for a good meal and a relax.’

Lily nodded and smiled and Betty felt she couldn’t do anything but agree.

‘I’m not sure,’ said Betty. ‘I’m not sure I should be encouraging him, really.’

‘Gracious, you’re not encouraging him!’ said Audrey. ‘Good citizens throughout the town are opening up their homes to military people billeted here. It’s common decency, nothing more than that.’

‘Okay,’ said Betty uncertainly. ‘I’ll suggest it to him.’

‘Invite him tomorrow evening. Right, I better go and get Mary sorted out,’ Audrey said. ‘I need to check her hair for nits. Apparently, they’re going around the school.’

‘Ooh,’ said Lily, scratching her scalp. ‘You’re making me itchy.’

---

When Audrey had left to treat Mary’s hair with nit ointment, Betty and Lily worked together to sell off the last loaves of bread before locking up. Lily noticed how quiet Betty was.

‘Are you okay, Betty?’ she asked. ‘You’re awfully quiet. Is it something to do with this Sam?’

Betty sighed and placed her hands on the counter. She gave Lily a sideways glance, as if contemplating whether to tell her something, then, clearly deciding against it, shook her head.

‘No,’ she said. ‘It’s just my life is getting a bit… confusing. I’m confused.’

Lily watched Betty carefully as her cheeks flushed pink.

‘You know, when I arrived here, I was in a fix and nobody in the world but me knew,’ Lily said, offering Betty an opening. ‘Audrey was so kind when I told her, despite the shame it could have brought upon the bakery. She’s helped me no end, unlike Joy’s father.’

‘So, you’re bringing up Joy on your own?’ Betty asked, incredulous. ‘I thought you had a sweetheart – Jacques?’

Lily sighed and leaned on the counter. Thinking about Jacques made her feel paralysed. She hadn’t heard back from him yet but knew that she would. Soon she was going to have to come clean and tell him the truth about Joy. But it wasn’t just that worrying her. Deep inside she feared that if he was having ideas about eventually wanting to marry her – if he did accept Joy – is that what she really wanted? Yes, she had strong feelings for Jacques, but she also knew there was a whole other, unexplored, side to her. The more she heard about women stepping into men’s jobs, the more she longed to be involved with exciting war work. She loved her job helping refugees learn English, but there were women driving ambulances and working in the shipyards and flying Spitfires. She might be getting ahead of herself a bit here, but there was more to life than becoming a wife. Was it possible to have it all?

‘I hardly know him,’ she said softly. ‘But when we met, we made a connection. I wish I could sit and talk to him, face-to-face, then I’d know where we were and what we were both thinking.’

‘You’d think you knew where you were,’ said Betty, ‘but how can you tell if a person is genuine or not and whether to trust them? I trusted a man and it was a disaster. He took me for a complete fool.’

Lily was taken aback by the vehemence in Betty’s words.

‘What do you mean?’ she said. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not going to gossip, I promise. I know what it’s like to have a burden.’

Betty sighed.

‘I’m married,’ she said. ‘I’m married to a man called Robert, who has also got another wife, Doris. She’s been killed in a bombing and now he wants me back.’

‘He had two wives?’ said Lily, horrified. ‘Have you reported him to the police? Men can go to prison for that, you know.’

‘No,’ said Betty, quickly. ‘I’ve not told anyone but Audrey.’

‘Why won’t you go to the police?’ said Lily.

‘Because he’s also got three littl’uns by Doris.’ Betty sighed. ‘What good would that do them? But it leaves me not knowing what to do. If I don’t go to the authorities, how can I ever be free of him?’

‘Can you divorce him?’ asked Lily. ‘I know it’s uncommon and it would be difficult because you’ll be judged, but—’

‘But if I divorce him, I’d have to say why,’ Betty said. ‘And then he’ll go to prison and those children won’t have a father. He wants me back. Maybe that’s the only way. Maybe there’s no way out.’

Lily identified with the pain and confusion Betty was feeling. She opened her arms and gave Betty a quick, firm hug.

‘There’s always a way out,’ she said, though in this case she wasn’t sure what that way was, ‘as long as you’ve got good friends to help see you through.’