It was the middle of August when a letter for Lily arrived at the bakery. Reeling from the news that 6,000 mostly Canadian troops had attempted to seize the German-occupied port of Dieppe, and almost seventy per cent of them had been killed, the bakery family were trying to keep their spirits up. Lily, who had been motivated by the United Women’s Recruiting Campaign, which was encouraging women to join one of the three services, was trying to discover whether she could join up or do more war work while also looking after Joy when the letter came.

When Freda the post lady handed the letter to her, with an apology because it had fallen onto the floor of the post office and almost got lost, one glance at the handwriting told her it was from Jacques. Her heart pounded in her chest in anticipation of reading his words.

‘Can you spare me for a few minutes?’ she said to Audrey, who she was helping in the shop. ‘It’s from Jacques. I’d like to go to the clifftop to read it, if you don’t mind.’

‘Of course, you go,’ said Audrey. ‘Take your time, we’re not busy.’

Walking towards the clifftop, clutching the envelope to her chest, Lily’s thoughts turned to the letter she’d sent to Jacques weeks earlier, revealing the truth about her pregnancy and decision to lone-parent Joy. She’d also written about her dreams of leading an adventurous, exciting life, be it during wartime or, indeed, when peacetime hopefully came again. In no uncertain terms, she’d told Jacques that if they were ever to have a relationship, they needed to get to know each other properly first. Heavens, if her experience with Henry Bateman had taught her anything, it was not to rush into anything with a man. But had her words been too harsh? Knowing that Jacques had been to hell and back, the last thing she wanted to do was destroy his hopes and plunge him into despair. Arriving at the bench on the clifftop, she sat down on the edge of the seat.

‘Gracious me,’ she said aloud, her stomach doing somersaults and the letter burning a hole in her hand. ‘What on earth will he say?’

Her hands trembling, she opened the envelope, her mind drifting back to the day she’d applied Germolene antiseptic ointment to the cuts and grazes on Jacques’ tanned back, and the way he’d held her that night as they danced at the Bournemouth Pavilion. Finally opening the letter, she scanned his words, a joyous smile breaking out onto her lips as she read.

‘Oh Jacques,’ she gasped, reading the letter through again and sitting back on the bench, staring out at the view of the sea and Old Harry Rocks in the distance. She couldn’t have hoped for a better reply. He was accepting of everything she’d said. Unlike her stiff, strict and disapproving father, Jacques didn’t judge her actions or think of her behaviour as shameful – he seemingly wanted her to be nobody else but herself.

With a grin on her face and joy in her heart, she stood to return to the bakery, excited about telling Audrey her news and writing a reply to Jacques to tell him of her hopes and dreams. Walking away from the cliff through the yellow gorse, back to the path, she looked up at a seagull soaring through the clear sky, wings fully outstretched. And just like that gull, after reading Jacques’ letter, Lily too felt she was flying.

‘Do you know what one of the customers told me today?’ said Audrey to Elsie as they worked together in the yard. ‘That a woman in Belfast keeps a baby elephant in her garden, not much bigger than this one! The zookeepers thought the elephant was at risk of being killed in a raid, so they evacuated her from the zoo and this kind lady offered to take her in. That does tickle me. I can’t stop thinking about it. Imagine looking out of the window and seeing an elephant in your yard, drinking out of a tin bucket!’

The bakery was now closed, and the two women were out in the yard, Elsie running sopping-wet overalls through the mangle and Audrey pegging them out on the line to dry, the sea breeze whipping up their hair and skirts like boat sails.

‘How funny!’ said Elsie, tucking an escaped curl behind her ear. ‘I wonder what they feed it?’

‘I can’t imagine,’ said Audrey. ‘Vegetables and fruit, I suppose? Broken biscuits? Do you think it has a ration book?’

Audrey chuckled as Elsie collapsed into fits of giggles, but her attention was grabbed by Lily suddenly bursting through the garden gate, clutching a letter in her hand. From the expression on Lily’s face, the letter held precious good news. Audrey couldn’t stop from beaming herself.

‘What is it, Lily?’ she said. ‘You look like the cat that got the cream!’

‘Wait until you hear this,’ said Lily, an enormous smile spreading across her face. Audrey and Elsie exchanged happy glances and listened in stunned silence as Lily read out the letter.

‘That’s an amazing letter,’ said Audrey softly. ‘I’m so very glad for you, Lily.’

‘I told you he was a good one,’ said Elsie, giving Lily a hug.

‘You did,’ said Lily, holding down the material of her dress in the breeze, ‘but I needed to know for sure. The last time I trusted a man I got into a whole lot of trouble.’

‘You mustn’t be so hard on yourself,’ said Audrey. ‘You thought you were in love with an available man, you weren’t to know Henry was engaged to be married! The scoundrel! Anyway, Jacques is a different kettle of fish entirely.’

‘That’s right,’ said Lily, ‘and now I feel like I’ve been granted a second chance at love. Love the way I want it to be.’

‘That’s such heartening news,’ said Audrey, placing the pegs in the washing basket and resting her hand on Lily’s shoulder. ‘Now I hope you can enjoy getting to know each other through your letters. You know my Charlie doesn’t like writing letters, so I’m grateful for a few lines, but Jacques clearly enjoys it. Keep this letter safe, Lily love. It will lift your spirits during the troubled times.’

From nowhere, Audrey felt tears burning in her eyes and she busied herself with scrubbing the back step. Sometimes the strength of her longing for Charlie startled her, creeping out of the shadows like a big black spider, but she would never show her gut-wrenching sorrowful feelings to Elsie and Lily, nor anyone else for that matter. What good would that do? As she struggled to pull herself together, her thoughts were interrupted by Elsie clearing her throat. Audrey looked at Elsie and watched a blush creeping up her cheeks.

‘Talking of trouble,’ she said, dropping her eyes to the floor and squeezing her hands together, ‘I’ve got something to tell you both.’

Audrey stood up straight, glancing at Lily, who quickly folded up her letter and pushed it into her pocket.

‘What is it?’ Lily said.

Elsie eyed Audrey and Lily. Then the wind suddenly banged the gate shut and she jumped. Audrey held her hand against her heart and rolled her eyes.

‘Out with it, Elsie!’ she said, walking towards the gate to close the latch.

Elsie blushed and held her hand to her stomach.

‘It’s very early days, but I missed my monthlies,’ she said, quietly. ‘I was regular as clockwork before, so I think I’ve fallen and I can’t stop from telling you. William is really excited. I think becoming a father might be the very thing to help him.’

Audrey felt overcome with emotion. Raising her hand to her mouth, she couldn’t control the tears popping into her eyes.

‘That’s wonderful news,’ said Lily, throwing her arms round Elsie.

Audrey quickly dried her eyes. ‘Oh Elsie, it really is the best news,’ she said. ‘Gosh, I don’t know what to do with all this good news. It’s a joy.’

Audrey hugged both Elsie and Lily, elated by their good news, wishing with all her heart that Charlie was there to share it. Before the war, she would have rushed into the bakehouse to tell him, throwing her arms round his neck and giving him a happy peck on the lips. Oh, how she longed to see Charlie again: to hold him, to talk to him about the twins, to cook him a proper dinner, to know he was in the bakehouse working away on the bread while she worked in the shop. Simple, honest, ordinary things – the basic ingredients of their married life.