A Daughter’s Disgrace. Kitty Neale

everything else to spread out. It wasn’t efficient, and that bothered him. He liked to be as efficient as possible – that was what made a business a success.

      ‘I do believe you’ve got a point,’ he said. ‘So if we are to sell eggs, what do we do next?’

      ‘Find out how much Mr Reynolds would sell them to us for,’ said Alison at once. ‘Find out how often he could bring them.’

      ‘And?’ Fred was enjoying this.

      ‘And work out how much we would sell them at,’ she went on. ‘Like we do with the meat. Work out a percentage to make sure we sell at a profit.’

      ‘And?’

      That stopped her. ‘Isn’t that everything?’

      ‘We need to know that we can sell them for the same price, or less than, the grocer’s. I can’t remember what I paid for eggs the last time I did a bit of shopping.’

      ‘When we have a quiet spell I could pop along and check.’

      ‘Yes, good idea. When Mr Reynolds turns up we’ll ask him about his prices and availability. After that you can run along to the grocer’s.’

      Alison was happy to agree and, as she was longing to see Paul again, she began to plan an excuse to go into the ironmonger’s too.

      Later that day, in Kent, Linda was cutting bread for sandwiches, thinking there was nothing like the smell of a freshly baked loaf – even if that made it harder to slice. June was playing with her teddy bear in the corner of the kitchen. They both looked up when they heard the door open.

      ‘Terry! I didn’t expect you home for lunch.’ Linda wiped her hands on her apron. ‘Shall I make you a sandwich too? We were just about to have ours, weren’t we, June?’

      Terry stepped around the table and kissed his wife. She had hardly changed since he’d first met her – still smart and pretty enough to turn all the men’s heads, and you wouldn’t think she’d had a kid to look at her figure. She kept herself well and he liked that in a woman. He was the envy of his mates and that was no bad thing either.

      ‘Can’t stop for long,’ he said. ‘I just needed to pick something up. But it gives me a chance to see my little princess.’ He bent down to June’s level and gave her a quick hug. June giggled in delight.

      ‘Not like you to forget anything,’ Linda commented, stacking the slices and reaching for the butter. ‘There’s nothing wrong, is there?’ She tried not to imagine what it could be. She prided herself on being sensible but she knew if anything happened to Terry’s job driving the lorries, the whole respectable life they’d built for themselves away from Battersea would crumble. She didn’t intend to allow that.

      Terry ran his hand through his dark blond wavy hair. There was no doubt where June got her looks from – they had the same colouring, down to the bright blue eyes. Terry was well aware of his physical appearance but he only had eyes for Linda. He’d seen the mess some of his mates had got into over women – that wasn’t for him. The two of them made a strong team and he was about to be in a position where he could make it even stronger.

      ‘Nothing’s wrong at all,’ he said easily. ‘They still think I’m the bee’s knees at the depot. But I might be able to do a bit extra. How do you like the sound of that?’

      ‘Will it mean you being away more?’ Linda hated it when Terry had to travel long distances. ‘You know June likes you here at her bedtime. You have to think of things like that.’

      ‘No, it’s all local,’ Terry assured her. ‘One of the benefits of living in Kent is so much is on your doorstep. Some extra goods might come up that need looking after and transporting.’

      ‘Looking after?’

      ‘They might not be suitable for the usual warehouse,’ Terry tried to explain without actually giving away too much. He scanned the shelves for the packet he’d forgotten to take into work that morning and reached over to pick it up, but there was no escaping Linda’s questions.

      ‘So where would they go? What are we talking about?’

      Terry knew he had to proceed carefully. One of the things he loved about Linda was she was so quick on the uptake, but at moments like this it made everything more difficult. He didn’t want to lie – she always knew when he was lying and it made things worse. But what she didn’t know wouldn’t hurt her.

      ‘We’re talking about a few boxes,’ he said. ‘I reckon they could go in our shed. They wouldn’t be there long and they wouldn’t be in your way. You wouldn’t even know they were there.’

      ‘Except if I needed to go into the shed.’

      ‘But you hardly ever do. You leave this to me. It’s all work, nothing to do with you.’

      ‘Boxes of what? June, why don’t you take Teddy and make him wash his hands before lunch?’ Linda was proud of the fact they had an upstairs bathroom but now she was extra thankful as she didn’t want the little girl to overhear what she suspected Terry was about to say. June headed off up the stairs and Linda turned a direct look on him.

      ‘All right, Terry, boxes of what? Do you mean stolen goods?’

      ‘No, nothing’s stolen. It’ll be all sorts. But mainly from France.’

      ‘Are you talking about smuggled stuff, then? It’s to avoid paying duty, isn’t it?’

      Terry sighed. He hated to think what she’d be like if she was in the police. Criminals wouldn’t stand a chance. ‘Look, it’ll be all right …’

      ‘I don’t want you to get involved in anything illegal, Terry,’ Linda said. ‘That puts everything we’ve achieved at risk – you, me and June. You always said you wouldn’t do anything dodgy and I know you’ve had offers. But you can’t do anything to damage our family. Promise me you won’t.’

      Terry could never say no to his wife, but he knew that this opportunity wouldn’t come along twice and it would be worth what he saw as a very small risk. Last week a man had approached him, making it clear he was part of a larger operation. They’d once been customers of the haulage firm he worked for, and kept an eye out for anyone who might be useful to them and who’d appreciate the chance of a little extra on the side.

      ‘We’d get compensated for our trouble,’ he said. ‘Really, it makes sense. The docks are just down the road with ferries going to France. We’re in the ideal place to take advantage of that. Just think, we’d be able to move to a bigger house if we’re careful.’

      Linda shut her eyes. She was tempted. She wanted another baby more than anything and she was damned if she was going to raise her own children in the overcrowded conditions she’d been brought up in. Terry had found her Achilles heel. She knew it, he knew it. She felt sick at the thought of losing everything but if this was their big break … Terry wasn’t a chancer, she told herself. He’d have thought it all through and weighed up the odds.

      ‘I don’t want you doing anything dangerous,’ she said, furious that she might break into tears at any moment. ‘Nothing that’ll threaten what we’ve done so far. I want to be proud of you, Terry, not afraid for you.’

      Terry reached out and hugged his wife tightly. ‘I’d never put you in danger, you know that. I love you far too much. I just want us to do well. And I know you want another baby.’ He hugged her even tighter. ‘I do too. We could make a start right now if you like. We’ll have our family in a lovely big house, Linda. I promise you it’ll be all right.’

      Linda hugged him back then pushed him away. ‘You daft sod. Look what you’ve made me do.’ She wiped her face. ‘June’ll come in and see at any moment.’ Hurriedly she splashed her cheeks with water at the sink. ‘Be careful, Terry. I trust you, of course I do. But make sure you only deal with people you can trust too. Nothing stolen.’

      ‘No, it’s nothing like that,