It was all too much for Annie and tears began to course, unchecked, down her face

The serial: The Pepper Girls Day 24

With Nancy, however, he felt it was always going to be a duty now, rather than a pleasure. But for Nancy, it was going to be for the love of her man.

The following day, she kissed her husband goodbye, with the promise of more when he came home from work and gathered her brood together. She loaded wee Billy into his pram with Mary Anne squashed in at his feet and set off to visit Annie and tell her all her good news.

She pushed the heavy pram up Victoria Road, then into Dura Street and finally to Annie’s close in Albert Street.

Thankfully, Annie opened the door to her knock. “I’m fair whabbit,” Nancy said smiling at her aunt, “so, if there’s any tea going...” she added, angling the pram with its precious load into the lobby.

Annie forced a smile. She loved Nancy dearly but the last thing she needed right now was to have her company.

Reverberating

She was still reverberating from the news that Sarah Dawson had met a young man whose name just happened to be John and who was Irish and who could be, in Annie’s guilty mind, John Adams her illegitimate son, unknowingly fathered by Billy Dawson.

She gathered herself together and picked up Mary Anne, carrying her tightly, like a life jacket, into the kitchen. At first Nancy didn’t notice the distracted air around Annie, as she told her all about her new home with her now “misunderstood” husband and how Billy Dawson had arranged everything and how wonderful a father he was.

Annie allowed all of this to go over her head, except the bit about Billy Dawson being a wonderful father. If only she knew the truth, would she still think him so wonderful?

Phased by Annie’s lack of response to her good news, Nancy slowly realised something was amiss.

She put down her teacup and laid the now sleeping Billy back into his pram. “Is everything alright Auntie Annie,” she asked, a note of concern now in her voice. Annie’s eyes were bleak.

“Not really,” she replied, “but I’m sure everything will be fine, given time.” Nancy frowned. What did that mean! “Are you ill?” Nancy continued, trying again to understand Annie’s answer and getting more worried at her lack of information.

“Oh, no, nothing like that,” she said, “just a bit low, that’s all.”

How she wished she could unburden herself to her niece. Tell her all about her son and his birth in the poorhouse in Belfast and how he was now in Dundee and wanting to be part of Annie’s family and life.

Tensed

And his father, Annie tensed at the thought. He would want to know about his father, Billy Dawson. It was all too much for Annie and tears began to course, unchecked, down her face.

Nancy was really concerned now, her aunt had always been the strong, capable one, coping with everyone’s problems and looking after them all but now...

“I’m sorry,” Annie whispered as the tears abated. “I’m just being a silly old woman. Pay no attention to me.”

She dabbed her eyes with her apron. She had to control herself, just for a few months, then John would be back in Ireland and things could return to normal.

Till then, she had to carry on as if nothing was amiss and remember the consequences of anyone finding out, especially Euan and Billy Dawson.

The tears had eased the tension in her system and it was with the stoicism of years of coping with life that she assured Nancy that all was well and they would say no more about it.

But Nancy wasn’t so reassured. Did Euan know how strangely Annie was behaving? She vowed to speak to him soon and find out what was wrong with her Auntie Annie.

Try as she might, Lexie couldn’t stop thinking about Robbie Robertson. She spent more and more time in her room, reliving the brief encounter at Harry Duncan’s butcher shop and wondering how she could have ever hated the man.

Their puppy love, when she was still a schoolgirl, had resulted in Robbie and Lexie getting secretly engaged but it was Robbie forcing his attentions on her that had scared her into putting an end to their romance.

Then Euan’s stern warning to the young lad that he should stay away from Lexie... or else, had been the end of it. But, Lexie always remembered what Robbie Robertson had done to her and it had coloured her unexciting courtship with Charlie, until recently, when she’d began to experience deep sexual urges.

Handsome and dangerous

And now, Robbie Robertson was back and was as handsome and dangerous looking as the stars she had seen at the Picture Show, these urges were becoming almost unbearable.

Every day, when she finished her work at Baxter’s, she would cross over to the butcher’s shop on her way to the tram stop, hoping that Robbie would somehow turn up again but he didn’t and Lexie had to content herself with her relationship with Charlie, which was becoming more and more irksome.

It was nearly a week since her encounter with Robbie and she’d almost given up hope of ever seeing him again. She’d even stopped crossing the road to pass by the butcher’s when she heard that voice again, calling her name as she stepped from Baxter’s doorway into King Street.

She swung around and there he was, looking even more handsome than the last time and her heart stood still.

“Remember me?” Robbie said his eyes taking in every inch of her. Lexie found her voice. “Maybe,” she said. Robbie grinned. “And here’s me thinking I was unforgettable, like you.”

(More on Monday)