Free A Daughter's Disgrace by Kitty Neale

at,’ Cora snapped, seeing a dreamy look pass across her youngest daughter’s face. But Alison didn’t care. There was no way she’d mention him to her mother, but already she was thinking of what items they might be short of so she could make an excuse to pop in to the hardware store as soon as possible.

Chapter Eight
    â€˜It’s your round, Paul,’ said Paul’s best friend, Kenny Parker. They’d been in the pub since six o’clock and this would be their third pint. Paul was in no hurry to go home. He shared his flat with his father and two older brothers, and it was a tip. He hated the place but his father was adamant they couldn’t afford anything else, even with all of them working. Paul guessed that was because his father spent everything at the dog track, or if he couldn’t go there in person, at the bookies. It had been the same ever since his mother had died. This was the fourth place they’d moved to since then and each had been worse than the last.
    â€˜Same again, mate?’
    Kenny nodded.
    â€˜Here you go.’ Paul set the drinks down on the sticky table-top. ‘How’s work?’
    â€˜Same old,’ said Kenny, sipping the bitter and smacking his lips. ‘Turn up at nine, leave at five, paid on Friday. Not much more to it. How’s yours? Been there a few weeks now, ain’t you?’
    â€˜It’s all right,’ Paul said. ‘The boss is ancient and he can’t see what I’m doing half the time. Can’t say it’s anything to get excited about.’ He raised his glass and drank. ‘I might get some fun out of the girl who works in the next shop though.’
    Kenny looked up, interested. ‘What’s she like? Should I be jealous?’
    Paul wondered whether to wind his friend up and make Alison sound more than she really was but decided he would get caught out in the lie too easily if Kenny decided to pay Falcon Road a visit. ‘Nah, probably not. She’s not much of a looker.’
    â€˜Then why are you bothering?’ Kenny asked. ‘What else has she got going for her?’
    â€˜She’s got good tits,’ said Paul, which he hoped was true, although her mac hadn’t given him more than a rough idea. Still, he’d passed away several boring hours in the hardware shop imagining what might lie beneath. ‘And I reckon she’s got really long legs. She’s tall, see. But her face … no, you don’t want to know about it. Her teeth are horrible and so’s her hair.’
    â€˜Bit of a mare then,’ said Kenny. ‘So you better keep yer eyes on her tits and legs if you don’t want to be put off.’
    â€˜Well, I can do that easily enough,’ laughed Paul. ‘She’ll be desperate for me, you wait and see. She’ll be begging me for it.’
    â€˜Bet you she won’t,’ said Kenny. He’d heard all this before and to the best of his knowledge no girl had ever begged Paul for anything.
    â€˜Bet you she will,’ said Paul, suddenly serious. ‘It’s February now and I bet you five bob that before March is over I’ll have had her.’
    â€˜You’re on.’
    â€˜I shouldn’t even accept that as it’ll be like taking candy from a baby,’ said Paul, finishing his pint with relish. ‘But I know you’ll be offended if I say no. Five bob, end of March, she’ll have been begging me for weeks.’ He was certain he was right. And if she didn’t beg him, he’d have her anyway.
    â€˜Nice sandwiches, Mum,’ said Linda. ‘June, have you tried one? Eat something so Granny can see you like her food.’
    â€˜Oh, she can have some cake if she’d rather,’ said Cora, giving her granddaughter a cuddle. ‘You’d enjoy that, wouldn’t you, Junie? Try some of this.’ She put a small slice of jam sponge on a plate and June eagerly took it from