Free Flings and Arrows by Debbie Viggiano Page A

Harry that well, perhaps they could have a long engagement. Get to know each other properly. It would give her time to sell her house before getting settled into his detached property. June could almost feel the touch of the coveted Marks and Spencer charge card.
    ‘Yes,’ June smiled. ‘Yes Harry.’
    ‘Really?’ Harry looked perplexed. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to think about it? I don’t want to rush you into anything.’
    ‘You’re not, you’re not!’ June sang. She couldn’t wait to tell Steph. In fact, she’d tell both Steph and Si when they came to dinner. ‘I want my neighbours to be the first to know Harry. I want them to meet you. I’ve already suggested dinner as a foursome. We can have a little celebration!’
    Harry looked uncertain. ‘You want your neighbours to know about your private life?’
    ‘I tell Steph everything.’
    Harry nodded. ‘I see. I had no idea you’d be so laid back about it. Super! Where shall we go?’
    ‘Go?’ June looked puzzled.
    ‘Yes! Where shall we go so I can spend every sleeping hour with you! Do you fancy Brighton? I know a fabulous place that has four poster beds.’

Chapter Sixteen
     
    Steph wasn’t happy. She banged around the kitchen, clattering plates and cutlery. She was still reeling from embarrassment over her confrontation with Rachel. Her nerves were frazzled. She just wanted to eat her fish and chip takeaway and go to bed. Draw a line under the day. But Tom and Rachel hadn’t been the only thing to stress Steph. Now neighbour June had upset her equilibrium.
    On the journey back to Jessamine Terrace, Steph had clutched the parcel of fish and chips as Si’s van bucketed along. They’d hardly spoken a word to each other on the ride home. Every now and then Si had shaken his head, as if bemused. As Si had turned the corner into the top of Jessamine Terrace, he’d screeched to a halt. Steph had almost head banged the dash. Ahead, walking in the other direction with their backs to them, had been Tom with Rachel and her children. Steph had shrunk down in her seat. Si had let the engine idle until they’d disappeared out of sight. Nearby a Micra had started up. As soon as the driver had tootled off Si had shoe-horned the van into the space. And then Steph had felt the breath whoosh out of her.
    ‘I don’t believe it,’ she’d gasped.
    Si had followed his wife’s gaze. ‘Bloody hell.’
    Together they’d stared at June. Their prim and proper neighbour had been in the middle of a passionate lip lock. On her own doorstep! Steph had presumed the man nose to nose with her was the infamous Harry. Their kissing had been the sort of thing reserved for big screen films. Or possibly porn movies. Steph had pondered how long they could keep the kiss going without coming up for air. No wonder she’d caught June stumbling around on the pavement the other day, clutching lamp posts and proclaiming dizziness. The woman was oxygen deprived. Brain damaged even. What other explanation could there be for a seventy year old woman behaving like a teenager in public? Steph had glanced at the row of parked cars along Jessamine Terrace. She’d spotted the polished Beamer. Presumably Harry’s. June had said he had a few quid. So he was a Flash Harry.
    And then Harry had finally released June. They’d both gone inside. And Steph had been left wondering that if two pensioners could be so passionate on a doorstep, what would they be like in private? Steph had suddenly had a vision of Jessamine Terrace imploding as June and Harry ripped their clothes off and dived into bed. And that was when she’d felt something inside her curdle. Oh for a tenth of the passion she’d witnessed!
    ‘I’m going in,’ she’d snapped at Si.
    Stomping up the path to Number 42, Steph had felt like bursting into tears. As she now shook lukewarm chips onto plates, she wondered if her period was due. She wasn’t sure of her menstrual cycle these days. Her ovaries, like the hot