Free I'll Get By by Janet Woods

She followed up a light dusting of face powder with lipstick, then dabbed cologne behind her ears.
    Meggie felt self-conscious and on edge waiting for a man she hardly knew to take her out. She thought she heard a car, but her bedroom didn’t look out over the road and she wasn’t going to appear eager, even to her own eyes, by rushing to have a look.
    Not that she expected Rennie to turn up, she thought, gazing at the clock’s large hand, which quivered on two minutes to the hour. When it took a sudden leap forward her heart jumped with it.
    She would give herself a couple minutes to make sure, in case the clock was fast, she told herself. But anyway, she couldn’t go shopping looking scruffy.
    ‘When the doorbell rang exactly one minute later she had her coat on and her shopping basket on her arm. The hall clock gave its usual whirring sound and began to chime the twelve strokes of noon. Resisting the urge to run, she sauntered down the stairs and feigned surprise when she opened the door on the last stroke. ‘Oh . . . it’s you. I told you not to come. I didn’t expect . . . actually, I was getting ready to go to the market.’
    His eyes impaled her, the reddish brown autumn of them guarded by sooty spikes of lashes. ‘Liar, you were doing no such thing. You were waiting for me to turn up on the doorstep. Stop playing games.’
    She choked out a laugh. ‘I hope you’re not going to be grumpy all day.’
    He smiled and brought a posy of sweet smelling violets out from behind his back. ‘I apologize.’
    She was captivated. It was the best apology she’d ever had. ‘They’re beautiful . . . thank you so much.’
    ‘You’re beautiful.’ Much to her annoyance she blushed, and it was his turn to laugh. ‘You’re also very sweet, you know. It’s not often I get to take out somebody as young as you.’ He took the basket from her. ‘We can leave this in the car.’
    ‘Will you wait a moment until I put these in water? I don’t want them to wilt.’
    Meggie had expected to be taken somewhere local, but they motored to Southend, which was about forty miles away. They sat in a café overlooking the long stretch of beach and eating fish and chips washed down with mugs of hot tea.
    ‘This was a long way to come for lunch,’ she said.
    ‘After working in a dusty office I needed some clean, fresh air in my lungs, and I hadn’t seen the sea for a while. That’s one of the penalties of being part of the legal profession.’
    There was a blustery breeze coming off the water and grey clouds scudded across the sky. The air smelled of salt and the seagulls wheeled above, giving raucous squawks.
    ‘I’ve never seen such a long pier.’
    ‘It’s the longest in England. Would you like a walk to help blow the cobwebs away? In half an hour we must set off back home again.’
    It was obvious he needed to walk. Outside, he took her hand, entwining his fingers with hers. She could have pulled her hand away, but instead she enjoyed the moment for what it was. He was ahead of her. ‘We can go to the market up the road, the one we passed on the way in here. The one you usually shop at will be closed by the time we get back to London.’
    The shopping was done quickly, but they got the late bargains. As they drove home the clouds built up and the sky darkened. Now and again handfuls of rain splattered the windscreen. By the time they arrived at the house the sky was thunderous and the air charged. The house looked gloomy, and she didn’t want to go inside by herself.
    ‘Thank you for a wonderful day, Rennie,’ she said, not wanting to leave the safety of the car.
    He smiled. ‘I enjoyed it.’
    There was a flash of lightning and she jumped. ‘Will you come in for a cup of tea?’
    He glanced at his watch.
    ‘Please,’ she said when there was a rumble of thunder.
    His glance measured her. ‘You didn’t strike me as a person who’d be scared of thunder and lightning.’
    ‘I’m not usually. I just don’t want