Free Somebody to Love: Sigh With Contentment, Scream With Frustration. At Time You Will Weep. by Sheryl Browne Page A

the core and she’d tossed him away.
    ‘Mark, I…’
    ‘Jesus Christ !’ Mark slammed on the brakes, then pulled her bodily towards him as something whooshed, then exploded behind them with such ferocity it popped Donna’s ears.
    ‘Your windscreen just blew out,’ he said tersely, his heart beating so loud Donna could feel it. ‘You all right?’
    ‘Yes,’ Donna mumbled to his chest, her eyes scrunched shut and her own heart pounding.
    ‘Sure?’ he asked, stroking her hair, lifting her chin.
    She opened her eyes. Donna had the feeling she’d never be sure of anything again. Had her car just exploded ?
    ‘You were bloody lucky, you know?’ Mark’s China blue eyes darkened almost to cobalt. ‘If it had been a petrol engine, it would have gone sky high ages ago.’
    ****
    It was whilst trying to extract Matt from her toasted car the next morning — Matt having insisted on checking out whether her CD player was salvageable, that Donna noticed a sparkling new Jaguar cruising towards the house.
    She squinted at it, then almost dropped to the floor as she realised that Jeremy was at the wheel, the Twiglet adorning the passenger seat at his side. Just what Donna needed with her wearing soot-covered scruffs and her own car a scrapheap on the drive. Damn .
    ‘Jeremy.’ She dredged up a smile as the car pulled up — for Matt’s sake, who was loitering behind her, Findus in arms and an incredulous look on his face. No doubt he was wondering to what he owed the pleasure. She nodded at Leticia, rather than call her by name. The only name springing to mind being lettuce, draped in a green fitted slip dress as she was.
    Jeremy nodded through the open driver’s side window. ‘Donna,’ he said, looking her up and down as if he’d encountered a bad smell. ‘Had a bit of an accident, haven’t we?’ He looked past her to her cremated car.
    Yes, I married you, Donna resisted saying for the sake of their son. ‘Did you want something?’ she asked, as civilly as she could.
    ‘Yes, I did, as it happens. I came to drop off some cash for Matt.’
    Donna glanced over her shoulder at Matt, who duly raised one pierced eyebrow, bemused.
    ‘Can’t stop, unfortunately,’ Jeremy came out with his stock phrase. Sticking around long enough to exchange two words with his son was too much to hope for, Donna supposed.
    She looked over her shoulder again. Matt’s expression as he turned to slope back indoors told her he hadn’t hoped for much more either.
    ‘We have to shift one of Leticia’s horses up to the stud at Feckenham,’ Jeremy went on snootily. ‘Hunter. Good breeding stock, you know? Then I have to get back to the office. Make some money to pay the bills and whatnot. A man’s work is never done.’ He smiled stoically.
    Donna fumed quietly. He wouldn’t have to work very hard to pay his child support payments, which fluctuated between meagre and non-existent. ‘The whatnot being your new car?’ She speculated.
    Jeremy sighed wearily. ‘It’s Leticia’s, Donna. Mine’s in for a service.’
    Yes, and Donna would bet he could afford to pay for his service, too.
    ‘I did stop by last night, but I saw you had company,’ Jeremy informed her, with a pointed glance.
    Damn. He must have seen Mark dropping her off. The last thing Donna wanted was Jeremy privy to her private affairs. He’d use that as ammunition for facetious remarks for sure.
    ‘Bit desperate, wasn’t it, setting fire to your car to attract the attention of a man?’ he dripped on cue.
    ‘One would have to wonder why I’d be that desperate though, Jeremy, wouldn’t one?’ Donna countered calmly.
    Jeremy smirked. ‘I hope you gave him his jacket back. Not quite proper attire, is it, for an officer of the law, shirtsleeves?’
    Donna folded her arms. So he’d hung around long enough to get a good look, then? At Mark gathering up Findus as he hopped through the open front door in his bid for the great escape. Handing him gently over to Donna