Free Summer Loving by Rachel Ennis

any Letters page in a woman’s magazine –’
    ‘Don’t get me started about women’s magazines!’ Viv’s voice was shrill. ‘’Tis all thanks to their advice my Charlene’s marriage might be going down the toilet.’
    ‘No!’ Gill frowned. ‘I’m some sorry to hear that, Viv.’
    ‘Can we stick with Pauline?’ Claire pleaded. ‘I get confused.’
    ‘Sorry. What Claire said, ’bout him being a control freak? When I asked Pauline how she put up with it, she said it was just his way. He was only ten when his ma died, and with two younger brothers he had to grow up quick. She reckoned he never got past the fear of losing anyone he loved.’
    Jess wondered if, like her, the others were seeing his behaviour in a different light. She passed Viv her tea.
    ‘Thanks, bird. See, Pauline have started dating my Uncle Gary. He’s Father’s younger brother. His wife, my Auntie Trish, died two year ago next month. She went to the doctor with a pain in her back. This was in the April. It was cancer and she died that September, dear of her.’
    ‘So what’s the problem?’ Claire asked. ‘They’re both free.’
    ‘Exactly.’ Viv nodded. ‘Mother’s just jealous. Why, I don’t know. I got no patience with her. Father have always worked hard. They never had much money but she never wanted for nothing and nor did we. He was content with his life.’
    ‘That’s rare,’ Gill said.
    ‘What does your father do, Viv?’ Claire asked. ‘His job I mean.’
    ‘He’s retired now. Well, he says he is, but he go down the garage and help Jimmy a couple of days a week. He used to be a mechanic at Jennings’ in town. It was Father who got Mr Jennings to take Jimmy on as an apprentice. Father and Jimmy always got on well. Between them they built the go-karts Jimmy used to race. It was Father who convinced Jimmy to leave Jennings’ and go on his own. That set Mother off. She had always wanted Father to go self-employed. But he didn’t want the hassle of running his own business.’
    ‘I don’t blame him,’ Gill said. ‘I see the hours Sandra and Gerry put in. The shop is open eight till eight. Then there’s paperwork, wages, stocktaking, and Lord knows what else.’
    Viv nodded. ‘Jimmy had always wanted to be his own boss. Father respected that and made him believe he could do it. He have too. Wayne was still a toddler when Father and Jimmy built him his first go-kart. There was no stopping Wayne after that. All he could talk about was being a mechanic like his dad and grampy.’
    ‘How does Jimmy feel about his mother seeing someone?’ Jess asked, handing two large plates of strawberry shortcake to Gill who set them on the coffee table.
    ‘First off he was a bit funny about it. But like I told him, she was a loyal and loving wife all the years they was married.’
    Viv caught her eye and Jess saw the hurt. She hoped Tom would manage to talk to Jimmy soon and find out what was wrong.
    Viv cleared her throat. ‘I told Jimmy, his father have been gone four years now. It’s lonely for Pauline. She deserve some happiness.’
    ‘How old is she?’ Gill asked.
    ‘Sixty-six. That’s not old , not these days.’
    ‘No, it isn’t,’ Gill agreed.
    Viv sighed. ‘I know what it is, mind. He don’t like to think of her having sex.’
    Claire’s tea went down the wrong way and she started coughing. Jess grabbed a tissue and passed it across.
    ‘Well, you don’t do you? Not your parents. Tidn just Jimmy who don’t like it. Uncle Gary’s daughters aren’t happy neither. It isn’t the sex with them. Well, it might be for all I know. But they’re saying it’s too soon because he hasn’t had time to grieve.’
    ‘How would they know?’ Jess asked. ‘They can only speak for themselves, not him.’
    ‘Grief isn’t measured in years,’ Gill said.
    Annie nodded.
    ‘When Mother passed I didn’t grieve at all,’ Mor blurted. ‘I feel bad about that.’
    ‘Time you stopped then,’ Annie said. ‘She was a