Soldiers' Wives by Fiona; Field Page B

‘Maybe when you need your next hair appointment, the army will have pulled its finger out and I’ll have a quarter of my own too.’
    â€˜I’ll cross my fingers and, as I said earlier, I’ll see what I can do to help,’ said Maddy as she left. She was going to have a word with Seb about Jenna’s quarter. She was sure he’d know what buttons to press – after all, they’d got a house with no trouble at all, so presumably he could do the same for one of his men.
    Jenna yawned as Lee found a parking space on the road near his mam’s house and reversed his Ford Focus into it.
    â€˜Tired?’ he asked Jenna.
    â€˜It’s a sod of a long way to come just for a weekend,’ she said.
    She glanced across at the clock on the dashboard display. Nearly midnight. And although Newcastle had a lot to offer in the way of nightlife – far more than the town nearest the garrison – she wasn’t best pleased to have been dragged up here, because she and Sonia weren’t, and never would be, soulmates. Beyond loving Lee, they had absolutely nothing in common, and staying for a long weekend with her mother-in-law was hardly Jenna’s idea of a fun time.
    Lee yanked on the handbrake and switched off the engine. ‘Come on, let’s go and say hello to Mam.’
    Yes let’s, thought Jenna, with no enthusiasm.
    Lee grabbed the holdall from the back while Jenna undid her seat belt and got out of the car. The pair walked along the row of identical Victorian terraced houses to the one that had been Lee’s childhood home. Well, his home after his dad had been killed in the first Gulf War and he and his mam had had to leave army quarters and find a place of their own. Not that he remembered that as he’d only been two at the time.
    Sonia Perkins had obviously been looking out for them because as they approached the house she flung the front door wide and launched herself at Lee, her corkscrew perm bouncing about almost as much as her ample bosom.
    Bloody hell, thought Jenna, you’d think he’d been gone for years not just a few months since his summer block leave. She also wondered how a woman who was as broad as she was tall – and she was only about five feet – could have produced a son who topped six feet and was built like a whippet.
    Finally Sonia stopped hugging her son and admiring how fit he looked and turned to Jenna. ‘Hello, Jenna,’ she said, not bothering to fake any warmth or affection; her mouth pursed like a cat’s bum and her beady eyes were cold and unsmiling.
    Two can play at that game. ‘Sonia,’ she replied, not even bothering with any form of greeting.
    They glared at each other momentarily before Sonia bustled back into the house, exhorting them to come in while she got the kettle on.
    â€˜I’d rather have a proper drink,’ whispered Jenna to Lee.
    â€˜We’ll make a night of it tomorrow,’ Lee murmured back as he shut the front door behind them.
    They followed Sonia into the front room which Jenna always thought looked like a mausoleum with pictures of Lee’s dead dad everywhere, and the glass cases containing his cap and medals. She stared at the mementoes: his dad’s old cap and Sam Browne; his regimental group photos with the 1 Herts’ crest on the thick cardboard mount that backed the pictures. Not for the first time she wondered if it was entirely healthy that Lee had joined his dad’s old unit. Although it explained why a Geordie was in a southern regiment. She shuddered. No, definitely not healthy, she thought. Lee following his dad and his mum not being able to let go of the memories and move on. Jenna sat in silence while Sonia grilled Lee about life in the battalion, his prospects, his chance of promotion, until Lee pointed out that it was very late and that he and Jenna had had a long day.
    â€˜Silly me,’ said Sonia. ‘You should have said earlier.