A Village Deception (Turnham Malpas 15) by Rebecca Shaw Read Free Book Online Page B

saying, ‘What would
you
do if you caught
your
wife in bed with a man?’
    ‘Cut his throat.’
    ‘Well, Harry dear,’ she stroked his throat with a lingering finger, ‘no need to worry about your throat because Jeremy wouldn’t do a thing. He never has done, and he never will, believe me. Wouldn’t say boo to a goose, would our Jeremy.’
    The wickedness of her attitude thrilled Harry. It made her even more tempting than she already was. ‘He’s caught you before?’
    ‘Not
caught
me, no, but he has known what was going on and he didn’t say a word.’
    ‘A very tolerant man, then.’
    ‘He loves me, you see. Strange, isn’t it? Perhaps if he
didn’t
love me, he’d have cut my throat long ago.’
    ‘Not this perfect, perfect throat?’ Harry said, even though he could see the wrinkles starting to appear.
    ‘Even this perfect throat. You are such a handsome man, Harry. So perfectly mannered and so confidence-boosting. Shall we?’
    He couldn’t resist her, but he wouldn’t come to the house again. Taking a quick passionate moment in the changing rooms round the pool was fine, but this was altogether too risky. He also felt bad doing it in the excessively tolerant Jeremy’s own bedroom. One had to have some standards.
    ‘See you tomorrow?’ she asked as he was leaving.
    ‘Possibly. It just depends. You’ve heard Ken Allardyce has died? It might mean extra work for me. I don’t know, Jimbo’s very upset.’ A thought occurred to him. ‘He’s not … ?’
    Venetia roared with laughter. ‘That man is so moral it’s unbelievable. I had high hopes, with all that money, but no, he’s strictly off limits.’
    Harry humbly remarked, ‘I’m glad I’m not.’ Then he kissed her luscious red mouth and left with a spring in his step and a smile on his face. Best keep her guessing a bit, he thought to himself. If he fell completely under her spell she’d be capable of making his life hell, he knew that without a shadow of a doubt. A nice kind of hell, though.
    He became aware of someone following him as he passed through the village down Jack’s Lane and turned to make sure it wasn’t Jeremy Mayer, bent on throat-cutting.
    It was, however, a Jack Russell terrier. He stopped whenHarry stopped and when he began walking again, so did this strange little dog. The story about Sykes, owned by the now-deceased but greatly lamented Jimmy, came into his mind so he turned round and bending down said, ‘Hello! Sykes, is it? Are you Sykes?’ The dog’s tail wagged furiously, in fact, almost all of his body wagged too and it made Harry laugh. Sykes allowed him to stroke his head and they had a pleasant few minutes making each other’s acquaintance. But Harry needed his evening meal, which Marie had kindly started making for him now that he was working. He checked his watch. He mustn’t keep Marie waiting, so he set off at a good pace, hoping that Sykes’s short little legs wouldn’t be able to keep up and he’d go home. But he arrived at Laburnum Cottage with Sykes close at his heels.
    He was a jolly little dog, but Harry knew he couldn’t keep him so he quietly slammed the door shut behind him and went into the kitchen to greet Marie. He never tired of her cheery face and rosy cheeks. A woman made to be a mother, for certain. ‘I’m back, usual time?’
    ‘Ten minutes. I’ve got WI tonight, and can’t be late.’
    But Sykes was there when Marie went out to the WI, he was there when Zack went to the Royal Oak intending to escort Marie home when her meeting in the church hall finished, and he was there when they got back.
    ‘Harry! It’s Sykes waiting outside. He’s been there all evening, did you know?’
    ‘No I didn’t. He followed me home, but I thought he’d get bored of waiting. What shall we do?’
    ‘I don’t like to offend him, I expect he’s missing Jimmy, you see. But Grandmama will be distraught if he doesn’t get home soon.’
    ‘If you’ll lend me a piece of rope or something,