An Affair to Remember by Virginia Budd Read Free Book Online

granddad be prepared to sell me some of his honey on a regular basis, in the comb of course?”
    “He’d sell it if I asked un. Not much call for it round here, people like the shop stuff. That Mrs Gates who lives next door to un, she be always complaining about they bees, says she –”
    “His address, my dear, that’s all I need.”
    “68 Rosebud Way, that be first road in council estate, you can’t miss it, hives all over the garden. Someone from the Council came round a while back, said –”
    “Splendid.” Selwyn’s had enough of Karen’s granddad for the time being. He turns to Sam: “Now, Major… By the way, have you been out of the army long?”
    “Three years. I decided to when –”
    “Terrific! God is that the time? I’m afraid I must dash. Some damned journo’s supposed to be turning up at 12.30 for an interview. No doubt timed so we’ll have to give him lunch. But what can you do, eh?” He turns to go.
    “We deliver Wednesdays and Fridays, Mr Woodhead. If you could ring with your order the day before.” Sam just manages to get his piece in before the wretched chap disappears – no doubt for good. Emmie’d kill him if he didn’t.
    Selwyn waves an impatient hand. “Fine, absolutely fine. Clarrie’ll be in touch. And while we’re at it, can you make sure you get in a good supply of nuts.”
    “Nuts?”
    “Yes. We find them such a good supplement for the honey. Honey and nuts, a great combination. However, Clarrie does tend to do a certain amount of entertaining and sadly some of our very good friends are still murdering their insides in the old fashioned way, so we’re forced to keep a stock of the basic necessities of life as well.”
    “This be granddad’s address,” Karen, loath to leave the limelight, hands him a small piece of paper. Selwyn stuffs it in the pocket of his jeans. “Thank you both so much, I must go or I’ll be in shtuk with Clarrie. We’ll be in touch.”
    Together they watch him as he slides gracefully into the Jaguar parked outside the shop on a double yellow line, and roars away up the street. Karen continues to look at the space where the Jaguar had been. “You know he be a TV personality, Major, the first I ever seen.”
    “Good lord, is he really? He certainly looks a bit on the theatrical side. I don’t watch the box much, I must have missed him somehow…” But Karen isn’t listening, she’s already moved into a blissful world of her own where TV personalities hobnob with granddad while queuing up to buy his honey. Sam, leaving her to it, wanders into the kitchen, retrieves a can of beer from the fridge before make himself a sandwich. Selwyn Woodhead; what did he do besides being a ‘personality’ and eating honey? At least he and his wife might liven up the place a bit. Emmie would be over the moon…
    She is.
    “Selwyn Woodhead! You have to be kidding! And you’re telling me you’ve never heard of him? Honestly, Sam, I sometimes wonder what you did in the army all those years, I really do.” Emmie has a rather painful bite mark on her thigh, and her toe’s a bit sore where Jack had inadvertently trodden on it, but these are honourable scars, to be cherished and laughed over in secret, and for her, she’s in a pretty good mood.
    “No I don’t know who he is.” Sam takes a sip of his tea (brick red and Em’s forgotten to put sugar in it), they’re in the kitchen having a post lunch cuppa. “And if you ask me, the guy’s a bit of an idiot. He told us he and his wife live on nuts and honey.”
    “He does pretty well on it, so you’ve no cause to laugh. We’d better get some in, I suppose.”
    “What?”
    “Nuts, of course. There’s a place in Belchester I think could –”
    “He’s getting his honey from Karen’s granddad.”
    Emmie closes her eyes, “Are you saying you let that ginger haired slut stick her oar in? You wouldn’t believe, I only have to be out of the place for ten minutes and you manage to bugger things