Page 88 of Loving Netta Wilde

‘Have sexual intercourse? No, it does not help.’

No, he didn’t think it would, but it was worth a try.

‘There are more ways to be unfaithful than sex. Sex is just the tip of the iceberg. Remember that, Dougal. It might help you make better choices in the future. You can call Clyde now.’

Well that was him told off then. Doogie stepped out of the car to make the call.

Clyde came to get them straight away, his dog Colonel a few paces behind him. He was wearing his usual straw trilby, but he looked neater than he usually did. He must have dressed up for the occasion as well. Even Colonel looked as if he’d been given a brush.

Clyde pushed his hat back. ‘Hello, Priscilla. Nice to see you again. How you doing?’

She acknowledged him with a tight nod. ‘Surviving, Clyde. What about you?’

‘Surviving, Priscilla. I’ll take you up there.’

‘No.’ She pointed to Doogie. ‘He can do that.’

Doogie could see the sweat beads had returned. He offered her his arm again. This time she took it.

Ursula wasn’t on her allotment. It would have been awkward if she had been. Presumably the same thought had occurred to her. The path that ran through the gap in the fence had been cleared properly now so it was an easier walk up to Samuel’s shed. They stopped outside. ‘This one was his,’ he said.

‘I know.’

‘Sorry, I thought you hadn’t been here before.’

‘I haven’t. His old dada used to have a shed just like this one.’ She touched the battered old wicker chair that had been left outside. ‘He even had one of these. The family had a bit a land back home in Jamaica. Not much, but enough to grow a few crops. Samuel used to help him. He missed it when we came here.’

‘It’s not locked, if you want to go inside.’

‘In a bit.’ She let go of his arm. ‘Leave me now.’

‘Okay. I’ll come back in half an hour. I won’t be far away if you need me though.’

‘If you see her, tell her come.’

Doogie nodded and walked back up the path. When he got to the hedge, he looked back. Priscilla was still standing facing the shed, her hand on the old wicker chair.

There was a bench on Ursula’s allotment. He sat down on it and pulled out his phone. Merrie had left a message to say she and Claire were coming over to Netta’s tonight for dinner. Doogie thought about Colin facing his demons, his emotions running wild. He thought about boxes, and his own demons, and what Priscilla had said about there being more ways to be unfaithful than sex. He needed to call Grace.

‘Hello.’ Her voice was sharp. She often sounded that way on the phone, even when she didn’t mean to be, but Doogie reckoned this time, she meant to be.

‘Are you in the middle of something?’

‘I’m always in the middle of something, and I’m a bit shorthanded at the moment.’ It was a dig at him not being there to help her out.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Believe it or not, I’m in your garden trying to keep the weeds down.’

‘There’s no need to do that.’

‘Why? Are you coming back to do it yourself?’

‘Yeah. Soon.’

‘How soon?’

‘Not sure yet. I have a couple of things I need to finish off. I’ll explain when I get back.’

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