ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT? (Running Wild) Read Free Page B

with his life than he’d ever been, apart from not having enough hours in the day. The decision he’d made when Sadie was born, to leave his lucrative job at the agency and start freelancing so he could stay at home with her, had been the smartest thing he’d ever done in terms of personal satisfaction.
    There were a few drawbacks besides the financial ones. His conversation with Sullivan had reminded him that he’d like to get laid again before he lost his hair and teeth, but there were also times he longed just to talk to an intelligent female. There were things you could say to a woman that you’d never in this lifetime confide to a guy, old rugby buddy or not. Guys didn’t get into emotions much, at least the guys he knew.
    There was Mrs. Campanato, of course. She lived at the end of the block, she was like a grandmother to Sadie, and God knew she was a lifesaver for those times Harry had to interview someone in person, but she wasn’t somebody he could really have a conversation with. At five-ten, she was four inches shorter than he, but at maybe three hundred pounds, she outweighed him by sixty, and he considered her one scary lady. She didn’t converse; she pronounced, and because of her size and her attitude, Harry always had to fight the urge to salute and stand at attention.
    God knew how tiny Mr. Campanato had survived thirty years of being married to her. No wonder he spent most of his time in the workshop he’d fixed up behind their garage, making some lethal concoction he labeled vino.
    “Daaaddy, I’m all done now.”
    "Coming, princess.” Harry swigged the last of the coffee and headed for the bathroom, thinking over this latest assignment as he did what was necessary for Sadie and then, at her insistence, wrestled her back into the godforsaken striped tights.
    He would look up a few of the telephone sex ads in the paper. He’d never paid any attention to them before and wasn't sure what to expect. Then he’d pick a couple that sounded the most intriguing, and narrow them down to the most likely candidates. And he’d have to make sure she was local, he remembered. He had a contact at the phone company who could probably help with that.
    How the hell did you have sex with a person you’d never laid eyes on, over the telephone?
    Apparently he was about to find out. It made him just a little nervous, and curious as well.
    What were these women like who did phone sex for a living? What were their lives like, how did they spend their days? He had a vivid imagination, but try as he might, he found it impossible to imagine. 
     

Chapter Three
     
    The day had been hectic for Maxine, but there was a lull in business around seven forty five, long enough to bathe Graham and rock him to sleep. The lull lasted until Edna arrived to start her ten-hour night shift.
    “Want a cup of herbal tea?” Maxine had the kettle on.
    “I’d love one, thanks." Edna’s slight lisp and little-girl voice were at variance with her ample, motherly shape. Her straight gray hair was cut in a no-nonsense bowl shape around her square jaw, and as usual she wore comfortable black stretch pants and a blue-checked flannel shirt, frayed at the cuffs and neck, that had probably once belonged to one of her sons. She had the most flawless skin Maxine had ever laid eyes on, creamy and unlined.
    Her detective novel and her raffia knitting bag were close at hand; she was making a sweater for her younger son’s birthday, and she always had a mystery handy to read during the inevitable quiet times that came toward dawn.
    Maxine had learned that movies, books, and knitting were Edna's passions. She went to matinees in the afternoon, and she was wonderful at describing them. Maxine almost felt as if she’d seen the latest releases herself by the time Edna told her the story line. It was undoubtedly that ability to inject action into stories that made Edna so good at phone sex.
    "Has Graham's tooth come through yet?” Edna sipped her