The Rock'n'Roll Romance Box Set (Pam Howes Rock'n'Roll Romance Series) Read Free

She’d rather
be home alone, staring at a photo of Eddie.
    But it was too late. Eddie was married to Angie
Turner and they had a two-year old son. Things had been okay with Mark at
first. She’d met him at Mario’s a few weeks after splitting up with Eddie. He
was the bass player in The Scorpions ,
a rival band to The Raiders . He also
had a respectable day-job at Lloyds bank. Her mother thought the sun shone out
of his backside because he wore smart suits and shirts and ties. She was
forever going on about how lucky Jane was to have found such a nice boy after
that Mellor lad and all his black leather.
    There was a knock at the door. Mark got to his
feet. ‘Another little surprise for you.’ He crossed the room and let in Jane’s
best friend Sammy and Sammy’s boyfriend Roy, both wearing anxious expressions.
    Jane could see the pair looked uncomfortable
and had no doubt they’d been coerced into joining them, probably against their
better judgement.
    ‘Hi, you two.’ She rushed across the room and
hugged them. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’
    ‘Mark invited us,’ Roy said. ‘He thought it would be nice
for us all to spend some time together. We couldn’t share the journey. Sammy
had college this morning. We got the train to Kendal and a bus up here, but
we’ll have a lift home on Sunday.’
    ‘Sunday?’ Jane echoed. ‘I thought we were only
here for the night?’
    ‘I booked the whole weekend,’ Mark said. ‘We’ll
see how it goes. We can always go back early.’
    ‘Right, we’ll leave you to it and go and unpack
our bags,’ Roy said. ‘What time’s dinner?’
    ‘Eight,' Mark replied.
    ‘Great, we’ll give you a knock,’ Roy said, pushing Sammy towards the
door.
    ‘Why didn’t you tell me they were coming?’ Jane
asked as her friends left the room.
    ‘Didn’t want to spoil the surprise.’ Mark
shrugged. ‘Roy told me The Raiders weren’t playing this weekend so I thought a foursome might be good, seeing as
you can’t stand being alone with me at the moment.’
    Jane ignored the jibe. ‘I’ve only brought
enough clothes for one day. You should have said something before we left.’
    Mark dug in his case and handed her a large,
flat box. ‘Happy Valentine’s Day. You can wear this when we go down to dinner.’
    She stared at the box with dismay. Across the
front was the legend, Estelle Modes -
Fashions of Distinction. Estelle Modes was the most old fashioned dress
shop in Pickford. Even her mum wouldn’t be seen dead wearing anything from
there and that was saying something. Last month Mark had bought her a black
wool skirt that came below her knee, knowing full well she favoured the
new-style mini. The black skirt now resided at the back of her wardrobe. She
was forever making excuses as to why she never wore it.
    She placed the box on the bed and gingerly
lifted the lid. She removed layers of white tissue paper and lifted out a
high-necked, long-sleeved, shapeless dress in thick blue crepe. Her heart sank.
It wasn’t even her colour. Mark was watching her, smiling, head on one side.
She forced a smile back.
    ‘What do you think?’ he said. ‘Mum helped me
choose it.’
    Jane swallowed hard. Now why didn’t that
surprise her? ‘Erm, it looks a bit big,’ she mumbled. ‘I’m only a size ten.’
    ‘It is a size ten.’ The smile left his face.
    ‘I’ll try it on later.’ She pecked him on the
cheek. ‘Thanks. It’s very kind of you to bother.’ She put the dress on a
hanger, hung it in the wardrobe and began to unpack her case.
    ***
    In the bathroom, Jane pushed her finger nail
through the flimsy nylon and stared at the ladder running up her slender leg.
‘Whoops!’ She smiled as it ran over her knee. She’d have to wear her black
velvet flares and red silk shirt now instead of the new dress. Mark wouldn’t be
very pleased. He’d say she should have brought an extra pair of stockings. Well
it was too bad. He was lucky she was here at all.
    She knew exactly