'I can't stay long,' he told her.

'Lee! I've barely seen you for weeks, months even. Just the odd poxy weekend.' She pouted. 'It's not fair.'

'It'll be better when we get a quarter. I'll go and see the new boss as soon as I can. I've heard on the grapevine he's a sound bloke. And he's married, so he should be sympathetic.' His new platoon commander had only been posted in to the company at the start of the exercise, so Lee hadn't encountered him yet, but the rumour was that he was OK.

'We could still go somewhere tonight,' wheedled Jenna. 'Come on, sweetie,' she cooed, putting her hand on his crotch and giving the bulge there a gentle rub. 'You know you want to.' She rubbed harder. 'Doesn't your genie want to come out and play?'

Lee removed her hand. 'Jenna, I'm knackered.'

'Just a quickie? Please. Just for me?'

Lee relented. Why not? s.h.i.t, if he was getting all the flak for being married, he might as well make full use of the benefits. 'Oh, OK then. Get your coat, you've pulled.'

Jenna leapt up with a squeal of delight. 'Oooh, Lee Perkins, I do love you!'

They said a hurried goodbye to Immi and Chrissie before pushing their way through the crowds of soldiers in the bar, ignoring the lewd gestures, the catcalls and the 'we-know-where-you're-going' comments, and back into the fresh air.

Ten minutes later Jenna was struggling up the uneven path behind the barracks in her high heels while Lee marvelled that she could walk in them at all, especially over this rough terrain. Finally she declared they'd gone far enough not to be tripped over by other couples from the barracks also in search of some privacy, although Lee suspected that her shoes had more to do with this than their distance from the camp.

'Come here, you,' said Jenna, turning Lee to face her. She gave him a deep probing kiss, as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tightly against his lean body. They were well away from the paths and byways where keep-fit fanatics might be out on an evening run, and oblivious to the scents and noises of the twilight, being utterly absorbed in each other.

Then Jenna drew back and took the poncho that Lee had in his hand, unfurling it with a deft flick of her wrist on the ground.

'Come on, Lee,' she said as she knelt on it. She lay back and began to unb.u.t.ton first her thick jumper and then the top she had on underneath.

Lee hunkered down next to her and gazed at her body.

'Look, sweetie,' she said, propping her naked top half up on an elbow so her b.r.e.a.s.t.s jiggled tantalisingly, 'much as I'd love to spend the whole night posing for you, it's b.l.o.o.d.y cold and I'm about to get frostbite. So get your kit off, there's a love, and get on with it.'

As chat-up lines went it wasn't wonderful, thought Lee, but he was used to obeying orders and anyway, it was what they were here for. Besides, she did have a point, it was perishing. In a matter of seconds he had his shirt off and trousers down and was lying naked next to Jenna with his multicam combat jacket over the top of them for extra warmth. He felt her hand slide down his torso and then onto his hip. Slowly, he could feel her fingers tiptoe over his skin towards his c.o.c.k. In the afterglow of the sunset and the lights from the barracks reflected off the autumn clouds, he could see her smiling at him.

'You warm enough now?' he whispered as he brushed his thumb over her nipple. Jenna shivered, but Lee wasn't sure whether it was from desire or the cold.

'I will be in a minute.' She gave a naughty giggle as her fingers finally lighted on his p.e.n.i.s, which instantly responded. She kissed his nose.

Lee slid his hand between her legs and, finding her deliciously wet and ready, plunged in and began his rhythmic thrusting. Beneath him, Jenna squirmed and made obligingly encouraging noises, and Lee pumped deeper and harder until Jenna made some little yips of delight as she raked her fingernails down his back. A minute later Lee came too and he collapsed, spent and trembling on top of her, his body slick with sweat.

'Thanks, babe,' said Jenna, panting slightly. She kissed his nose again and gave him a gentle shove.

Lee rolled off her, but stayed snuggled up close. 'Say if you feel cold,' he said quietly as he gave her a cuddle. It had hardly been an ideal s.h.a.g, but better than nothing, and Jenna seemed happy enough, which was all that mattered.

'Well...' said Jenna.

'You want to go back in the warm?'

Jenna squinted at her watch. 'Maybe I should be getting home soon. Mum'll have a go at me if I wake up Shona, so I can't be too late. G.o.d, I so can't wait till we get a quarter.'

'We've got a long weekend coming up. I thought we could go and see my mam.'

'Your mum? You sure?' Jenna sounded wary. 'She wasn't happy about you and me getting hitched.'

'It's time to build bridges. Besides, she's had time to get used to the idea now.'

'You sure?'

'Jenna, I'm twenty-three. I've my own life to live. Mam's got to get used to the idea that I love her, I always will, but I'm putting you and me first now.'

Jenna didn't look convinced. 'I suppose. But on top of her not wanting you to sign up and join the army... I mean, she has got reasons to be mad at you, like getting married when you knew she was dead against it.'

Lee pulled on his T-shirt. 'Then it's time she got over it. When she gets to know you properly she'll see exactly why I fell for you, and as for that other business just because Dad got killed in Iraq doesn't mean it's going to happen to me.'

But that was the main problem. His mum had been against him joining; she'd lost her husband because of the army and Lee was her only son. It had taken him till he was twenty-two to get the courage to go against her. It was that, or die of boredom in civvy jobs. And, having defied his mother once, it had been easier to do it a second time when she'd expressed her doubts about Jenna's suitability as an army wife. She might have got used to the fact that Lee was in uniform, but she was still very sniffy about his missus.

'You can't blame her for wanting to keep you safe.' Jenna leaned forward and gave him a kiss, tactfully glossing over the fact that she had a mother-in-law who disliked her. 'I don't want anything to happen to you either. So have you actually asked her yet if we can stay? Because I'm sure I can get away if she's OK about it. Zo owes me a weekend off. Didn't seem any point in asking not to work Sat.u.r.days when you were away.'

'I'll ring her tomorrow.' Lee stepped into his trousers and then zipped them up.

'And while we're up there, you can show me what Newcastle has to offer.'

Lee gave her a slow smile. 'It'll have to be during the day. There's a double bed in the front room and frankly I'm planning on spending as much time in it as possible.'

Jenna gave him a friendly shove. 'You soldiers are all the same and I should know!'

For a second Lee felt a tiny stab of jealousy. Then he manned up pretty girl like her, of course she'd have had a few previous boyfriends. And why not?

He walked her back to where her car was parked and watched as she drove away towards her mother's little council house, the other side of the garrison. It was that little runabout that had brought them together in the first place; it had been broken down at the side of the road, just beyond the barrack gates. Jenna had been standing beside it in the rain looking helpless and Lee, returning from a night out with the boys, had offered to have a look at it for her. Two minutes later he'd found the lead that had disconnected from the battery, fixed it back on again, and his reward had been a date, which had developed into a helter-skelter ride into marriage.

There were times when Lee couldn't quite believe how fast it had all happened. Six months ago he'd just finished basic training and had been posted south to this unit, and all he'd had in mind was doing some proper soldiering; now, here he was, married with a wife and responsibilities. And a mother who was less than happy about everything. Lee sighed. The bridge he would have to build needed to be about as big and solid as the Tyne Bridge.

He made his way back to his barrack block. His thoughts turned to Jenna's two mates who had been with her when he'd arrived at Tommy's Bar. He was sure he'd seen the coloured girl somewhere before. Of course, there weren't that many girls who worked with the regiment, so they tended to stick out. Jenna's mate Immi certainly did in all the right places. But the other girl Chrissie, was it? wasn't nearly so obvious, although she was pretty in an understated way. Big brown smiley eyes. Then he remembered. The last time he'd seen those big brown eyes they hadn't been smiling, they'd been full of worry, because she thought he was about to die. She was the medic. She was the nurse who'd hated his guts.

He was still chuckling when he reached his room.

3.

Down the road from the barracks, in a quarter on Omdurman Avenue, Maddy Fanshaw wearily surveyed the overflowing boxes and packing cases that littered the sitting room floor. It was a nice quarter, much nicer than the one she'd just moved out of, so she couldn't complain.

Actually, she thought, she b.l.o.o.d.y could. It might be bigger, brighter and more modern than the last house but it still had dreary fawn carpets and hideous stretch covers on the issue three-piece suite, and the paint was chipped and peeling, the kitchen units tatty and the cooker electric. She hated electric cookers. And Seb... Seb wasn't around and she was knackered and...

She dashed away a tear. Feeling sorry for herself wasn't going to get things done, but there was so much to be done, she thought despairingly: the unpacking, the getting straight, and Nate to look after. Maybe if he wasn't colicky, she'd cope better. Maybe if her husband hadn't been away for a whole fortnight, it wouldn't seem so impossible. It wasn't his fault and she knew she was being horribly unfair, but there was a small bit of her that blamed him for the state her life was in right now.

OK, so getting posted very suddenly, just three months after she'd given birth, hadn't been something anyone had planned or expected, but Seb going off immediately on some regimental exercise the minute he arrived in his new job, leaving her to cope with the house move alone, had almost been the last straw.

'Not to worry,' he'd said cheerfully. 'It'll be much easier without me underfoot, getting in the way.'

And because Maddy had never moved house before, she'd believed him. And when she'd realised just how ghastly the process was, there was no chance of dumping Nate with her parents for a few days while she dealt with the worst of it as they'd already swanned off on their annual cruise.

'If only you'd warned us,' said her mother on an expensive satphone call from somewhere in the Pacific, 'we could have fitted our dates around you.'

Maddy thought bleakly that she'd only had three weeks' notice herself, so that had never been an option. She tried to gee herself up with thoughts of the pioneering women who'd schlepped out to India or trekked along the Oregon Trail, but they hadn't had to cope with army cleanliness inspections of the houses they had left behind. The realisation had just deluged her in more feelings of self-pity.

But Seb would be home tonight, he'd lighten the load. Except, she thought, as she looked at her watch and saw that it was nearly nine, where the h.e.l.l was he? She was sure he'd said they would get back to the barracks mid-afternoon and here it was, well into Friday evening and still no sign.

Maddy longed for supper and bed, but she had no doubt he expected to come home to a tidy house and a happy smiling wife. And, more than likely, some food, but she didn't want to cook twice once for herself and then again for him. Or maybe she ought to go ahead and eat and not wait any longer? G.o.d, she was too tired even to make a decision about that. She leaned back in the armchair and let her eyes close. Just five minutes...

'h.e.l.lo, sleepy head.'

Maddy jumped, and her eyes snapped open as she was catapulted instantly into wakefulness. She hadn't heard the front door open. Feelings of utter happiness swept through her, just at the sight of him, banishing her earlier ones of resentment.

'Seb!' She jumped up from the chair and threw her arms around his chest. Even though she was tall five feet eight she only reached his shoulder. 'Seb, darling, welcome home. I didn't mean to be asleep.'

'Asleep? You were snoring your head off,' he said with a grin. 'I'm surprised the neighbours haven't complained.'

Maddy snuggled into his embrace, ignoring the grungy smell of his combats. 'The neighbours are too nice to do that. Well, the ones I've met are.'

'That's good to hear.' Seb let her go and swung his huge Bergen off his back and dumped it on the floor adding to the chaos. 'How's Nate?'

'Colicky.'

'Still?'

What did he expect that she'd found a magic cure for that on top of doing everything else? Her resentment, egged on by physical exhaustion, seeped back. 'You've only been gone a fortnight, Seb,' she grumbled, not adding that it had felt like a b.l.o.o.d.y sight more, what with one thing and another.

'Yeah, but I thought it was called three-month colic.'

'I'm not a b.l.o.o.d.y miracle worker.' Maddy said this a bit more tersely than she intended.

'I'm sorry, sweetie, I didn't mean...'

'No, and I didn't mean what I said. Just a bit short in the sleep department still.' She smiled. She adored Seb; she adored every bit of him from his floppy blond hair to his size thirteen feet; she adored his dark brown eyes and his gorgeous, kissable mouth and his wonderful, sculpted pecs. And she adored him despite his absences and commitment to his job, and his b.l.o.o.d.y rowing, which ate into weekends and spare time. 'You're late.'

'I know. There was so much to do when we got back. You know how it is.'

Maddy did. She'd heard the mantra often enough: that a good officer looked after his horse first, his men second and himself last. And, she'd noted, way after that, way, way down the pecking order, came his family. She tried not to mind; Seb had explained to her exactly what army life would be like, he hadn't pulled his punches, but Maddy had signed up regardless. And there were good bits, lots of them, but the bad bits were beyond s.h.i.t.

He leaned towards her to kiss her. She could smell beer.

'Have you been to the mess?' she accused, her hazel eyes flashing with annoyance.

'A swift half with the lads. Honest, that was all. Just to unwind a bit, before I came home. It's all been a bit full on and we only got back about an hour ago.'

Maddy battened down her irritation that he hadn't come straight back to her. Why shouldn't he have a drink with the lads? Except when was the last time she'd been able to go out with her friends? Not since Nate had arrived not once.

She swallowed down a lump in her throat. G.o.d, what was the matter with her? Seb did not want a tearful wife as a welcome present. 'Do you want something to eat?' she offered, pulling herself together.

'Too knackered at the moment. I tell you what I would like, a hot bath and a large Scotch. And then probably bed.'

He did look knackered, Maddy conceded. Even more tired than herself, and that was saying something. They were like a pair of zombies. 'The exercise was tough?'

Seb nodded. 'Pretty tough. The lack of sleep just grinds you down after a bit.'

As if Maddy didn't know. And she'd been at it for three months; Seb had suffered for just two weeks. But she didn't say so. Feeding in the middle of the night night in, night out and coping with a baby who cried relentlessly when he was awake, wasn't half so hard as running about playing soldiers, was it? She could have done with someone to run her a bath now and again and bring her a stiff drink, but had it ever happened? She sent Seb off for his bath while she poured a large Scotch, which she took up to him. He was already stripping off his noxious clothes when she appeared in the bedroom. Beneath his combats his skin was grey with grime and fatigue.

'Don't fall asleep in the bath,' she instructed. 'I'll be up in fifteen minutes to check you haven't.'

'Yes, ma'am,' said Seb with a grin.

'And clean the bath after you when you get out. It'll be revolting.'

She had gone downstairs and motivated herself enough to make a stab at unpacking a few more bits and pieces, when she heard a knock at the door. She thanked any G.o.d listening that whoever it was had had the sense to knock and not ring the doorbell, which might have woken Nate.

'Caro! How lovely.' Which was a lie. Not that Maddy wasn't happy to see her new neighbour Caro was lovely from what she'd seen of her. Certainly she was more acceptable than her only other visitor so far Mrs Notley, the commanding officer's wife. She had called around the day after Maddy had moved in. Maddy had barely got the door open before she'd barged in and taken stock of what she'd seen. Or, at least, that's what Maddy had a.s.sumed she'd been doing. With Nate screaming, it had been difficult to hold a conversation.

'And I won't hold you up,' Mrs Notley had almost shouted to be heard over Nate's cries. 'I just popped by to make sure you've settled in OK.'

It would have been patently obvious to anyone that Maddy hadn't and that she was struggling, but the 'popping in' obviously wasn't going to come with an offer of help. Mrs Notley wasn't wearing pressed jeans and a Boden shirt, topped off with immaculate hair and make-up, with the intention of rolling up her sleeves and getting her hands dirty. In fact, thought Maddy, Mrs Notley was here to tick a box on her list of jobs to be done, and to make sure this new wife knew who the boss's wife was.

'It's colic,' Maddy explained, as Mrs Notley (no invitation to call her by her first name, Maddy had noticed) raised an eyebrow in her son's direction.

'Poor you,' said Mrs Notley. 'I was lucky, I've had four children and not one suffered.' But there was no doubt in Maddy's mind that Mrs Notley didn't think luck had played a part at all. 'Still,' she'd breezed on, 'colic or no colic, I've no doubt you can't wait to get stuck into regimental life.'

Maddy tried hard to arrange her expression into something that might be taken for enthusiasm rather than horror.

'Unless,' continued Mrs Notley, with a hint of a sneer, 'you're going to be one of these career women.'

s.h.i.t, thought Maddy, since when did having a job and earning money become socially unacceptable? She'd heard that in some circles the only acceptable career for an officer's wife was supporting her husband's, but she'd never really taken it seriously. But now... sheesh, how last century was that? She grabbed Nate out of his chair while she tried to think of an ambivalent answer.

'Mrs Notley...' She paused, waiting for the 'call-me-whatever' invitation. Nope. 'To be honest, right now I can't think of anything beyond unpacking and Nate's colic. He's only a few months old,' she added, although wasn't it obvious, especially to someone who had had four kids?

'But soon you'll be raring to get back into harness. And as soon as you are, I am sure you'll be dying to make yourself useful as a regimental wife.'

When I do get any energy back, I'm going to be raring to earn money and dying to do a proper job, thought Maddy desperately. f.u.c.k being a volunteer drudge for the regiment. But she had an awful feeling that the sentiment was going to be unacceptable. Mrs Notley might have managed to be the Perfect Officer's Wife, while she'd been popping out kids like peas, but all Maddy could cope with right now was getting through each day.

Still, she thought, pushing the last nightmare visit into a corner, this was Caro at the door, not Mrs b.l.o.o.d.y Notley, so she slapped on a smile and tried to look welcoming.

'Hon, this is a big ask,' said Caro, 'but Will is back and wants feeding, and I'm out of bread. The kids ate the last for their tea and the Spar is shut. Any chance you can bail me out?'

Thank G.o.d, thought Maddy, a sensible request, not something that was going to require a huge personal sacrifice of either her time or her career prospects or both. 'Good grief, yes. It's not a big ask at all, I've got at least one loaf in the freezer, if not several.'

Caro followed her into the house as Maddy went to find the bread. 'I see you're still battling with the move,' she said, looking at the piles of kitchen equipment still waiting to be put away.