Another Summer by Sue Lilley

made Joe horny.  Not the most convenient  feeling, when you were driving in such dangerous weather.  And what was it with women and silence?  They just didn’t get it.  Lisa had been chattering the whole way about nothing.  It would be a relief to actually get there.
    “We’re almost in York.  Do you know where we’re going?  The one-way system can be a nightmare.”
    Lisa fished a scrap of paper from the pocket of her jeans but recited the address without having to read it. How bloody typical!  Almost next door to his sister’s place.  Could it get any worse?  He could hardly drive past the door without calling in and the last thing he wanted at the moment was family chit-chat.
    “If I send you an invitation, will you to come to my wedding?”
    “What wedding?”
    He’d snapped without thinking.  He saw Lisa was biting her lip and felt mean for being cross with her.  Beneath the bravado, she was a scared young girl wanting the fairy tale.  It wasn’t her fault she was bringing back memories he’d rather forget.
    While he’d been trying to concentrate on the road, she’d been putting on make-up.  Far too much in Joe’s opinion but it wasn’t for him to say.  He wasn’t the poor sod about to get an unplanned visit.
    “Maybe you should try not to get your hopes up.”  
    “Simon’s got to marry me, Joe.  Or my mother’s going to kill me.”
    “But maybe you should have a back-up plan, just in case?”
    “What do you mean?”
    Did he really have to spell it out for her?  Tell her she was probably a casual shag that the guy could barely remember?  He was hardly going to be thrilled by a pregnant schoolgirl turning up on his doorstep.  Joe knew all about that.  The guy hadn’t even told her he’d moved.  She was only here because Simon’s mother, of all people, had given out his address to get rid of her.
    “You haven’t seen him since March, right?”
    “But we text all the time.”
    Joe stopped himself asking how long it had been since the last text.  She didn’t need to feel any worse.  But when it all went horribly wrong, no doubt he’d be the one picking up the pieces and he’d only just met the girl.  It was looking less likely he’d get to Cornwall today, the weather was so bad it had taken ages to get even this far.
    “Look Lisa, I only meant he’s going to need time to get used to the situation.  And parents are programmed to deal with trouble.  Maybe your mother will be more understanding than you think.”
    “She’ll be more understanding when I tell her I’m getting married.”
    Joe suspected a shotgun wedding at sixteen would be hardly less of a blow to Lisa’s mother, but he kept that to himself.  
    “Anyway, here we are.  Welcome to York, my home town.”
    He knew he didn’t sound enthusiastic.  But even after living away for years, the first sight of the golden stone walls always managed to make him feel trapped.
    “You never mentioned that.”
    “I thought I just did.  My four sisters are all still here but I don’t come back unless I have to.”
    “I always wanted a sister.”
    “You can have one of mine.”
    Another one of his jokes she didn’t laugh at.  If he wasn’t careful he’d be getting a complex.
    Even on a wet Sunday, nothing much had changed.  The same mad traffic in the wrong lanes.  The same tour buses holding everything up and the same flaky tourists nearly being run over with their cameras and dinky little maps.
    “Simon will be pleased to see me, won’t he?  Do you think he’ll want me to move in with him?”
    Joe’s stomach plunged down to his feet.  He was hardly the poster boy for responsible behaviour.  What could he tell her?
    “Like I said, he might need some time.  It’s bound to be a shock.  I’d plan on going home anyway, if I were you.  Just for the time being.  I’ll take you, like we said.”
    “Okay, maybe if you think that’s best.  Do I look alright?”
    He could hardly say he