Page 37 of Six Steps to Happiness
Jack suddenly shifted on his feet. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, it was as if he felt a tad awkward all of a sudden. “If it’s not overstepping the mark, do you think I could come and visit him sometime? Take him for a walk, if you’re busy with work? We could even walk him together. If you’re up for that?”
Observing Jack’s sincerity, Ronnie couldn’t help but smile.A gentle giant who happens to love animals, she thought. Surely Jack Shenton was too good to be true? A romantic image of the three of them, out in the fresh air, enjoying the wild outdoors, appeared in her mind’s eye and in that moment, she’d have liked nothing more. “That would be lovely.”
Jack grinned. “Great. It’s a date.”
Ronnie blushed. However, not only hadshepicked up on his choice of wording, so had Willow and Bea. Ronnie could feel their eyes boring into the back of her head and hear their giggling. The two of them were, no doubt, reading more into the situation than Jack intended.
“Hang on a second,” he said. “I’ll be back in a tick.”
While Jack ran towards Woodhaven’s reception, disappearing inside, Ronnie took the opportunity to throw her daughter and mother-in-law a look. “You two are so embarrassing,” she said, willing them to stop sniggering.
“Take this,” Jack said on his return, holding out a scrap of paper. “It’s my number.”
“Oh,” Ronnie replied, not quite sure what else to say.
“Give me a call when you’re ready to organise that dog walk.” He began heading back towards the building, turning to face Ronnie again as he got to the door. “Or anything else you might fancy,” he called back, with a wink.
As Jack disappeared, Ronnie’s cheeks reddened again. This time it wasn’t only what he’d said, it was also the way he’d said it. And in front of her daughter and mother-in-law too. Ronnie cringed, closing her eyes for a second before turning to face them. As expected, she could tell by their grins they weren’t going to let her live the man’s remark down.
“Wow,” Willow said. “How much does that man fancy you?”
“Rubbish,” Ronnie replied, ignoring the butterflies fluttering around in her tummy. Doing her best to dismiss the idea, she climbed onto the seat next to Charlie.
“I think you’ll find he does,” Willow added.
Willow and Bea got in the front, before putting on their seat belts ready for the drive back to Holme Lea Avenue.
“There’s nothinkabout it,” Bea said. “All that talk about joint dog walks.” She reached into the back, giving Charlie a pat on the head. “You’re just his ruse, aren’t you, sweetie? He’s using you to get to Mummy.”
Embarrassed enough already, Ronnie shook her head.
“And that wink at the end,” Willow said. “There was no denying what that meant.”
“No wonder he hand-delivered your sketchbook that time. Talk about any excuse. Although I must say, he’s a bit of all right,” Bea said. “You could do worse.”
Ronnie knew it was wishful thinking, but she wanted the conversation to end.
“I agree.” Willow looked at Ronnie through her rear-view mirror. “Make sure you keep hold of that number, Mum.”
Ronnie sighed, resigned to the fact that neither of them was going to leave it. “I knew as soon as Jack opened his mouth, the two of you would be like this. And don’t think I couldn’t hear your childish sniggering.”
“I’m not sure how I feel about having a police officer for a stepdad though,” Willow continued.
“What are you talking about now?” Ronnie couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
Bea cocked her head. “What relation would he be to me when they get married?”
“He’s not going to be anything to either of you,” Ronnie said, but she was clearly talking to herself.
“Yeah, right,” Willow said as she started up the engine.
Charlie let out a bark.
“See, even he agrees with me.”
“Charlie wants to go home,” Ronnie replied, giving him a fuss.
Willow put the car into gear and drove away from Woodhaven. “Anyone would think we didn’t see the way you two looked at each other.”
