Page 44 of Six Steps to Happiness
“All the more reason to get in touch with Jack,” Willow said. “Honestly, Mum, you don’t know what you’ve been missing.”
If only Ronnie had her daughter’s confidence.And figure, she thought.
The crashing of the front door bursting open made Ronnie and her guests jump. “What on earth…?” Ronnie looked from her daughter to her mother-in-law.
Rising from her seat, she felt Charlie brush against her ankles as he hid himself under the dining table.
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Footsteps stomped down the hall. “I’ve got you now!”
“Nick?” Bea said, clearly surprised by her son’s actions.
He stormed into the room, his face oozing smugness and superiority. Momentarily caught off guard, he paused, surprised to see Willow and Bea sat there. The man was clearly too wrapped up in himself to have noticed his daughter’s car. “I didn’t realise you had visitors.”
“If you’d knocked and waited, instead of barging in uninvited, I could have told you,” Ronnie said.
“I must say, Nick, I did bring you up with more manners than that,” Bea said. “As for coming in here shouting… It’s not as if you even live here anymore.”
Nick looked at his mother. “Didn’t she tell you? When it comes to number six and number eight, there’s an open-house policy.” He trained his eyes on Ronnie. “Isn’t there?”
Ronnie suddenly felt nervous. She’d worked so hard at keepingOperation Poltergeistto herself. She’d done her best to stop Willow and Bea getting involved in her and Nick’s dispute, full stop. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she said.
“Oh, don’t be coy. I’m sure Mum and Willow would love to hear about what you’ve been up to lately.” He turned to his family members. “Wouldn’t you?” He smiled as he then focused his attention back on Ronnie. “I mean I still haven’t worked out how you got in, but I have to say I underestimated your creativity. And I certainly didn’t realise how vindictive you can be.”
“Nick!” Bea said. “Stop this.”
Vindictive, thought Ronnie. Nick was describing the wrong person there. The only ones to fit that mould were him and his new woman. If they’d done the decent thing from the start and moved somewhere else, Ronnie wouldn’t have had to resort to trespassing on their property. Everyone would be free to live as they pleased, them as well as her.
“Clever too,” Nick carried on. “I meanIcouldn’t have come up with a plan like that.”
Ronnie felt herself redden. She willed him to shut up.
“What are you talking about?” Bea said. “What’s Ronnie meant to have done?”
“I’m sure if asked, she’ll happily explain.”
Ronnie swallowed as everyone turned to look at her. “I don’t think now’s the time, Nick.”
“I thought you might struggle to admit anything,” he replied. “Which is why I brought this.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a mobile, one of those all-singing all-dancing smartphones that must have been new because Ronnie had never seen it before. “You didn’t really think you’d get away with it, did you?”
“Get away with what?” Bea asked, her frustrations coming to the fore.
Willow patted her grandmother’s hand in an attempt at reassurance. She looked at her father, her voice suddenly stern. “Dad, you’re beginning to sound like a bully. Whatever’s going on, let’s get it over with.”
Watching him, Ronnie couldn’t believe Nick’s delight despite everyone else’s concern. The man seemed to be having way too much fun to listen to his own daughter.
“At least I’m not a criminal,” he replied. “Unlike your mother here.”
Ronnie took in her daughter and mother-in-law’s confused expressions.
Nick swiped his phone screen a couple of times, before handing it to Ronnie. “Ring any bells?”
Ronnie looked down at the video Nick had obviously recorded. It might not have been the best quality, but she knew she was looking at herself. She felt the colour drain from her face as she watched her own image empty Gaye’s kitchen cupboards, repositioning and restacking crockery, pans, and anything else she could get her hands on.
Nick laughed. “Not looking quite so clever now, are you?” Without warning, he took the phone from Ronnie’s hand, gloating as he passed it to Bea.
Ronnie watched her mother-in-law silently absorb every single still, her face expressionless, before she, in turn, gave the phone to Willow. With no reaction from her daughter either, Ronnie knew how disappointed in her they must be. Why did Nick have to drag them into this? His issue was with her not them.
