Page 6 of Six Steps to Happiness
Ronnie shook her head. She and Willow might be the image of each other, but her daughter had definitely inherited Bea’s sense of humour. “Come on, sit down,” Ronnie said. While Willow took the seat next to Bea, Ronnie grabbed another mug from the cupboard and set the kettle to boil again. “I’m so pleased you’re here.” If anything was going to take her mind off her woes it was a long overdue catch-up with her daughter. “How are things going with Jonathan?” She handed her daughter a fresh mug of tea.
Willow rolled her eyes. “They’re not.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean we’re not together anymore.”
Ronnie sighed. Jonathan had seemed like such a lovely chap. Then again so had Richard, Leon, Simon… the list went on.
“He got too clingy. And you know me, I like my own space. I’m not into all that lovey-dovey stuff.”
“That’s because you’ve yet to meetThe One,” Bea said.
“The One?”
“Don’t worry, he’s out there somewhere.”
Ronnie giggled. The last thing her daughter looked was worried.
“And what if I’m not looking for him?” Willow asked. “What if I’m quite happy as a singleton?”
“Oh, you’ll still meet him,” Ronnie replied.
“And when you least expect it,” Bea added. “You’ll be out and about minding your own business and bang! you’ll find yourself staring into someone’s eyes, suddenly feeling a bit hot and bothered. Your heart will be racing, and you can forget about stringing a sentence together. You’ll be far too tongue-tied to say anything that makes sense.”
Ronnie saw the wistful look in her mother-in-law’s eyes. She knew Bea was thinking about Nick’s dad, Eric, a man Ronnie would have loved to have met. She’d seen photos, of course, and heard stories that proved he was every bit as kind and gentle as Bea and Nick described. She reached out to Bea with a comforting hand. Why were the good ones always taken too soon?
Bea pulled herself out of her reverie. “You mark my words, young lady. Before you know it, it will be love at first sight.”
Willow let out a laugh. “Don’t hold your breath. Anyway, I’m far more interested in what’s been going on around here lately.”
“What do you mean?” Ronnie asked.
“Duh. The policeman who came a-calling.”
Ronnie stiffened. “You know about that?” Her shoulders slumped in disappointment. “Of course you do. Why else would you turn up out of the blue like this?”
Realising that, like Bea’s, her daughter’s visit wasn’t purely social, Ronnie’s good mood was ruined. She wondered what Nick thought he was playing at. It was bad enough him and his floozy trying to coax Bea into doing their bidding, but for Nick to get his daughter in on the act too, it was unforgivable. “Whatever your father and Gaye with anetold you,” she said, addressing the issue head on, “I’m not losing it, I’m not hormonal, in fact I’m not anything except angry.Veryangry, in fact. Which I think, under the circumstances, I’m entitled to be, don’t you?” She looked from Willow to Bea, taking in their wide-eyed expressions. “What?”
“Dad and Gaye didn’t tell me anything,” Willow said.
“They didn’t?”
“No.”
Ronnie frowned in confusion. They had to have done. “So if it wasn’t them, who was it?”
4
Someone had told Willow what Ronnie had been up to and Ronnie wanted to know who.
She waited for one of them to answer the question, but both her daughter and mother-in-law appeared as uncomfortable as each other. Neither would look her in the eye, let alone speak, and Ronnie’s patience was running a bit thin. She watched Willow steal a glimpse at Bea. “Well?” Ronnie asked, feeling like a teacher dealing with two naughty school children.
Bea shifted in her seat. “It was me.”
Ronnie stared at her aghast. “But why?”
“Because I’m worried about you.”
