Page 64 of Six Steps to Happiness
He seemed to pause before leaving, as if waiting for Ronnie to say something. But she remained quiet.
Jack leaned in and kissed her cheek, before whispering in her ear. “You have my number,” he said. “Call me. Anytime.”
Ronnie smiled. “Thank you.” She watched him head down the path to his car, remembering the first time she’d seen him. He’d seemed so intimidating back then, nothing at all like the gentle giant she’d gotten to know. On that occasion, she’d been desperate to see him leave and never come back.Funny how things turn out, she considered. Standing there in that moment, she didn’t want him to ever go.
He put up his hand before climbing into his vehicle, and Ronnie waved back as he drove away. She let out a wistful sigh, knowing she probably wouldn’t ring him, she didn’t have the guts. She took a deep breath, knowing that meant she’d perhaps never speak to the man again.
As Willow pulled into the space Jack had just left, Ronnie waved in acknowledgement for a second time. She couldn’t help but smile as she clocked her daughter’s expression – a confused mix of both shock and delight.Here we go, she thought, anticipating the round of twenty questions about to follow.
Fighting with her seat belt, Ronnie’s daughter didn’t seem able to get out of her car quickly enough. “Mother,” she said, when she at last managed it. “Please tell me I’m right in what I’m thinking here, I mean that definitely wasn’t a police car.” She charged towards Ronnie. “Please tell me PC Jack Shenton stayed the night.”
Ronnie stood aside to let her daughter into the hallway and, with a mischievous twinkle in her eye, closed the door behind them. “He did.”
Willow gasped, putting a hand up to her chest. “You devil.” She let her hand fall. “I want to know everything.”
Ronnie opened the door to the lounge. “I think this should explain all,” she said, a big smile on her face as she revealed a pillow and a spare duvet folded neatly into a pile on the sofa.
Willow’s expression turned deadpan. “I am so disappointed in you right now.”
Ronnie shook her head and chuckled.
“So, what you’re saying is you spent the whole evening talking?”
“Yes.”
Willow groaned.
“Because that’s what we did.”
It was clear Willow couldn’t have been less impressed if she’d tried. “We’re so not related. I’m adopted. I have to be.” She sighed. “It must have been a long conversation if the man was too tired to drive home.”
“It was,” Ronnie replied. “We chatted about lots of things. My job, you, your grandmother and your six-step plan. Even your dad got a mention a couple of times.”
Willow raised an eyebrow. “You’re telling me you did all the talking, aren’t you? And that Jack didn’t get a word in?”
“Yep.”
“You gave him your life story, didn’t you?”
“Pretty much.”
“That poor man.”
Ronnie laughed again. “What can I say, he’s a good listener.”
Willow shook her head.
“Let me get my bag and we’re good to go.” Ronnie headed into the kitchen to collect it, knowing that a part of her felt as frustrated as her daughter. She and Jack had sat for hours the night before, while Charlie lay happy at their feet. On and on she’d prattled, Jack laughing in the right places, reassuring her in others, and knowing when to simply say nothing. Jack made opening up easy. Ronnie sighed. Not that she had disclosed everything.
On the few occasions when Ronnie had fallen quiet, she found herself looking into the man’s eyes. During those moments, she’d wanted so much to kiss him; to lead him upstairs to her decluttered bedroom where they could make wild passionate love. Jack would have let her too, she knew that. She could tell by the intensity in his gaze that he wanted her as much as she wanted him. But like Ronnie had formerly explained, she didn’t believe in friends with benefits.
Willow had been right to describe Ronnie as an all-or-nothing kind of person; one-night stands would never be her thing. Jack had to want to commit, to accept her for who she was, regardless of her prior antics. However, while Ronnie was happy to forget all aboutOperation Poltergeist, that didn’t mean Jack was too.
Ronnie sighed, wishing she were more like her daughter. If she were, she’d have had the confidence to ask him if he’d put aside his principles, to tell him how she really felt. She smiled. She’d have had the confidence to simply go for it and ravish him.
Ronnie grabbed her handbag before scanning the room in search of Charlie. She spotted his tail poking out from under the table and smiling, crouched down to his level. Despite his permanent smile, he looked pitiful, lying there, with his head resting on the ground between his two front paws. “I feel the same,” Ronnie said, guessing the yellow Lab was also wondering when, if ever, he would see Jack again. She rubbed his head, a bit of her wishing she could stay so they could feel sorry for themselves together. But she couldn’t. If one good thing had come out of her wittering on to Jack, it was that she’d finally been able to put things into perspective. “You be a good boy,” she said, rising to her feet. “I won’t be long. I promise.”
“Ready?” she asked Willow, as she headed back out into the hall. Her daughter nodded and Ronnie locked the door behind them as they made their way out to the car. Climbing in, Ronnie felt nervous. “Are you sure this is okay? The last thing your grandmother needs right now is any trouble and if your dad finds out…”
