Page 8 of Six Steps to Happiness
“Relax, Mum, it’s not as if it did me any harm. Anyway…” Willow got back to the matter at hand. “This woman, a journalist I think, was being interviewed. She was nine months pregnant and her husband had left her six weeks previous.”
“When she was due to have a baby?” Ronnie asked. “What is it about some men?”
“And you think you’ve got it bad,” Bea said.
“Exactly,” Willow carried on. “But the funny thing was, the woman being featured was fine. She claimed it only took six weeks to get over him, and that was that.”
“Rubbish!” Ronnie said. It had been more than two months since Nick’s departure, and she couldn’t imagine ever getting over the shock. “Unless she underwent some form of intense counselling or something.”
“I can’t actually remember the ins and outs,” Willow said. “But I don’t think so. She certainly didn’t mention anything like that.”
As her daughter handed everyone their fresh drinks, Ronnie shook her head. She couldn’t help but question what any of this had to do with her. “And you’re telling me about some random woman because?”
“Because it’s thanks to that interview that we have a plan,” Bea said.
“A plan?”
“Yes.” Her mother-in-law smiled.
Ronnie took in the two women before her. One, an individual so averse to commitment, the word didn’t actually appear in her dictionary. The other, so devoted, she’d never been able to move on from her dearly departed’s death. Not quite the relationship experts Ronnie would have chosen. In fact, she’d have laughed had the situation not been so ridiculous.
“Except instead of giving you six weeks to sort yourself out,” Bea added. “We’re giving you six steps.”
“Steps?” Again, Ronnie questioned their qualifications.
“Yes,” Willow said. “And we guarantee that come the end of them, Dad and Gaye will be a thing of the past.”
“Whether they live next door or not,” Bea said.
Bold statements, indeed, thought Ronnie and made with such sincerity she wasn’t quite sure how to respond.
“So, are you up for the challenge?” Willow asked.
Ronnie scoffed. “Let me get this straight. By taking part in this plan of yours, you’re telling me I won’t only be over mytwenty-five-yearmarriage, I’ll no longer give a damn that my husband…” She turned to Bea. “Your son.” She turned to Willow. “And your father… has shacked up with the woman next door?”
“Yes,” both women replied.
“You really think life’s that easy?” They might have had faith in what they were saying, but Ronnie had never heard anything so absurd.
Willow and Bea nodded emphatically. “Yes,” they said again.
Taking in their confidence, Ronnie didn’t know whether to fear or admire their conviction. More to the point, she dreaded to think what their six steps entailed. She watched Bea reach into her handbag, pull out an envelope and place it in the centre of the table. “And that is?”
“Your first step,” Bea replied. “Should you choose to accept.”
“Jesus,” Ronnie said. She shook her head at them both, before drinking a mouthful of tea. “And everyone thinks I’m the one losing the plot.”
5
Ronnie leant against the kitchen counter, a mug of tea in her hand. She yawned, tired after spending the night tossing and turning, thanks to the weird dreams playing out in her head.Dreams?she considered.Nightmares, more like!
She could still feel the fear as she pictured herself, stood alone and scared in a courtroom dock, her fate sealed when the presiding judge put on his black cloth cap ready to announce his verdict. All eyes on her, Ronnie tried to protest her innocence, only to find her voice failing over and over again.
“Guilty!” the judge declared.
Ronnie grabbed the dock’s handrail to steady herself. Cheers from the public gallery rang in her ears and she looked up to see Nick and Gaye applauding her downfall and hugging each other in celebration. Willow and Bea sat nearby, motionless as tears streamed down their faces. If only Ronnie had listened to them. Even the police officer and pizza man were there to bear witness, the two men neutral in their response, as if Ronnie being dragged off to prison was all in a day’s work.
Ronnie shuddered, bringing herself back into the present. Anyone would think she’d committed murder. The previous few days had clearly messed with her subconscious.
