“Darling, I never make offers I don’t mean, so I will call her now and then I will come over to you.”
“If you have other things you need to do I’ll be fine,” she said seriously.
“Nothing that can’t wait.”
“I called you on your mobile first,” she suddenly blurted out.
“I know,” was his only response.
“Lucy answered, I hope I haven’t got you into trouble with her,” she almost whispered aware of the patients present still listening.
“Darling, please don’t worry about me. Now you get back to your dad and I will see you later.”
Jon was leadingSteph across the car park, her hand wrapped in his, having virtually forced her to leave the hospital for a while to get some rest.
Steph was quiet. She hadn’t wanted to leave the hospital but her boyfriend, siblings, and even Janice had made very good points about her needing to take a break, take care of herself and with so many of them visiting in pairs it would be a case of her sitting in the waiting room for hours.
“I might have chosen to stay,” she finally said, although she knew a break and a sleep might be more beneficial.
“Yes, but it would have been a foolish choice for you to make, so I made the sensible choice for you,” he told her frankly as he hit the remote on his key fob.
Steph looked around, confused as there was no sign of his car but he continued walking until he put her belongings on the back seat of a shiny, new Range Rover.
“Yours?” she asked confused.
“Apparently so.” He held the key up ironically.
“What was wrong with the Audi?”
“Nothing that I am aware of.” He stood holding the door for her to get in.
“I liked the Audi,” she mused as he got in beside her and started the engine.
“I still do, which is why it’s parked up at home, but you know my fondness for variety,” he said resting his hand on her knee as they waited for the exit barrier to lift.
Variety.Is that what she was? Not better or worse than Lucy, just different. Now really was not the time to discuss her thoughts on Lucy, Jon or herself. She was tired and emotional, not a good mix at the best of times.
“Where are we going?” Steph asked seriously.
“Home, back to yours I thought, where you can have a shower and get some sleep,” he said smiling across at her. “And I will bring you back later when it’s your turn to visit,” he said with smiling eyes.
“What?” she asked curious at his amusement.
“I like Eddie, he sorts you lot out and you all just comply, I like that.”
“We’re not always that compliant, but he does tend to take control of situations and sort us all out,” she agreed thinking how easily Eddie had organised a visiting rota.
The traffic home was fairly light compared to the hustle of rush hour traffic they normally travelled in and whilst the journey passed quickly, Steph felt the first real wave of tiredness wash over her as they travelled up to her flat in the lift where she nestled against his chest and inhaled his wondrous scent deeply.
“You smell nice,” she told him as she closed her eyes and inhaled again. “You always smell nice. I like it. A lot.”
“Are you flirting with me?” He smiled as he gently spanked her behind.
“Maybe after a shower, although I may go with a nice, long, relaxing bath full of bubbles,” she said almost thinking aloud as the lift stopped at her floor.
Submergedto her neck in bubbles, Steph stretched out in her huge bath and despite numerous efforts to fully occupy the vast space around her was unable to. She had first considered trying to entice Jon into the tub with her after he had run it for her and lit several scented candles before finally playing some soft, soothing classical music. After he told her in no uncertain terms that she needed to relax as he avoided all of her furtive glances and had not bitten any of the cherries she attempted to dangle before him, she had resolved to enjoy her bath alone.
Now as she lay there, still tired, but perfectly relaxed and free to consider the events of the last twenty-four hours she was glad to be alone for a while. She thought about her father and Janice, about her revelations to Jon and how he had seemingly taken them all in his stride and how he’d made contact with Mr Wright. She smiled to herself as she realised that his contacts knew no bounds.
