My Sweet Valentine, page 16
“What are you talking about? You’re rambling, Jenny.”
“Andy’s daughter was taken when she was only four years old, and it’s only recently he’s been reunited with her. She’s thirty-seven now, Dave. Thirty-seven! He endured thirty-three years without her, but he didn’t give up. He just kept on searching, and now, today, we’re having a long-awaited meal with her and her husband and children. Those are the plans I have that you want me to cancel, Dave.” Tired now, my throat sore from talking and stress, I sagged against the wall, uncaring now at what he might do next.
Dave moved away slightly, letting go of my arms, just as my phone lit up and started to ring, buzzing away in my bag. Slowly, I sank to the floor, legs outstretched in front of me, tears streaming down my face, and yes, dear reader, tears that were ruining the make-up I’d applied so carefully. I was aware of Dave still standing, towering over me, yet his voice was strained as he said, “So what. Why should I care about what happened to your new boyfriend?”
“To make you think of other people’s lives and not just your own. You didn’t have a clue what’s been happening in my life. And I doubt you cared. Now go, Dave, go back to New York. Have a good life. Otherwise, I’ll have no choice but to call the police.”
I didn’t look up but my hopes rose as I saw his shiny black shoes walking towards the door, but then plummeted again as they stopped and he turned around. I tensed, waiting for him to grab me again, for one final act of what seemed pent-up anger, but all he said was, “I know you don’t believe in the hype, but you can keep the flowers,” and then the shoes disappeared, and the door banged shut.
I heaved a massive sigh of relief and tried to stand up, but I was shaking so hard I kept falling again and sliding down the wall. Retrieving my phone from my bag, I glanced at the screen, which showed a missed call from Andy and then there was a tap at the door.
“Who is it?” I asked, afraid for a split second that Dave had changed his mind and come back to terrorize me, and yet, would he knock if that was his intention?
“Jenny, it’s me,” and, to my relief, Andy was there, his eyes widening as he saw me sitting on the floor with my back to the wall. “Good God, what’s happened? Who was that fella I just saw walking away with a face like thunder?” He hunkered down next to me looking as gorgeous as ever in jeans, a white shirt, his long black overcoat over the top, his face with his stubbly beard handsome and rugged.
“That was my ex, Dave,” I said tearfully, sobs rising into my throat, “Oh, Andy, I was so afraid.”
Holding out a hand, Andy helped me to stand up and then pulled me close, rubbing my back with the palm of his hand, “Hey, it’s okay. He didn’t hurt you, did he?”
I shook my head, and Andy said, “If he ever comes near you again, Jenny…” He let his words hang in the air as he gazed at me, his eyes dark green pools.
“He won’t. I threatened him with the police. And, anyway, he’ll be going back to New York soon.”
“But what’s his problem? Didn’t he leave you?”
“Yes, but when he saw I was okay with him going, happy even without him, he wanted me back.”
“I was so worried about you. I knew something was wrong when you didn’t turn up at the pub. You’re never late.”
Tearfully, I said, “I couldn’t get away.”
Putting his arms around my shoulders, he said, “Don’t cry. You look so beautiful, and your dress is lovely.”
“How can you say that? I look awful. My make-up’s all ruined now. I’ll have to patch it up. It won’t take long.”
Shaking his head and smiling, Andy said, “You always look beautiful to me, but go ahead,” He waved a hand, “And re-do your face, I’ll wait. We’ve plenty of time.”
Rushing into the bathroom, I said, “Aren’t we already late?”
“No, um, actually, I wanted time alone with you beforehand, so I told everybody else to meet at 1.30pm.”
“Time alone?” I shouted from the bathroom.
“Yes, there’s something I want to ask you.”
Curiously, I peered around the bathroom door, “Oh yeah, what’s that?”
He grinned, “Wait and see,” and then airily, his nose in the air, “All good things come to those who wait.”
“I told Dave about you,” I said as we walked hand in hand along the towpath into Hebden Bridge, “About you being reunited with Susie. I didn’t mean to, but it all just came out.” It was a fine afternoon, the sun shining and sparkling on the water. There were a lot of people about, walkers as well as cyclists and runners, while swans padded gracefully and naughty geese hissed.
He looked at me with a frown, “Why?”
“So, he could put things into perspective,” I said and then shrugged, “So everything’s not all about him. He should appreciate what he’s got, a great job and life in New York, which is exactly what he wanted when he left me.”
“Yeah, I see, so it would jolt him into manning up, stopping his sniveling, and leaving you alone?”
I nodded and smiled, “Yes, something like that.”
“Well, it worked, didn’t it?”
I laughed, “Yes, I think it did in the end.”
“Here.” He indicated with a sideways nod of his head, “Come and sit down for a minute.”
“We’ll be late, Andy,” I said, worried, yet sitting down next to him, wondering what he was going to say.
“Jenny, do you realize that without you, I wouldn’t have Susie back?”
“That’s not true, Andy, I…”
“Ssh,” he pressed a finger to my lips, “I’d been searching for her for years. No matter what you say, you helped me get her back.”
“Okay, we worked together.”
He smiled at me and then, fumbling in his pocket, pulled out a small black box, “Jenny,” He took a deep breath, “I really can’t imagine my life without you now. Will you marry me?”
“Andy, I, oh…”
“It doesn’t have to be straight away,” he said hurriedly, “We can have a long engagement.”
My heart beating like a drum, I stammered again, “Oh, Andy, I…oh…”
“Does that mean yes?”
“Yes! Yes, I mean, yes. Yes! But, aren’t we too old for a long engagement?”
Laughing, he threw his head back, showing off that lovely slice of hairy chest at the open neck of his shirt.
A couple of elderly ladies eyed us as they walked slowly by, smiling and nudging each other, watching as Andy opened the box and carefully retrieved a silver ring set with a beautiful emerald stone and, gently taking my hand, slipped it on my finger, “I hope you like it; the emerald matches your eyes.”
“It’s beautiful, oh Andy, it’s beautiful…”
“Hey, don’t cry,” He shook his head, “There’s no way you’re repairing your make-up now, or we really will be late.”
Laughing and crying, I flung my arms around his neck and whispered, “Andy, I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
There was a flutter of applause from the two ladies, one of them saying, “Good for you, love, I’d marry him if he asked me to…”
“Handsome, isn’t he?” agreed the other.
“Come on,” said Andy, his smile creating those dimples, one in each cheek, “Let’s go meet with our families.”
We walked on then into the town, our hands entwined, happy to be together. Just the two of us, me and the lovely Andy, my very own sweet valentine.
THE END
Debbie Chase (married name Debbie Spink) was born in Emsworth in Hampshire, in 1959 but has lived in West Yorkshire since 1979. She is the eldest of five children (two sisters and two brothers) and has many nieces and nephews, great-nieces and nephews, aunties, uncles and cousins, having come from a very large family. She has been married since 1984 and has one daughter, Lara, and three cats, Ruby, Teddy, and Maurice.
She has always been a reader and has enjoyed writing since school. Her proudest moment being when she achieved an A+ for an essay! She has had many short stories and poems for adults and children published in books and magazines. She has written five self-published books, the first being part fact/part fiction and called “You to Me Are Everything.” The second book based on a real-life pet-sitting job is called “The Confessions of a Pet Sitter (from the Pet’s Point of View), and the third, the sequel to that book, “What a Catastrophe (Teddy’s Tale). The fourth book is a book of poems, “I Wasn’t There,” and the fifth is a murder mystery, “Whatever Happened to George England.”
She has also had nine pocket novels published with “My Weekly” magazine, “Planning on Love,” “Romance on the Run,” “Puppy Love,,” “Esther Baby,” “Double Trouble” also known as “The Doppelganger,” “The Crying Game,” “Rachel’s War,” “Birdie” and “Number One Fan.” Her other novels, “Educating Maggie” “A Step Back in Time,” “Ruby Tuesday,” “The Haunting of Pear Tree Cottage,” “The Gift,” and the “Mannequin Mystery,” are published here with World Castle Publishing, with another novel “My Sweet Valentine,” coming soon. All her novels are available to buy online.
Her hobbies are weight training, walking, running, yoga, kettlebell workouts and Pilates. After many years of office work, pub work, and shop work, she is now partially retired and, as well as writing books, works part-time as a Dog Walker/Pet Sitter (Woof Woof Walkies) with her daughter and as an Examination Invigilator in a local school, and is also a House Experience Volunteer at East Riddlesden Hall, an old manor house open to the public, in Keighley.
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Debbie Chase, My Sweet Valentine
