Epilogue
SIX MONTHS LATER
‘Urgh, Oscar, not again?’ Jenni reached out to flick the damp crisp packet off the bed.
Since he was no longer delivering correspondence between Jenni and Ben, he’d taken to bringing home all manner of rubbish for her to deal with instead: discarded lottery tickets, empty sweet wrappers, their shiny foil weathered and faded, used stamps ripped from the corners of envelopes.
He’d definitely been a Womble in a previous life.
A glance at her phone told her that she still had an hour before she was due to meet Amy and Tim at the studio. She felt a thrill of excitement every time she thought about it.
After doing the deal with Larry, Go Big had agreed to rent the space at the gallery and fund all the renovation costs to create a studio.
It was a dream come true to be finally in a position to merge her side hustle with her new role as creative director at Go Big, working alongside Tim and Amy.
And the fact that her studio was at the gallery, the location of their first not-a-date-date, second stood-up-but-still-not-actually-a-date-date and third absolutely-was-a-date-date, made it even more special.
Putting her phone back down, Jenni reached out to wrap her arms around Ben, and curled into his back.
‘Hello, thirty-eight,’ he whispered sleepily, rolling over to pull her in close, resting his chin on her forehead.
Jenni snuggled into his neck, breathing in the warm scent of him and sighing contentedly.
‘Hello, sixty-six,’ she murmured, feeling his smile as he did every time they used their private nicknames for each other.
They’d talked long into the night after their third date.
Tentatively, at first, unpicking the doubts and fears they both felt had been holding them back, but sure in their hearts that the connection they had was too strong to ignore.
They agreed to take it slow, to not put too much pressure on each other, or themselves, and to see where it went.
Be brave, Jenni had reminded him as she she’d taken Ben’s hand, and he’d whispered ‘good luck’, echoing the words he’d written in his note to her, before finally pulling her towards him and kissing her. It had been totally worth the wait, Jenni had confided to Amy the next day.
Ben’s phone buzzed on the bedside table and, reluctantly, he pulled away from Jenni to reach for it, hoping it wasn’t a call from work.
He wasn’t due at the station till the weekend and he planned to visit his parents later that day to give the summerhouse a final lick of paint before the grand opening party that his mother was planning.
Ben let out an exasperated sigh.
‘Is it work?’
‘No. It’s just my mother. Again. She wants to know if you have any allergies so she can decide what to cook for lunch when you visit.’
‘Really?’ Jenni laughed. ‘It’s still weeks away, she’s got ages.’
‘They’re very excited about finally meeting you, and Mum wants to get everything ready, apparently. She’s even roped Penny in to help set everything up.’
‘Ah, that’s so sweet,’ Jenni snuggled into Ben again. ‘Did she say anything about your dad helping you with the drying racks? I loved your suggestion of building something more sturdy in the studio than my washing line idea.’
‘He messaged me last night actually. He wants to get started straight away. I think he’s already bored now that the summerhouse is nearly finished. He also mentioned something about building a climbing frame for Oscar, so watch out!’
Text to his mum finished, Ben turned back to Jenni and reached over to pull her close again, just as Oscar, who’d disappeared to the kitchen for biscuits, returned, jumping back onto the bed, nestling down between them.
‘Oh Oscar,’ they both groaned as he made himself comfortable before finally curling up, his tail tucked tightly around him. Satisfied, he settled down to sleep with a contented purr.
His work here was done.