Page 73 of Summer at Croftwood Cinema
She grabbed a bottle of her favourite red wine, hoping that her taste for fairly cheap Australian Merlot would go down okay, and climbed out of the window with it under her arm and two glasses in her hand.
Matt pulled himself up to a sitting position and took the glasses from her while she sat down herself and then poured the wine. The fairy lights and the glow from the streetlights on the road below created the perfect ambience for what might be an awkward talk about navigating their possible relationship.
Patsy had positioned the deckchairs so that they were overlooking the direction of the park and it was nice to be sat there, in an easy silence, looking at the twinkling lights of Croftwood rather than each other. It took the pressure off a little bit.
‘This is the first time I’ve planned a relationship before it’s even started,’ said Matt.
Now that he’d started the conversation, it was easy for Patsy to pick something to banter about with him. ‘I think it might have started before tonight.’ She raised her eyebrows and smiled.
‘Okay, I’ll give you that.’
She could see his eyes crinkling at his temples the way they had when they’d walked next to each other and she loved that she could tell his expression even when he wasn’t looking at her.
‘Once we’d got past the endless health and safety advice.’
Matt almost choked on his wine as he began to laugh before he’d managed to swallow.
‘That’s my job! And don’t think I didn’t see you rolling your eyes every time I handed you a hard hat.’
‘Is that a euphemism?’
‘For what?’ He was still laughing.
‘I don’t know,’ she said, laughing too. ‘It just sounded like it could be.’
‘I’ll never look at a hard hat in the same way.’
They looked at each other and smiled, each taking a sip of wine.
‘Between us, we have a few things to navigate if we’re going to take things further.’ Matt’s practicality took over but Patsy didn’t mind that side of him anymore. If anything, it was reassuring.
‘Gone are the days of getting off with each other on a night out and then carrying on from there.’
‘I think so.’ He paused. ‘Nicole and I promised each other that we’d be careful about who we introduce to the twins.’
‘I can completely understand that. You need to be sure it’s something serious before you let them get attached to someone new.’
She glanced at him and he was looking at her with that look she was starting to recognise. One that she loved.
‘That’s it exactly. I’ve been dreading having to navigate that when the time came. But with you…’
‘It’s not rocket science,’ she said gently. ‘Anyone should understand that your children will always be the most important thing, otherwise they’re the wrong person.’
‘The very fact that you think that tells me that you’re the right person, Patsy. And as ridiculous as it sounds, I’m starting to feel as if things could be serious between us.’
It would be easy to shrug his comments off with a flippant remark, but Patsy knew the difference between someone telling you what you wanted to hear, to maybe get you into bed or something and someone speaking from their heart. What was the point of either of them dancing around any of this? He knew her biggest secret and he had treated that information as tenderly as the kiss he’d given her earlier. He had just told her what he needed from her if they were going to embark on anything more than a kiss and she would treat that just as carefully.
‘Maybe they already are. A few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have dreamed of feeling like this about you. In fact, I definitely fell for the charms of your children first.’
He threw his head back and laughed again, then held out his glass for a cheers which Patsy returned.
‘But I feel the same way as you,’ she said. ‘I’m happy to fast forward from a kiss to fairly serious if that means we can be together.’
‘And you feel ready for that? Given everything that’s happened, that’s maybe still happening. It’s not terrible timing?’
‘Whenever did love wait for the best time?’ She gulped, realising what she’d said. But she did think she was on the cusp of loving him, only the fact that it felt too soon was stopping her from allowing herself to believe that’s what was happening. But in fact, it had probably been burgeoning for many weeks without either of them noticing. ‘I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that.’
Matt put his glass down and pushed himself out of the chair. He knelt in front of Patsy and took her wine glass from her, placing that down too.
