Page 30 of Five Gold Rings

‘They had to get a mop,’ he laments.

This makes me giggle a bit more. ‘You don’t do boats?’ I ask him.

‘I don’t do boats. Something to know about me.’

‘What about pedalos on a lake? Can you do them?’

‘I’ve never wanted to tempt fate.’

He sits there for a moment and closes his eyes to rest and there is something about him, the loosened tie, the hair spritzed with river breeze, the peaceful expression of his face that catches my eye as I reapply my make-up in the rearview mirror. He didn’t have to go on that boat, we didn’t force him, but maybe this underlines his commitment to our mission today.

‘So, fill me in… How did he propose?’ Joe asks, his eyes still closed.

‘He just told her how he felt. It was really lovely,’ I say wistfully. Frank took his moment and he did make it his, parts of his little speech still lingering.You’ve helped my heart beat loud again. It feels like it’s glowing again with purpose, and I want you to know that you did that, you’ve given me life.Gloria was a big ball of emotion, so I hope she heard what was said. I’m glad at least that she can watch it back with my amateur videographer skills.

‘Here, watch the video,’ I tell him. I take out my phone and prepare to show Joe but as I do, he can see that my phone screensaver is still a photo of myself and Chris, a selfie taken on a city break to Lisbon and we both take a moment to realise it shouldn’t be there.

‘I should probably change that, eh?’ I admit quietly, staring at Chris’ face.

‘I mean, I would,’ Joe replies. I think that’s what’s really warming about Joe at the moment. I think others would be angrier, they’d tell me how I should be feeling, what I should be doing, but he doesn’t do that, he quietly just props me up and lets me work out things for myself. There are hundreds of photos on my camera roll, waiting to be deleted, hundreds of memories from early morning selfies to birthdays to weddings that I will need to erase. If only I could really do that in real life. There will be so much to do to remove all trace of that man from my life. Well, maybe it starts with a screensaver.

‘Well then, smile…’ I say, turning the camera on the both of us in that car, and taking an impromptu selfie. I look down at it and I seem to have captured a moment where we’ve both decided not to smile but pull some pretty awesome faces instead. I laugh as he arches his head around to look at the pic. I set it to screensaver.

‘Seriously? I look like I’m both furious and mid-sneeze. I don’t think I want that memory preserved on your phone,’ Joe tells me.

‘It’s funny. I need funny right now. I can look at this picture and think about this moment we shared in a London NCP car park getting ready for a wedding.’

‘In Olive, my ridiculously little car. It’s a classy memory,’ Joe adds.

‘I don’t know, the Christmas décor in here is growing on me…’

Joe chuckles under his breath. ‘Here, pass me your phone. Let’s see that proposal video…’ he says. I hand him the phone and watch his reaction from the back seat, a broad grin, a quiet yes muttered under his breath as Frank proposes. ‘The old dude did well. That’s good stuff. Almost worth that hour of extreme seasickness,’ he says, handing the phone back to me.

‘Thank you. Again, for all of this. For tagging along. Are you having fun? I’m sorry if this morning didn’t feel like fun…’

‘I’ve had better hours, but it was worth it to…’ he hesitates. ‘To have you be my best gal pal and hold my hair back while I threw up over that boatside.’

‘It’s what us girls do for each other,’ I say, in a fake Valley Girl accent and it’s a relief to hear him laugh.

I put my phone down and finish off reapplying some blusher and powder, watching as he unbuttons his shirt and applies some more deodorant. He catches me looking.

‘Do you need any?’ he asks.

‘I’m good. What else do you have in that bag?’

He rustles through his toiletry bag but looks a bit panicked. ‘Mouthwash, plasters, baby talc?’

‘For your… baby?’ I ask.

‘Well, no, but you’ve seen my jingly shorts and sometimes there is… chafing. But my sisters have also taught me a bit on the soles helps with new heels.’ He throws me the container and I apply some to my feet, shrugging my shoulders but secretly thinking his concern for the welfare of my feet is a little bit adorable.

‘So, this morning. I meant to say, Gabriel was so nice, he seems like a really cool bloke. How did you guys meet?’

‘Oh, we were on a course together,’ he says casually.

‘Course?’

‘In a previous life, I was a medical student. Gabriel’s a junior doctor.’

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