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‘Ah, that’s where you’re wrong. She can be a bit partial to running away, can Kate.’
The two men shared a smile. It was Kate running away, albeit only for a couple of days, that had brought Ron into the fold of the family.
‘Look, look! Deer!’ Izzie’s eyes were wide as she turned to the others.
She was right, there were deer, and there were loads of them.
Sam, who as usual had done his homework, pointed out that the park had a herd of six-thousand, and a lively discussion followed over which species they might be.
The debate kept the younger kids occupied as they made their way toward the Go Ape centre. Typically, the older girls had taken a couple of photos (Ron noticed Jake’s envious glances at their phones) and then had become much more enthralled by their mobiles than the actual sights around them.
This pattern was followed more or less throughout the course of the day, as selfie after selfie was taken and shared with goodness knows who. However, both girls had to stop playing with their phones when they were on the zip wires or the Tarzan swing (blimey, six metres was one hell of a drop!), or scrambling through the nets, because they were scared in case they fell out of pockets and were lost. Kate and Brett had been under strict instructions to take loads of photos and forward them to the girls. Annabelle took a fair few too, when she wasn’t wincing at the speed the kids were travelling at, or the height they reached, or both.
It must have been exhilarating for them, and Ron wished he’d had a go. It was a very long time indeed since he’d done anything like that – possibly not since his SAS training.
When the session was at an end, the kids were eager for their lunch, and they chattered non-stop on the way to the café, comparing stories and sharing the experience.
As they walked towards the rendezvous point, Ron let the children go on ahead and he fell into step beside Annabelle.
‘I think they had a whale of a time,’ she said. She was smiling as broadly as Izzie, who was skipping ahead, clutching Pepe’s lead. ‘You’d think she’d be worn out,’ Annabelle added, looking pointedly at her daughter. ‘But oh, no, she’s still got bags of energy. I wish I had half of what she’s got. It makes me tired just watching her.’
‘She’s definitely a live wire,’ Rion agreed. ‘Were you like that at her age?’
‘According to my mum I was, but I can’t remember being overly energetic.’
Ron bit his lip, checked that none of the kids were looking, then moved closer to her and murmured in her ear, ‘Oh, I don’t know – you were energetic enough last night.’ He nibbled on her earlobe, making her squeal.
‘Stop it! she hissed, pushing him away, but she was laughing as she did so. ‘You need to get your mind out of the gutter,’ she added demurely, and Ron snorted.
‘You’re a fine one to talk,’ he said, grinning wickedly, and he had the satisfaction of seeing her blush.
She still had quite a bit of colour in her cheeks when they arrived at the cafe. Beverley and Helen had already bagged a table and had pushed another up to it, along with some more chairs.
‘How did it go?’ Beverley asked. ‘Did you have a good time?’ Her gaze scanned the children, Ellis and Portia included.
‘It was fab!’ Sam cried, and then the others joined in, all speaking at once.
Helen pulled a face at the noise, and Ron saw Beverley’s lips twitch. The naughty madam had done it on purpose, knowing what the children’s reaction would be. It seemed that hostilities between the old ladies weren’t at an end after all.
Once the chatter had died down and everyone had decided what they wanted for lunch, Brett took the bull by the horns and asked his mother how they’d enjoyed looking around the manor house and its grounds.
‘I would have liked to see more of the gardens,’ Helen sniffed, ‘but someone wasn’t quite up to all that walking.’ She shot Beverley a look out of the corner of her eye.
‘My arthritis was playing up,’ Beverley said.
Ron bit back a laugh. As far as he knew Beverley didn’t suffer from arthritis: she used it as an excuse now and again when she didn’t want to do something, or fancied preferential treatment.
‘So we came here,’ Helen continued, ‘and had a cup of tea.’ She sounded quite put out.
‘How about if we take a walk after lunch?’ Kate suggested.’ There’s lots more to see and do.’
Sam piped up, ‘They’ve got a fairy-tale village, farm animals, a woodland trail where you can play music on thetrees, and an adventure playground. Can we go, Mum?’
‘I don’t see why not,’ Kate said. ‘We might as well take advantage of everything and have a good look round while we’re here. I doubt if we’ll come this way again.’
‘Aw.’ Sam looked crestfallen. ‘I’ve really enjoyed this holiday,’ he said. ‘It beats silly old Menorca any day.’
Ellis huffed. ‘Hardly!’
