"Here Martin, hold my hand again," Phil seized his left hand in her right.
"Yes of course," he said, rather pleased to be invited.
They then proceeded along hand-in-hand, looking like a happy couple. When they returned to the house they had cocoa and watched some TV before retiring. For some people, the initial hand-holding would have progressed rapidly, but Martin was not that kind of person - hence the years of bachelordom - he couldn't just shuck off his personality.
"Thank you for today, Martin. It's meant a lot to me," said Phil as they parted for bed. She gave Martin a kiss on the cheek and turned for the stairs. Martin blushed warmly but pleasantly, maybe he wasn't such a cold fish after all. She knew she had spent much of the day looking for reassurance, but she remembered Sarah had done that too. Phil used a similar phrase to "will I pass," perhaps it was his equivalent of "does my bum look big in this?"