Page 67 of Happier Days

‘Did he really expect you’d be on your own since you split up?’ Jack shook his head at the audacity.

‘I think he’s met his match in you.’ Ava grinned. ‘And I’ve been reunited with you, so I think it’s win-win to me, either way.’

CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT

On Sunday afternoon, Eliza took a deep breath, opened the gate, and walked towards the door of the cottage. Before she could change her mind, she knocked on it.

She wouldn’t have been here at all if she hadn’t just received a phone call that had forced her hand. Willow was coming to stay for the night next weekend, so it left her with no choice but to come clean with Harry.

She was dreading the outcome, though. He was going to be angry that she’d kept it from him, but equally, what if he didn’t want anything to do with Willow? It would break her daughter’s heart if she ever found out. Eliza knew it had been hard for Willow not to know who her father was.

Harry’s eyes widened when he saw her standing on his step. A faint smile appeared on his lips.

‘I wasn’t expecting you,’ he said.

‘Can I come in?’ Eliza asked.

‘Yes, of course.’ Harry moved aside for her.

They went through to the living room.

It shocked and made Eliza nostalgic in equal measure. It was almost as if time had stood still. She and her friends and siblings had spent a lot of time here when Mr Healey was at work andthey were off school. They’d used it as their bolthole when the weather had been rough.

In her mind, Eliza saw her and Cara sitting on the settee, with Harry and Dan on the carpet while they watched a DVD. She saw herself with Harry, standing in the window, his arms around her as they’d looked out onto a snowy afternoon they were sharing together.

She remembered his bedroom, the times they’d sneaked upstairs. The lager they’d drunk sitting on the balcony in the rear garden. The dreams they’d shared for their futures. She shook herself mentally and came back to the task in hand.

‘How are you now, after the funeral?’ she asked. ‘It went well, I think.’

Harry gave a slight nod. ‘He’d been ill for a while so at least he’s at peace now. Would you like a drink? Tea, coffee?’

‘Tea would be nice, please.’ He’d changed the subject so quickly that she assumed he didn’t want to talk about it any further.

Harry rushed through to the kitchen. ‘If I’d known you were coming, I’d have bought a box of French Fancies.’

The warm fuzzy feeling that shot through Eliza alarmed her. Harry had remembered they were her favourites. How many boxes they must have shared between them in their teens. They used to eat all eight cakes between them over mugs of tea while they put the world to rights.

‘What is it you want to talk to me about?’ Harry came in with two mugs, handing one to her before sitting across from her in the armchair.

‘I’ve been meaning to tell you something since I saw you were back. It was never going to be easy to say, but I don’t want to keep secrets anymore.’

‘Secrets?’ Harry sat forward, a frown on his face.

Eliza was almost afraid to say the words in case he didn’t want to know. Would he be mad, accusatory, or accepting? There was only one way to find out.

‘Okay, I’m going to spit it out,’ she went on. ‘I’ve just taken a call from my daughter, Willow. She lives and works in Manchester and she’s coming home for the weekend soon. So I need to tell you… Willow is your daughter, too.’

‘What?’ Harry put down his coffee and stood up. He paced to the end of the room and turned, coming back to her. ‘You and I have a daughter? Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘I didn’tnottell you. You left, remember. I found out I was pregnant, and you weren’t around. So I told Mum and Dad that it was a boy I’d met over summer, that I didn’t know his name or where he lived.’

‘Why?’

‘What was the point in saying it was you when I wasn’t sure you’d be back? Or even if you’d want to know if you were. Would you have stood by me?’

He looked hurt.

‘But I wasn’t sure I wanted that anyway,’ she added. ‘We were so young.’

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