Page 65 of A Billionaire for Christmas
‘The wedding. Everyone seems to think I’m trying to win the contract for catering your wedding when I’m not. In fact, I wouldn’t be able to do it anyway. I just don’t want you to think I’m trying to manipulate you or to feel pressured or anything.’
Freda tilted her head and ushered Molly inside. ‘Come in.’ When Molly sat on the armchair, Freda flopped face down on the unmade bed. Molly glanced around at the many, many empty wine bottles and yet another empty vodka bottle.
‘Wow. That’s a lot of alcohol.’ She strained to hear Freda’s muffled response. ‘Sorry, what was that about the wedding?’
Freda sat up and trained her tear-filled eyes on Molly’s. ‘There is no wedding. Rooby broke it off.’
Oh.
‘When?’
‘Officially? An hour ago.’
‘So, he’s not coming to stay here for Christmas?’
‘No. To be honest he tried to tell me before I left but I wouldn’t listen. I thought he’d change his mind. But he hasn’t. He’s staying in Canada to reassess his life, and the wedding is definitely off.’
Molly wound an arm around Freda’s shoulders and pulled her close. ‘I’m sorry. You guys had been having trouble, I take it?’
‘Yeah. It hasn’t been right for a while, but I just figured it was cold feet over getting married. I thought once the wedding was sorted, he’d settle more.’
‘What did your mother say?’
‘I can’t bear to tell Mother because she’s so obsessed with the wedding, and she’ll go ballistic that yet again I’ve ruined another perfectly good relationship,’ Freda wailed dramatically. ‘Decent men are so hard to find. I’ve literally been searching my whole life.’
Whole life?Molly reckoned Freda had to be around the same age as herself.
‘He thinks I’m not passionate enough about him. He thinks I’m just going through the motions for something to do. Like I’m in love withbeing in love.’
‘And are you?’
‘I think so.’ Her face grew serious. ‘I just don’t know what I want. I’ve been given everything I’ve ever wanted on a silver plate and now I have no idea what I want from life, how I want to spend it or who I want to spend it with.’ She sat up straight. ‘I sound like a spoiled brat, I know. But I can’t help feeling empty. There’s just this void of nothingness inside me.’
Molly closed her eyes. She could identify strongly with that last bit. ‘Is that why you’re drinking? To fill the void?’
‘I know it won’t help but I’ve gotten into bad habits,’ Freda pointed out gloomily. ‘I don’t have anyone to talk to about it.’
‘You could talk to Levi.’
For all his faults, he had proven himself to be an expert listener.
‘Are you serious? He’s never around. And neither is Lucca. We see each other once a year. They literally have no idea about my life or what I do for the other eleven and a half months. Which, by the way, is nothing. I literally do nothing.’ Freda was twisting her bedsheets forlornly as the words tumbled out. ‘And Mother is just as bad. She buries her head in the sand at the first sign of trouble and doesn’t want to know.’
Freda was painting quite a vivid picture of a dysfunctional family. Quite the opposite of what Levi had painted.
‘How can I help?’ asked Molly.
‘You can’t,’ whined Freda. ‘Unless you can find me something to feel passionate about? A purpose in life. Like you. It must be lovely to do something so creative for a living.’
‘It is. Or at least it was.’
‘You said earlier that you wouldn’t be able to cater the wedding. What did you mean?’
Molly dithered. Freda had enough on her plate without Molly’s woes. ‘Forget it. There isn’t going to be a wedding anyway,’ she said gently. ‘I’m so sorry that you’re going through all of this alone. Why don’t you freshen up and meet me back in the kitchen? We’ll get tonight out of the way and then why don’t we have a proper talk afterwards?’
Freda brightened. ‘I’d really like that. Thanks, Molly. And is there any way you can sneak all these bottles outside to the bin for me, please? I can’t let anyone see me like this. And please don’t tell anyone about Reuben dumping me and the wedding being off.’
Molly rolled her eyes. ‘Fine, but I’m not taking the fall for you if anyone catches me with this lot.’
