Page 87 of Christmas at Black Cherry Retreat
‘There’s no maybe about it.’
‘Why does Maddy think otherwise?’ Fee’s mother had been adamant.
‘She’s always had a thing about the man. First love. You know the sort of thing.’
Gina. Oh, yeah, he knew alright.
‘Maddy convinced herself Dupre was Fee’s father. She chose to forget the number of times we slepttogether before he was on the scene and again right after he left when she was upset.’
‘She loves you now. I saw that too.’ Tom tried to reassure him.
‘I hope so but we both need her to let go of Dupre’s ghost.’
‘How about we join them?’ Tom suggested. The knot of tension in his neck eased when Will turned away and strode out of the hall.
Fee watched as the colourdrained from her mother’s face.
‘Really? Are you sure?’
‘Yes, Mum. I was there when the test results came through. His daughter couldn’t have been happier, but… Allain was upset.’ Fee couldn’t make herself ask the question burning a path through her mind.
Maddy’s smile barely reached the corners of her mouth. ‘Will must’ve been right all along.’
Say it out loud.Go on. I need to hear it.
‘He’s always believed himself to be your father but I refused to listen.’ She couldn’t meet Fee’s eyes. ‘I always wanted you to be Allain’s. I suppose because…’
‘You loved him.’
‘I did,’ she whispered, ‘so very much.’
‘What about Will?’
‘Yes, what about me?’ He rasped out the words and Fee’s heart broke for the man who’d been moreof a father to her than she’d ever given him credit for.
Maddy jerked around. ‘I hadn’t finished speaking, Will. I was about to explain to Fee that I’d been blinded by Allain’s charming ways. His tantalising accent. The stories he told me about New Orleans. I was young and stupid.’ She hurried across the room. ‘I’ve been an idiot, Will. I needed to know I was loved but you never told mein so many words. You’ve always been my best friend – with benefits as they say these days – but I craved more.’
Fee gulped back tears as Will cradled Maddy’s face in his hands.
‘Of course I love you, silly girl. I loved you from the first day we met in that appalling squat in Wandsworth. I’m not good at the romantic stuff. I wish I was.’ He sighed.
Tom caught her eye andhe beckoned her to join him at the back of the room. Maddy and Will wouldn’t miss them. They sneaked out to the hall and made their way to the kitchen.
‘Do you want me to put the kettle on?’ Tom offered.
‘That sounded very natural. Have you been practising?’
He put on an affronted stare. ‘I’m tryin’ to be considerate. It’s well known you Brits use tea to soothe all difficultsituations and I took a wild guess this might count.’
Fee slid her arms around his waist and hugged him to her. ‘It does indeed. You saw the resemblance when we arrived, didn’t you?’
‘Sure did.’
The possibility of Will being her father never occurred to her before Tom threw out the idea on the train but it’d started her thinking and a lot of things made more sense now.
‘Are you good with the idea? I know you liked Allain.’
‘Yes. I’m more than good. Allain’s a decent man but Will was part of my life when I was a child. I always hated to leave him when Mum took us away again.’
