Page 85 of Christmas at Black Cherry Retreat
‘Flying does that toeveryone.’
He didn’t argue although to his eyes Fee looked as fresh and clean as ever. Nothing about her said ragged or weary. Tom craved a pounding hot shower and change of clothes more than anything and was pretty sure the sight of him wouldn’t impress her mother.
‘Don’t bother with the breakfast they’re offering. A soggy croissant, insipid strawberry yogurt and a lousy lukewarmdrink aren’t going to help.’ She wrinkled her nose. ‘Wait until we land and we’ll buy some decent bacon rolls and strong coffee for you before we get the bus to Reading.’
Tom shrugged. ‘Fair enough but what about you?’
‘Believe it or not they do sell healthy options too. I’ll be fine.’
He wasn’t stupid enough to debate the point and dragged out the landing card he stillneeded to fill in, feeling her fond smile on him the whole time.
How on earth could he sleep again? Fee pondered the wonder of it as Tom snored gently with his head pressed against the dirty train window. She supposed he wasn’t weighed down with anxiety in the same way as her. As each station slipped away, the pain in her stomach intensified and she sipped on a bottle of water in an attemptto calm it down. Another hour and they’d be at St.Erth where they’d have a twenty-minute wait for the short connecting train to St.Ives.
A warm hand snaked around her back and Tom pressed soft kisses all the way up and down her neck.
‘Mm. Much better,’ he murmured and settled her into his arms. ‘How about you give me a rundown on this Will Sawyer?’
Fee stiffened. Untilnow Tom had asked very little about her mother and nothing about the man she was presumably living with again. ‘I haven’t seen him in years but he was around a lot when I was a child. We often stayed with him.’ She frowned and struggled to remember. ‘I get the impression we went back to Cornwall when things went wrong somewhere else.’
‘I wonder if the poor devil was always in love withyour mother?’
‘I’ve never thought about it.’ The idea startled her. ‘I loved his house because he had an enormous garden and it was only a ten minute walk from the nearest beach.’
‘He was good to you?’
‘Yes.’ Fee nodded. ‘He often took care of me when my mother was out running around saving the world.’ She couldn’t help smiling. ‘He made me a birthday cake once.’ She swallowedhard. ‘Maddy forgot but he didn’t.’
A thoughtful look settled in Tom’s warm eyes. ‘You don’t suppose…?’ His question trailed away but it wasn’t hard to guess where his mind was going.
‘He’s my father?’ Fee put it into words and he shrugged. ‘I suppose it’s possible but Mum swore it’d been a lie when she told Allain the exact same thing.’ There’d been an endless stream of differentmen in and out of Fee’s childhood so maybe Maddy reallydidn’tknow who her father was.
‘Just an idea.’
They both went quiet and she was happy to stay that way, needing to collect her thoughts. Fee peered out of the window as the train slowed. ‘This is Camborne. The next stop is ours in about ten minutes.’
‘Are you going to—’
‘No.’ She cut him off before he couldfinish. ‘We’ll get a taxi and I’ll ring while we’re on the way.’ A shadow crossed his face but he held his tongue. Fee managed a brief, tight smile and prepared to face her past.
