Free A Liverpool Legacy by Anne Baker

are you sorry? Have you changed your mind about me?’
    She’d rehearsed these questions and thought it would pin him down, but though she waited, he said no more.
    ‘I haven’t changed my mind about you,’ she added, and realised she’d never spoken of her own feelings. ‘I love you,’ she stammered. ‘You’ve made me love you.’
    She stole a glance at him to find his gaze was on her face. She felt he was looking into her soul. ‘Millie,’ he said at last, ‘you’re a young girl and you have all your life in front of you. I’m nearly thirty years older. More than old enough to be your father.’
    ‘I know that.’
    ‘You haven’t thought through what it would mean. Youth leaps into things. I’ve grown more cautious, I’ve learned to consider things carefully first. You have so much more energy than I have, you’ll want to be out doing things. There’s so much of the world that’s new to you, whereas I’ve had years of it and now need my armchair and slippers. I won’t want to take you out dancing very often.’
    Millie’s mouth had gone dry, how could he believe such things should stop them? That first kiss had left her longing for more. ‘I can live without dancing,’ she said. ‘You do a lot of things I’ve never even thought of. How do you know that I won’t enjoy them too?’
    He didn’t answer for a long time. ‘I’m not sure it’s a good thing for you to tie yourself to an old man like me. I’m very staid and set in my habits. I know what I like and what I don’t.’
    She smiled. ‘I think it would be a marvellous thing.’ Again he didn’t answer and she was forced to go on. ‘Why are you afraid of getting married again?’
    She saw the shock on his face. ‘Married?’
    Millie had misgivings but made herself go on. ‘Wasn’t that what we were talking about?’ He finished off his whisky in a gulp and got up to refill his glass. It seemed he didn’t want to discuss marriage. ‘I know you like Hattie. She’s much the same age as you and she likes the same things as you do. I see you laughing and talking together, she’s everything you seem to be looking for.’
    ‘Hattie? Yes, she’s good company.’
    ‘So why are you letting her leave? Is that down to your caution too?’
    He was silent for some moments. ‘No, not caution – it’s a long story. She came to help us when we needed it. She sorted us out. Hattie and I have got to know each other pretty well over the years. But I thought you didn’t want to talk about Hattie.’
    ‘You’ve got me interested in her now. What you say makes it even less likely that she’d want to leave. Go on.’
    He smiled. ‘You know how to dig. You’re better at it than the girls.’
    Millie said, ‘Aren’t you going to tell me?’
    ‘Well, many years ago, when we were both in our twenties, Hattie and I were very fond of each other. She had a friend called Esme and she introduced us. Somehow I turned to Esme and married her instead.’
    Millie had to smile. ‘Didn’t that upset Hattie?’
    ‘She married someone else soon after and went on to have three children. But we are related so we didn’t lose touch. Her husband died of cancer about the same time as Esme died. I thought … and I think perhaps she did too, that we might get together again.’
    ‘But you haven’t.’
    His smile was tremulous. ‘The spark was no longer there – if it ever had been. Without that, marriage wouldn’t have worked, would it?’
    ‘Oh, the spark!’ Millie felt her heart somersault. ‘I think you’ve decided you like me,’ she said shyly. ‘Does that mean I have the spark for you?’
    The question hung between them for what seemed an age. ‘I suppose you must have,’ he finally admitted.
    ‘Well,’ Millie said with utter conviction, ‘you certainly hold the spark for me.’
    ‘I do?’
    ‘Absolutely. That makes two sparks.’ Her confidence was growing. ‘Couldn’t we have a blaze?’
    ‘Possibly, except that you’re so