Free The Chocolate Lovers’ Wedding by Carole Matthews Page B

sympathised. ‘I’m sure not.’ Oh, God, how she wished that Willow had just come along today. Now her insides were even more twisted with anxiety than they had been. It was easy to sympathise with Mary but much harder to know how to address the situation.
‘My husband died two years ago. Quite unexpectedly,’ Mary continued. ‘That’s him there with Willow.’ She pointed to one of the photographs. He was a tall, handsome man with an easy smile. ‘We’d been a happy family until then. She was a very affable little girl. Everyone adored her. We’d all jogged along contentedly. We were lucky, there were very few lows. We gave her an idyllic childhood, you know.’
Autumn choked back the tears. ‘I’m very grateful for that.’
‘Willow has struggled since Charles has been gone. She’s not the same child. There’s a hole in her world and she doesn’t know how to fill it.’
Oh, my poor child, Autumn thought. She knew what it was like to be grieving. ‘My brother, Rich, died too young. And I still have the feeling that something’s missing in my life. It doesn’t ever end.’ She hated to think that Willow was going through the same pain. How much worse to lose the only father you’ve known.
Rich had been the only person who knew about Willow. He’d always supported her, always assured her that one day her daughter would come to find her. She only hoped he could see her now. She’d like to think that he could.
‘She thinks that finding you will be the answer,’ Mary added, reluctantly.
She was terrified to ask, but she had to know. ‘And you don’t want her to?’
‘Willow talks about nothing else, but I’m frightened for her, Autumn.’ Mary reached out to touch her arm and then thought better of it. She let her hand fall back. ‘Despite her fierce makeup, she’s very vulnerable. I don’t think she’s mature enough to cope with this. She thinks she is. Of course she does. But she’s still a child and Willow is pinning a lot of her hopes on you. I don’t want her to be let down again.’
Autumn felt her throat tighten. Her heart went out to her daughter, that bonny, beaming baby from the photographs in front of her who’d grown into a troubled teenager. ‘I loved her, Mary. I never wanted to give her up.’
‘I understand some of your background. The adoption agency told me a little about it.’
‘I was forced to give up Willow by my parents. It was the worst decision of my life.’ Autumn fought back another sob. ‘I’ve regretted it ever since. But I was dependent on them for everything and I felt that I had no option. I had nowhere else to go, no one to turn to. I’m only glad that you were able to give her a loving, stable home.’
‘I’m afraid that isn’t always enough.’ Tears filled Mary’s eyes. ‘She wants you, too. But as much as she wants it, she’s scared. Just before we left she engineered an argument and stormed off. She’s done it each time we were due to meet. I was on the verge of cancelling again, then I decided that I would come alone to talk to you. I hope you don’t mind.’
‘I’m very glad that you did.’ If she could build a relationship with Mary, then perhaps Willow would feel more able to trust her.
‘I confess that I wanted to see what you looked like, too,’ she admitted. ‘If you’d been covered in tattoos and high on drugs then I would have done everything I could to dissuade her from seeing you. She needs a positive role model in her life, not someone to lead her astray.’
‘I understand that. You’re only trying to protect her.’ In Mary’s position she would have done exactly the same.
‘I think she’s afraid of being rejected.’ Mary shook her head. ‘It would break her heart to see you if you then didn’t want to have anything to do with her.’
‘I have no intention of doing that. I would love the chance to have even a small part of her back in my life.’
‘I feel happier now that I’ve met you.’ Mary dabbed at her eyes