Free Obsession by Susan Lewis

standing right there beside her.
    Suddenly her heart heaved in her chest, pushing the pain into her throat. She cried out. Then the sobs started to tear through her body, and she clung to the sleeve as though it were Edwina’s own hand. ‘Oh Mum,’ she choked, ‘Mum, why didn’t you tell me? You didn’t need to protect me so much, you know? Oh Mum, Mum, what am I going to do without you? You’re all alone now. I can’t bear to think of you all alone in the darkness. Come back to me, please.’ A week later Corrie was once again in Uncle Ted’s library. Her hair was scraped back in a pony tail, her face was still pale, and the smattering of freckles on her nose stood out vividly. She seemed calm, but no longer frighteningly so, and as Ted listened to the decisions she had reached he was again impressed by the inner strength that he knew she had not inherited from either of her parents. She was going to move to London, soon, she was telling him, just as she’d always wanted. Paula and Dave were going to rent the cottage, and would Auntie Hattie like to run the shop? They both smiled at that, since they knew that Hattie would jump at the chance.
    For a moment or two Ted’s mind wandered. He could suddenly see Corrie’s new, though fragile, self-confidence at the mercy of London and it bothered him. So many young people still believed London to be the land of golden opportunity, but those days had long gone – if they had ever even existed. Now it was a rat-race the like of which terrified even him. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe Corrie could survive it, he was simply afraid of the cost. Unlike her, the men in the village, the women too, he imagined, were not ignorant of the way Corrie looked. She considered herself too tall, too large, and lamentably plain. True, she was no beauty, but her body was surely a gift from the gods. Round and firm and rippling sensuality in a way he had rarely seen in any other woman. What kind of trouble would that lead her into? There were so many who were just waiting to prey on the innocence of a young girl – and a girl such as Corrie would be manna from heaven. But she had money, he reassured himself, and she had him to help her get started.
    She had a streak of her great-grandmother in her, he was thinking happily, when she suddenly said something that brought him up sharply. He’d been expecting it, of course, but not quite this soon.
    ‘Are you sure?’ he said. ‘Have you thought it through?’
    ‘I think so,’ Corrie answered. ‘Besides, what is there to think through? I have a father. I’d like to meet him. I take it he does live in London?’
    Ted nodded. ‘Yes. Yes he does.’
    ‘Naturally I don’t want to go to his home. That would cause all sorts of problems, I’m sure, since he’s married again. I can’t say that I have any feelings for him, not after the way he treated my mother, but I’m prepared to give him a chance. Let’s just hope he’s prepared to give me one.’ When Ted made no comment she went on. ‘Paula accused me of sitting in judgement on him, and my mother. She’s right, I am. At least I was. Now all I want to do is meet Phillip Denby for myself. So, will you arrange it for me, Uncle Ted?’
    Ted pursed his lips thoughtfully and rocked back and forth in his chair. ‘Yes. I can arrange it,’ he answered. ‘If you’re absolutely sure that’s what you want.’
    ‘I’m sure. I would prefer that he didn’t know who I am, though. At least not at first. I guess that makes things more difficult for you?’
    ‘A little. But not impossible. I’ll give it some thought.’
    ‘I already have,’ Corrie said, sitting back in her chair and crossing her legs.
    A twinkle shot to Ted’s eyes. ‘And what would you have me do?’ he said.
    Corrie’s burst of assertiveness seemed to flounder for a moment, but taking heart from the affection in Ted’s eyes she said, ‘I will need a job when I get to London so perhaps you could ask my