Page 96 of The Winter Bride

Adam was the friendliest of children with a smile for everyone and he happily approached Alex to shake his hand. Alex meanwhile had gone quite pale and was staring at him intently.

Marie cleared her throat and said, ‘Come along, mon chèri, we shall go and ’ave a story now, yes?’

They left the room and for a while Alex said nothing but sat with his head lowered. When he looked up, he asked quietly, ‘He’s mine, isn’t he?’

Annie opened her mouth to deny it but then her shoulders sagged and she nodded. ‘Yes, Alex . . . he’s yours.’

‘He looks just like Lucy,’ he said with a shake of his head. ‘But why did you never tell me? Surely I had a right to know I had a son!’

‘I was already married to Monty when I found out I was having your baby. How could I tell you? What would have been the point? You had a wife and child already and I had Monty. It would have caused so much heartache. I was fond of Monty and didn’t want to hurt him. We were happy together until . . .’ Her voice broke and she looked down as Alex inhaled deeply. It wasn’t every day you found out you had a son.

‘Well, you’ve done a great job with him,’ he said quietly. ‘He’s a grand little chap, but did Monty never guess?’

‘He never said if he did and he was a wonderful father to him . . . but I think deep down he knew,’ she admitted.

‘So, what do we do now?’

She shrugged. ‘There’s no need for you to do anything. We’ll just go on as before.’

‘But if he’s my son, I want to be part of his life. I want him to meet his big sister, and I want them to get to know each other,’ he said heatedly. ‘Surely that isn’t too much to ask, even if you don’t want anything to do with me!’

He could have no way of knowing how far away from the truth he was. Annie had never stopped loving him, but she had always had to fend for herself up to a point and couldn’t bear the thought of giving herself to anyone.

‘Well . . . I suppose there’s no harm in them meeting and you seeing him now and again,’ she said cautiously. ‘But I don’t want Adam to get confused.’

Alex’s face set. ‘Then if that’s the case, may I bring Lucy to see him tomorrow? We don’t need to tell her who he is straight away.’ It was more than obvious to him that Annie had no interest in him, although not a day had gone by in the time they’d been apart when he hadn’t thought of her.

Without another word he rose and after nodding curtly he left, slamming the front door behind him.

‘Was that Alex I heard slam out a while ago?’ Marie asked when she came back downstairs.

Annie stuck her chin in the air and nodded. She was too proud to show how upset she was.

‘But why?’

Anie sniffed. ‘He feels I should have told him about Adam.’

‘And do you not think ’e ’as a point!’

Annie was so shocked at Marie’s reaction that her mouth gaped open. ‘B-but he was married at the time.’

‘So? Adam was still ’is child, no? Of course ’e ’ad a right to know. And what does ’e intend to do about it now? Alex is an honourable man. He will want to be involved in ’is son’s life.’

Looking mutinous, Annie crossed her arms and glared at her, but she couldn’t stop the tears that formed in her eyes and she had to blink rapidly to stop them from falling.

Seeing her distress, Marie’s stance softened. ‘Oh Annie, you are such a fool,’ she said softly. ‘You ’ave admitted to me that you care for ’im deeply yet still you ’old ’im at arm’s length when there is nothing to stop you being together. As long as I ’ave known you, you ’ave longed to know who you were an’ where you came from and at last you do. Your parents are lovely people and they care about you. Yet still you insist on being stubbornly independent!’

‘I have to make sure that I can provide for Adam,’ Annie said in her own defence.

Marie shook her head. ‘You would be comfortable financially even if you never worked again,’ she pointed out. ‘You ’ave two thriving shops, and a ’ouse back in Nuneaton all paid for. The money you earn from them would keep you and Adam comfortably. Yet already you are talking about taking on another business when Adam goes to school. Why?’

Annie had no answer to that and she lowered her head.

Marie stood there watching her for another minute before sadly shaking her head. ‘Just think about what you really want,’ she pleaded. ‘Surely it is to be with someone you love? And children. You are young, you could ’ave more if you wanted to. Adam will grow up and leave the nest one day and then what will you be left with? Will your money and your businesses keep you company in your old age?’

Annie angrily swiped a solitary tear from her cheek and with a sigh Marie turned and walked out of the room, leaving her friend to think on what she had said.

Chapter Forty-Eight