I need to hear his side of the story. There’s a chance he might not be quite the deserting scumbag she remembers. Marcus Kingston might have matured from the young guy he was when Mum knew him. Maybe he always wondered about me, but there was too much water under the bridge to try and contact me…
Maybe if I’d been told the truth about my parentage, as soon as I was old enough to understand, I’d have had a more solid sense of who I was all along. Instead of always having the awkward feeling that I didn’t quite fit in…that I was somehow the odd one in the family…
The sad fact is, thanks to Mum and Dad’s silence on the subject, I might have missed out on years and years with my biological dad.
‘I really wish you’d told me,’ I say, my throat choked.
‘Oh, Maddy.’ Mum reaches out as if to take my hand, but there’s too much distance between us. She grasps her hands in her lap, rubbing them together. ‘I never wanted you to find out like this. I suppose we were always looking for the right time to tell you, but that time somehow never came. And you and your dad were so close, especially when you were little. I used to look at you both and think how terrible it would be if a stranger…if Marcus came in and upset everything.’
‘Yes, but surely that wasn’t your decision to make?’ I say stiffly. ‘You were thinking of yourselves, not me.’
She sighs. ‘I don’t know. Maybe we were. But you were always uppermost in our minds, love. A hundred times I wanted to tell you, but every time I tried, I just couldn’t. Your dad loved you so much, right from when you were just a tiny baby when we first met. He bonded with you straight away.’ She smiles, remembering. ‘That was one of the reasons I knew he was the man for me. I never thought I’d meet someone who’d accept us both. I suppose I assumed it would just be you and me forever. But with Barry, it felt right, almost from the start. We were a family.’ She turns to me, her face etched with misery. ‘I couldn’t bear to think that Marcus would come back into our lives and try to replace Barry, who I’ve always thought of as your real dad.’
We both turn at the sound of footsteps on the stairs.
Dad appears in the doorway. He looks haggard, ten years older, his complexion grey. The hopelessness in his eyes tugs at my heartstrings.
‘I’m sorry, love. We should have told you.’ He holds out his arms hesitantly. ‘Can I hug you?’
I swallow, my throat hurting. I want to deny him, just as they denied me for so long. But I can’t. Quickly rising to my feet, I breach the distance between us and Dad meets me in the middle, and I feel myself enveloped in his tight embrace. It brings back memories of years gone by, when he was my hero…
Relaxing into Dad’s arms, I draw comfort from the familiar. I catch Mum’s eye over his shoulder and she’s smiling through her tears, looking as though her heart might break. I reach out an arm to her and instantly, she’s on her feet, hurrying over to me. I turn slightly in Dad’s arms so that I can draw her into our hug.
It’s obvious they’re devastated.
Whatever’s happened, I could never just stop loving them. But even as we’re wrapped in an emotional embrace, I find my mind wandering to Marcus Kingston.
My eyes are his eyes. I noticed that the instant I saw his photo.
And there’s something about his mouth that was like looking at myself in the mirror.
If I contact him, will he want to see me?
CHAPTER SEVEN
‘We made it back here with the food bank van, but now it’s conked out completely.’
Molly, who helps Fen with the deliveries, is sitting opposite me at a table in the Little Duck Pond Café, telling me all about their disaster with the food bank van breaking down in the middle of their rounds.
We’ve both called in for a quick coffee, but mainly to catch up with the girls. Although I’m enjoying the company of Carrie, Molly and Bertha, and the challenge of being manager at the Brambleberry Manor Cafe, I miss it here and can’t stay away for too long.
I haven’t told anyone about Marcus being my biological dad. I’m hugging the secret to myself until I’ve decided what to do about it.
‘Where’s the van now?’ I ask.
‘Parked around the corner,’ says Ellie, indicating the little car park next to the café. ‘But sadly, it’s kaput.’
Molly sighs. ‘I feel really sad about it. The food bank helped Eva and me so much when we were virtually penniless and living in horrible Jaxon’s flat.’ She shudders at the memory of her despicable former landlord.
‘Things are great now, though, eh?’ says Ellie, leaning over the counter. ‘What with your lovely new house and your romance with Matt going swimmingly.’
Molly nods. ‘He’s published his first thriller and it’s selling quite well after a slow start. Zak’s given him loads of tips.’ Her eyes sparkle. ‘Things are great at the moment.’
‘Hey, you really deserve it after what you went through,’ I tell her, recalling the night I went with her to make sure Jaxon stayed away from her and little Eva for good – tying him naked to the bed and leaving him there for his work mates to find!
‘Thanks, Maddy. You were all so good to me when I was going through hell. And now I’d really like to help Fen. She’s distraught about the van.’
The door opens and in walks Jaz, holding Molly’s daughter, Eva, by the hand.
Four-year-old Eva breaks away from Jaz, and runs over to us. ‘Fen’s van broke down and Mummy swore a lot, ‘cept I wasn’t supposed to hear.’
‘Tell-tale,’ smiles Molly, sweeping her daughter up and pretending to be cross, making Eva squeal with delight.
Jaz sits down at the table with a sigh. ‘Feeding the ducks has finished me off. I’m knackered.’ She glances out of the window at the rain clouds. ‘How come it’s autumn all of a sudden?’
‘I know. It’s still only the first week in September, but it’s positively chilly today. How lucky is Fen to be flying off to Spain with Rob?’ sighs Ellie. ‘Imagine. A fortnight in the sun on a golden beach. Bliss!’
‘Why don’t we do a fund-raiser while Fen’s away?’ says Jaz suddenly.
Molly nods. ‘Great idea. It could be a surprise for her when she gets back.’
‘A reliable van won’t be cheap,’ I point out.
‘True,’ says Ellie. ‘So we’ll have to really pull the stops out and come up with a good plan.’ She frowns, thinking. ‘We could do lots of sponsorship things. The villagers would support us, I’m sure. They all know how important the mobile food bank is to the area. And…we could have a bistro night here, with gorgeous food and wine, and maybe even some entertainment.’
Jaz nods. ‘I like it. The tickets could be reasonably priced but produce enough of a profit to boost the van fund.’
‘We’ll all chip in with the cost of the food,’ I add. ‘At least, I’m happy to.’
‘It’s fine. I’ll go to the cash and carry,’ says Ellie.
Jaz shakes her head. ‘You need your money to get the builders back on site.’
Ellie smiles sadly. ‘I think that ship has sailed. I doubt I’ll get them back before Christmas now.’