‘It’s a lovely touch. And I love their expressions. They’re warm and a bit cheeky, just like my dad was. I can’t believe you’ve managed to capture that.’
‘It took a few attempts but it’s amazing what you can do by changing the angle of the stitching as well as the position of the eyes.’
‘They’re incredible. I can’t thank you enough. My mum’s now settled into her new flat and she thought the quilt was beautiful. I know she’ll be delighted with her bear. They all will be. I hope you didn’t mind me changing the number without checking first.’
‘It was fine. You decided to give them to the older grandchildren after all?’
‘Yes. The extras are for my niece and nephew. They’re both going through a tough time at the moment, so I’ve taken a chance on getting the bears made without asking them. Mackenzie’s lost his job and the timing is dire as his first baby’s due this summer and Liberty and her husband have been trying for another baby and, well, let’s just say that whatever worked for her two boys doesn’t seem to be working this time round and she’s a bit down about it.’
‘I’m so sorry to hear that. Presumably that’s why you’ve come to collect the bears instead of your brother.’ Somebody needed to shut me up. It was obvious to me that I was fishing for information about Will and it had to be obvious to Fen too.
She scrunched her nose and wiggled her head from side to side. ‘It’s more complicated than that. You know that phrase about never having more thrown at you than you’re strong enough to deal with? My brother must be a man of steel because he’s had everything but the kitchen sink thrown at him recently. He’s concerned for his kids, obviously, and our dad died a few months ago which has been hard. He’d sold his house but it’s fallen through, and he has a major work situation which is horrific but which I can’t talk about…’
I raised my hands. ‘Completely understand. None of my business.’
‘It’s fine. I’ve started so I might as well finish. His ex-wife’s divorcing the man she left him for and leaning on James way too much. She was never my favourite person but she’s dipped to new lows, even for her. Who leaves their husband and still expects him to be there for them twenty-five years later, giving her lifts, holding her hand through her divorce, lending her money? And he’s such a nice guy that he won’t say no.’
‘That sounds like a lot.’ Poor Will. No wonder he wasn’t in the right frame of mind for a conversation about me running out on him.
Fen was evidently on a roll. ‘And, on top of that, he’s unexpectedly bumped into a woman he met twenty years ago.’
My stomach lurched and I swear all the colour must have drained from my cheeks.
‘They only spent a short time together,’ she continued, her gaze fixed on mine, but her voice gentle, ‘and he’s been in love with her ever since. James is incredibly strong. He’ll get through most of the bad stuff and he’ll help the others involved get through it too so I’m not worried about any of that, but Iamworried about this recent brush from the past because I think it’s the one scenario which could break him.’
She knew! And I felt like I was being tested, as though she liked me but wanted reassurance that she hadn’t made a bad character judgement.
‘I never thought I’d see him again,’ I said. ‘I longed to so badly but what were the chances? And then he walked through that door with a bag of shirts. He didn’t recognise me at first and I thought it served me right for abandoning him. I’d spent twenty years thinking about him and he’d forgotten about me.’
‘He never forgot.’
‘I know that now. I never meant to hurt him. I wanted to fully explain what happened but he said he has too much going on to hear it all right now and I need to respect that. It has to be on his terms.’
‘Hedoeshave a lot going on but he’s also protecting himself. As I say, this is the risky scenario. You’re the danger zone, Yvonne.’
Me? I’d never have thought of myself like that. ‘I don’t mean to be.’
She gave me a gentle smile. ‘I believe you. Nobody who puts as much love and care into creating something like these bears can be a bad person.’ Fen picked up another bear and ran her finger across its face. ‘You know, I’ve never been convinced it’s possible to fall in love with someone you’ve only just met, but I always was the pragmatic one and James was the hopeless romantic.’
‘Itispossible.’
She looked up at me and nodded. ‘James swore it was and, having met you, I think he’s right.’
‘It’s also possible to stay in love with that person for two decades.’
She cuddled the bear to her as she studied my face. ‘In that case, I’m rooting for you and will do what I can to convince him to meet you sooner rather than later.’
‘You will?’ I frowned at her. ‘But you said I was the danger zone. And you must be angry with me for breaking his heart in the first place.’
‘I’m still worried about the danger but, as for being angry at you for breaking his heart, you didn’t. You actually fixed it. His ex, Eleanor, broke his heart. She did it so badly that he lost his way and, for a few years, I lost my brother. He even stopped playing the piano outside of school and that shattered the fragments of his heart into tinier pieces. Then he met you and heard you play and he came alive that day. Thanks to you, he not only found his love for music again but he found belief in himself and I got my brother back.’
I grabbed for a tissue from under the counter, wiping the tears away at her beautiful words.
‘I didn’t mean to make you cry,’ Fen said.
‘It’s fine. I just can’t bear to think of him being broken and I hate that I hurt him too.’
‘But I don’t think you meant to, did you?’
