It was, she realised, the first time she had experienced a genuine connection to the baby. Was this what motherhood was all about; a selfless and unconscious desire to protect?
Now that Rick had pulled in and slowed his speed, she said, ‘I thought you’d enjoyed yourself at Tom and Martha’s. Didn’t you like meeting Ellis’s son?’
‘Well,’ he said with a snort, ‘we all know you enjoyed meeting him.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Come off it, Willow, you never stopped flirting with him from the moment he arrived.’
‘What?’
‘Don’t try and deny it. I saw the way he looked at you and how you responded, all smiles and coy little remarks.’
‘I did no such thing!’ she remonstrated. ‘Why would I flirt with him when he’s going to be my stepbrother?’
‘Shouldn’t you say, why would you flirt with him when you’re my girlfriend and carrying my child?’
‘This is crazy talk, Rick. You must have misinterpreted my … my friendliness towards him. For Mum’s sake, and Martha’s, I just wanted everyone to get on. For us all to have a pleasant lunch. Can’t you see that?’
‘And what was all that talk about Tom being the one to walk your mother down the aisle? You know your sister deliberately suggested that, don’t you? It was to freeze me out. Every time we get together, she always has to make some kind of pointed remark. She really couldn’t make it any more obvious that she doesn’t like me. What’s more, I think she’d love nothing better than to split us up.’
‘No! Why would she do that?’
‘Maybe she’s jealous.’
‘She’s never been jealous of me before. Far from it.’
‘You didn’t have me in your life before. And it wasn’t just your sister having a go at me, your Mum did as well. I felt so humiliated and you did nothing to back me up.’
‘She was only trying to reassure you that you don’t need to worry so much.’
‘Try telling your friends Simon and Lucy that!’
While he drove on, Willow tried to make sense of everything he’d said – had she really done or said anything that could be misconstrued as flirting with Lucas? Had she been too friendly?
‘By the way,’ he remarked, ‘why aren’t you wearing the necklace I gave you?’
Oh Lord, something else she’d got wrong.She’d hoped he wouldn’t notice so she wouldn’t have to admit that she’d lost it.Mislaid it,she corrected herself, it would turn up sooner or later. ‘I forgot to put it on this morning,’ she fibbed.
‘You forget a lot of things, don’t you, Willow?’
She laughed nervously to cover up her unease at lying to him. ‘You know me, I’ll forget my own name one day.’ She reached out to put her hand on his leg. ‘Don’t be angry with me. You know I don’t like it when you’re cross. And it’s not good for the baby,’ she added, knowing that that would always be her trump card to win him round.
‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘But really you have to try harder not to upset me so much. You know how much I love you. I just can’t bear the thought of another man stealing you away from me.’
‘That’s not going to happen,’ she said, touched at his honesty and the depth of painful sadness in his face. She reminded herself that he just wasn’t as confident and secure as he made out.Which wasn’t surprising, given how he’d lost his parents.
Chapter Thirty-Five
‘What a thoroughly unpleasant way to spend an hour of one’s life,’ said Naomi.
They were standing on the street after their appointment with the senior partner of Crambourne and Co Solicitors to discuss the drawing up of a prenuptial agreement.
‘I couldn’t agree more,’ replied Ellis. ‘Let’s go straight to the wine bar for lunch. I need something to wash away the distastefulness of what we’ve just put ourselves through.’
‘So it wasn’t just me?’
‘No,’ he said with feeling, ‘it was grim and has nothing whatsoever to do with how I feel about you and the life I imagine us sharing together.’
