After that depressing hour spent in the solicitor’s office in Chichester, Naomi had feared she might lose Ellis with her honesty about not being able to face the fuss of a wedding. The look of disappointment on his face had been unbearable,but he had brightened up when she had explained that she much preferred the idea of being officially engaged to him for the rest of her life. Two days later they had gone ring-shopping together. In one of her favourite antique shops in Arundel, she had spotted a stunning topaz ring. It had even fitted her without having to be altered.
‘It’s as if it was meant to be,’ Ellis had said, taking the ring from her and paying for it. He had then kept hold of it until that evening, when they were strolling along the beach in the setting sun, and he had suddenly gone down on one knee. ‘Corny as hell,’ he’d later remarked, ‘but it had to be done.’
Holding up her left hand now to admire the ring with its large topaz stone, Naomi said, ‘Have I told you recently how much I love my ring?’
‘Not since … hmm … let me think. It might be as long ago as yesterday,’ he replied with a smile.
‘I don’t think I shall ever tire of looking at it,’ she said.
‘That’s good, because I don’t think I shall ever tire of you wearing it. Or tire of you,’ he added, ‘just in case you needed me to remind you of that.’ He finished his tea and after putting his mug on the bedside table, he stretched his arms above his head. ‘I’m reluctant to ask this, but do you suppose we ought to get up?’
‘What’s the hurry?’
‘Your family will be here in approximately …’ he glanced at his wristwatch, ‘two hours and fifteen minutes, and here we are still in bed.’
Ourfamily, she wanted to correct him, but she didn’t. Some things couldn’t be rushed. ‘Are you anxious about seeing them again?’
‘I’d like to say no, but that would be a lie. There always seems to be some kind of drama attached to our get-togethers.’
‘Only because there’s so much readjusting to do on all sides. The last time we saw them all was when Lucas was here, and then it was my turn to feel as though I was on trial. I was so anxious for him to like me. Martha and Willow had probably felt something similar.’
‘You’re right, and I know it’s still early days, but it worries me that your daughters will never truly accept my presence. I don’t know what more I can do to put their minds at rest.’
‘We both know that’s not strictly true. Willow is fine with you, it’s only Martha who needs to accept that you’re now a fundamental part of my life.’
‘Can I ask you something very personal?’
‘Of course.’
‘Did you decide against marrying me because you thought it would placate Martha?’
She gave his question some thought. ‘Maybe that was partly at the back of mind, but really it was a selfish need on my part to control things. Does that, and be honest, give you cause for concern?’
‘Not at all. Perhaps it was selfishness on my part in my wanting to marry you. I wanted to seal the deal for fear of losing you.’
She put down her finished mug of tea and turned to face him. ‘You’re not going to lose me. I promise.’ She kissed him, then raised her left hand to indicate her beautiful ring. ‘Engaged for life,’ she said with a happy smile. ‘You’re stuck with me for good.’
On their way down to Tilsham, and in the passenger seat of Rick’s BMW, Willow ate the last piece of the Kit-Kat he had bought for her when he’d stopped to fill up with petrol.
‘Better for that?’ he asked as she screwed the foil and paper wrapper into a ball and dropped it in her bag at her feet. She knew better than to leave it littering Rick’s car.
‘Much better, thank you,’ she said. ‘Was I being very grumpy before?’
He smiled at her and, taking a hand off the steering wheel briefly, he patted her leg. ‘You could never be grumpy, sweetheart. Maybe just a little tetchy because you were in need of some carbs. I said you should have eaten some breakfast, didn’t I?’
‘I know, but I just couldn’t face it then.’
‘You poor thing. You must see the doctor or the midwife next week, just in case there’s a problem they should know about.’
‘Oh, it’s probably quite normal,’ she said absently.
The morning sickness which had been such a pain for Willow had thankfully stopped some time ago, but now she suffered with awful indigestion. That’s why she hadn’t been able to eat any breakfast, despite Rick’s encouragement. Bless him, he had tried so hard to tempt her to eat, but the acid rising up from her stomach to her throat was hideously vile and all she could manage was a cup of very weak tea. Her craving for salt and vinegar crisps had completely gone. In fact, she didn’t think she could face another crisp ever again. Perhaps it was all that unhealthy fat and salt which had triggered the indigestion? Whatever the reason, it had made her lose a bit of weight, not that she’d shared that with Rick. He’d only fuss.
‘Have you remembered the scan photo?’ he asked.
‘Yes, it’s in my bag all nice and safe.’
Ten days ago they’d been for the second scan and unlike the first time, Rick had insisted they find out the sex of the baby. Willow had given in, knowing it meant so much to him. She also suspected that because Martha and Tom now knew they were expecting a girl, Rick felt he should know the sex of their child too.
