“Do you mind if I ask who exactly you are?” I tilt my head at him. He had shaggy blonde hair, but dark chocolate eyes that looked somewhat familiar.
“Right, sorry. I’ve been driving for the last few hours and I completely lost all my manners. My mother would kill me if she knew.” He laughs. “I’m Christopher Black, I’m Ollie’s father.” He extends his hand and I’m mid shake by the time he finishes his sentence.
“You’re…” My jaw drops.
“I’ve been gone for awhile, so I can understand why you might not know me. Do you work on the orchard or something?” Christopher asks. Now I knew why his dark eyes looked so familiar, they were Ollie’s.
“I’m Tilly, Hattie is my best friend.” I say a little sharply.
“Ah, probably not too thrilled to see me then. Understandably so, but I’m here to make things right. Have you seen them?” Christopher looks around.
“Chris?” Hattie appears behind us holding Ollie’s hand tightly.
“Hattie! I was worried you weren’t home! Ollie my goodness, you got so big!” Christopher smiles as Hattie freezes.
“What are you doing here?” She asks sharply.
“Why don’t I take Ollie inside? Give you guys a chance to chat?” I suggest. I didn’t know how this was going to go and I knew Hattie wouldn’t want Ollie in the middle of it.
“Good idea.” Hattie says at the same moment Christopher frowns at me. Ignoring that, I grab the key from Hattie and usher Ollie past his father and inside the house.
“Who was that guy?” Ollie asks quietly and I sigh, unsure of what to say to him. It wasn’t my place to explain anything.
“I’m not sure, why don’t we play? We can give your mother a moment to talk to him.” I suggest.
“Alright.” Ollie was pretty agreeable so I wasn’t surprised when he heads for the playroom.
I glance out the front window, making sure Hattie was okay. Not that I thought he’d do anything, she never really talked about Ollie’s father. So I didn’t know what we were dealing with here. I’m about to join Ollie in the playroom when I see a brunette emerge from the car nearby. She was all legs, with cherry red lipstick and a shiny engagement ring on her left hand. She joins Christopher and Hattie on the porch. But who was she?
