Immy started getting dressed. ‘Do you want me to go?’
He frowned. ‘No, absolutely not.’
‘But what about Etta?’
‘She knows you. She’s been to your sweet shop enough times and sees you at family events. I think she likes you.’
Immy smiled at that. ‘The feeling is very mutual, she’s an easy girl to love. But how do you think Brook’s parents will feel about me being here?’
‘Well they will have to get used to it, as you’ll be here a lot more often from here on in.’
‘But it has only been eighteen months since Brook died, they might think you’re moving on too soon.’
‘They know that Etta probably isn’t mine, at least biologically. It was something I never wanted to discuss with anyone, least of all them. But they came to me shortly after Brook had died and asked if I planned tokeep Etta as they were worried if I didn’t what would happen to her. They said they had very busy lives and couldn’t possibly accommodate a child. I told them of course I would, she’s my daughter, and the look they gave each other spoke volumes. I asked them if they knew and they said Brook had told them before we got married that she thought Nick was Etta’s father. They also knew that she’d been seeing him for years behind my back. They can’t possibly expect me to stay loyal to her after that.’
‘I guess not, but grief is a funny thing. Even despite them knowing their daughter was far from perfect, they will still grieve over her and put her on a pedestal. They might not take kindly to this.’ Immy paused. ‘Will you tell them about the baby?’
‘I think I’ll have to. It won’t be long before you start to show and I don’t want them to find out accidentally. We’ll see if it’s appropriate today when they arrive. Maybe you can take Etta out to play in the garden and I can have a little chat with them.’
‘OK, if you think that’s best.’
‘I’m not sure what’s best to be honest. I don’t want to lie to anyone. And I’m excited about our baby. I want tobeexcited, I don’t want to have to keep it a secret.’
She smiled and moved over to him and gave him a hug. ‘I’m happy about this too and I’m excited to share it with people. Although I haven’t even told my sister yet.’
‘We’ll tell her together, when she gets back from her holiday.’
‘It might not wait that long. Now your brothers know, Quinn will find out very quickly.’
‘Then we tell them tonight.’ He heard a car pull up outside. He looked out the window to see it was Tom and Margaret’s car. ‘But let’s deal with this first.’
The doorbell rang and Xander buzzed them in. There was a thunder of feet as Etta charged upstairs and the steady clomp of Margaret and Tom walking slowly up the stairs too, before Etta arrived back in the lounge.
‘Daddy!’ Etta said, throwing her arms around him happily.
He swung her up in his arms and held her tight. God he loved this little girl so much. That love hadn’t changed when he found out the truth. She was his daughter and nothing would ever change that.
Margaret and Tom arrived in the lounge just as Etta spotted Immy.
‘Immy!’ She wriggled to get down and then ran over to give Immy a big hug. She loved hugging people. Whenever they had the big Christmas Day family lunch, she’d spend half an hour going round hugging every family member, even ones she hadn’t seen for a year or more. ‘What are you doing here?’
Immy knelt down to hug her and then pulled back to talk to her. ‘There was a fire in my shop and I can’t go back to my flat until someone comes out to look at theshop and says it’s safe for me to return. So your daddy said I could stay here for a few days.’
Etta’s face fell. ‘There was a fire in the shop?’
‘Yes, a small one,’ Immy reassured her, even if it wasn’t exactly true.
‘But what about all the sweets?’ Etta said, as mournfully as if she’d been told a bunch of puppies had sadly died.
Immy suppressed a smirk. ‘The sweets won’t be OK to eat any more, but I’ll get new ones once we can fix the shop. And your uncles have very kindly offered to help me get the shop back to normal.’
Etta nodded then her eyes fell on Jacob and everything else was forgotten. ‘Jacob’s here!’
She charged over to a sleeping Jacob who woke up and wagged his tail happily as Etta doted on him with strokes and belly rubs.
Xander turned round to address Etta’s grandparents. ‘Did you have a good weekend?’
‘Yes, we had a lovely time,’ Margaret said. ‘Sorry we had to bring her back early, we forgot we had plans today.’
