Page 32 of Fall

“Oh, Tilly,” she says, pulling me into a hug.

We both stay still for a long time as she cries on my shoulder, and I don’t know what else to say. Part of me feels like crying, and another huge part of me just wants to forget France. I can’t even speak the damn language anyway, not like my brothers can.

“Where is Daniel? He isn’t coming here, is he?” I ask, knowing that if she says he is, I will have to leave. I don’t want to, I don’t want to leave Harley. That arrogant man makes me like him more and more every day.

“No, he stayed. He wanted to come, but he couldn’t leave his work. Honestly, he moved out not long after you and only saw Devon weekly,” she tells me, and part of me is relieved that he wasn’t in their life.

“He is evil, Mum; he hurt me once before and used to control me. Everything from what I wore, to where I could go, and when I was away from him, he was obsessively calling my phone and accusing me of cheating on him when I got home,” I tell her, and her eyes widen.

“He won’t come here because if he does, I’m going to kill him, and your dad is going to help,” she tells me. I don’t doubt her; my mum can be scary as hell at times.

“Dad doesn’t need to go back to prison, and I don’t want to lose my mum, either, but Harley won’t let him near me. You’ve seen the man, he is built like a machine, and Daniel would have to be mad to try to go near me now,” I reassure her.

“He is a handsome man and a good man to be at your side like this. He’s a keeper,” my mum says, waggling her eyebrows.

“And a complicated man,” I respond, making her smile.

“The best ones always are, but he is there for you. Most men would run,” she says, and I know she’s right.

“Harley wouldn’t run, he isn’t like that. His very nature is to be protective. He brought all of his brothers up since their dad died,” I tell her.

“That poor boy,” my mum says.

“And then, he took Izzy and me in, knowing about the baby, too,” I say.

Mum nods, looking around the room and to the Moses basket. Harley bought the Moses basket and set it all in here for me. He put my favourite bed blanket on the sofa, and there is even a drink left out for me on the side. He must have done all this, getting ready for me to come home.

“Does he know about Daniel?” she asks me quietly.

“Yes, he was the first person I could actually tell. He makes me feel safe, and he understands me. Well, we understand each other . . . I can’t explain it,” I say.

“I don’t have to understand it, only you two do. You know I’m a big believer in fate, and sometimes fate leads you to the only person who can understand you, sweetheart,” she says, placing her hand over mine.

“Mrs. Fox, I mean Linda,” Izzy says as she opens the door and runs into the room. My mum stands up to hug her as she and Blake come in, shutting the door behind them.

“Oh, Elizabeth, it’s so lovely to see you. You have grown so much since I last saw you,” my mum says as Izzy pulls away.

“I missed you, too,” she says with a big smile.

“You look the image of your mother, she would be so proud of you. At university and settling down,” she tells Izzy, who gives her a small, sad smile. I know she misses her mum every day, but my mum is right, they do look alike.

“Now . . . who is this handsome man?” Mum asks Izzy, who laughs as Blake comes over.

“My boyfriend, Blake . . . Blake, this is Linda, Tilly’s mum.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Blake says as he shakes Mum’s hand.

“The pleasure is all mine,” Mum says, winking at Izzy, who laughs. Blake looks a little worried as we all start laughing.

My family is here.

Chapter Seventeen

Tilly

“You have a baby, that baby?” My dad repeats for the third time since I explained everything, pointing at my daughter in her pushchair by the door.

Harley is standing next to her and gives me a sympathetic look. I haven’t even had a chance to introduce him yet. I know my mum told him and has been trying to calm him down all morning before we got here. I guess it’s not every day you find out your only daughter has a baby that you didn’t know about.

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