Page 89 of Midnight Surrender to the Spaniard

‘She’s so cute! I want to hold her...’

‘We can’t hold her at the moment,’ Anna said. ‘Just her parents...’

And she thought of José, and how extra-precious that cuddle with his granddaughter was now.

‘Willow, darling...’ She took a deep breath. ‘I have a friend in Spain and his father has just died. It was ever so sudden. I think I ought to go to the funeral, so I can help him.’

‘You’re going back?’ Her daughter’s eyes widened in horror.

‘Withyou!’

That quickly put a smile on her face.

‘Emily’s going to look after you, and she’s finding a nanny to help her, as I might have to stay away overnight. But we’ll have a couple of days together afterwards.’

‘Where are we going?’

‘It’s a place called Marbella.’

Willow jumped up and down at the prospect of a plane ride, and seeing Emily, going to Spain...

‘Will I get to see the baby?’

‘Well...’ Anna took a breath. She felt as if she was balancing on a tightrope. ‘It depends... But you’ll definitely be with Emily. She’s desperate to see you.’

‘Is there a beach?’

‘Yes, there’s a beach.’ Anna smiled.

And it was at that very beach the next morning that she and her daughter found Emily.

‘Willow!’

Emily hugged her goddaughter fiercely, and didn’t let on anything about the difficulties she had been through, nor ask any of the questions she had for Willow’s mother. She just chatted away and introduced Dali, a highly trained nanny, who was going to help take care of Willow.

Anna insisted on paying Dali herself, even if it meant she would have to dip into her precious emergency fund. If this wasn’t an emergency, she didn’t know what was.

Yes, it was going to be a juggling act just to get to the funeral, but Anna did everything she could to make it easy on her daughter, answering all Dali’s questions about her Willow’s likes and dislikes.

Then she faced a barrage of questions from her friend, when Dali took Willow to play on the gorgeous sand—she wanted to be sure Willow was comfortable with Dali before leaving them together.

‘Dali’s incredible,’ Emily reassured her. ‘I asked the nurses at the NICU, and they recommended her. We’re going to stay at the hotel next to the hospital, and Dali will take care of Willow when I need to go in...’

Anna knew she could not put off Emily’s questions any longer. She really had done everything she could to help when Anna had called, even if she was uncertain what she was doing was wise.

‘I thought something was going on with you and Sebastián at the wedding...’ she said.

‘I know...’

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

‘I didn’t need to be warned again,’ Anna admitted.

‘He did everything he could to break Alejandro and me up. He got rid of me without thought, and I don’t want the same thing to happen to you. Ithurt.’

‘I know... But he’s hurting now,’ Anna said. ‘And I know we’re going nowhere, but he’s made me so happy. I can’t tell you... This isn’t about the future, or whether there’s a chance for us. It’s just the right thing to do.’

She gave her friend a smile.

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