The Chocolate Lovers' Wedding by Carole Matthews

Author:Carole Matthews [Matthews, Carole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sphere
Published: 2016-01-07T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Four

Autumn stood outside her parents’ house. It was big, imposing and had never felt like her home. Now she could hardly remember when she’d last been to visit them here; you could certainly never just drop in. If she wanted to see her mother and father, she had to make an appointment. They both had very busy schedules.

When she rang the bell, her father opened the door. Until recently they’d had a number of staff running their home – a housekeeper who had been with them for many years, a cook and a cleaner. They were from old money and expected to be looked after. Since the housekeeper had retired, they managed with one Romanian lady who came in each day to clean and leave them a prepared dinner. She supposed it was their way of becoming more modern.

‘Autumn,’ her father said by way of greeting. No hug. No kiss. ‘We’re just finishing supper. Come through.’

They were sitting at a table in the kitchen opposite each other, a plate of cold meats and cheese between them.

‘Hello, darling.’ Her mother, fork in hand, looked up from the pile of legal papers that were next to her plate. ‘Have you eaten?’

‘Yes,’ she said.

‘Wine?’

‘That would be nice.’

Her father poured her a glass and she took off her coat, hung it on the back of one of the spare seats and then sat down. In any other family, this would be a nice, cosy scene, Autumn thought.

‘What are you doing with your days?’ her father asked.

Which was the same as asking if she’d found a job yet. She hated the fact that at her stage in life she was still entirely dependent on her parents. They paid for her flat, a not ungenerous allowance went into her bank account every month and yet the one thing that she wanted from them was never on offer. Their time and their love was doled out piecemeal, as it always had been.

‘I’m considering my options.’ It sounded as if she was dodging the question, but she wasn’t. She literally had no idea which direction her life should take. She wanted to settle down with Miles, have another baby – one who would stay in her care. But, beyond that, she just wasn’t entirely sure what the future held.

‘You wanted to see us about something?’ her mother asked.

It showed the state of their relationship that she couldn’t simply drop in without reason. They knew so little about her life. She hadn’t even told them about Miles or Flo.

‘Yes.’ She tucked her hair behind her ear. ‘I have something to tell you.’

Perhaps it was the tone of her voice, but they did both have the grace to pay attention. Autumn took a strengthening swig of her wine before she said, ‘I’ve found Willow.’

There was no recognition on either of their faces.

‘My daughter,’ she added.

Even then, it took a moment to register with them both. Her mother flushed scarlet.

‘She’s a beautiful young woman now,’ Autumn continued.

Her mother took off her glasses and laid them on the table.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.