Molly first now.’
Carmel seemed to consider this for a moment. ‘Yes, but you shouldn’t put off your wedding date. The sooner things are settled for you and Max, the better it will be for Molly. I like the sound of this vineyard, don’t you, Bob?’
She glanced over at her husband, who nodded. He looked tired, Carrie thought, feeling sudden sympathy for the man. He was obviously jet-lagged after the flight from Australia.
‘Sarah…that’s Molly’s mother,’ he explained to Max, ‘was our only child. We still miss her greatly. We do wantto do our best for Molly.’ He seemed to draw himself up in his chair with difficulty. ‘But bringing up a small child is a demanding job. I’m not very well, and when my wife told me we should have Molly, I have to be honest, I worried about how we’d cope—how Carmel would cope. Things have not been easy for her, looking after me—’
‘Bob!’ Carmel cut across his speech crossly. ‘Of course we’d cope. We’d just have to cope; it’s our duty to Sarah. We’ve been through this a hundred times. We are Molly’s closest blood relatives…’ Carmel shot a look over at Carrie. ‘No offence, Carrie, but Tony was only your half-brother.’
The words struck fear into Carrie; she had half feared that Carmel might use this fact to get Molly. ‘Yes, but we were close, Carmel,’ she said hastily.
‘But we have the closer blood tie. And we would be capable of looking after her—’
‘Yes, of course we’d cope.’ Bob cut his wife off in mid-speech. ‘But if we are both to be honest taking our granddaughter to live with us isn’t our first choice. We know we’d find it hard to adjust. For one thing, she hardly knows us. Plus, a youngster takes lots of energy and time.’ He fixed Carrie with a stern, long look. ‘Obviously she adores you. I could see that the way she clung to you out there in the foyer. But if we are going to hand her over we need to know she will not come second after a multitude of boyfriends and a career that takes you away all the time. Meeting Max today has at least taken away some of that fear.’
Carrie could feel herself growing hotter and more disconcerted by the second. She really empathised with what this man was saying. ‘I promise you I will always put Molly first,’ she said huskily, her blue eyes wide and sincere as they held with his. At least that was the truth, nomatter about Max or living on vineyards, or her job—or anything. Molly would come first.
Max glanced across Molly’s head and saw the expression in Carrie’s eyes, saw the way she held herself ramrod-straight in the chair. He could see that she hated this deception. He could see that she was desperately sorry for Molly’s grandparents and wanted to reassure them, to make everything all right for them as well as Molly.
Bob nodded and then looked over at Max. ‘That’s all right, then. In the meantime we’ll hang around a little, get to know Molly, take her out and we’ll see how things go. Perhaps we could come up to your vineyard one day.’
Carrie felt her heart lurch crazily.
‘By all means,’ Max agreed easily.
The waiter arrived at the table to clear away some of the plates of sandwiches and brought Molly’s ice cream.
For a moment all the adults watched as she tucked into it happily.
‘Is that nice, darling?’ Carrie asked her, and she nodded and then grinned. Perhaps it was something about the child’s innocent pleasure, or maybe it was the aftermath of the conversation with her grandparents, Carrie didn’t know, but suddenly she could feel tears welling up inside her.
She met Max’s eyes and smiled, determined to keep herself together, and then was extremely relieved when Max started up a conversation about the vineyard, chatting easily to Bob, telling him that they would be taking in the grapes soon, and then talking about the business generally. The normality of the conversation was a balm to Carrie’s senses. And Bob and Carmel
Carmel seemed to consider this for a moment. ‘Yes, but you shouldn’t put off your wedding date. The sooner things are settled for you and Max, the better it will be for Molly. I like the sound of this vineyard, don’t you, Bob?’
She glanced over at her husband, who nodded. He looked tired, Carrie thought, feeling sudden sympathy for the man. He was obviously jet-lagged after the flight from Australia.
‘Sarah…that’s Molly’s mother,’ he explained to Max, ‘was our only child. We still miss her greatly. We do wantto do our best for Molly.’ He seemed to draw himself up in his chair with difficulty. ‘But bringing up a small child is a demanding job. I’m not very well, and when my wife told me we should have Molly, I have to be honest, I worried about how we’d cope—how Carmel would cope. Things have not been easy for her, looking after me—’
‘Bob!’ Carmel cut across his speech crossly. ‘Of course we’d cope. We’d just have to cope; it’s our duty to Sarah. We’ve been through this a hundred times. We are Molly’s closest blood relatives…’ Carmel shot a look over at Carrie. ‘No offence, Carrie, but Tony was only your half-brother.’
The words struck fear into Carrie; she had half feared that Carmel might use this fact to get Molly. ‘Yes, but we were close, Carmel,’ she said hastily.
‘But we have the closer blood tie. And we would be capable of looking after her—’
‘Yes, of course we’d cope.’ Bob cut his wife off in mid-speech. ‘But if we are both to be honest taking our granddaughter to live with us isn’t our first choice. We know we’d find it hard to adjust. For one thing, she hardly knows us. Plus, a youngster takes lots of energy and time.’ He fixed Carrie with a stern, long look. ‘Obviously she adores you. I could see that the way she clung to you out there in the foyer. But if we are going to hand her over we need to know she will not come second after a multitude of boyfriends and a career that takes you away all the time. Meeting Max today has at least taken away some of that fear.’
Carrie could feel herself growing hotter and more disconcerted by the second. She really empathised with what this man was saying. ‘I promise you I will always put Molly first,’ she said huskily, her blue eyes wide and sincere as they held with his. At least that was the truth, nomatter about Max or living on vineyards, or her job—or anything. Molly would come first.
Max glanced across Molly’s head and saw the expression in Carrie’s eyes, saw the way she held herself ramrod-straight in the chair. He could see that she hated this deception. He could see that she was desperately sorry for Molly’s grandparents and wanted to reassure them, to make everything all right for them as well as Molly.
Bob nodded and then looked over at Max. ‘That’s all right, then. In the meantime we’ll hang around a little, get to know Molly, take her out and we’ll see how things go. Perhaps we could come up to your vineyard one day.’
Carrie felt her heart lurch crazily.
‘By all means,’ Max agreed easily.
The waiter arrived at the table to clear away some of the plates of sandwiches and brought Molly’s ice cream.
For a moment all the adults watched as she tucked into it happily.
‘Is that nice, darling?’ Carrie asked her, and she nodded and then grinned. Perhaps it was something about the child’s innocent pleasure, or maybe it was the aftermath of the conversation with her grandparents, Carrie didn’t know, but suddenly she could feel tears welling up inside her.
She met Max’s eyes and smiled, determined to keep herself together, and then was extremely relieved when Max started up a conversation about the vineyard, chatting easily to Bob, telling him that they would be taking in the grapes soon, and then talking about the business generally. The normality of the conversation was a balm to Carrie’s senses. And Bob and Carmel
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