When she managed to push him gently away, she saw that he was crying. ‘I didn’t mean it,’ he repeated. ‘It’s just that all evening I was so worried about you. All I could think was that you weren’t coming back to me. I love you so much, Willow. You do believe that, don’t you?’

‘Yes,’ she said. She put a hand to her throbbing cheek, and her mouth which felt swollen and tender. When she looked at her hand, she saw that her fingertips had blood on them.

‘You must have bitten your lip,’ he said with a frown.

Afraid to disagree with him, she nodded. ‘Rick,’ she then said, ‘you won’t ever do this again, will you? Do you promise?’

‘Yes,’ he said in a low voice. ‘But Willow, you must promise that you won’t hurt me anymore.’

‘When have I ever hurt you?’ she asked.

‘Every time you go against me, you hurt me. Every time you want to spend time with your friends and family and not me, you hurt me. All I want is for you to love me. You do love me, don’t you?’

She knew the answer he wanted to hear, so she forced herself to say the words, knowing with all her heart that she didn’t and never would. ‘Of course I love you, Rick.’ Again the words nearly choked her.

Chapter Fifty

Naomi had tried several times to ring Willow, but each attempt had resulted in her having to leave a message on her daughter’s voicemail.

It was now midday and Ellis would be back soon with Martha. After being stuck in the lift at work yesterday and then fainting, Martha had sensibly followed her boss’s advice and was taking the rest of the week off from work. She had managed to see her midwife at the local surgery and had been told that other than a slight rise in her blood pressure, there was nothing to worry about. Naomi had suggested Martha join Willow and come and stay for a few days, half expecting her eldest daughter to say no, that she’d spend the time doing something useful at home, but Martha had readily accepted the invitation and said she’d drive down in the morning. This had been overruled by both Naomi and Tom; and saving Tom the job, Ellis had volunteered to fetch her, Willow as well. But there had been no word from Willow as to whether she was coming or not.

Picking up her mobile, Naomi checked it again.

‘Like a watched pot that never boils, your mobile is not going to spring into life because you’ve looked at it,’ remarked Geraldine, glancing up from that morning’s copy of the Telegraph. ‘How many times is it now that you’ve checked to see if the silly girl has replied to you?’

‘I don’t know,’ said Naomi with a frown. ‘And please don’t call her a silly girl. She’s far from silly.’

‘I stand corrected. Would scatterbrained be more acceptable to you?’