“And you make sure they see the best of it. You know what people want, whatever the age.” He shook his head, bemused. “You are a confident woman, Robyn. I only ever see this hesitation and uncertainty when we talk about your family.”

“Maybe it’s because I’ve only ever made major mistakes with my family.”

“That was a long time ago.”

“I know, but—” she breathed in “—what if she rejects me, Erik? What if I tell her the truth, and she tells me she doesn’t want me in her life?”

Erik stood taller. “Then, she will not be worth having in yours. And now you need to stop chewing on what-if and deal with what is.”

She finished her chocolate. “We only have the one cabin available for those first few days, but if the friends are a couple, then it won’t matter. They can share.”

So it would be a few more days still until she met Christy.

Now that the much-anticipated meeting was delayed, she wasn’t sure if she was feeling relief or disappointment.

Robyn had avoided complication for the past couple of decades, particularly family complication. She kept her life simple, and that was the way she liked it. But now she’d opened the door again.

Family could hurt you like no other; she knew that.

Would this prove to be a mistake?

7

Christy

Christy waved until Holly’s curls were no longer visible and the car was out of view. The temperature had plummeted overnight, and the garden gleamed silver with frost. It should have made her feel festive, but right now she felt as if someone had ripped a part of her away. She wanted to chase after the car, tell them she’d changed her mind. There was so much that felt wrong about this. It was Christmas. Families were supposed to be together at Christmas.

Feeling strangely unsettled, she closed the front door on her daughter, her friends and the cold winter air. Her safe, familiar world felt as if it was disintegrating, sliding through her fingers like grains of sand.

She’d never been parted from her child before, at least not for more than a few hours. She was surprised by the physical wrench of it, the desperate desire to grab her back and keep her safe.

What if Holly missed her? What if she needed her mother? It wasn’t as if Christy could get to her quickly. Panic tightened in her chest. The cottage felt empty and silent.

“You should have gone.” Seb was calm. “I know how much this means to you and how anxious you’ll be without her. I don’t want you to be worried.”

She was worried, and not only about Holly.

Guilt dug hard into her ribs, an uncomfortable reminder of their current situation. She kept thinking of Seb getting up early every morning, kissing her goodbye and trekking into London for his job. Except that there had been no job. Only anxiety, stress and a stagnant job market. And she hadn’t suspected anything. She’d watched the man she loved ostensibly go to work each day and had been too focused on her daughter, the cottage and her own little corner of their life to notice that something else might be going on.