Chapters (57)
‘I sent an email,’ he said. Maggie’s shoulders dropped. ‘I know it was none of my business but I figured if I told him what you’d done for me then maybe he’d get an idea of what a sound person you are and…’ Tom was looking glassy-eyed.
‘It’s okay,’ said Maggie, anticipating that he’d received a similar response to hers. ‘I appreciate that you tried, Tom. That means a lot. But now we need to draw a line under it and move on.’ She forced a smile. ‘Okay?’
Tom’s lips twitched. ‘Thing is. I told him it’d be best to see for himself what other people thought of you.’ Maggie’s eyebrows knotted together. ‘And I think he took me up on that.’ Tom nodded over her shoulder.
Maggie turned slowly to follow Tom’s gaze. Most of the villagers had dispersed leaving the WI ladies and a few stragglers. But standing by the mobile library van, talking to Farah, were four people: a man, a woman and two grown-up children. Tears instantly sprang to Maggie’s eyes, blurring the sight she had longed to see. She couldn’t say she would have recognised her son because sadly she knew she would have passed him in the street and not known who he was. In fact she was fairly sure she’d shooed him out of the way earlier. But now she watched him, talking and laughing, she knew in her heart it was him.
‘River,’ she said softly.
‘Word of advice,’ said Tom. ‘You might not want to call him that.’ He beamed a grin at her as she wiped away the tears, before giving him a friendly whack on the arm.
‘Oh, Tom. I don’t know what to say. Thank you.’
‘The look on your face is all I wanted really. Come on, let’s meet your son.’
THE END
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