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Back Where The Story Starts Save as PDF
Chapters (65)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. CONTENTS
  4. PROLOGUE
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
  64. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  65. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Melissa shrugged. She shook her head. ‘I don’t need her and she obviously doesn’t need me either.’

Auntie Kathleen opened her mouth to contradict her but then seemed to think better of it.

‘And what about this Ray, then?’ she asked. ‘Is he going to make an honest woman of you?’

Melissa whipped a fondant fancy from the top layer and popped it into her mouth whole to give her a minute to think. Her own mother was a waste of space who had messed everything up and then run off to Cornwall with a man she met on the beach, leaving Melissa to cope with life on her own. Melissa was not going to pass on the same legacy to her daughter. She would not let history repeat itself. Ray was going to marry her, come hell or high water.

18

18

MELISSA – THEN

‘My Auntie Kathleen thinks you ought to make an honest woman of me,’ Melissa said to Ray the following weekend. They were walking along the South Promenade, Ray pushing the pram with Melissa at his side, her arm neatly tucked into the crook of his. It had been a hot weekend, the first of the summer, and the town had been rammed all day with day-trippers desperate to soak up a few of the sun’s rays in case they were the last they saw for a while. Now, though, the heat had dropped away and there was the hint of an evening nip in the air. Melissa pulled the coverlet over Leah and tucked it in round the sides.

‘She’ll overheat, you know,’ said Ray, shaking his head with an indulgent smile, but he stopped walking to let Melissa arrange Leah’s layers.

‘She’s only little,’ objected Melissa. ‘Babies lose body heat much faster than we do and she’s just lying there.’

Ray smiled at her fondly. ‘You’ve taken to motherhood like a duck to water,’ he said. ‘I remember when . . .’ He stopped abruptly.

‘What?’ Melissa asked. Ray didn’t often tell her stories of his life before her and she was always alert to any snippets about his past.

‘Oh, nothing,’ he said. ‘Just that you’re a great mum, Missy.’

This was like manna from heaven to Melissa, and she squeezed his arm a little tighter as they moved onwards against the flow of families making for the car parks.

‘So, what do you think?’ she asked.

Ray looked confused. ‘About what?’

‘Making an honest woman of me,’ she said.