‘This is aboutyou. I can see how tied you are,’ Ruby added, frustration clear in her voice. ‘I’ve been able to do what I wanted, but you Broadhurst kids had a family business to join.’
A silence fell while they each thought about things they’d discussed.
‘If I follow my dreams, then you need to follow yours,’ Eliza said to Ava.
‘It’s not that easy.’
‘See?’ Eliza rolled her eyes in jest. ‘Shegives advice but won’t take it as well. Your stuff is good, Ava, but you’re the only one who can makeyourdreams come true.’
Another bottle of wine was opened. Ava felt blessed as she sat across from the two friends, and a little teary to be part of their gang again.
‘I bet it was weird seeing Harry,’ Ruby said to Eliza.
‘It was a shock, I can tell you.’ Eliza nodded. ‘After so many years away.’
‘Not as long as me. I was twenty-two years between visits!’
Ruby and Eliza glanced at each other.
Ruby shrugged. ‘It’s up to you,’ she told Eliza. ‘But it’ll have to come out soon.’
‘If there’s something you don’t want me to know, then I can nip to the loo,’ Ava said.
‘Harry and I.’ Eliza blew out a breath. ‘We had a thing before he left.’
‘Like me and Jack, you mean?’
‘It went further than a few kisses. And then a little further still.’
Ava paused, trying to work out what wasn’t being said between the lines. Then she gasped. ‘Are you telling me that Harry is Willow’s dad?’
Eliza nodded. ‘I found out I was pregnant a month after he’d left.’
‘And he doesn’t know?’
‘I hadn’t seen sight nor sound of him since then, so I wasn’t able to tell him.’
‘Didn’t his father guess?’
‘I would have denied it if he had.’
‘What about your parents?’
‘Mum knows, but Dad doesn’t. He thinks I slept with a boy one summer and got caught.’
Ava, who was wide-eyed at the revelation, sat forward. ‘Does Jack know?’
Eliza shook her head. ‘But when Willow visits, now that he’s seen Harry again, he might guess.’
‘Do you think she looks like him? I mean, I’ve seen photos of Willow, but I haven’t met her.’
‘Thankfully she has the Broadhurst’s side mostly. Or maybe that’s because I haven’t seen Harry for two decades and there’s no other family.’
‘Are you going to tell him before she does visit?’ Ruby asked.
‘Of course I am.’ Eliza pouted. ‘I just don’t know how.’
Ruby reached for Eliza’s hand and gave it a squeeze. ‘It’s best to get it over with as soon as you can. Then you can decide whether to tell Willow or not.’
