Chapter 45
When Abigail shifted her gaze from the front door, she caught Oliver staring at her. Abigail averted her gaze, embarrassed.
‘Look, I’ve been a fool, Abigail.’
When she raised her eyes, he gently took her hand in his. ‘When I heard you’d come back, I couldn’t believe it. I thought … I thought you were gone for good. Look, please come back to Somerville Hall. The accounts are a mess.’
‘Is that the only reason you want me to come back?’ Abigail blurted. She hadn’t meant to say that.
‘You know it isn’t.’
There was an uncomfortable silence as their eyes locked.
Before she knew what she was doing, Abigail leaned towards him and kissed him.
Momentarily stunned, it took a second for Oliver to react. When he kissed her back, arms reaching around her waist, Abigail suddenly pulled back.
Oliver didn’t look surprised. ‘Look, I know what’s going on.’
Abigail stared at him.Did he know about the baby?
‘It’s Toby. This is too soon after …’ he trailed off.
Abigail nodded. There was that too. She knew Toby would want her to move on, find someone else, re-marry. She was young, had her whole life ahead of her. But she hadn’t expected to meet somebody and fall in love all over again so soon.
‘You’re feeling guilty.’
‘Yes, I suppose I am.’
‘I can wait. However long it takes.’
Abigail looked at him sheepishly. However much she wanted to be with him, she didn’t know him well enough to gauge his reaction when he found out she was pregnant with Toby’s child. Would he raise another man’s son? Would he still want to be with her when he found out about the baby?
Tell him.
Abigail took a deep breath and was forming the words in her mind, preparing to tell him, when Ulysses jumped up on to the sofa where Carys had been sitting and pounced on Oliver.
‘Hey, boy.’
Ulysses rolled over, paws in the air, for his tummy to be tickled.
Oliver laughed.
Abigail couldn’t help but smile at the silly dog, even though he’d stolen her moment.
Oliver turned to her. ‘Let’s do the DNA thing now.’ He reached for the laptop on the table and caught her shaking her head. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘You don’t have to do it.’
‘I want to.’
‘What if ...’ she trailed off.
‘What if I’m not really my father’s son?’
Abigail nodded.
‘I want to know, one way or the other. What if I have children in the future?’ He looked pointedly at Abigail. ‘I need to know, not just for me – but for them. Do you understand?’