“You’re no daughter of mine anymore. Who he is or where he’s fromLord knows! I’m ashamed of you. Move into Gran’s cottage and live like a proper grown-up. Face the consequences of your choices.”
“Liz, did you hear? Theyve brought some lads from head office to help out at work. Fancy hitting the pub tonight?” Emma plopped into the armchair, grinning.
“Emma, are you mad? What about little Alfie? Bring him along, shall I?” Lizzie laughed.
“What if we ask Auntie Margot?” Emma suggested, hesitant.
Lizzie waved a hand dismissively. “Oh, come off it. She still hasnt forgiven me for having Alf. She wanted me to marry Andrew, didnt she? And then I trotted off to unididnt get in, came back with a bump instead. Spent a whole year giving me the silent treatment. Only started speaking to me two months ago. Go without me. Maybe youll get lucky and find someone.”
Emma sighed. “Fine, Ill drag Tanya along. Ill tell you everything tomorrow.”
Lizzie tucked Alfie into bed and stepped onto the porch. The distant thump of music from the pub carried on the breeze. Wrapped in her shawl, she imagined everyone dancing, laughing. Emma was probably wearing that leopard-print dress againLizzie smirked. In it, Emma looked like a very determined caterpillar. With a sigh, she turned in for the night.
At dawn, Emma burst injust as Lizzies mum arrived for a visit. Lizzie pressed a finger to her lips, but Emma was unstoppable.
“Shame you werent there last night! Proper chaps, they were. One even walked me homeTom, his name was. Chatty bloke, cheeky sense of humour. Weve got a date tonight,” Emma blurted.
Lizzies mum arched a brow. “Married, I suppose?”
Emma shrugged. “Dunno, didnt ask to see his ring finger. Even if he is, at least Ill have a story to tell.”
“Oh, girls, what are you playing at? Andrews a decent catch. Lizzie here already missed her chance, but you, Emmayou could still turn his head,” Auntie Margot mused, warming to the idea.
“Auntie Margot, really! Whod want him? And his mums a right nightmare. No thanks!” Emma scoffed. She turned to Lizzie. “There was this bloke last nightcouldnt take your eyes off him. All the girls were smitten. But he just stood with his mates, then left alone. Didnt ask anyone to dance.”
Then, the unthinkable happened. Auntie Margot said thoughtfully, “Lizzie, you should go to the pub too. Ill mind Alfie. Might meet someone propersomeone reliable. Alfie needs a dad. Just steer clear of the married ones. They can sniff out a single mum a mile off. Understood?”
Lizzie, hardly daring to believe her luck, nodded and planted a kiss on her mums cheek.
“Go on, you cheeky thing,” her mum grumbled.
In her best dress, Lizzie stood with her friends, chattering away. Shed missed thiscarefree, grown-up time.
“Look. Hes here again,” the girls whispered.
Lizzie glanced overand her knees wobbled. She turned sharply. “I should go. Alfies probably crying without me.”
Emma gaped. “Liz! First night out in ages, and youre bailing? You havent even danced!”
But Lizzie was firm. “Im off. Looks like your Toms heading this wayyoull be fine without me.” She made for the exit.
At the door, someone caught her hand. “Care for a dance?”
Without looking, Lizzie tried to pull free. “I dont dance.”
But the stranger was persistent. “Just one. Please.”
She turnedand her heart lurched. *Him.* The same man whod turned her life upside down. And judging by his expression, he didnt recognise her. Relief flickered, and she smiled. “One dance. Then Im off.”
He spun her gently. “Husband waiting at home, then?”
“Not married,” she said flatly.
He winked*that* winkand her breath hitched. “So Ive got a shot?”
Lizzie stepped back. “Not a chance,” she said, fleeing the pub.
Tears streamed down her face as she walked home. Shed remembered him forever, fallen for him instantlyand he hadnt known her.
Theyd met on a train. Shed been crushed, heading home after failing her exams. Hed been visiting family. Seeing her gloom, hed tried to cheer her up.
“Names Max. Mum calls me Maxie, nephew calls me Mase. Take your pick.”
Lizzie had smiled. “Mase is fun.”
Hed offered his hand. “Nearly proper introductions, then. And you are, lovely stranger?”
“Lizzie.”
Max had nodded solemnly. “Queenly name.”
Bit by bit, shed confessed her exam disaster, how her mum would never let her live it down.
“Study over winter and try again,” hed advised.
Lizzie had brightened. “Youre right! I hadnt even thought of that. Ta.”
Hed studied her. “Has anyone told you youre gorgeous?”
Shed flushed. “Im alright. But cheers.”
Max had leaned closer. “Its true,” hed murmuredthen kissed her. The rest was a blur of sweetness and shame. Hed left the train first.
“Ill find you,” hed promised.
Only later did she realisehed never asked where she lived.
Then came the baby. Her mum had spat, “Youre no daughter of mine,” and banished her to Grans cottage.
Lizzie had worked at the library until maternity leave. Emma had met her at the hospitalher mum hadnt come. Only when Alfie was five months old had she relented.
“Not our blood,” shed sniffedbut shed started visiting, bringing toys.
“Back already?” her mum asked now. “Pub that dull? Hows Alfie?”
“Fast asleep. Since youre here, Ill head home,” her mum said.
Lizzie barely slept that night. At dawn, bleary-eyed, she tried feeding Alfie his porridge.
“Eat up, or you wont grow big and strong like your dad,” she teased.
“Talking about me? Flattering. And this is my son, I take it?”
Lizzie dropped the spoon. *Him.*
Max grinned. “Told you Id find you. Didnt know Id be a dad by now, though. Got so carried away, I forgot to ask where you lived. Suppose fate fancied a laugh.” He pulled a face at Alfie, who giggled.
At breakfast, Lizzies mum found her beamingand a stranger bouncing Alfie on his shoulders.
“This him?”
Lizzie nodded, radiant.
Her mum extended a hand. “Im Margaret Hayes. And Ill be watching what sort of manand fatheryou are.”
Max shook her hand firmly. “Understood.”
