“Are you disappointed in me?” I ask quietly as my mum sits down on the sofa, and I go to sit next to her. I’m still in shock that she turned up here, and that Harley just claimed to be the father of my baby. The man who says he can’t be with me is being there for me in every damn way anyway. I doubt he sees it like that, though.

“No . . . just a little shocked, Tilly,” she says, leaning back on the sofa and looking around the room.

“This is a nice house, does your boyfriend own it?” she asks me.

“Yes, and his brother Luke lives here, too. Izzy stays over sometimes.”

“I can’t wait to see little Elizabeth. I’ve really missed her, it must be nice to have a friend around,” she says, and I nod. There’s an awkward silence that spreads between us, and I don’t know how to break it. I can’t exactly say sorry for not telling her and yet, I don’t know what to say to her. I don’t like seeing my mum like this, so worried and confused.

“Is dad okay?” I ask, actually wondering why he isn’t here. My dad is not the type to let his wife fight his battles, and I know from the three phone calls I’ve answered, that he isn’t happy with me.

“He had business to clear up before the move, so he won’t be here until tomorrow,” she replies.

“Oh.”

“Ace misses his sister, so does Grayson,” she tells me, and I nod, knowing I miss them, too. I’ve always been close to my brothers. We aren’t far from each other in age.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Why did you run?” She asks me the second question before I can reply to the first.

“I–” I start to say, and she cuts me off.

“Devon may be an idiot and know nothing about pregnancy, but I had four children. You’re pregnant for nine months, and you didn’t leave our house until about four months ago, so there is no way that little baby is Harley’s unless you cheated on Daniel in France. Now . . . you want to say the baby is early to your brothers or even your dad to carry on with this lie, then fine, but not with me,” she says firmly.

“The baby is Daniel’s,” I say, hating to even mention his name out loud or admitting that even a part of my sweet, baby girl belongs to him. I will spend the rest of my life making sure she is nothing like him at all.

“Why doesn’t he know?” she asks me. I look at my mum, with her red hair like mine and the smart look in her eyes as she thinks everything over. I know I should tell her, but the words don’t seem to want to leave my lips. I end up thinking back to Harley, how he told me everything about him, and he wasn’t frightened to do that. I need to be strong like him. At the end of the day, I didn’t do anything wrong.

“The night I left, he hurt me mum, and he tried to–” I take a deep breath “He tried to rape me. I ran away because I don’t want him anywhere near my baby or me. Harley is just protecting me,” I say.

“Oh, Tilly,” she says and pulls me into a hug. We both stay still for a long time as she cries on my shoulder, and I don’t know what else to say. Part of me feels like crying and another huge part of me just wants to forget France. I couldn’t even speak the damn language, anyway, like my brothers can.

“Where is Daniel? He isn’t coming here, is he?” I ask, knowing that if she says he is, I will have to leave. I don’t want to, I don’t want to leave Harley. That arrogant man makes me like him more and more every day.

“No, he stayed. He wanted to come, but he couldn’t leave his work. Honestly, he moved out not long after you and only saw Devon weekly,” she tells me, and part of me is relieved that he wasn’t in their life.

“He is evil, mum, he hurt me once before and used to control me. Everything from what I wore, to where I could go, and when I was away from him, he was obsessively calling my phone and accusing me of cheating on him when I got home,” I tell her, and her eyes widen.

“He won’t come here because if he does, I’m going to kill him, and your dad is going to help,” she tells me. I don’t doubt her; my mum can be scary as hell at times.

“Dad doesn’t need to go back to prison, and I don’t want to lose my mum, either, but Harley won’t let him near me. You’ve seen the man, he is built like a machine, and Daniel would have to be mad to try and go near me,” I reassure her.

“He is a handsome man and a good man to be at your side like this. He’s a keeper,” my mum says, waggling her eyebrows.

“And a complicated man,” I respond, making her smile.

“The best ones always are, but he is there for you. Most men would run,” she says, and I know she’s right.

“Harley wouldn’t run, he isn’t like that. His very nature is to be protective. He brought all his brothers up since their dad died,” I tell her.

“That poor boy,” my mum says.

“And then, took Izzy and me in, knowing about the baby, too,” I say. Mum nods, looking around the room and to the Moses basket. Harley bought the Moses basket and set it all in here for me. He put my favourite bed blanket on the sofa, and there is even a drink left out for me on the side. He must have done all this, getting ready for me to come home.

“Does he know about Daniel?” she asks me quietly.

“Yes, he was the first person I could actually tell. He makes me feel safe, and he understands me. Well, we understand each other . . . I can’t explain it,” I say.

“I don’t have to understand it, only you two do. You know I’m a big believer in fate, and sometimes fate leads us to the only person who can understand you, sweetheart,” she says, placing her hand over mine.

“Mrs. Fox, I mean Linda,” Izzy says as she opens the door and runs into the room. My mum stands up to hug her and Blake comes in, shutting the door behind them.

“Oh Elizabeth, it’s so lovely to see you. You have grown so much since I last saw you,” my mum says as Izzy pulls away.

“I missed you, too,” she says with a big smile.

“You look the image of your mother, she would be so proud of you. At university and settling down,” she tells Izzy, who gives her a small, sad smile. I know she misses her mum every day, but my mum is right, they do look alike.

“Now . . . who is this handsome man?” Mum asks Izzy, who laughs as Blake comes over.

“My boyfriend, Blake . . . Blake, this is Linda, Tilly’s mum.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Blake says as he shakes mum’s hand.

“The pleasure is all mine,” mum says and winks at Izzy, who laughs. Blake looks a little worried as we all start laughing.

My family is here.