The Chocolatier's Secret (Magnolia Creek, Book 2) (25 page)

‘I know he won’t. But what can I do?’

Molly swigged the remains of the second glass of Prosecco. ‘I might sound out of line here, but I think he likes me. Louis,’ she added when Gemma pulled a face. ‘I think maybe we start with him.’

‘What do you mean?’

Molly winked. ‘I think we need a plan.’

Chapter Thirty-Three

Molly

A low mist had settled on Magnolia Creek, bringing with it the feeling of an approaching winter. Molly finished her toast and cup of tea, cleaned her teeth and checked her appearance again in the bathroom mirror. Yesterday, she and Gemma had hatched a plan, or at least a way forward out of this mess for the Bennetts. Andrew wasn’t going to come around about Louis on his own, and he wasn’t going to come around by being nagged constantly.

When someone old was found to have done something bad in their past, it always seemed so unimaginable to Molly. There they were, grey hair, stooped posture, papery skin … how could an elderly person have ever done anything wrong? She was struggling to see anything but the good in Louis.

She pulled on a cardigan, picked up her bag and grabbed the key to the cottage. Louis didn’t have a dialysis session today, and so this morning Molly was going over to the house to see him, maybe even take a walk along Main Street if he was feeling up to it. She’d not been to the Bennetts’ home and she was nervous now, but last night she’d discussed with Gemma how forming a relationship with Louis might help Andrew to see his father wasn’t only defined by the lie he’d told all those years ago, the actions he’d taken, but by the many other parts of him that Molly didn’t yet know. By seeing Louis form a relationship with his granddaughter, maybe it would pacify Andrew and enable him to see the positives as well as the faults with his father.

Molly went the back way to the Bennetts’ place, following the clearly marked trails. An eerie grey mist still lingered over the bushland and hid the tops of the mountain ash trees, the gum trees Molly knew were there, somewhere. She followed the path running parallel to the trees all the way up to main road and took the first turning off to Myrtle Close. She knew Andrew was most likely at work, and she hadn’t heard from him in days so she didn’t want to bump into him in the street. She’d been disappointed he hadn’t contacted her, but Ben had distracted her well enough and she knew she had to grant her birth father this space for the time being.

‘Molly, come on in.’ Gemma opened the door and the smell of home baking hit her head on. ‘It’s cold this morning, where’s your coat?’

‘I’m British, remember. This isn’t cold.’ Molly pulled the door shut behind them.

‘Good point.’

Molly lowered her voice. ‘Is Andrew here?’

‘No, he’s at work. I didn’t mention this to him.’

‘Do you think he’d flip?’

‘Probably.’ She led Molly through to an oak-panelled kitchen.

‘It’s a bit early in the morning for baking,’ Molly’s tummy rumbled when her eyes fell on the loaf tin on the cooktop.

‘I don’t sleep well these days,’ said Gemma. ‘And especially not today when I knew you were coming. I’m a bit nervous about it.’

‘Me too.’ She watched Gemma carefully turn the loaf out onto a board. ‘What is it? It smells divine.’

‘Banana bread.’

‘Oh, I love banana bread, especially fresh.’

‘This one’s my own take on a traditional recipe.’

‘What’s the secret?’

‘I guess I could tell you, seeing as you’re family.’ She grinned mischievously. ‘I throw in a handful of chocolate chips, another of cranberries. It makes the loaf really moist.’

‘Oh my God, my mouth is literally watering.’

Gemma cut the loaf into thick slices. ‘It’s Louis’ favourite, but he can’t eat it anymore. The diet he’s on is pretty restrictive.’ She arranged a few slices onto the pale green plate she’d taken from the cupboard and then covered them in cling film. Then she passed Molly a second plate from the kitchen table.

‘What are these?’

‘They’re blueberry muffins for Louis, made from a specially adapted recipe. He’s got plenty of tea supplies over there in the annexe, so you’re all set. I told him to expect you.’

‘And is he okay with me visiting?’

Gemma planted one hand on her hip. ‘Are you kidding? He’s over the moon. After everything that’s happened, he would never have been the one to approach you apart from the odd hello and informal chat.’ She paused and then, ‘This goes to show Andrew, and anyone else who may doubt him, that Louis is kind. He’s gentle, has family values. He made one mistake, that’s all.’

Molly nodded. ‘I’m sure we’ve all made mistakes and I’m only just thirty, there’s plenty of time for me to stuff up yet.’ She wasn’t nervous any more, now she knew Louis was enthusiastic.

She followed the path from the house to the annexe as the mist gave way to fine rain. She didn’t have to knock because the door opened before she even got there.

‘Molly, welcome! Come on in.’ Louis had a sparkle in his eyes she hadn’t seen before. And despite his pallor, his spirits overcame any physical demands. ‘I’m glad you came.’

Molly noticed his hands were a bit swollen and unsteady. ‘I’ll take these straight to the kitchen shall I?’

‘Be my guest.’ He pointed to the back of the annexe.

It was a modest home, the right size for one and decorated tastefully in shades of beige with chocolate brown furniture. She looked around and peered more closely at the photos on the kitchen wall. ‘Andrew?’ she asked, pointing to the one of a young boy in a school uniform: black blazer, pale blue and black stripy tie, black trousers.

‘His first day at secondary school,’ Louis confirmed. ‘Tea?’ He lifted a cup from the mug tree on the worktop.

‘I’ll make it.’

‘Nonsense.’

‘Come on, I insist. Are you having one?’

‘No tea for me, thanks. As part of my delightful diet I need to restrict fluids. Bloody awful mess, my body is.’

Molly made the tea and asked where the side plates were. She took Louis a blueberry muffin and then went back for her own and joined him at the kitchen table, square and perfect for two.

‘Winter’s on its way.’ Louis broke off a corner of the muffin.

‘I bet you’ve forgotten what a real winter is like, you’ve been here so long.’

‘True,’ he said.

‘I love the snow, especially the first snowfall of the year when it blankets everything in white. The crunch when your foot first steps into it. I don’t miss the aftermath though, with the slush and wondering whether summer will ever come.’

Molly popped a piece of banana bread into her mouth and her eyes rolled heavenward. ‘This is amazing.’

‘Gemma’s a marvellous woman.’

‘She sure is,’ Molly said, taking another piece. ‘I understand this was your favourite.’

‘Banana bread and me go back a long way.’ He chuckled. ‘But the muffins are pretty good too. Can’t complain.’

‘She’s an amazing cook.’

‘She is.’ He paused. ‘You know they’ve been trying for a family for a long time now? Gemma has been through a lot, but she’s strong. And so is Andrew. Neither of them will turn their back on you, or on each other.’

He sounded so confident.

‘You’d be good with grandkids,’ she told him.

He smiled. ‘I hope I’m not doing too badly with the one I’ve got already.’

Shocked at the candid remark, Molly opened up to this man, her biological grandfather. She told him all about the day at the hospital when a father was denied access to his newborn baby, how that day had changed her way of thinking.

‘I’d never thought about finding my birth father before then. I guess I spent so much time obsessing about my birth mother, I didn’t think about the other piece of the puzzle.’

Louis sighed. ‘It’s different. Perhaps it shouldn’t be, but it is. A birth mother carries a baby for nine months, feels it kick, hears those newborn cries.’

‘I’d always assumed the birth father wouldn’t really have an emotional attachment, especially if he didn’t even know his baby was ever born. Oh, God, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—’

‘Don’t apologise, Molly. There’s no need. I did the wrong thing and regret it with every part of my being. But what’s done is done.’

He was right, of course. ‘I sometimes wonder what would’ve happened if Julia had agreed to see me.’

‘Andrew hasn’t told me much about what happened when you contacted her,’ said Louis, kind eyes looking back at her. ‘But I know she wouldn’t talk to you, not properly.’

‘I was so angry with her. I’d spent a long time being patient and it seemed so unfair. I wonder if she’d have come round had I left well enough alone. But I’m not sure she would’ve done. She seemed to have made up her mind, and I’ve heard nothing since.’

‘So you took matters into your own hands when it came to finding Andrew.’

Molly finished her slice of banana bread. The rain was coming down harder now, pelting against the window and she cradled her cup of tea in her hands. ‘I decided I wanted to know rather than tentatively try to make contact, risk misunderstandings, risk him never contacting me again.’

‘It was a big step.’

Molly grinned. ‘Do you know I was terrified of flying?’

‘Then I’m even more impressed,’ Louis smiled. He’d only eaten half the muffin, surprising Molly as Gemma had already told her it was his favourite.

‘You’re not enjoying it?’ She nodded to the plate.

‘I’ve not got much of an appetite these days.’ All of a sudden he seemed weary. ‘It’s the kidney dialysis, takes it out of me.’

That and the disease, Molly knew.

‘I can go after this,’ she said, sipping more of her tea. ‘Let you sleep.’

‘No need.’ He patted her hand. ‘But let’s move to the lounge and I can sit back, put my feet on the stool.’

‘Good idea.’ Molly stacked their cups and plates by the sink and joined Louis in the lounge, where he’d taken the armchair in the corner, obviously a special one for him. It had a tartan throw over the back, and he pulled it down across his knees. She noticed his legs moving beneath it. She moved closer and, one by one, lifted his legs onto the ottoman in front.

‘Thank you, dear. I’m not as strong as I once was.’

‘You’re welcome.’ Molly sat on the armchair next to him. ‘Tell me more about Andrew,’ she requested. ‘I want to know what he was like before he met Gemma, before he was a successful chocolatier. He’s told me snippets, but I’d like to hear more.’

Louis relaxed into the armchair as he recounted the past and his son, all the way from the first time Andrew fell off his bike and had a concussion to the time he got braces on his teeth and vowed he’d never smile again.

‘I think I had him laughing by the end of the day,’ said Louis.

‘It’s very different now,’ Molly explained. ‘Nowadays all the kids
want
their teeth straightened. I was so jealous when a girl in my class got braces, everyone was. Perhaps it’s a rite of passage. Maybe it shows you’re growing up.’

‘Well, let me tell you, he hated it.’ He cleared his throat. ‘His teeth were perfectly straight and the braces long gone by the time he met Julia. He was smitten from the get-go. They became inseparable, everywhere he went she went and vice versa. But we had no idea they were … having relations.’

Molly smiled at Louis’ inability to include the word ‘sex’ in his description. It reminded her of the generation gap between them.

He looked down at his hands, clasped together in his lap. ‘When Andrew told us Julia was pregnant, it was a shock. But I also saw the past replaying itself.’

‘What do you mean?’ Molly sat forwards in her chair.

‘Andrew’s mother and I …’ He hesitated. ‘We were kids, messing around really, and one thing led to another and we conceived Andrew. We got married soon after and when Andrew told me about Julia, I didn’t want the same to happen to him.’

‘You didn’t love your wife?’

His face softened. ‘In those days, if a girl was pregnant, you got married, end of story. But it isn’t as simple as asking whether I loved Penny or not.’

‘I’m sorry, I—’

Louis waved his hand to stop her. ‘Love for us evolved. It came out of friendship, respect, a lifetime together. But if she hadn’t got pregnant, I don’t think we would’ve ended up together. We had fun, got on well enough, but there was never a spark to make me feel we’d be together forever. We had a good life and built a family. I had the business and threw my heart and soul into it, but I wanted my children – Andrew included – to have everything.’ He smiled at Molly. ‘When you have kids, you’ll know what I mean. You want them to have the world at their feet, to know no bounds, to never be constrained by anything.’

The rain pelted harder against the windowpane. ‘But it sounds like Andrew was happy with Julia, from what he told me,’ said Molly.

‘He was, but all we saw were two fifteen-year-olds who would be forced to grow up quicker than they should, forced to clip their wings and stay put rather than spread their wings and fly away.’

‘But if he was happy—’

‘I know it sounds as though we were callous back then, but when Julia’s mother threatened to go to the police, it made sense to do as she suggested and get those two apart. Let them carry on and lead normal lives, settling down when the time was right.

‘I don’t know what you think of me, Molly.’ Louis refused to meet her gaze. ‘But I want you to know I’m not a monster.’