Conditional Love Read Online Free PDF

and she gave me a five pound note. I had spent the lot on furniture for my doll’s house. A pang of nostalgia twanged at me; that doll’s house had been my pride and joy. The lady had asked my mum so many questions that she had got really cross and stormed off; I remembered having to run to keep up. We had moved house shortly after that.
    It was no use. As amazing an opportunity as this was, Great Aunt Jane’s proviso meant that this was a Pandora’s box that I wasn’t prepared to open.
    I stood up to put the letter back on the desk. The room spun unpleasantly and I felt faint. I squinted along the corridor through the open door.
    Where was that sweet tea?

five
    Despite my attempts at adding some homely touches with a vase of tulips, some Ikea cushions and four sandalwood candles, the living room still managed to look a bit studenty, with its lumpen sofas, mismatched curtains and drab carpet. The stacks of Jess’s school work and Emma’s ironing pile didn’t help. It was less Elle Decoration and more Coronation Street .
    But right now it was home, and I had never felt more grateful to be in it.
    Jess, in her cow-print pyjamas, looked up from her marking.
    ‘So come on then, tell us all about it,’ she demanded. She moved her Wizard of Oz pencil case and patted the sofa cushion.
    I sank down wearily beside her and swallowed the lump in my throat. It had been a very long day and I was struggling to take in all this new information. It had only been a few days since Marc had broken my heart and my tear ducts were still doing overtime.
    Mr Whelan had instructed me not to make any hasty decisions about the will, but I had been able to think of little else all afternoon. I had only managed to negotiate the time off to go to the solicitor’s by agreeing to return to the office and work late. With every space in the restaurant supplement filled and the main sponsor happy, I finally left my desk at eight thirty. By which time, I was trembling with tiredness and emotional overload.
    I attempted to smile at Jess but my face felt all numb and rubbery with the effort of keeping my tears in check all day.
    I eased my aching feet out of their high heels and wriggled my toes.
    She tapped her red pen against the book on her knee. ‘Tell Aunty Jess.’
    I sighed. ‘It wasn’t a hoax, she was my father’s aunt and I’m the main beneficiary of her will.’
    ‘Babes!’ gasped Jess. ‘That’s unbelievable!’
    ‘I’ll inherit her bungalow and some money.’
    ‘There’s a but coming, isn’t there?’ she said gently.
    I nodded. ‘I’ve got to agree to meet my father. My great aunt even set money aside in the will to fly him over from the States.’
    ‘Oh honey!’ Jess grabbed me and gave me a tight squeeze. ‘It’s like in a film! What if you say no? What if he won’t come?’
    ‘He will. Mr Whelan, the solicitor, has already heard from him,’ I said, ignoring her first question.
    Terry Stone, who had happily conducted the last thirty-two years of his life without displaying a jot of interest in his daughter, had apparently agreed to get on a plane and meet me. It was mystifying. I veered from curious to nervous to plain angry.
    ‘I’m so confused,’ I wailed into Jess’s furry shoulder.
    She released me and gave me an all-knowing look which I recognised as the start of a lecture.
    ‘No wonder,’ she said firmly, drying my tears with her sleeve. ‘You’re very vulnerable at the moment. Marc has just finished with you. You’re bound to think that you’ll never get another boyfriend.’
    My eyes blinked furiously. I hadn’t considered that at all. Was that what Jess thought, and Emma? I was still in that he might change his mind phase. The I’ll be alone for the rest of my life phase wasn’t due to kick in for another week. At which point, I was kind of assuming that Jess and Emma would convince me otherwise.
    ‘It’s natural to look for love from a boyfriend, from your father, from anyone. Who