A Taste of Love by Susan Willis Read Free Book Online Page B

pills and had lain dead on the floor with her beautiful black hair fanned out on the hearth.
    Shaking the memories from her mind Helen went back into the lounge just in time to hear Charles reassuring Karen.
    ‘But just because your mum and aunt had breast cancer it doesn’t mean to say you’ll have it, sweetheart,’ he said, looking up at Helen for confirmation. She nodded in agreement. ‘I mean, in those days there wasn’t much that could be done about it and they automatically took the breast off. And of course we didn’t even know that the doctor had found a lump in your mum’s chest before she took her life...’
    He looked across the room towards the main photograph in a silver frame on the coffee table. It was of his stunningly beautiful, thirty-five-year-old wife taken just before she died. Half Italian, with huge oval, brown eyes and her long black hair flowing around the same face as Karen’s and Rachel’s, he sighed with her memory. Helen could see his eyes water, which meant he was going to relate the same story that they’d heard many times before.
    ‘And I still say if the doctor had told me about the lump I would have watched her more closely because I knew the thought of surgery would have terrified her. She’d seen her own mother go through the operation in Milan and had never been the same,’ he said, slowly shaking his head.
    Quietly, Helen said, ‘Yes, Dad. But the post-mortem did say that the cancer had spread all through her body and it wouldn’t have mattered whether the doctor told you or not because he hadn’t planned to send her for a mastectomy. And it was documented that she wouldn’t have survived an operation in her mental state…’ Helen knew that as hard as it was, her father would never accept the fact that her mother had been classed as mentally unbalanced, even though he’d read the documents over and over again. This was mainly due to his guilt because she had died alone. She carried on, ‘Anyway, Dad, none of that is going to happen to Karen because she has us and Greg, and is surrounded with people who love her. And whatever happens tomorrow, we’ll hit it head-on and get through it together.’
    Charles shook himself from his reverie and put his arms back round Karen. ‘Of course we will. And I know, deep inside here’– he stroked his broad chest – ‘that she is going to be clear and all this worry will be for nothing.’
    ‘Right, I’m just going to ring work and ask for tomorrow off so I can come to the hospital with you,’ Helen said. Then without waiting for a reply she walked through the hall, out of the back door and into the garden to get a good signal on her mobile.
    Richard had given her his personal mobile number and she decided before speaking to him that it would be best to tell the truth rather than make an excuse. While his number rang out she looked around her father’s pride and joy – his beloved garden and greenhouse. She could see his seedling trays were ready and his big pots cleaned to fill with spring plants. It was just after six o’clock. She knew Richard would have left the office and hoped she wouldn’t be disturbing him.
    ‘Hello,’ a breathless voice answered.
    ‘Hi, Richard. It’s Helen.’
    He panted. ‘Let me just get my breath back, Helen. I’m running in the park.’
    She smiled, feeling strangely reassured by his quiet, comforting voice. ‘Oh, sorry, to disturb you,’ she said, and then told him about Karen, and apologised for such short notice.
    ‘You haven’t disturbed me. I was just getting a run in before dinner,’ he said. ‘It’s absolutely fine. You take whatever time you need and we’ll see you back when you’re ready…’
    She reassured him she would be back on Friday and if not she’d stay in touch. Richard wished them both well before ending the call.
    *
    While Helen sat next to Karen in the waiting area in the breast assessment centre she nervously picked up magazines form the stand and lay