Maddy’s Christmas Wedding (Little Duck Pond Cafe #37)

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

The others were knocking on the glass, wanting us to come outside.

‘But why?’ I stared at her, blindsided by her announcement. What on earth had happened to make her think of cancelling the wedding she’d been so eagerly planning for months now? It had to be something very serious. ‘I don’t understand, Maddy. What’s happened?’

‘Are you two coming out?’ called Jaz cheerily from the door. ‘It’s not exactly every day that you get to see the Northern Lights up close like this.’

Maddy, propped against pillows on the bed, gave a heavy sigh and dropped her forehead onto her knees. She wrapped her arms around her legs, hugging herself tightly, as if she wanted to shut the whole world out, including the Aurora Borealis. And me.

I went to the door and indicated to the others with a grim shake of my head that we weren’t coming out, and of course they immediately wanted to know what was going on.

I shrugged helplessly. ‘She says she’s going to call the wedding off.’

Bewildered, the Northern Lights forgotten, we all trooped inside to where Maddy was still curled up, and we sat on the bed beside her. She was crying softly now.

Katja, who was closest, shuffled nearer and put her arms around Maddy. ‘What’s going on, love?’ she murmured. ‘Come on. You need to talk about it. A problem shared and all that?’

She looked up, her eyes puffy, her face all blotchy. ‘You know already. I heard Fen tell you.’ Accusation flared in her eyes. Then she sank back against the pillows, all the fight gone out of her. ‘The wedding’s off. That’s all.’

‘Is it Jack? Has he done something to upset you?’ I asked gently.

She frowned. ‘Jack? No. Jack’s perfect. At least, he’s perfect for me.’

‘So why . . .?’

She smiled bitterly. ‘It’s because of Jack that I can’t go ahead with it.’

‘But you’ve just said he’s the perfect man for you.’ Katja squeezed Maddy’s shoulders and gently pushed a lock of damp hair behind her ear. ‘You’re not making any sense, love.’

Maddy sighed. ‘I love Jack with every fibre of my being, and that’s why I can’t marry him. It wouldn’t be fair. He’s always made it clear that he wants a big family, and I’ve always gone along with it because obviously I wanted children as well.’ Tears welled up. ‘I’d like nothing better than to be a mum to Jack’s children.’

‘And you can.’ Jaz stared at her, looking as bewildered as I was feeling.

Maddy shook her head. ‘I can’t.’

‘But why can’t you?’ asked Katja.

She sighed. ‘The thing is, Marcus has this awful medical condition. It’s just been diagnosed. He told me about it the other day.’

My heart lurched, knowing how close Maddy and Marcus were. ‘Awful condition?’

‘Yes. He’s got something called Marfan syndrome. Basically, he was having trouble with his eyes . . . blurred vision . . . and his optician told him to go and see the GP and get it checked out. So he did. And anyway, they found that the lens in one of his eyes has become dislocated and he’s going to need surgery.’

‘Oh, no! How awful for him.’ Laurel shuddered. ‘I hate the thought of anything to do with my eyes. Poor Marcus.’

‘So does his eye surgery clash with the date of the wedding?’ I asked, still struggling to understand.

She shook her head. ‘That’s not the whole story. You see, the GP asked him about his health history and she discovered Marcus was prone to having dislocated joints . . . like his shoulder was always popping out when he was a teenager and playing rugby, and I know for a fact he’s dislocated his wrist loads of times over the years. So the GP obviously suspected that something else might be at the root of it all, and she sent Marcus for a chest X-ray.’ She swallowed hard. ‘And . . . well, that’s when they found out he has a damaged aorta. Heart disease, in other words.’

‘Aorta?’ Jaz frowned. ‘That’s the big one, isn’t it? The artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body?’

Maddy nodded bleakly. ‘So all these symptoms apparently add up to this thing called Marfan syndrome. Marcus can obviously be treated now that they know about it, but the thing is, his heart’s already damaged.’ Tears spilled over and she covered her eyes with her hands. ‘He’s going to have to be careful for the rest of his life, and you know what Marcus is like. He’s always on the go . . . always game for a laugh.’ She looked up. ‘This horrible condition is going to clip his wings and I don’t think he’ll be able to bear it.’

‘That’s terrible,’ I murmured.

Katja nodded slowly, taking it in. ‘Poor Marcus.’

‘Yeah, what a horrible shock to suddenly find you’ve got this condition that you’ve had all your life but you never knew about,’ said Jaz.

‘But good that it was discovered, right?’ Laurel said in a brighter tone. ‘Because now Marcus can get the treatment he needs.’

Maddy nodded. ‘I know. You’re right.’ She chuckled, shaking her head. ‘I don’t envy the GP who had to warn Marcus to slow down. But he’s going to have to, and I’ll be supporting him all the way.’

‘Of course you will.’ Katja took her hand and squeezed. ‘It’s such sad news but it doesn’t mean you have to cancel the wedding, does it? I mean, Marcus would never want you to do that. He’s looking forward to being an usher.’

I nodded. ‘Katja’s right, love. He won’t have to do much on the day, if that’s what you’re worried about. I’m sure Jack’s groomsmen will rise to the challenge.’

Maddy stared at me, her face looking as if it was about to crumple all over again. ‘But there’s more. Marfan syndrome is a genetic disease that’s hereditary and I’m Marcus’s biological daughter.’

There was a stunned silence as we all absorbed this.

‘And it’s not myself I’m worried about,’ Maddy rushed on. ‘I mean, obviously I am. But what’s killing me is the thought that any children Jack and I have . . . well, I’d be passing the gene down to them, wouldn’t I? And I can’t do that. I could never do that.’

‘Oh, Maddy,’ breathed Katja, pulling her close again. ‘Jack must be distraught. He loves you so much.’

‘Jack doesn’t know. I haven’t told him yet.’

Katja pulled away to look at her. ‘But why? He needs to know.’

Maddy stared miserably at the wall. ‘The thing is . . . how do I tell a man who’s desperate for a big family that if he marries me, he might never be able to have kids of his own?’

Maddy