Page 87 of Matchmaking at Port Willow
Beatrice shifted Willow in her arms, kissing her head and dancing her gently. She smiled weepily and turned to look at the little yellow blanket Angela and Vic had sent her weeks ago and she’d been too afraid to look at for fear it would make her hope for too much. She pressed another kiss to Willow’s head.
That’s when she saw the Moses basket by the window and she turned to Atholl ready to cry again. ‘You?’
He nodded.
A strong basket weave of stripped white willow made up the lovely cradle, suspended on a wooden frame.
‘This was your secret project that you were working on up at the school?’ Beatrice gasped.
‘It was. I started it the day you told me you were expecting.’ Atholl reached for his daughter. ‘Can I?’
Beatrice stepped closer to hand Willow over.
Atholl kissed his baby girl and laid her down in the bed that he had made for her, weaving all of his hopes for the future and his faith in nature into it.
Echo immediately took up his station at the foot of the little bed and rested his chin on its rim as though he intended to stay there watching over the tiny sleeping creature for the rest of his life.
‘I can’t believe you did all this,’ Beatrice said, sniffing back tears.
‘It took the whole village, but we did it,’ Atholl told her, pulling her close.
Beatrice looked around at the faces of her friends all smiling back at her and in that moment she knew that even without their generous gifts, she had everything her little family could ever need right here in this room.
