by Suzanna Ross
***
She had been looking forward to Theo travelling back to the estate with them. Even though the plan was for him to spend a week or so, reviewing the plans for the manor and estate, she’d also relished the prospect of spending time with him. But, in the end, work kept him in London.
“I’ll do my best to come down tomorrow,” he promised as Rosie and Evie got into the car for the drive home.
Rosie couldn’t quash her feelings of disappointment. Which was daft because she’d always known, with Theo, his high flying wheeling and dealing would always come first. And why wouldn’t it? There was no reason he should put her before the commitment he’d made to his company.
She moved the estate office to Farnham House the next day. It made sense, primarily because it was impossible to work at the manor with an army of workmen knocking seven bells out of the place. In addition, Rosie really didn’t want to be around to see her old home being pulled apart. It was bad enough to have all the strangers bustling about when they were just at the planning and prepping stage – but a complete remodelling was planned. The manor would never be the same again.
Away from the noise and dust, she got a surprising amount of work done. Glancing at the clock Rosie frowned, nearly seven o’ clock already. Where had the day gone?
She was about to go and look for something for an evening meal when the telephone rang. With a sigh, she answered. “Hello?” Needing to move from her desk, she wandered out to the hall with the cordless receiver balanced between ear and shoulder.
“Rosie, it’s me.” Theo’s voice reverberated down the line and made her shiver. She sank onto the stairs before her knees gave way.
“Hi.” Why was it she couldn’t help smiling when she heard his voice?
“What are you doing?”
She sighed. “I was about to finish off for the day.”
“You’re still working?
“I am. But if you’re going to tell me off you’re on a pretty shaky ground – as you’re still not here I’m guessing you’re still working, too. And that you won’t be arriving as planned today.”
He sighed softly. “You don’t mind?”
“I’m not in any position to mind.”
“I’ll see you as soon as I can.”
“I’m sure you will.” She tried hard to keep her tone bright, she didn’t want him to know how much she’d been looking forward to seeing him.
“Is Evie home?”
“No. I haven’t seen her since this morning. She went to the sanctuary straight from school and then home with Louise for tea and a study session.”
“I don’t like to think of you alone.”
“I’m a big girl, I’m fine on my own. Besides, she’ll be home soon.”
“I’ll call you later,” he promised. “To say goodnight.”
She found she quite liked that idea.
They ended the call and, moments later, she heard a car drive up on the gravel outside. At first she thought perhaps Theo had been teasing her by ringing from the car and he’d come back tonight after all. But then she heard two doors slamming shut and happy voices as Evie and Julia made their way indoors. Heads together, they were giggling and chatting and watching them come inside Rosie felt strangely detached. They stopped when they noticed her on the stairs. “Hi, you two.” She didn’t get up, the stairs were surprisingly comfy as an impromptu seat.
“Gosh, wasn’t expecting to see you sitting there, you gave me quite a fright. Is everything okay?” Julia’s greeting was overly bright – almost forced.
Rosie was puzzled. “I’m fine. Are you okay?”
“Rosie, we have something to tell you,” Evie broke in breathlessly.
Rosie smiled at Evie’s enthusiasm. And was further worried by Julia’s sharp intake of breath. Something wasn’t right. “What is it? Good news, I hope?”
Evie grinned. “Wonderful news.”
“Well, tell me. I could use some wonderful news.” Rosie didn’t want to admit it, but Theo not turning up tonight had upset her. Maybe that’s why she’d picked up on a vibe something wasn’t right with Julia – transference of anxiety.
Evie glanced questioningly at Julia as the older woman sat down next to Rosie on the stairs and dropped an arm casually around her shoulder. “Where’s the boss?” she asked. “I thought he was going to be here tonight.”
“He had to stay in London. He’ll be down as soon as he can.” She looked from Julia to Evie. “What’s this hot news item you have to tell me?”
“Thing is,” Evie grinned. “Julia’s my aunt. She wants me to go and live with her and Bob and Louise. We’re going to be a family. Isn’t that great?”
A hint of a smile still played around Rosie’s lips. She shook her head, unable to comprehend. Evie wasn’t making any sense. “You don’t have an aunt. Dad was an only child.”
“No,” Evie explained with infinite patience. “Julia’s my mother’s sister.”
“Your mother is a woman named Glory,” she explained patiently as she had a thousand times. “She left shortly after you were born. We don’t know what happened to her. And, as far as we know, she didn’t have any family.”
Julia sent Evie a silencing look. “I really didn’t want to tell you this while you’re on your own. This is going to be rough – I’d hoped Theo would be here to take care of you.”
“What are you talking about? I don’t need anyone to take care of me. What’s going to be rough?”
“I’d rather wait until Theo gets back…”
“You can’t start a conversation like this and leave it hanging. I need to know now. Why does Evie think you’re her aunt? What happened to Glory?”
Julie sighed. “Alright. Glory’s dead.”
“Dead?” Her lips were numb, the word barely more than a whisper. “How?”
“Pneumonia. She was never strong, not even as a child. But, emotionally, she found it hard to cope with not being allowed to see Evie. It took its toll on her. She was in and out of hospital with various ailments over those past few years.”
This didn’t make sense. “She left Evie. It was her decision.”
“My sister Gloria – Glory, as you knew her – was seriously off the rails when she got involved with your father. She was only twenty, but moved in with and then married a rock star who was many decades older. Doesn’t that tell you a lot about her state of mind?”
“But why would she lie? Why would she say she wasn’t allowed to see Evie?”
“Your father warned Glory to stay away – told her she was an unfit mother, that he’d fight for custody. Against him she didn’t think she stood a chance.”
Rosie racked her brains for some long buried memories. “But it doesn’t make sense.”
Julia tucked her hair behind her ear. Rosie had noticed before she did that a lot – especially when she was stressed. “In the end, Glory guessed she didn’t have long left. She begged me to promise that, if she died, I’d look out for Evie. She knew I couldn’t have children of my own and that I’d be more than happy to do it. But your father wouldn’t let me near.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you didn’t admit who you were when you moved to the village.”
“When I heard your father had died I thought that was my chance to get my sister’s little girl back. But I didn’t want too be too heavy handed about it because I didn’t want to upset Evie – and she would have been upset if some stranger had taken her away. So, I moved to the area, met and married Bob. But then I’d became friends with you and saw how close you and Evie were. I grew to love you both and realised I couldn’t take Evie away from you when your life was falling apart. She was all you had.”
“But it’s okay to take her away from me now?”
“Things are looking up for you now. Theo seems to have taken you under his wing and he can offer you all sorts of opportunities. You’ll thrive under his mentorship – I know you will – but you will need to concentrate and work hard. That will be easier for you t
o do if you don’t have to worry about Evie.”
Rosie glanced over to where she could see her little sister was showing visible signs of distress – nose red and eyes bright with unshed tears. “I’ll always worry about Evie, whoever she lives with. Besides, she’s never been a burden. Theo knows she’s my priority.”
“Nobody would ever accuse you of not putting Evie first, but now it’s time to prioritise yourself for a change. Evie wouldn’t come and live with me before because she didn’t want to leave you on your own, but now you have Theo…”
“So you did ask her to leave me? Despite what you said earlier, you did try to take her away.” Rosie shrugged Julia’s arm from her shoulder.
“Not exactly…but the time came when I felt it was right to tell her. Obviously we discussed what should happen.”
“But you didn’t think to include me in your discussions?”
Julia looked uncomfortable. “We didn’t want to upset you.”
Evie had known. Julia and Glory were sisters and Evie had known and not said anything. Rosie turned her attention to Evie. “How long ago did she tell you?”
Eve stared guiltily at the floor. “A while.”
“Why didn’t you say?”
“There wasn’t any point. I was never going to leave you on your own. You always said we were a team, and that was how I saw it too.”
“But you don’t think we’re a team any longer?”
Evie looked uncomfortable. “It’s just now you have Theo I thought I could maybe spend some time with Julia.”
“I don’t have Theo. He’s my boss – that’s all.”
“But he wants to be more,” Julia added gently. “And if you have time to sort yourself out, I think you’ll find you want that, too.”
Rosie was stunned. The two people she thought were closest to her in the world and they didn’t know her at all. “You should have told me the truth as soon as you found out, Evie.” She bit her lip. “You could have told me and not moved in with her – didn’t that occur to you?”
“Rosie, please,” Evie shook her head. “I just didn’t want to hurt you. And I knew if I told you Julia was really my aunt and she wanted me to live with her it would make things awkward.”
Rosie gasped, mortified. The little sister she had loved and tried to protect had ended up trying to protecting her. Suddenly it made sense that Evie had stopped talking about Glory, had stopped asking questions. There had been no need to ask anything because Evie had known more about the situation than Rosie. And, of course, this new development explained exactly why Evie had been so relaxed about leaving the manor. As long as she was close enough to her donkeys, she didn’t care where she lived.
Now Rosie looked at Julia, truly looked at her, there were plenty of similarities between her and Glory. They had the same eyes, the same mannerisms – Glory had been forever tucking her hair behind her ear in the same way Julia did. How could she have not noticed before? “You could have told me, Evie. You know you can always tell me anything.”
Evie sniffed. “I’m sorry.” Rosie immediately relented. Evie feeling bad about things wouldn’t accomplish anything. She held out her arms and Evie went to her, returning her hug. “You understand?”
“I think so.” Although it seemed her entire life was crashing down around her.
Chapter Sixteen
Sitting in his office at his company’s headquarters, Theo couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong. He’d been trying to get through to Rosie for the past hour and there was no reply. He glanced at his watch – it was late and she hadn’t mentioned earlier she’d be going out. As far as he knew, she should be home.
He hadn’t been able to get Rosie out of his mind since she’d left him yesterday. The nagging urge to speak to her had been there all day. He’d kept it brief earlier, but that tiny taste had only strengthened his need to speak to her. And now he’d given into temptation to ring again and she wasn’t picking up, the urge was becoming unbearable.
He tried her mobile number.
Still no answer.
“Boss, I need you to look over these,” Andy broke into his thoughts, effectively pulling his attention to a sheaf of papers needing urgent attention. He’d try to call Rosie again in a few minutes when he’d dealt with these problems.
When Andy left the room half an hour later, Theo asked him to close the door behind him. And then he tried to phone both Farnham House and Rosie’s mobile again. Still no answer. Seriously worried now, he headed for the door.
“See you tomorrow, boss,” Andy called cheerfully as Theo strode through the outer office.
“I wouldn’t count on it, Andy. And you need to go home, too. It’s late.” He lifted his hand in farewell as he hurried towards the lift.
Damn, he should have arranged for the helicopter. Too late to worry about that now, by the time he’d summoned the pilot and they were ready to take off it would be faster to drive.
All the way home, however many times he told himself he was being daft, he couldn’t shake the feeling of doom. And he cursed himself for not going back with her and Evie last night.
No lights burned in the windows of Farnham House as he drew up outside. He’d been right all along, something was horribly wrong.
Theo had never been a coward, but his stomach churned and his pulse raced as he prepared to get out of his car and go inside.
This was fear on a massive scale.
His feet crunched ominously on the gravel as he made his way to front door. Throwing it open, he hurried inside and turned on the hall light.
Relief flooded through him at the sight of Rosie’s tiny frame huddled on the stairs. Relief turned to concern when he realised her skin held a deathly pallor and her eyes were reddened from crying. His conceit didn’t extend far enough for him to imagine this was the result his changing his plans to come down to the estate. “Rosie?”
She looked up at the sound of his voice, her entire body shuddered with renewed sobs and she held out her arms to him. He covered the distance between them in a few quick strides and lifted her, holding her tight against him, letting her cry as though her heart had broken.
Slowly, cradled in Theo’s arms, Rosie began to calm down. He had taken her seat on the stairs and arranged her on his lap. She was frozen through and he hoped the closeness of his body would warm her.
After a while, she began to reveal the full horror of what had happened.
“She’s really gone. I still can’t believe it. After all the years I’ve spent raising her, it feels as though Julia’s taken my child.”
Theo hated to see her in such despair. “Why has Julia decided to speak up now? Are you sure she’s telling the truth?”
“I wasn’t at first,” Rosie admitted. “I couldn’t believe it. But as Julia explained it all clicked into place. She really is Glory’s sister. Once she’d admitted it I could see the family resemblance. Besides, what possible reason could she have to lie about a thing like that?”
“We can fight for custody. We can get Evie back.”
She was unbearably touched he was prepared to do that for her. For a moment, the temptation to ask him to set the lawyers on Julia hovered. But she had to think of the best thing for Evie. “Evie deserves to spend time with her aunt and she’s the important one in all this.”
He shook his head. “This doesn’t add up. Why didn’t Julia tell you? Why didn’t she take Evie straight away? She moved to the village years ago. She’s seen how you’ve struggled to keep things together. She could have made life easier for you.”
“I think she tried, but Evie wouldn’t leave me. She was heartbreakingly loyal, even when offered the chance of an easier life with her aunt and best friend’s family. I’ve got to let her have this, however much it hurts me.”
“But why did she speak up now, after all this time?”
Rosie’s eyes were clear and green. “Because she thinks I’ve got you.”
Theo was gutted. In trying to give Rosie what she wanted
– a job and a secure home for her younger sister – he’d been responsible for her worst nightmare. Because of him, her sister had gone.
As soon as Rosie came to her senses and realised the truth, she’d blame him. Even worse, she would hate him. And he would have no means of holding on to her. The estate would mean nothing to her without Evie.
“I don’t understand why I didn’t recognise Julia from the beginning. I should have known. She’s not unlike Glory.”
“You weren’t expecting her to deceive you. You took her friendship at face value.”
“And it blew up in my face,” she retorted bitterly. “I’m beginning to think I can’t trust anyone.”
“You can trust me.” He hated himself for the lie. Even while he offered comfort, he was plotting ways to keep her with him.
She leaned into his shoulder. “I know I can.”
Something twisted in Theo’s gut.
He carried her though to the sitting room, where she eventually fell into an exhausted sleep on the sofa. He turned out the lamps and covered her with a duvet he found upstairs and settled on a nearby chair to watch her sleep by the muted lighting escaping from the hall. She shouldn’t be left alone when she was so upset.
Eventually, she stirred. “Theo?” her voice came in a frantic whisper.
“It’s okay, I’m here.”
“I dreamt it never happened and she was still here.”
“She hasn’t gone far. You’ll still see her. Try to go back to sleep.”
She shook her head. “Not yet. Talk to me.”
“What about?”
“Your family – tell me about your parents. What were they like?”
Not really where he wanted to go. Theo sighed and hoped the lighting was dim enough to hide the reluctance undoubtedly etched on his face. “My parents married for love, but the example they presented wasn’t exactly a glowing advertisement for wedded bliss.”
“But they did love each other?”
“So they insisted, but there was little evidence. They met when my father was on holiday in Greece – Mum left her family to be with him. They never forgave her. It might not have been so bad if they’d been happy but they weren’t.”