by Susan Lewis
‘You wait,’ she told him huskily as he let her go. ‘I’ll get you back for this.’
His eyes were dancing as, turning to Serena, he waited to be introduced.
‘You don’t have to bother shaking his hand,’ Penny assured Serena as she looked at him warily. With no little relief Serena introduced herself, using a hand to shade her eyes from the sun.
‘So,’ David said, trying to hold Shana at bay as she rubbed her hands over his face, ‘how’s the star of the family doing?’
‘She’s doing just fine,’ Serena told him, feeling something of an intruder for a moment as David’s eyes lingered on Penny’s.
‘Your turn next,’ Penny told him. ‘So go and clean up. Shana, are you going to say hello to Serena?’
Shana turned and fixed Serena with stunningly blue eyes which were so like her father’s that Serena felt her own blink. ‘Hello, Shana,’ she said, smiling.
Putting a thumb in her mouth and rubbing her head against David’s so that her glossy curls mingled with his, Shana said, ‘I’m a bit shy, Mummy.’
Both David and Penny burst out laughing. ‘Well, that’s news to me,’ Penny said, giving her leg a playful squeeze. ‘Now come on, be polite and say hello.’
‘Hello,’ Shana whispered.
‘Good girl. Now off you go to the shower with Daddy.’
As Penny and Serena watched them saunter off to the shower in the pool house Serena said, ‘I hope you don’t mind me saying, but they’re both absolutely gorgeous.’
Penny smiled. ‘Yes, I think so too. Anyway, let me get you something to drink. What would you like?’
‘Something cold,’ Serena answered, following Penny into the kitchen.
She waited until Penny handed her an Orangina, apologizing for the baby glass, then said, ‘How long has David been back now?’
‘Just over a month,’ Penny answered, looking up as Sammy came into the kitchen.
‘I thought I heard you come in,’ Sammy said, giving Penny a quick peck on the cheek. ‘How’s it going?’
‘I wish you’d all stop asking that,’ Penny groaned. ‘You’re letting Serena know how nervous I was.’
‘She’s been a right pain in the neck preparing for this interview,’ Sammy told Serena. ‘About time she got a taste of her own medicine, if you ask me. Anyway, I’m Sammy, Penny’s sister.’
‘Nice to meet you, Sammy,’ Serena said, shaking Sammy’s hand. ‘Do you live here too?’
‘God, no. I’m just passing through on my way to Italy.’
‘She arrived a week ago and we can’t get rid of her,’ Penny smiled fondly.
‘So how’s the bun fight going out there?’ Sammy asked. ‘I came in to get out of the way.’
‘I think you just got your answer,’ Penny replied with a laugh as Shana gave a piercing scream, which was followed by a thunderous splash as she pushed David into the pool. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said to Serena; ‘it’s always like this around here. We’re a pretty rowdy bunch, especially those two out there. But he’ll clean up in a minute and come and join us. Shall we go through to the sitting room? It’s a bit cooler in there.’
‘This is so idyllic,’ Serena sighed as they sat down on facing sofas. ‘You seem so happy, all of you.’
‘We are,’ Penny answered, ‘now. But we had to wait for it, as you know. Oh God, what’s happening now?’ she laughed as the yelling and screaming started up again.
Serena smiled. ‘Looks like Sammy’s joining in the bun fight,’ she said, getting out her tape recorder. She waited for Penny to turn back, then said, ‘OK, we’ve covered the success of Nuance and the new book. Anything else you’d like to add before we move on?’
‘No, I don’t think so,’ Penny said, chewing her lips thoughtfully. ‘If anything occurs to me, I’ll let you know.’
Serena nodded, consulting her notepad. ‘Ah, there is just one thing,’ she said. ‘You didn’t tell me exactly how many offers from other magazines you’ve turned down in the last six months.’
‘Only two,’ Penny laughed.
‘Not even tempted?’ Serena asked. ‘Wasn’t one of them in New York?’
‘Not tempted for a moment,’ Penny answered. ‘Mine and Shana’s lives are here, and now that David’s back we’ll definitely be staying.’
‘Meaning you were thinking of leaving at one time?’
‘It crossed my mind once or twice,’ Penny said, finding it incredible now to think how she’d once intended that as soon as she heard David was being released she would pack up and leave France before he came back. ‘But as you can see, we’re settled here now and I don’t see that changing for a while.’
‘Sylvia told me,’ Serena went on warily, ‘that you wouldn’t mind answering some personal questions. Is that right?’
‘Depends how personal,’ Penny responded with arched brows. ‘But ask away. If I don’t want to answer, I won’t. I imagine the same will go for David when he finally joins us.’
‘OK,’ Serena said, leaning over to start the tape recorder, but before she did she said, ‘You obviously know that plenty of rumours have been flying ever since David came out of prison, so a lot of my questions will be either to confirm or deny them, OK?’
Penny nodded, and tucked her legs in under her, thinking that she was quite enjoying this after all.
‘So,’ Serena said, once the tape recorder was whirling, ‘I believe that David didn’t know anything about Shana until quite some time after she was born. Is that right?’
Penny nodded.
‘So what made you decide to tell him?’
Smiling, Penny said, ‘You mean who made me tell him. Sylvia, of course. She surprised us all with a visit when Shana was about ten months old – having been tipped off about Shana’s existence by Ruth Elliot – and after taking one look at Shana she said, “if David doesn’t already know about this little angel, Penny, then you must tell him. If you don’t, I will.”’
Serena laughed at the near-perfect imitation of Sylvia’s Swiss-French accent. ‘So what did you do?’ she asked.
Penny let her head fall back as she felt herself returning to those long, dark, dreadful days of early pregnancy that felt so distant now it might almost have happened in another life. By her third month she had started to feel human again, but the going still hadn’t been easy, for in the one letter she had received from David he had told her that he and Gabriella had resolved a lot of their differences and were going some way towards patching things up, so he could make no promises for the future. He had sounded so distant, so like a stranger, as he’d gone on to thank her for all she had done, for her support and for the friendship they had that he hoped would endure. He’d included a little about his sons, telling her that Gabriella was bringing them to see him on a regular basis and that at last he was getting to know them, though not, of course, under the best of circumstances.
Knowing that the letter had been read by others, perhaps even written for their eyes too, had been small comfort when there was no way of finding out what the truth really was. And carrying a child of her own, a child she just knew in her heart was his, had made the coolness of his letter all the harder to bear. She’d written back, but by the time it reached the jail he was no longer there. He had finally got bail and was at home with Gabriella and their children, which was where he stayed until sentence was finally passed.
It was Stirling who had told Penny about Gabriella’s final act of treachery when she had given false evidence, claiming that David had been involved in the importation of heroin. Stirling’s call had come just a few days after Penny had returned home with Shana, and though she longed to fly out to see David, who was by then in a federal prison in Florida, the baby had to come first. She’d written to him regularly in the months that followed, chatty, newsy letters that never made any mention of Shana though she never once failed to tell him how much she still loved him. He hadn’t answered one of them until . . .
Penny smiled at Serena. ‘What else could I d
o?’ she said in answer to Serena’s question. ‘Sylvia would have told him if I hadn’t, and I guess she was the prompt I needed, having come so close so many times to telling him already. So I sent him a letter I’d written the day I so very nearly had an abortion which explained why I had decided to go through with the pregnancy and why I wasn’t going to tell him about it. With it I sent another letter, telling him all about his daughter. I enclosed a photograph, which was a bit sneaky really, because I knew once he saw her he’d never be able to resist her, and then I waited. It was awful. I was so afraid of how angry he might be because I hadn’t told him sooner – or worse, that he wouldn’t write back at all.’ Her face softened in a smile. ‘Fortunately he did neither.’
‘What did he do?’ Serena asked.
Penny laughed. ‘Well, he was pretty mad at me, bawled me out on the phone as I seem to remember, then he told me he loved me . . . Actually, don’t put that bit in – it sounds mawkish and self-indulgent. He told me he wanted to see me as soon as I could get there and of course he wanted to see Shana too.’ She shrugged. ‘So we went.’ And it was during that first visit, she was thinking to herself, that she finally learned the true extent of all the double-dealing Gabriella had done, including promising him she would stand by him if he cut all contact with Penny. Which, of course, he had, in the hope of receiving a shorter sentence, at the end of which he would return to Penny. But Gabriella’s treachery, or revenge, or whatever she wanted to call it, knew no limits, for, though, David’s; had ceased contact with Penny Gabriella was all the time preparing to turn state’s evidence against him. And after he had been sentenced she had started divorce proceedings in the belief that it would further destroy his image as a family man, thereby reducing his chances of an early parole. What Gabriella hadn’t bargained for, though, was the overcrowded prison system that needed room for more deserving cases than David’s; nor for the leniency of the Appeal Court judges.
But Penny didn’t go into any of that with Serena; she simply moved her eyes back to hers, saying, ‘And his joy when he saw us was quite something to behold. We both cried – a lot. So did Shana, but she didn’t know why. After that we went to see him as often as we could . . . and now’ – she waved a hand towards the garden – ‘he’s home.’
‘And much earlier than expected?’
‘Much. But he served over three years and, since they needed the space in the prison, they . . . Well, I guess you could say they deported him.’
‘And Gabriella? What’s happened to her?’
Penny grimaced. It had been a bad day for Gabriella when she’d discovered David was being released, but perhaps an even worse one was when she had learned of Shana’s existence. It was only recently that David and Penny had heard how she’d paid Esther and Wally Delaney half a million dollars to persuade Penny the baby she was carrying was Christian’s in the hope she would abort it. Oddly enough, Gabriella had told David about it herself, though whether she had ever managed to catch up with the Delaneys, who had disappeared from the face of the earth the minute they’d found out Penny was still pregnant, Penny had no idea, and nor did she care. She and David had Shana and that was all that mattered to them.
Again, Gabriella’s treachery was something she didn’t feel she needed to go into, so she said, in a perfectly matter-of-fact voice, ‘Gabriella is about to marry someone who’s richer than David ever was or probably ever will be.’
‘Such faith,’ he commented, coming into the room. Then, moving in behind Penny, he put his hands on her shoulders, and stooped to whisper in her ear that he’d saved the final tub of tiramisu for later and exactly what he expected her to do with it.
With a gurgle of laughter and a suitable blush, Penny looked across at Serena. ‘You’ll have to excuse him,’ she said. ‘He always carries on as though no one else is in the room. It drives poor Sammy nuts.’
‘Making up for lost time,’ David responded, sitting down next to her and pushing a hand under her hair to stroke the back of her neck.
‘Can I ask about your other children?’ Serena said to David. ‘Will you see them at all?’
‘We’re hoping,’ he answered, ‘that they might come out for the summer. Gabriella’s yet to agree, but we’re making some headway.’
Serena looked at him for a moment, openly appraising him. ‘I have to say,’ she commented, finally, ‘that you appear amazingly unscathed by your experience of the American prison system.’
Penny turned to look at him, knowing that he’d show Serena nothing of the toll his experience had taken on him. That was something he discussed only with her.
‘Well, that,’ he said, crossing his long legs at the ankles as he put his hands behind his head, ‘I can explain. You see, there are those who have a rough time and go under. Then there are those who have a rough time and survive. And then there are those who write best-selling books about it.’
Serena’s eyes widened hungrily. ‘You mean you’ve written a book?’ she said, already thinking about serial rights.
‘No,’ David answered with a grin, causing Penny to choke back a laugh.
Serena looked vaguely baffled; then, collecting herself, she said to Penny, ‘I know you’ve more or less answered this question, but can you just clarify for me the exact reasons why you didn’t tell David about the baby straight off?’
Penny turned to look at David, then smiled as he reached out for her hand.
‘Because,’ David answered, knowing full well that Serena was trying to get to the bottom of the rumour concerning Christian Mureau, ‘she loves me, didn’t want to add to my load, and if she ever does anything like that again I’ll make damned sure she never sees or tastes another tiramisu in her life.’
Penny burst out laughing. ‘Private joke,’ she told Serena. ‘And if what you’re really wondering is about Christian Mureau then I think Shana herself has given you the answer, because just like Sylvia did, you only have to take one look at her to know whose she is.’
‘You know,’ Serena said, her eyes shining with a certain wistfulness as she looked from one to the other of them, ‘I don’t know when I’ve ever seen two people so much in love.’
David turned to look quizzically at Penny. ‘Yep,’ he nodded in agreement, ‘she’s in love all right. She’s got that kind of mushy look about her, wouldn’t you say?’
‘You both have,’ Serena laughed.
‘You mean I look like that!’ David cried.
Thumping him, Penny turned back to Serena and asked if there were any more questions.
‘Well, just the one, I suppose,’ she answered. ‘Any plans to get married?’
Again David turned to Penny. ‘No,’ he said, ‘we don’t have any plans, but we could always make some. What do you say, do you want to make plans?’
Penny shrugged. ‘We could.’
‘Is that a yes?’ he said, discreetly pressing his thumb into her palm.
‘It’s a yes,’ she said shakily, wishing Serena was already gone.
‘I guess the honeymoon’s already sorted?’ he said softly, still looking into Penny’s eyes.
‘Where else?’ She smiled. ‘All three of us?’
David turned to Serena. ‘You planning on coming too?’ he said incredulously.
‘Daddy! Daddy!’ Shana cried, charging into the room.
David turned and was about to swing her up in his arms when, with a delighted gurgle of laughter, she pushed the last tiramisu into his face.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
Epub ISBN: 9781409008293
Version
1.0
www.randomhouse.co.uk
Published by Arrow Books 2009
4 6 8 10 9 7 5
Copyright © Susan Lewis 1996
Susan Lewis has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work
This novel is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
First published in Great Britain in 1996 by
William Heinemann
Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SW1V 2SA
www.randomhouse.co.uk
Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at: www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm
The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 9780099534334