They stopped at a motel the first night, and after Jamie was asleep Susan sat up in the darkness with her thoughts. She wondered what her new life would be like.
CHAPTER 40
As he watched the woman cross the street to the coffee shop where they had arranged to meet, Michael thought he’d never been more nervous in his life. He stood up and she saw him, and for a few moments they simply looked at one another. Louise was wearing jeans and a white shirt. Her hair was longer than it used to be, spilling down over her shoulders. She looked beautiful and happy and though he was glad for her, he experienced a deep seated sadness for what he had lost.
‘Thanks for coming,’ he said.
She came closer and put her hand on his arm and leaned to kiss his cheek. ‘Michael, I’m so glad to see you.’
He stared at her wondering how she could say that and mean it after everything he’d done, but he knew she did mean it. His eyes misted, but incredibly he saw that Louise was trying not to cry too.
‘This isn’t what I planned,’ she said and laughed.
They talked for a long time. Louise showed him photographs of Holly. He asked if she had pictures of her family and she did, though she hadn’t been sure he would want to see them. She showed him photographs of her husband, who was a doctor, and others of Holly’s half-brothers.
‘Matt and Campbell,’ Louise told him.
Holly was just the way he’d imagined. Long, dark blonde hair and deep blue eyes; a pretty, happy-looking child. He could see Louise in her, but mostly he could see himself.
‘She looks like you,’ Louise said as if reading his thoughts. ‘She has some of your mannerisms too.’
He couldn’t speak. Everything he felt was choking him. Louise reached across the table and put her hand on his.
‘She’s happy, Michael.’
Later, they went for a walk in the park. He told her about Susan and Jamie, and though she was surprised she was happy for him. He said they were moving to Northern California and he would be joining them there in a few days.
Mostly they talked about Holly. She was taking acting lessons. She seemed to have a talent for it, and had already decided she wanted to be a movie star. She was a good student too, and had a pet dog and she’d ridden horses for a time, but decided it wasn’t something she was crazy about. He learned a myriad of small details about her life, what food she liked and disliked, what TV shows, what books and movies and what her friends were like and he soaked it up.
He wanted to ask Louise the question that was uppermost in his mind, and she stopped at one point and they looked at each other.
‘She knows about you, Michael. She knows you’re her father, she knows everything. She doesn’t remember any of it, of course, and she doesn’t understand, but she does know about you. She knows you’re here too. I didn’t keep anything from her.’
He felt an overwhelming gratitude towards Louise, never having dared to hope for that much. Louise took him to the school and he waited on the sidewalk outside the gates while Louise sat in her car. When Holly came, Michael recognized her from her photographs. She was walking with her friends. She searched for her mother, her smiling eyes ranging over Michael and going beyond to the car, then her brow creased in a puzzled frown and she looked at him again. Her smile faltered and faded. He started towards her thinking this was the wrong way to do this. Holly stared at him, recognition leaking into her eyes. She looked nervous, like she didn’t know what she was supposed to do. Michael bent down to her, more afraid than he had been in his life, and then the most unexpected thing happened and she threw her arms around his neck.
‘Daddy,’ she said.
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stuart Harrison grew up in England, but now lives in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand. He is the author of five previously published novels, including The Snow Falcon which was translated into twelve languages and became an international bestseller when it was released in 1999. This version of The Snow Falcon has been completely rewritten and revised for release in 2013 as both a print book and ebook.
A new novel, The Flyer, has also been released. Set before and during the First World War in England and France, the story is about the relationships between three people. Two of them, Elizabeth and Christopher come from wealthy, privileged backgrounds, whereas William Reynolds begins life as the penniless son of blacksmith. By a quirk of fate, William is educated at a private school, which gives him entry to Elizabeth’s and Christopher’s world. The relationships they form are, however, impacted by the social codes of the time, and the consequences are magnified by the outbreak of war.
This novel took two years to write, and is certain to appeal to everyone who enjoyed The Snow Falcon.
More information can be found at www.stuartharrison.com where the author can also be contacted.
BOOKS
Published by Harper Collins in the UK:
The Snow Falcon, 1999
StillWater, 2001
Better Than This, 2002
Lost Summer, 2003
Aphrodites Smile, 2004
Published in 2012 available from online retailers:
The Flyer
The Snow Falcon (Revised)
More coming in 2013 writing as both Stuart Harrison and Stuart C Harrison. See my website for details.
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