by Jill Mansell
She even tried to pay the bill when it arrived. Richard pushed her purse aside. “Will you stop that? Put your money away.”
As they were leaving, Nerys said, “This has been amazing. Thank you so much. I’m never going to forget this day.”
“Why do you keep looking at your watch?”
“I can catch the next train if I hurry. It leaves at five thirty.”
“Don’t go,” said Richard. “Stay. I want you to meet the rest of the family.”
Nerys looked alarmed. “You said they didn’t know about me.”
“They don’t.” He’d needed to meet her first, just in case it all went horribly wrong. Now, placing his arm around her shoulders, he said with pride, “But they’re about to find out.”
* * *
The worst café in St. Carys was a kilometer from Menhenick House. As they neared home, still talking nonstop, and paused to cross the road, they realized they were being watched.
“Oh no.” Nerys froze in dismay. Because there on the other side of the road, staring at them as if they were a couple of ghosts, was Pauline.
“Oh God,” muttered Richard. But it was more a nuisance than a disaster. “Sorry, I completely forgot about her. Never mind, it’s fine. We’ve nothing to hide, have we?”
Pauline’s mouth was agape as she looked from Richard to Nerys, then back again. Finally finding her voice, she said, “Nerys? What’s going on?”
Next to Richard, Nerys murmured, “Whatever you do, don’t tell her.”
“I don’t understand,” continued Pauline. “What are you doing in St. Carys?” She shook her head in bewilderment. “And how are you here with Sir Richard?”
“He…replied to my l-letter,” Nerys stammered. “The one in the turquoise envelope.”
“He never replies to letters.”
“I did, though.” Richard nodded. “I’m turning over a new leaf after what you said at the hotel last week.”
“And you invited Nerys down to see you?”
Nerys pulled the notebook out of her bag and waved it. “I asked if I could come and interview him for our parish magazine, and he said yes.”
Pauline was now gazing at him askance, as if he’d grown three heads.
Richard shrugged. “It’s all thanks to you. You were the one who told me to look out for the turquoise envelope.”
“Yes.” Nerys nodded eagerly at Pauline. “Thanks for doing that!”
Bewildered, Pauline said, “But you didn’t even tell me this was happening. All those times I’ve invited you down here to come and stay with me in my trailer.”
“Oh, I know, but this was the only day Sir Richard could see me, and you’d already said on the group page that you were going to visit your aunt in Dorset.”
“Auntie wasn’t feeling well, so the trip was canceled.”
“Oh, your poor aunt, I’m so sorry to hear that,” Richard interjected smoothly, because he was a better liar than Nerys.
“Thank you, Sir Richard.” Pauline returned her attention to Nerys. “Well, you’re still very welcome to stay with me tonight if you want to.”
“That’s so kind of you,” said Nerys, “but I have to catch the train back this evening.”
Once they’d said their goodbyes to Pauline and moved on down the road, Nerys whispered, “I’m going to have to write about you for our parish magazine now.”
“No you don’t. And listen, you don’t need to get the train home this evening either. We’ve got a beautiful spare room you can stay in.” With a jolt, Richard realized he didn’t want her to leave.
“I have to get back, though,” said Nerys. “I need to be at work first thing tomorrow.”
Menhenick House came into view ahead of them. He said, “I wouldn’t mind you telling Pauline, you know. Once the family have gotten used to the idea, of course.”
“Are you serious? Her big hobby is finding out as much as she can about you and sharing everything she knows with your other fans. She wouldn’t be able to keep that kind of secret to herself for one minute.”
“But it’s OK.” Richard frowned. “You’re my daughter and I’m your father. I’m not embarrassed by that. I’m proud! It doesn’t have to be a secret,” he assured her, still scarcely able to believe he was saying and meaning it. “I want to tell the whole world!”
“Oh, but I don’t want you to.” Nerys touched his arm, clearly concerned. “Please let’s not do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re…you.” She gestured helplessly. “You’re famous, and that’s great for you, because you were always happy to be famous. But I’m more like Mum; I’m not one for attention. The thought of people with phones taking my photo and posting stuff about me online…it’s just not the kind of thing I’d want to have to go through. Sorry, is that rude? I don’t want to offend you. I’m so thrilled this has happened and I’d love us to stay in touch, but the idea of being splashed across the papers is just unbearable. People would think I was looking for attention, and I couldn’t bear that.”
In the heat of the afternoon, her fair hair had lost its blow-dried bounce, and now Richard was able to see the point at her hairline, just above her left eyebrow, where a whorl of blond hair grew out at an angle. He’d had exactly the same whorl in that precise spot until twenty-odd years ago, when his hairline had receded like the tide.
“What are you looking at?” said Nerys. “Why are you smiling?”
“You have my cowlick.” He tapped his own forehead.
She relaxed. “I know. Thanks for passing that on to me; it’s been the bane of my life. At least yours has vanished now.”
“And at least you don’t have to worry about your hairline receding.” He offered her his arm. “Let’s get inside, shall we? Time to introduce you to the rest of the family. They’re about to get a surprise.”
* * *
When he’d gathered them outside on the terrace, it was with great pride that he was able to relay the full story to them of his relationship with Sandy.
“I had no idea, none at all,” he concluded with a lump in his throat. “But all this time I had a daughter waiting to meet me. And now it’s happened, and it’s just the best feeling in the world.”
“Oh, Richard, what a miracle. This is just the loveliest news.” Tears were shining in Majella’s eyes as she jumped up and hugged him, then threw her arms around Nerys. “I’m so glad you found each other at last. Welcome, darling! Welcome to the family.”
Chapter 36
Lainey had stayed in the kitchen while Richard, having first armed himself with a large gin and Fever-Tree tonic, asked the family to join him out in the garden. She kept busy and barely glanced out of the window at whatever might be going on out there.
At least that was the official line, if anyone were to ask. In reality, because she was only human, she glanced out at them roughly every thirty seconds, and by the time Richard returned to the kitchen, she had worked it out for herself.
Wow.
“Come on, come out and join us.” Richard was beaming as he beckoned to her. “It’s all thanks to you that this has happened.” Once they’d reached the others, he announced proudly, “Remember the turquoise envelope? This is Nerys Davies, Sandy’s daughter. And you’re not going to believe this…she’s my daughter too!”
Lainey did an excellent job of looking astonished and delighted as she greeted Nerys with a hug and listened to Richard retell the story for her benefit. But what was even more fascinating was the reaction of the rest of the family—minus Harry, whom Kit was collecting from a school friend’s house in Port Isaac. Majella, busy topping up drinks and cutting more slices of orange drizzle cake, was her usual cheerful, hospitable self and clearly delighted by the news. Violet seemed happy too. But India was casting troubled glances in Nerys’s direction and fidgeting with the phone in her lap, clea
rly not at all overjoyed by the situation. Her body was tensed up, her shoulders hunched, and she was studying the new arrival intently from behind her magenta fringe. Her hands were stained blue, Lainey noticed; if she wasn’t careful, at this rate her over-dyed hair was going to start falling out in clumps.
It was Seth, though, whose reaction was the most puzzling and unexpected of all. Or rather, his lack of reaction. Because the thing about Seth was that he was never distracted, always on the ball, never failing to give anything or anyone his undivided attention. Yet here, sitting next to India while he appeared to be listening to Richard, Lainey instinctively sensed that he was miles away, barely present at all, his mind otherwise occupied by something that was taking up all his attention. Or someone.
And not in a good way either. The habitual half smile and humorous glint in his eye were missing. Was this connected with Nerys’s arrival? Or with something else entirely? The business, maybe. Or Dawn. It was impossible to tell.
She kept looking over at him, but he didn’t meet her eye, not even once. And to think she’d thought something incredible had been about to happen between them the other night. Being so close to him had felt electrifying, alive with possibilities.
And now he wasn’t so much as glancing in her direction.
It wasn’t the next stage she’d been hoping for, and as a chill of disappointment slid down her spine, it dawned on her that there was a good chance the cause of Seth’s altered mood was embarrassment. Worse still, that the cause of the embarrassment was because he’d changed his mind about her.
After Nerys explained that she really did need to catch the train back to Cardiff this evening, Majella offered to drive her to the station, and Richard went with them.
“Well, let’s hope we never have to see her again,” India said darkly once they’d gone.
“Why are you being so mean?” Violet frowned. “I think she’s nice.”
“We’re fine as we are. We’ve already got all the family we need.”
“Oh, come on. She’s Dad’s half sister. She’s our half aunt! And look how happy Grandad is to have found her.”
“She doesn’t even look like him!”
“I think she does. I can see a resemblance. Anyway, you’re my twin and I don’t look anything like you.”
“Thank God,” said India. “And just you wait. I don’t believe all that let’s-keep-it-private stuff for one minute. Give her a few weeks and she’ll be flogging her story all over the shop. Every tacky magazine she can get to listen to her, she’ll be onto them. It’ll be like Meghan Markle’s half sister all over again.”
Violet rolled her eyes. “Has anyone ever told you you’re a horrible person? Oh yes, me. About a million times.”
“At least I’m not gullible. They haven’t even done a DNA test yet.”
At this, Lainey glanced across once more at Seth, but he didn’t even appear to have heard.
“I wouldn’t mind getting one of those done,” said Violet. “Maybe someone took the wrong baby home from the hospital and my real twin’s out there somewhere, all alone and missing me like crazy.”
“If she’s missing you, she really must be crazy. Anyway, shut up.” India tossed back her hair. “Go and do some extra homework or something.”
“And what are you going to do? Sit in front of a camera and update your vlog, then chat to a bunch of strangers about your new eye shadow, because that’s so much more worthwhile.”
“You’re such a nerd.”
“And you’re such a loser.”
The four of them headed back to the house. Reaching the kitchen, Violet helped herself to a packet of chicken slices from the fridge, then gathered up the math textbooks she’d left on the window seat and disappeared upstairs. Having grabbed a family-sized bag of chips, India announced, “She’s pathetic. Am I right or am I right?” and turned to Seth for confirmation.
He shook his head. “Sorry, what?”
“Never mind. I’m right. Are you OK?”
He nodded. “I’m fine.”
“Good.” India reached up and gave him a fierce hug. “I might have a ridiculous sister and a really annoying little brother, but at least I’ve got you.”
“You have.” Seth patted her on the back. “And I’m not going anywhere.”
“Who d’you love more, me or Violet?”
For the first time today, Lainey glimpsed a ghost of a smile on his face; it was evidently a question the twins had been asking him their entire lives.
Seth said solemnly, “You know the answer. I love you both exactly the same.”
“But secretly I’m your favorite.”
“Secretly,” he gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze, “you both are.”
* * *
Lainey waited until India had gone up to her room, then took a breath and said, “You’re not fine, though. Are you?”
For a fraction of a second Seth met her gaze, then he looked away again, but not before she’d caught a lightning-fast mix of emotions—surprise, pain, temptation, and denial.
Not that sort of temptation, the lustful kind; this was more of a wavering hesitation, swiftly followed by the decision to absolutely deny that there was any kind of problem at all.
“It’s nothing. Just pressure of work.”
“Is it to do with Christina?”
A shake of his head. “No.”
“Dawn?”
“No.”
“Anyone else?”
His jaw tensed. “I told you. Everything’s OK.”
Is it me? Lainey couldn’t bring herself to ask the question aloud, but she was running out of options. He was tired of the interrogation and had closed himself off. On Monday evening on the beach, she’d felt so close to him, had experienced a connection between them so strong it had seemed inevitable something magical was about to happen…
Until Dawn had turned up at exactly the wrong moment. And yes, Seth had maintained it was all over between the two of them now, but he’d also said he’d see Lainey the next day, and that hadn’t happened. She’d waited with bated breath, but he hadn’t appeared. And what was she meant to do about that? What did it mean?
Looking at the way he was behaving today, something pretty major clearly had happened.
Lainey’s palms were damp. Unless she’d got it all horribly wrong again, fantasizing that her feelings for Seth were reciprocated. How unbearable would it be if the silent conversation on the beach had in fact only taken place inside her own head?
Oh, but it had felt so real. Had she been so carried away thinking tumultuous thoughts that she hadn’t even realized Seth’s mind was occupied with such prosaic matters as what was happening at work, whether to download that new film everyone was talking about, and when he should book his car in for its next service?
From upstairs came the sound of loud pounding music and barking. Soon Majella and Richard would be back from dropping Nerys at the station. Once again, Menhenick House wasn’t the ideal place to have a private conversation. But the beach was there, two minutes away and always perfect for the job.
“Look, I don’t know what’s going on, but something’s wrong.” Lainey looked directly at Seth. “And it’s probably none of my business, so I’m not going to ask any more questions. If you don’t want to talk about whatever it is, that’s fine.” She paused, silently willing him to react. “But if you do want to talk, about anything at all…well, I’m here. And you can trust me, you know you can.”
Silence in the kitchen. Above them, India’s music continued to blare out thud-thud-thud. From the corner of her eye, Lainey saw Seth’s knuckles gleam white through tanned skin as his hand gripped the back of one of the kitchen chairs, then glimpsed the faint shake of his head as if he’d been on the brink of saying something before deciding not to.
“OK.” She gave it one last try. “I’m going
to go down to the beach. Have a walk, get some fresh air. If you want to join me, that’d be great.” In the past, while either sitting side by side on the sand or making their way along the shoreline, conversation between them had flowed naturally; maybe the beach was their happy place and this was what they needed. To spur him into action, she crossed to the kitchen door, opened it, and turned to glance over her shoulder. “It’s still sunny, may as well make the most of it. Fancy coming along?”
In her head, she added: Remember what so nearly happened on Monday evening? Remember how you nearly kissed me? Because I know I didn’t imagine that.
“Thanks,” said Seth, and for a dizzy moment she thought she’d won…before he shook his head. “But I’ll give it a miss. Got some work to do upstairs. You go ahead,” he added shortly. “Enjoy your walk.”
Chapter 37
“Aaarrrgh!” Harry let out a bloodcurdling howl. “I’ve been jellyfished!”
It was a drizzly Sunday afternoon, and Lainey, busy throwing a Frisbee for Ernie and Glenda, hadn’t planned on going in for a swim. But Harry was panicking, windmilling his arms and shrieking in his panic to get away from the attacking creature. She tore off her sneakers and launched herself into the sea in her sweatshirt and jeans, heading toward where he was splashing his way over to the rocks at the end of the beach and hoping she wouldn’t end up getting stung herself.
“Ow,” wailed Harry, having reached the rocks and slipping as he attempted to haul himself up out of the water.
“It’s OK, don’t panic, just hang on…” It wasn’t easy to shout words of reassurance when you were doing a fast front crawl and waves kept splashing into your mouth. Lainey put her head down and concentrated on reaching him. When she was only a few meters away, she saw him scramble out of the water, stumble and fall back a second time.
“Right, I’ve got you. Lean on me and climb out slowly.” She braced herself against the barnacle-encrusted rocks and allowed Harry to use her as a climbing frame, wincing at the swirling cloud of blood he was leaving behind in the water.