Annalise thought researching a whole intro for ‘Political Animals’ had been stressful, but it was nothing close to this. She watched Evie and Grace and considered the three of them here, compared to when they first met. Annalise hadn’t liked either of them. The truth was, they made her feel common and stupid, and as for Kasia, well, she felt worse about Kasia. That first day, on the journey to the hospital, she had wished her dead. Even thinking about that now sent her into convulsions of shame. It was guilt mixed with desperation; now she wanted nothing more than for Kasia to make it. The doctor hadn’t said it outright, but if Annalise wasn’t smart with theoretical stuff, she could read people like professors read academic journals. That doctor was telling them there was no chance for Kasia; bar a miracle, it was all over. They’d been in this waiting room for over four hours. Under normal circumstances, Annalise couldn’t imagine staying anywhere for four hours without Wi-Fi access or at least a magazine to thumb through. Here though, today – it seemed as if time had flipped. Four minutes or forty-eight hours, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
‘We should probably go back down to the baby?’ Grace’s words sounded as if they’d come from deep inside an empty tunnel.
‘I don’t think I can,’ Annalise said. More than any of them, Annalise loved babies. She was a baby grabber, one of those women who liked to get every newborn baby that came their way in their arms and just look and smell and coo and cuddle. She knew other women eyed her with distaste, as though she was constantly playing the role of yummy mummy, but it was real – or it was until now. She could not bear to leave Kasia’s side; not even for a baby. Whether the child was Paul’s or not, didn’t matter any more to Annalise and she guessed that Grace and Evie felt the same. Babies were like that though, weren’t they? In Annalise’s mind, they just made everything right.
‘It’s all right.’ Evie got up. ‘It’s a terrible time.’ She glanced across at Grace. ‘I’ll go,’ she said.
‘No, you sit with Annalise; I’ll go,’ Grace said, although she’d spent most of the night in the baby unit, surrounded by buzzers. Annalise would be happy if she never heard another buzzer for as long as she lived.
The police, when they came, were almost a relief. Their broad shoulders were at odds with the fragile lives in the rooms nearby. Somehow, they made her feel that something could be done. Perhaps, they were not as helpless as she felt. They asked their questions quietly. Annalise and Evie told them what they could, but they’d be back. Vasile had a price to pay; she wondered wryly later if any of them could afford the cost.
The door opened sharply just as the caterers were making their squeaky noisy way along the corridors, and it occurred to Annalise that she couldn’t be sure if it was breakfast, dinner or tea time. The doctor’s expression was still worried, but he didn’t look as though he was ready to give them the final news.
‘She’s out of theatre,’ he said. Evie took Annalise’s hand for moral support.
‘And it went…?’ Annalise asked. They were all wishing for one word – well.
‘It went as well as we could expect.’ He chose his words carefully. ‘That doesn’t mean she’s out of the woods. She’s had an extensive rupture to one of the vessels on the exterior of her brain. We have no definitive answers as to what that will mean for her recovery.’
‘If she recovers?’ Evie asked. It was almost the question that Annalise was too afraid to ask. They couldn’t consider the alternative.
‘Yes, if she recovers. It’s back to waiting, I’m afraid.’ He scribbled something illegibile on the chart he carried. ‘You might all want to go home for a couple of hours. It will be that at least before she’s back in ICU. Then you can drop by and see her.’
‘So we can’t see her until she’s…’ Evie seemed even more vulnerable now.
‘No, we’ll be keeping her in isolation for a while, close to theatre, just in case…’ He didn’t need to finish off the sentence.
‘That’s fine,’ Grace said and Annalise wondered if she’d even taken in the news. ‘I’m going down to the see the baby.’ She glimpsed the fearful emptiness that had opened up in Evie.
*
Annalise drove back to her house in the kind of stunned silence that makes the journey go by but you don’t actually remember driving home. It felt like the middle of the night, but of course, outside their little world, life was carrying on. Behind Dublin curtains, people were topping their boiled eggs and drinking their morning cuppa. Annalise glanced at her watch. She was missing the boys, feeling guilty because she hadn’t put them to bed or been there when they woke. Grace insisted she was staying with the baby. Fatigue etched grey pallor into Evie’s skin, her eyes sunk deep with worry, but there was no budging her either. Annalise rang Madeline to tell her she was home and to fill her in on the night that had passed.
‘I’m coming over,’ Madeline said at once; she was just leaving the nursery having dropped the boys in for the day.
‘Really, Mum, there’s no need.’ She should probably sleep if she could, until it was time to collect the boys.
‘Annalise, there’s every need. You’re not strong enough for this.’
‘Mum,’ Annalise sighed. All her life, Madeline had made things better for her. Annalise knew it was time for her to grow up. ‘Seriously, Mum, I’m fine. I’m going to jump into the shower, sleep for an hour or two before I pick up the boys and then spend the evening with them.’
‘Really, Annalise, I’ll fetch the boys. There’s no need for you to…’
‘There’s every need.’ Annalise and Madeline never fought, but something close to steel entered Annalise’s voice. ‘I know you’re trying to help, Mum, but really, I want to spend a few hours with the boys. Then, maybe later, if you’re up for it, I’ll drop the boys over to you before I head back to the hospital. Is that all right?’ She softened her voice.
‘Of course, dear, I’m only trying to help.’ Madeline sounded a little deflated.
‘Mum, I know that. You’ve always spoiled me far too much, but I have to start standing on my own two feet,’ Annalise whispered. ‘I love you, but just as you want to do as much as you can for me, I want to do the same for my boys.’
‘Oh darling, I’m so proud of you. I understand, and really I’m glad. It’s just different, that’s all.’ Madeline’s voice was more gentle now.
‘It’ll be a good kind of different, I promise.’
‘You used to need me more…’ Madeline’s voice petered off. She had been emotional over the boys’ recent zealous haircuts, and the fact that Annalise hadn’t phoned her to sort them out. It was strange to hear this new independent and competent Annalise. ‘I suppose I should be glad.’
‘I still need you, Mum.’ Annalise could feel a wobbly laugh bubbling in her throat. It had been a draining twenty-four hours. ‘Not that I mind sharing you with the boys, but I suppose, I want to keep you as my mum, and they get to have you as their grandmother.’
‘You know I’m too young to be called that.’ Madeline’s voice was full of emotion, but Annalise wasn’t going to let her get away with that one anymore. It wasn’t healthy for the boys to have a mum and a second back-up mum waiting in the wings when Annalise couldn’t, or wouldn’t, cope with whatever disaster had unfolded around her.
‘I wouldn’t call you it, not in public, not in a million years… well, maybe then.’ They both laughed.
*
Annalise never had trouble sleeping. If anything, it was the opposite for her. The darkness of the room and the quiet of the house insulated her so she slept soundly until the alarm went off a few hours later. It wasn’t much; it hardly made up for the night spent on the hospital chair, but it was enough to get by with. There had been no calls. A hopeful sign. Annalise made her way into the kitchen and switched on the news – her latest ‘thing’. These days, she regarded the daily bulletin as educational, preparation for conversation with people who worked in media as opposed to fashion. She hoped it focused her interest in the wider world as opposed to her former self-absorption.
When the phone rang, the sound almost made her jump. Expecting only one call, remembering the expression of the consultant who’d spoken to them earlier in the day, she answered sombrely.
‘Hey,’ Jake sounded light, buoyant, untroubled.
‘Hey.’ She knew her voice was flat. She’d have to tell him about Kasia anyway.
‘What’s up? I’m ringing with good news, but you sound as if… I don’t know what?’
‘Give me the good news first,’ she managed.
‘We’ve had an offer.’ He almost sang the words. ‘And not just one offer, we’ve had four, concrete offers, from four different channels!’
‘Well done, you.’ She tried to sound enthusiastic and on any other day she knew she’d be jumping about doing a dance.
‘We’d put it out and wanted it to go to either of the nationals, but it seems the fact that we have a former Miss Ireland on board, and because of the election results in the US and the northern question, it’s picked up interest with the British newscasters, so UTV and BBC are interested too.’
‘That’s great, Jake, really great.’ She knew her voice didn’t sound as excited as she should have been.
‘Whoa, your news must be worse than a broken nail, then?’
‘Broken nails don’t get me down like they used to.’ She managed to smile. ‘No, it’s Kasia.’ She told Jake about what had happened. ‘I should have called you earlier, but it’s been very…’ He was very fond of Kasia. She was the common denominator between them, after all.
‘I’m going over there this minute.’ Jake exuded the kind of strength that made you feel safe. Not babied, not like Paul, but then again Annalise had started to wonder how real that had been anyway. She had a feeling with Jake it was real.
‘They won’t let you in.’
‘Then I’ll stand in a corridor until they do.’
*
The boys covered her in kisses when she picked them up a little later. It made Annalise even more emotional, imagining that Kasia might never get to pick up her little girl. At home, they played in the garden until the light faded and it was time for dinner. Then it was a race to the bath and a splash session where Annalise ended up as wet as them. They tumbled into bed after two Mr Men stories. Annalise bent to kiss their sweet noses, hovered for a moment over each, breathing in their freshly washed scent.
‘Will we live happily ever after?’ Dylan asked her and she looked into his round wondering eyes.
‘I think we will, Dylan.’ She thought of Kasia, and her baby fighting for a chance at a happy ever after. ‘I think we are very lucky. We have all we need to be happy.’
‘What’s that?’ Dylan asked, maybe expecting her to say baked Alaska, Santa at Christmas or a brand new football.
‘We have each other.’ She said the words simply and knew them to be true.
‘Mummy, will we always be together?’
‘Always.’ She bent down and kissed him softly on his short hair, couldn’t imagine feeling more love for anyone alive than she did for these two.
Madeline arrived at eight thirty and Annalise hugged her before she left for the hospital. She hadn’t hit the end of the road when her phone buzzed. It was Grace. Annalise felt the tears leave her eyes as Grace told her about Kasia. She cried all the way to the hospital.
*
They were tears of relief. It was a miracle. Kasia was propped up against firm pillows. The bruising was even worse, but they were almost used to it now; maybe it didn’t matter so much now they knew she was going to be okay. ‘You look pretty impressive, Kasia,’ kidded Annalise.
‘They have picked up Vasile?’ Kasia asked. Her terror was evident in her eyes.
‘So it was him?’ Annalise asked.
‘Yes, it was Vasile. He was mad, crazy mad when he came into the bakery. But he didn’t realize when he came looking for me that I was having the baby.’ A single tear travelled slowly down Kasia’s cheek. ‘I told him it was Paul’s.’ Her eyes were vast contrite pools as they searched Evie’s face. ‘That was wrong, it was a lie, but I thought it would be safer for the baby.’ Kasia was too emotional to notice the glances exchanged between Annalise and Grace. ‘I thought he’d think of me as damaged goods, used by another man, and leave me alone.’ She tried to shrug her shoulders but the movement caused her pain. ‘But it was worse to say that. He will kill me now.’
‘He will do no such thing.’ Grace’s words were angry. ‘He’s going to jail. We’ll all make sure of that.’ She shook her head. ‘Kasia, you have to do this; it’s the only way to be rid of him.’
‘She’s right,’ Evie said the words gently. She was almost back to herself – the alteration had occurred as quickly as Kasia recovered. ‘We will stand by you, it’ll be fine. Let him think that Paul is the baby’s father. It makes no difference to Paul anymore.’
‘Absolutely, she’s going to be like another sibling for Delilah, Jerome and Dylan anyway. The least Paul can do is give her his name.’ Grace said. Annalise hadn’t realised Grace was such a baby person, but she hardly let the little one out of her arms any chance she got.
‘You don’t understand. He will want to kill me if he learns that I’ve reported him to the police.’
‘You didn’t report him, Kasia. I did,’ Grace said defiantly, ‘and if he crosses me, he’ll know all about it. Vasile is going to jail for a very long time and I intend to make sure he does. Even if you don’t want to make a complaint, the injuries he’s caused are going to mean that no one is letting this go. The CCTV in the bakery and on the street outside will do the job for us. He’s mad if he thinks he’ll get away with this.’
‘You don’t understand Vasile. He is not like anyone else. He is crazy and he will do anything to make sure he is the one who wins.’ Fear dampened her voice to a whisper.
‘Well, the only winning he’ll be doing any time soon is maybe a card game in jail,’ Evie said. With that, there was a knock on the door.
‘Hi.’ Jake stuck his head into the room. ‘They said I couldn’t bring in flowers.’ He gasped when he looked at Kasia.
‘You should see the other guy.’ Kasia grinned. Jake caught Grace’s eye, and there was just a flicker, enough to lift Annalise’s heart. She had a feeling they’d be seeing more of Jake, even if they weren’t filming out in Carlinville.
‘Oh, we haven’t even started on him yet,’ Evie said and there was an unmistakable confidence in her voice.
‘I just wanted to see you’re all right, Kasia?’
‘You’re a little late coming to my rescue this time, but it’s nice to see you, Jake,’ Kasia managed from the bed.
‘That’s me, always looking for a damsel in distress to rescue.’ He closed the door gently behind him and took a seat. ‘Congratulations,’ he hardly whispered. ‘She’s lovely; I came by the baby unit. Grace pointed her out to me. Have you a name yet?’
‘Oh, yes. I’ve had the name picked for months. I’m calling her Eve.’ Kasia smiled through her bruises and Evie’s eyes filled with tears.
*
There was a time, not so long ago, when it would have bothered Annalise that Kate Dalton saw her looking so rough. Today that all seemed so trivial, and when she looked at Kate, she had a feeling that she felt the same too.
‘I’m so sorry about Paul,’ she said and Annalise could see she meant it. ‘I couldn’t go to the funeral, you probably heard my own marriage…’
‘I’m sorry, I did hear.’ It had been in all the papers. Des Dalton had been carrying on with a rakish-looking groom right under Kate’s perfect button nose. When she read it, Annalise hadn’t really thought about Kate, but she’d thought about Nicola.
‘Yes, well everyone did, didn’t they? I can thank Gail Rosenstock for the extensive media coverage.’ Her voice was bitter, but Annalise couldn’t blame her, the press had done a hatchet job on her and they’d even managed a few swipes at her little girl. ‘Then again, she’s thrown you to the wolves a couple of times too.’ She shook her head, ‘It’s a vile business.’
‘I don’t understand; she’s thrown me to the wolves?’
‘Oh darling, that’s just why everyone loves you.’ Her voice was kind, ‘You never see the bad in people. Gail has been sabotaging your career since the first day she took you on her books.’
‘But she’s kept me there all this time.’ Annalise didn’t understand. ‘What do you mean, sabotaging?’
They were moving together towards the exit door of the hospital; Kate stopped automatically to use the hand disinfectant – she was here far too often, Annalise thought sadly.
‘Don’t you get it? You’ve been easy press fodder for her. When one of her girls was shagging half the country and she wouldn’t behave, she sold your demise to the press in return for them keeping quiet on the junior minister’s girlfriend.’
‘Susan Lynsey?’
‘Of course, Susan Lynsey; she’s the real earner for Gail. Susan is paying the rent for both of them.’ She took a deep breath – there was more. ‘Then a couple of months ago, Susan was rumoured to be getting the push from Miu Miu. The gossip was one of the tabloids had a story about her blackmailing that drippy boyfriend she had all those years ago. You can’t have presidential ambitions and a closet of dirty secrets, can you? Of course, they had no evidence. Gail threatened to sue and when that got her nowhere, she gave them you. Tragic Miss Ireland, dumb and blonde, lost her husband but still has time to shop?’
‘That was Gail? Gail organized the photographer?’ Of course, Gail was the only person who knew she was going there that day. She’d played into her hands all these years. Annalise thought she might be sick; she stumbled backwards then steadied herself. She was empty after the last few days worrying about Kasia – this just felt like the feather capable of knocking her over.
‘Easy, come on.’ Kate put out a hand to steady her. ‘This can’t be news to you, not really. I mean, surely you guessed. Never anything good leaked. They were always making you look bad. The press really aren’t that vicious, mostly they write what they’re fed. I should know; I’m in the game now.’ They walked towards the car park in silence, their footsteps ringing out the words that had fallen between them for so long. Could they have been friends? Probably not, but Annalise had a feeling that Kate was a better person than she gave her credit for all these years.
‘All this time, Susan Lynsey?’ Annalise said when they came to Kate’s smart coupé. ‘I’m glad you told me.’ It was beginning to make sense; in some strange way it felt as if it was exactly what she needed to know.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t say it years ago. You could have been the best model to come out of Dublin, if you got a decent chance.’ Kate was getting into her car, moving on to the next piece of business for the day.
‘How’s Nicola doing, you know, after the separation?’ Annalise had to ask. There was something about the child, something delicate and entrancing.
‘She’s actually doing so much better than I thought,’ Kate smiled. ‘She just makes everything worthwhile, you know?’
‘I know.’ Annalise felt the same about her own boys. She waved Kate off and headed for the jeep, pulling out her phone as she walked. She dialled the number – it was one of the few she knew by heart.
‘Hello, Gail?’ she didn’t wait for her agent to answer. ‘Just ringing to let you know: you’re fired. Go fall off a catwalk for yourself.’
*
Although Kasia made a good recovery, they spent the first few days between her bed in ICU and the baby unit. Annalise still didn’t like the baby unit and that surprised her; she’d always thought, in her own disconnected way, that anywhere there were babies, she’d be happy. The truth was, the buzzers made her a nervous wreck and the nurses made her feel as if she was in their way. Still, she went there – how could she not? Kasia’s baby was divine. In a matter of hours, Annalise thought she could see her growing stronger and more beautiful. Now she was practically like a full term baby, with long limbs, her mother’s dark hair and a habit of holding her mouth that convinced you she was smiling at you.
‘The sooner I get out of here, the sooner they will let me hold her,’ Kasia said as she linked Annalise towards the nurse’s station.
‘I’ve told you a hundred times, I can’t move you onto the maternity ward.’ The nursing sister observed her from above narrow reading glasses; her glare did not match the kindness behind her eyes.
‘I understand your speaking, but soon you’ll have no option but to throw me out and make way for someone who really needs to be in here.’ Kasia smiled at her. It was five days since she’d regained consciousness. She was out of danger, but her only visits to the baby unit were in the evening. They insisted she travel on a patient trolley, so she was dependant on getting orderlies to bring her. ‘At least, you can tell them that my friends are very responsible and they will take care of me if you let me go down in a wheelchair?’
‘No. Not possible. My, you are hard work.’ The nurse sniffed at Kasia, blowing an exasperated sigh, before finally conceding. ‘Okay, but—’ she warned Annalise sternly, ‘you need to get her back here within half an hour. If I have to send one of my nurses looking for the pair of you, I’ll be tying you to the bed next time.’ Her smile was wide; she’d give them a ten-minute leeway on the time.
‘Thank you, Sister.’
Maybe Annalise had grown accustomed to how badly beaten Kasia was. Certainly, on the short walk along the corridors, she registered the looks of people they passed who flinched at the damage the injuries had caused. Kasia’s face was still a patchwork of bruising and swelling. She’d lost one tooth, cracked ribs and had fractured toes and fingers. Grace photographed her from all sides for the court case to come.
‘I’m alive, we’re alive. This is all that counts. The breaks, they heal with time, the bruising will too, and I can get the tooth replaced,’ Kasia said. Annalise knew she’d been through the wars many times before with Vasile. Perhaps, when the wounds had healed, they would look back and think this time was worth it, because it was the end of Vasile. Either way, he had no reason to come back here now.
It was worth the trip and the stolen glances when they got to the baby unit.
‘She’s healthy and strong,’ the nurse told them as Kasia held the baby close. ‘She could go onto a maternity ward any day, but…’
‘I’m working on it,’ Kasia said with a contented smile.
As it turned out, a week later, they told her she could go home. There would be plenty of time to heal at Carlinville and the house would be good for that. The day dawned bright and crisp. It was a glorious brittle morning that felt as if it might break in half if any of them took for granted the gentle glow of happiness surrounding mother and baby. Evie pulled up outside the hospital in the MG. They had organized a convoy of sorts; the little sports car was not big enough to take the various paraphernalia that had arrived as soon as the baby was ready to go home. The rear-facing seat took pride of place in the bench seat that Annalise’s dad had customised to see them through the next six to eight years of car seats and booster seats. Grace put the remainder of their belongings in the boot of her own car.
‘Evie, you are driving us home?’ Kasia looked so happy, perhaps even more so than Annalise and Evie had expected. But then that, too, was down to so much more than the MG now.
‘Well, not exactly legally; I’m waiting for my permit, but I thought we’d risk it this once.’ Evie's voice was light; lottery winners never got so lucky. ‘I’m booked for my test in a month’s time. Some friend of Annalise’s dad knows someone who knows someone.’
‘It’s lovely,’ Kasia said once she settled the baby and folded herself into the passenger seat. ‘It suits you.’ She smiled out at Annalise who was standing on the path. She didn’t need to say the words, but her eyes held tears of happiness and Annalise knew that she was thanking her from the bottom of heart.
*
The solicitor was not what Annalise expected. Mr Blake-Nash was hardly thirty years old and he might easily have walked off the set of a Hollywood movie. He was tall and dark with chiselled features that owed more to his mother than his slack-jawed father. Malcolm was the third generation to take up practice in the legal firm and his father had written both Evie and Paul’s wills. They wrote them here, in the library at Carlinville. ‘Ladies, I appreciate you taking the time. I understand you have a big exhibition coming up.’
‘To be fair, Malcolm, we should have done this months ago, but I’m not sure any of us were ready,’ Evie said. They arranged the will reading for a sunny afternoon, when they’d all have preferred to be doing anything but. Then again, there was never going to be a good day for it.
‘I have a copy here for each of you. There are letters also. Paul asked that you each read them after the will. They were sealed; we have no idea what they contain.’ He handed each of them a small white envelope, their names carefully written in Paul’s neatest handwriting, with the familiar blue ink of his fountain pen. He placed his own copy before him on his knees. ‘I’m not sure if you have the most up-to-date copy, Evie.’ He glanced across the room that wasn’t as faded as the last time he was here, the light caught sparkling wood now instead of dusty rays. ‘This is dated three weeks before he died. He made just one change, but he was adamant that it was important.’ He began to unfurl the last will and testament of Paul Starr. The will began with the bequeathing of a number of personal items to each of his wives. Little things, which were of sentimental value more than any financial benefit.
‘And, to my children: To Delilah, Jerome, Dylan and Kasia – I….’
‘Oh, my God,’ Kasia shrieked. ‘I don’t believe it. How can that be?’ Her expression clouded as she tried to add up what she knew of life, of her mother and her father and the way Paul had befriended her – it was a jolt.
‘Say that again?’ Grace looked at each of them, shock registering on her face, in her voice and then the glimmer of a smile played on her lips. ‘That makes me your stepmother?’ She looked from Kasia to Evie, ‘Or at least one of your stepmothers?’
‘It kind of makes sense, doesn’t it?’ Annalise looked across at Evie’s shocked expression. ‘I mean, she has his eyes. You had to have noticed, they do have a resemblance to each other. Baby Eve is the spit of him – don’t you think so?’ It would take a while for the news to settle on Annalise, but it was good, she was sure of that. It was good news for all of them.
‘Well, I…’ Evie was lost for words; she had to let this settle first. Paul had a child. Paul had a child with a woman who lived on the far side of Europe. He got some woman pregnant and said nothing to her all these years. ‘So all this time he lied to us?’ She looked at Grace.
‘We’ve blamed ourselves.’ Grace nodded. Maybe she was thinking, too, of the wasted years when she held herself and Annalise responsible for how things had turned out with Paul.
‘It’s what I’ve been trying to say to both of you. He wasn’t as bloody perfect as we thought he was,’ Annalise whispered. ‘I didn’t know that Kasia was…’ She looked across at Kasia whose face had set in a distorted grimness. Shock? Annalise figured it was going to get them all. ‘None of us knew, Kasia, you know that?’ She tried to catch Evie’s attention, raised her voice a little. ‘I’ve tried to say it to both of you: we did nothing wrong. All we did was love him, but maybe he wasn’t able to love us the way we loved him.’
‘Maybe he still loved your mother?’
‘No.’ Kasia made a sound; her rounded lips told them what it was. ‘No. He loved you all, I’m sure of that. I’ve always been sure of that. Whatever else I knew of him, I’ve always known that much. Whatever he had with my mother, he still left her, didn’t he? He still left us both there and he stayed married to you Evie; he didn’t leave you for my mother.’
‘Oh my.’ It was all Evie could manage for a moment. ‘It’s not that it didn’t cross my mind. I’ve wondered a thousand times, if maybe… I mean, he went there every year, and you have his eyes, my dear. I can see that now.’ She made a sound; it might have been a laugh, but emotion carried it into territory that was more tremulous. ‘I watched you once, here, in the garden. It was something in your expression when you were caught by surprise. Ah, yes. I can see it now.’ She shook her head, as though to dispel a terrible thought. ‘How could he have left you in that orphanage? How could he have walked away knowing that you were there with no family to call your own?’
‘Oh, Evie, are you all right?’ Kasia moved towards her, balancing the baby at the same time. She knelt before her, perhaps not sure whether to embrace her or apologize. It wasn’t her fault, of course, but she couldn’t stand to think of Evie being hurt once more.
‘Dear Kasia, I wish he had told me. I wish he had brought you here. You could have had a much better life after your mother passed away. I’m so sorry that he left you there for so long.’ She smiled now, a shaky half movement about her lips. ‘Oh, dear, I thought I did him out of something for so long, when it seems he was the one who made us both lose out.’
‘Evie, you are…’ Tears welled up in Kasia’s throat. She couldn’t speak. It didn’t matter; words were inadequate. She bent closer and threw her free arm about Evie.
‘Shall I continue with the will?’ Malcolm looked across at Grace who was now crying tears that Annalise thought must be happiness, because beneath them her smile beamed with an emotion that went far beyond pleasure.
‘Of course,’ Annalise said, ‘and as soon as you are done, we are going to celebrate the newest official members of the Starr family!’