By the time they got back to the flat Gina had stopped crying, but her expression was so lost and sad, Brad could have thumped her bloody brother for doing this to her.
‘We’ll go out tonight, take our minds off this. I’ll see if there’s a show we can go to or a decent restaurant.’
She shook her head. ‘Thanks for the thought, but I’m not a child to be comforted by such things. This is too important to me.’
‘Then what can I do to help you?’
‘Nothing. I have to face the fact that they don’t want to meet me. It was always on the cards. I just persuaded myself they’d give me a chance if I turned up in person.’
‘I hate to see you so unhappy.’
‘I’ll get over it.’
‘Do you want me to leave you on your own?’
She gave him a grateful look. ‘For a while, if you don’t mind. It’s such a beautiful day, I’m sure you’d enjoy a long walk.’
Dismissed, he could do nothing but get ready and go out.
Gina was beyond tears now. She went to sit by the window but saw little of what was happening outside as she tried to work out if she could have done anything better. Should she have written to Jake and Peggy first? No. They’d have refused to meet her then she’d not even have seen them. And she was glad that she’d at least done that. Goodness, Jake had looked so like her father.
She was so lost in thought that she didn’t at first realize someone had knocked on the door. She went to open it, then hesitated and called out, ‘Who is it?’
‘Me. Bridie.’
Gina flung the door open. ‘Come in! I’m so glad to see you. How was your check-up?’
‘Fine.’ Bridie moved forward then stopped to study her, eyes narrowed. ‘You’ve been crying. What’s wrong.’
‘Oh, dear, you’re always catching me at a bad moment, but Bridie, I really need some advice.’
‘Then put that kettle on and we’ll discuss it over a cup of tea. I’m parched.’
‘Have you walked from the hotel?’
‘Of course I have. I’m not yet in my dotage. Use it or lose it applies to all ages and activities.’
‘How was your friend?’ Even before she replied, Gina saw a spasm of sadness cross Bridie’s face.
‘She’s not able to cope on her own now so I didn’t stay for my usual week. She’s going into an aged care facility and is absolutely dreading it. I would too. I’m so lucky that I have better health than her, not to mention the money to live in the style I choose. Though I am considering finding an upmarket residential home instead of the hotel here. I’d like a little more space and a garden to walk in. I can always go back into a hotel if it doesn’t work out.’
Her friend’s thin elderly voice was soothing and as Gina made the tea, she could feel herself relaxing.
When they’d both got a cup of tea and biscuit in front of them, Bridie took a few sips and said simply, ‘Now tell me what’s wrong, dear.’
Gina explained everything, her voice catching as she explained exactly what had brought her to England. When she faltered to a halt, she looked up and saw that Bridie’s eyes were also brimming with tears. ‘Oh, no! I shouldn’t have told you. You’ve enough troubles of your own.’
Bridie reached out and took hold of Gina’s hand. ‘I’m glad you told me, more than you could ever have realized.’ She gave a smile that had both warmth and sadness in it then said quietly, ‘My surname may be Shapley now, but I was born Bridget Everett.’ She waited, head cocked to one side.
Gina stared at her in shock. ‘Then that means – are you my father’s sister… my aunt?’
‘I am indeed. Isn’t it wonderful that fate has brought us together?’ Bridie leaned forward to plant a kiss on her niece’s cheek, then sat back and studied her face. ‘No wonder you reminded me of my sister. I received a letter from my brother after he left England, explaining why he’d run away and wishing me well. It didn’t have a return address. That was the last I heard from him.’
‘I think Mum and Dad must have decided to cut all ties with their families. They never told me about my English relatives or even that Dad had been married before.’
‘I met your mother before they left and I liked her. I was less keen on his first wife, who was sharp and suspicious in her ways, no softness in her. I always suspected that Daniel wouldn’t have married her if he hadn’t got her in trouble. But then she had another child the year after, so he was well and truly trapped.’
Bridie was tapping her fingers on the table now, her brow creased in thought. ‘I’m surprised that Jake treated you so badly yesterday, though. He’s usually much kinder and fairer to people. Peggy’s a washed-out copy of her mother, very inept and lets that ghastly husband bully her. I’ve not seen her for years because I can’t stand him.’
Gina was smiling now, joy singing through her as it all began to sink in. ‘Well, at least I’ve met one relative over here, as well as Lou in Australia. Isn’t it wonderful? You are – glad about it?’
‘Of course I am. So glad that I’d like to invite you and Brad to have dinner with me in the restaurant at the hotel tonight to celebrate. And come in a taxi, because it calls for good champagne.’ She looked at the clock. ‘And now, I’d better be getting back to the hotel. I do need an afternoon nap these days, I’m afraid.’
‘I’d drive you, but my hire car won’t start.’
‘It’s all right. I’ll call a taxi.’ She pulled a phone out of her handbag. ‘So useful, this little gadget, but I have trouble with the tiny keypad. They’re not designed for older eyes.’ Holding it at arm’s length and squinting slightly, she pressed a pre-set number and ordered a taxi.
When it arrived, Gina escorted her downstairs and then went back up again, feeling happy. Yes, this did call for a champagne celebration. She wished Brad would come back, so that she could share her good news.
When she got into the flat a phone was ringing and she saw Brad’s mobile on the end of the kitchen counter. Without thinking she picked it up. ‘Hello?’
A woman’s voice asked, ‘Is Brad there?’
‘No, he’s out.’
‘Oh. Can I ask who you are? I thought he was in England on his own.’
‘I’m a… friend.’
Silence, then, ‘Well, will you tell him Jane called. I’m another friend of his, a very old friend, and I need to speak to him urgently and privately. Have you got something to take down my mobile number with?’
Gina picked up a pen and dragged the newspaper towards her for lack of a notepad. ‘Yes.’
After she’d switched off the phone, she pushed it away from her, wishing she hadn’t picked it up. Who was this Jane? And why had Brad pretended to be here to see relatives? The woman had said she was a friend. How close a friend? If Gina wasn’t mistaken there’d been resentment in the other’s voice. Surely he wasn’t stringing two women along?
A few minutes later there were footsteps on the stairs and Brad called out before unlocking the door.
Gina busied herself getting him a mug of tea as she told him about Bridie. After that she fell silent.
‘There’s something else, isn’t there? What’s wrong?’ He saw her move uneasily and bite her lip. Already he could tell how she was feeling from her body language, because she hadn’t a sneaky bone in her body.
She hesitated, then told him about answering his mobile. ‘I shouldn’t have but I was so happy I wasn’t thinking straight.’ She explained about her conversation with Jane. ‘You didn’t tell her you were with someone and that seemed to upset her. How close a friend is she exactly?’
His heart sank. He’d rather have explained this later, when they knew one another better. He didn’t feel proud of having been unfaithful and didn’t want to do anything to risk losing Gina. As he looked at her, he realized how much he felt about her.
‘It’s fine if you don’t want to tell me, Brad. I have no right to ask. We’re just – holiday friends, you and I.’
She turned away and he couldn’t bear it. He walked round the table and put his arms round her. ‘I hope we’re more than mere holiday friends, Gina.’
She looked up at him uncertainly. ‘Do you?’
‘Oh, yes. But it’s time to explain exactly why I’m here, which will also explain who Jane is.’
‘You don’t have to.’
‘I do. I want us – you and me – to stay together and, well, see how things go, so I need to be honest with you.’
He could see the uncertainty still clouding her lovely eyes and tossed caution to the winds. ‘Oh, dammit, Gina, haven’t you realized that I’ve fallen in love with you? I didn’t mean to and it’s happened so quickly it’s taken me by surprise. I’m out of practice at romancing someone, but I’m hoping…’
Her smile lit up her whole face. ‘Oh, Brad.’ Then she added softly, ‘I’ve fallen in love with you, too. Only I didn’t dare hope for anything. I got such a scolding from my daughter about holiday romances and being careful.’
So of course he had to kiss her and as one thing led to another, they wound up in bed, touching, caressing, reinforcing what they’d said in the way lovers always have.
Lying there afterwards, with Gina nestled in his arms, Brad braced himself to make his confession. ‘I still have to tell you why I’m here and I don’t come out of it too well, I’m afraid.’
She listened intently as he stumbled through the tale of Rosie and Jane. When he’d finished, he waited for her to say something, but she didn’t speak for so long he began to worry.
‘Were you ever unfaithful again?’
‘No. I’m not normally a cheat. And anyway, it was too costly emotionally. It took me ages to recover. I think I’m very old-fashioned about such things, can’t take sex and love casually.’
‘And how do you feel about Jane?’
‘I don’t want to hurt her, but there’s nothing left of the old flame between us, I promise you. We’re neither of us the same people we were then and anyway, she has a husband. But there’s Rosie, you see. My – our daughter.’
‘Jane sounded… as if she still cared for you.’
He pulled away and held her at arm’s length, shocked rigid. ‘You can’t mean that! I haven’t given her any encouragement, I promise you. I only wanted to see Rosie. In fact, I don’t think I’ve even been alone with Jane this time, except when I was standing on the doorstep. No, you must be mistaken.’
‘I could be, I suppose.’ Gina glanced at her watch, lying beside the bed. ‘Oh dear, we’d better get ready for our celebration meal with Bridie now.’
‘I’d rather lie here and cuddle you.’
Smiling, she pressed a kiss on the part of him nearest to her, which happened to be his bare shoulder, and swung her legs out of bed. ‘Come on. We have to celebrate.’
As the evening passed, he watched Gina smile and show affection to Bridie – which wasn’t hard to do, he really liked the older woman himself. He wanted her to show the same unalloyed affection for him, as well. But there was still a slight constraint between them that had not been there before he told her about Jane. He could sense it and he rather thought Bridie had noticed it, too.
It took him a long time to get to sleep, he was so worried that Gina might not be able to trust him now.
When her niece and Brad had left the hotel, Bridie stayed up for a while, sipping a glass of her favourite cognac and worrying. Something was not quite right between those two, she could tell it. There had been a hint of anxiety in the way Brad watched Gina. What had caused that?
She’d arranged for Gina to come to tea on her own the following day on the excuse of showing her some family photos. She’d do that, of course she would, but she wanted to use the occasion for something else as well. Glancing at her watch, she wondered if her nephew would be in bed yet. Only one way to find out. She picked up the phone and dialled his number, delighted when he answered almost immediately.
‘Jake? Bridie here. I need to see you about something.’
‘I’m a bit busy at the moment. How about one day next week?’
‘Tomorrow. It’s extremely important or I wouldn’t ask.’
He sighed. ‘Very well.’
‘Three o’clock sharp. Don’t let me down or I’ll come and hunt you out.’
‘If it’s that important I’ll be there. Still in the same hotel?’
‘Of course. And don’t be late.’ Smiling, she put down the phone.
There had been enough feuds in the family. Time to end them once and for all. It didn’t matter which side of the globe you lived on, family connections mattered.