CHAPTER 35

 

Anna couldn’t wait to tell Roddie about her meeting with Janet. She dialled his mobile number, but it went straight to voicemail. Strange, she thought. She’d never had any difficulty contacting him before. She tried his office number – Flo would know why he didn’t answer. Voicemail again.

Deciding not to leave a message, she opted to phone her mum and dad. She knew they would be waiting for her call, anxious to find out if everything had gone to plan.

When she phoned them, her mum picked up immediately.

‘Anna? How did it go, dear?’ her mum asked.

‘Everything was fine, Mum. We were both nervous, but once we were past the first few minutes, there was no problem. She looks so like me.’

‘I think you mean you look so like her,’ Moira said with a nervous laugh. ‘By the way, what did you call her?’ Her studied casual tone was not lost on Anna.

‘Janet. I called her Janet, Mum. I couldn’t call her Mum or Mother. You’re my mum.’

Was that a sigh of relief at the other end of the phone? Anna wondered.

‘Did you go to her house?’ Moira asked.

‘No. George came to collect me and we met in his house,’ Anna said.

‘So, where is that? George’s house, I mean.’

Anna tried to think. Where was it? She had no recollection whatsoever of the journey to George’s house, oblivious to him pointing out everything of interest on the way.

‘Mum, I can’t actually remember. My head was so full of what was going to happen, I didn’t pay attention to anything else. To be honest, I can’t remember a thing about George’s house, either. We were in a living room, but don’t ask me to describe it. I do remember the smell of peat burning, but that’s all. Oh, and the crunch of our footsteps on the gravel as we left.’

‘You’ll probably need some time to let it all sink in, but I’m so happy for you, dear.’

‘You know you’re the best mum in the whole wide world, and nothing will change that, don’t you?’

‘Yes,’ Moira replied, her voice trembling. ‘I’ll let you speak to your dad now.’

Fred had clearly been listening to the conversation, so there was no need to repeat anything the women had said.

‘Hello, Anna. I’m pleased everything is going well. Your mum’s just gone to fetch another box of tissues. Man-sized. I think that means she’s happy,’ Fred joked. ‘She’s been worrying that you would come back from Mull without meeting your birth mother, and she would have been so disappointed for you. We both would.’

‘Oh, Dad, you can’t believe how lucky I feel to have two parents like you. I love you both so much, and that’s forever.’

‘Don’t worry about us, Anna. We know that. And we hope you’ll find it in your heart to love Janet, too. Love expands to meet the people who deserve it. There’s no limit.’

‘Dad, if we don’t stop talking like this, I’m the one who’ll need the man-sized tissues. I’ll call you again soon to let you know how things develop.’

 

In their suburban home, the Ballantynes sat hand-in-hand on the sofa in their living room.

‘Well, that’s that,’ Moira said. ‘How did I do?’

Fred leaned over and kissed his wife.

‘You were brilliant. A star. An Oscar-winning performance. But I don’t think for a moment you fooled your daughter. She knows perfectly well how difficult this has been for you – for both of us – but she’s made it clear that she doesn’t want it to influence her relationship with us. And that’s as much as we can ask for.’

‘It’s strange, though, Fred. I feel better about the whole thing now than when Anna first said she wanted to meet her birth mother. We’ve always known it could – and probably would – happen, but now she’s found her, and it looks as if they’re going to get along fine, I’m so relieved.’

‘You’re right, Moira. This is the best possible outcome. We may even have the chance to meet Janet ourselves. Who knows?’ Fred said.

‘One step at a time, Fred. We don’t want to start rushing things at this point.’