Josette dialled Gordon’s number and prayed as it clicked through, ‘Please, please answer.’ But it went straight to voicemail. She took a deep breath. ‘I need to see you and talk to you desperately. Something awful has happened. Please come.’
Two minutes later, a text pinged in:
On my way.
Josette heaved a deep sigh of relief. She spent the next half-hour alternating between pacing up and down, re-reading the letter and trying not to cry. Wishing Gordon would arrive. She sprang to answer the knock on the cottage front door the second she heard it.
‘I would have been here before, but I was in Villeneuve Loubet,’ Gordon said. ‘What’s happened? It’s not Carla, is it?’
Josette shook her head. ‘No. I was about to write to Mario and give him various reasons why we couldn’t turn the clock back fifty years. That I couldn’t be in his life the way he wanted. And then,’ she took a deep breath. ‘I opened a package Carla had brought over for me after Amelia died. This is what I found,’ and she handed him the letter. ‘Read it and tell me what I do now please.’
Josette,
Sorry, I’m not going to address you as My Dear Sister, because quite honestly I’ve not thought of you in that way for a number of years.
I was so happy when you gave us Carla to adopt and we became a real family again for several years. I loved her dearly, as did Robert (ironically, Robert never lost that love). As she grew up though, we started arguing over when to tell her she was adopted and that you were her true mother, like we originally promised you. Robert argued against it for years, saying she’d only ask who her father was and he was reluctant for that to happen, saying we didn’t know the answer. Only he did, didn’t he? The rows increased and finally Robert yelled the truth at me one horrendous night, that he was Carla’s father because you and he had slept together just the once.
I didn’t believe him at first. I swore at him my sister would never betray me in that way. He said he’d never intended it to happen, but when you fell pregnant it seemed providential as I couldn’t have any more children and you were in no position to keep a baby. Carla being Robert’s meant that we’d at least have a child who was blood related. I slowly accepted the wisdom behind his reasoning but could never bring myself to forgive either of you. The betrayal gnawed away at me for years until I decided I wanted proof and I organised a DNA test. The result of which I’ve never disclosed to anyone until now.
The naked truth is this (see what I did there?), Robert may have slept with you, but he was not Carla’s father. I have no idea who her father is but would guess at the Italian you were infatuated with at that time, Mario somebody or other, I’ve forgotten his surname.
You, my husband and, I guess, our parents connived in the decision to ruin my life by plotting together to make me bring up a child that wasn’t Robert’s so you could preserve your reputation. I know you loved Carla from the moment you gave birth, in the same way I loved Bobby. By breaking off your ‘aunt’ contact and depriving you of involvement in our lives, I wanted you to feel something of the pain felt when a child you love dies.
I have never forgiven you for the deception and leaving this letter for you to read after my death is deliberate – you finally get to deal with the consequences of your action when you tell Carla the truth that neither of the people she believes to be her parents are and that her whole life has been based on a lie. I wonder how she’ll react. I hope she hates you as much as I did.
Amelia.
Gordon looked at Josette. ‘That was one bitter and twisted woman,’ he said, putting the letter down on the table and drawing Josette close to hold her in a tight hug.
‘Carla told me when we talked about me being her mother that at least the one constant in her life now was the fact that Robert, who she adored, was still her father. And now I have to tell her he isn’t. She’ll be shattered.’
Josette closed her eyes and struggled to stop shaking. Amelia was right, of course. Mario had to be Carla’s father – he was the only other man she’d slept with at the time. An image of a young Mario flitted into her mind. How could she not let the older Mario back into her life now? Not only had she walked away from him, she’d unknowingly deprived him of his child.
‘Did you ever think Mario could be the baby’s father?’ Gordon asked gently.
‘No.’ Josette shook her head. It had never occurred to her that the baby could possibly be Mario’s – they’d always taken precautions because she’d been determined she wouldn’t end up like Amelia, pregnant before she married. At the time, she’d taken for granted that Robert had to be the father of the baby because of that one brief unprotected mistake. Learning the truth after all these years, knowing that she could have kept the baby, secure in the knowledge that Mario would have stood by her, was heartbreaking. For everyone concerned.
‘Not only am I going to have to tell Carla that Robert wasn’t her father after all, but I’m also going to have to tell Mario about her. And knowing Mario, he’s sure to want to meet her.’
‘Carla will have to agree to that. Maybe she’ll decide she doesn’t want to,’ Gordon said. ‘The first thing you do is tell Carla, then, depending on her reaction, you either tell Mario or you don’t. At least for the time being.’
‘Don’t you think he has the same right to know that Carla has?’
‘Yes, eventually, but right now Carla is the vulnerable one. She’s had a tough year already. The woman she thought for fifty years was her mother dies, her marriage falls apart, her aunt turns out to be her natural mother, and she’s also moved countries,’ Gordon said softly. ‘She needs more time to adjust and acclimatise to the new order of things. Don’t forget the twins in all this either.’
‘I could, of course, keep quiet about everything,’ Josette said. ‘Write my own letter and leave it for them to find when I’m gone. Or would that make me a coward?’
‘Yes, it would and you know it’s not the answer. Talking of letters, did you say you were writing to Mario to tell him there was no going back?’
Josette nodded. ‘Mario did ask me if I thought things between you and me were serious and I told him they could be. I realised I didn’t want to jeopardise what you and I have for the sake of a resurrected dream that might or might not be true. I’m definitely living in the present with this. Even if it’s all a big nightmare at the moment.’ She glanced at him, still secure in the circle of his arms. ‘I honestly can’t imagine living the rest of my life without you in it.’
‘You don’t have to. I fully intend to be at your side.’
‘Will you come with me when I talk to Carla?’
‘If you want me to,’ Gordon said without hesitation. ‘When d’you want to go?’
Josette bit her lip and said. ‘No time like the present.’