This was possibly a big mistake, but there was only one way to find out.
There was a pause and then the door opened.
Erica stood there. She was wearing a red wool dress and a pair of boots that made Hattie want to cry with envy—it was good to know they had at least one thing in common! Her dark hair fell to her shoulders in a smooth, well-cut bob and her lips were a bold shade of red.
The smile on those lips vanished when she saw Hattie. She’d obviously been expecting one of her friends.
They stared at each other for a long moment.
Hattie had a whole speech planned but the whole thing flew from her brain.
“I came to check you’re happy with your rooms.” It was a pathetic opening, but at least she didn’t stammer. “If there’s anything you need—”
“There’s nothing. And the rooms are great.” Erica was civil, but distant. “Thank you.” She kept her hand on the door as if she couldn’t wait to close it. She was waiting for Hattie to walk away, but Hattie knew that if she walked away she was going to regret it always.
She stood awkwardly, feeling out of her depth. She’d expected Erica to say something, but it seemed she wasn’t going to. What did that mean? Why was she even here if she didn’t intend to have a conversation? Perhaps she’d just been waiting for the right moment. Perhaps she had a speech all planned and Hattie had ruined everything by knocking on her door.
“I didn’t really come to check you’re happy with the rooms, although of course I’m pleased that you are—” This time Hattie did stumble over the words. “There is no easy way to say this so I’m just going to say it and I hope I’m not out of line.”
Erica’s hand tightened on the door. Her knuckles were white.
Hattie looked her in the eye. “You’re Madeleine, aren’t you?”
Erica’s lips parted. “Erica,” she croaked. “My name is Erica.”
“Yes. That was what confused me. It’s the reason it took me a little while to figure it out.” She felt slightly giddy. This was her sister. Hersister. She’d gone from having no family to having a sister. This must be how it felt to win the lottery. “It doesn’t matter what you’re called. I’m just happy you’re here now. For years I hoped this moment might come, but it never did and lately—” she broke off, choked by emotion “—lately life has been very tough and—well, I didn’t expect a gift like this.”
Erica was still holding tightly to the door, as if it was the only thing keeping her upright. “A gift?”
“You coming to find me after all these years. You did come to find me, didn’t you? It can’t be coincidence. The moment I saw you looking at the photo of our dad—”
“Stop.” Erica’s face was white. “Please, stop.”
“I know this is awkward, but—” Overwhelmed, Hattie felt tears mist her eyes and on impulse she stepped forward and hugged Erica. She wanted to bridge this awkwardness. She wanted to get past it as fast as possible. This was hersister. “I can’t believe you’re actually here.” She clung to her sister, feeling the brush of wool against her chin and breathing in her sophisticated scent. Her heart felt as if it had swollen to twice its normal size. She felt dampness on her cheeks and realized she was crying. And she realized something else—that Erica hadn’t moved from her position in the doorway. She hadn’t let go of the door. She hadn’t returned Hattie’s hug. She was standing rigid in her embrace and hadn’t said a single reassuring word. She hadn’t said anything at all.
Mortified, Hattie let go of her so suddenly that Erica almost lost her balance. “Sorry. So sorry. That was inappropriate.” She felt as if she was standing on quicksand, being sucked downwards. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I was just so pleased to see you. No, not pleased.Pleaseddoesn’t begin to describe it. I never thought this day would come and that made me so sad. You’ve noideahow it feels to know you have a sister out there somewhere—a blood relative—and that you’re not in touch. I’d given up hoping. I’ve never believed in Christmas miracles before but now I think I do.”
Erica finally spoke. “You said you’ve waited for this moment for years—you knew about me?”
“Of course I knew about you. Dad told me everything. Not the fact that you use the name Erica—I don’t think he knew about that.But I always knew I had a sister out there somewhere. And now here you are.” Hattie’s smile faltered. “And I can see from your face that you’re not at all pleased to see me.”
This was so awkward. And to make things worse, she’d been stroking Rufus immediately before plucking up courage to knock on Erica’s door, and the hug had transferred a number of dog hairs from her sweater to Erica’s pristine red dress.
She shouldn’t have knocked on Erica’s door and she definitely shouldn’t have hugged her. First Noah, and now Erica. She seemed to have developed an unfortunate habit of indulging in unsolicited physical affection and it had to stop. It probably came across as disturbingly needy. She should have waited for her to make the first approach, but she’d been so unreasonably excited when she’d figured out who Erica was that she’d behaved like Rufus chasing a stick. She’d just gone for it, and damn the consequences. And now she was looking at the consequences.
Staring at Erica’s frozen features she wanted to rewind the clock and do things differently.
When Erica had made the reservation, the name hadn’t registered at all. Even when she’d walked into the inn, Hattie still had no idea that this was her sister. It wasn’t until Erica had picked up the photograph of Hattie with her dad that she’d finally realized who she was. Erica had lifted her gaze from the photograph and Hattie had known right away, not because of the degree of interest Erica had shown in the photo, but because of the physical similarities. She’d registered her eye color, that unusual shade that hovered between hazel and green, depending on the light. Hattie’s father had the same eyes.Hattie herself had the same eyes. It had been a visceral, heartrending moment.
She’d waited for Erica to make the first move, but then as the hours had passed and nothing had happened she’d changed her mind. She’d even wondered if she’d made a mistake about her identity.
But now, face-to-face with the older woman, she knew it wasn’t a mistake.
There was something vaguely intimidating about Erica. She was effortlessly elegant. She didn’t look like someone who was ever anything but perfectly groomed, and she had an aura of competence that Hattie envied. No one was ever going to take advantage of Erica. No one was ever going to walk over her. She probably never woke to mornings of doubt, wondering how she was going to make it through the day.
She decided that honesty was the only way forward. “What was your plan? Were you going to talk to me at some point?”
Before Erica could reply—would she have replied or would she just have carried on staring?—the door to the room next door opened, and the door opposite that one. Erica’s two friends stepped into the corridor. Anna and Claudia. Hattie always memorized the names of her guests and remembered them by noticing certain characteristics. In this case, it was Anna with the brown eyes and Claudia with the short, choppy hair.
