I nod. “We are. Patrick and I found a house today that we like and once we’ve got a place to live, we’ll move up.”
“She looks so much like you, Cassie,” Brian says.
I smile at Patrick. “I see both of us in her.”
“Will you two stay for dinner?”
Jane’s question hangs in the air, and Patrick gives me the ‘What do you think?’ look.
I nod.
“Sure,” he says. “We’d like that.”
For the next couple of hours we talk. Most of it is about Sophie—it turns out she’s the perfect subject to fill theconversation with. And I don’t mind that because I love talking about my girl.
Patrick insists on helping his mother with dinner so I can talk to his dad. Most of that conversation is reminiscing over the past and remembering my parents. The more I talk, the more comfortable I am.
I’ve never had that before—speaking with people who actually knew them. Once I moved to Gran’s, I didn’t talk to anyone back home.
Dinner’s conversation is about the future—the house we hope to buy and our plans which are limited but growing by the minute.
And when Patrick goes out the back with his father, who wants to show him the new things he’s growing in his vege patch, Jane corners me.
“You hurt him so badly,” she says.
I’m not sure I can handle this hot and cold act with her.
“He hurt me. I thought he’d cheated.”
The colour drains from her face. “What?”
“The party he had before you moved—I caught him in bed with Vicki.”
She’s gobsmacked. Her mouth forms an‘O’as she stares at me. “What?”
“Patrick and I just found out the whole story. Vicki and one her friends put something in his beer to make him sleepy and then staged the whole thing. She was so nasty. She made me think that he’d been stringing me along for a bet.”
Jane just blinks rapidly.
“I had no idea. We were just kids. And then you left …”
“And then you had the accident, and the baby, and …”
“Exactly. I did try one day to come and tell Patrick, but I saw him with another girl and I thought he’d moved on.” Tears prick my eyes.
“Oh, sweetheart. I’m so sorry. It sounds like everything just went badly and you had no one but your grandmother. Am I right?”
I nod. “I was mess too. After Sophie was born, it all came crashing down and it took me a while to get on top of that. But meeting Patrick again after all these years—I think things are finally going to work out.”
Her lips purse. “I won’t pretend that I wasn’t angry. But it seems like a lot of that was misplaced. I want you to know that I’m here for you. And for Sophie.”
I smile. “Thank you. I was scared about coming here today, but Patrick said you’d be over the moon finding out about your granddaughter.” I pause for a moment. “Patrick didn’t tell you, but her middle name is Jane.”
She presses her hand to her heart, emotion swimming in her eyes. “It is?”
“I wanted her to have a link to your family.”
Her lips curl until she’s smiling too. “Thank you. It’s a shock and a lot to take in, but I’m so proud of you, Cassie. You’ve battled through so much and come out the other side, and from what Patrick said, you’ve raised a wonderful girl. I can’t wait to meet her.”
