Leave. Stay. Leave. Stay. Caro was so furious that she was fighting with herself over what to do next. She knew all she needed to know. She’d got the truth that she’d come for. Sticking around was achieving nothing, and if she didn’t go soon she was going to do something that would necessitate a call to Todd for that bail money.
She looked at the man who had contributed his sperm. ‘Does your other daughter know?’ It didn’t seem right to call her Lila. Too intrusive. Too familiar. Like she knew her, instead of just sharing fifty per cent of their DNA and a Facebook habit. She couldn’t foresee a time when she’d ever refer to her as her sister.
‘No,’ Jack admitted.
‘So you’ve been lying to her too.’
‘Look, it’s not that simple. It’s…’
Caro put her hand up. ‘Do me a favour. If you knew me like most guys know their daughters, you’d know that I don’t have a temper, I’m not prone to drama and I’ve never been violent in my life. But I swear if you say one more word, or try to make one more excuse for everything you’ve done, I won’t be responsible for my actions. So don’t speak. Don’t breathe. Don’t even look in my direction.’
‘Caro, for God’s sake…’
Caro kicked his chair so hard, it stunned him into silence, and attracted the attention of just about everybody at the nearby tables. They were certainly getting entertainment with their meals tonight. And bugger, her foot hurt.
Caro ignored his stunned expression and addressed Louise. ‘You said when you met, you thought he was separated, but then you found out he wasn’t.’
Louise nodded, embarrassed. ‘When he recovered, he confessed everything…’ Her gaze went to him and a look passed between them. Love? Forgiveness? Caro wanted to throw up. ‘… I decided I had two choices. Walk away. Or accept that he chose me and live the rest of our lives together, just being happy. It took me a while, but I chosehim.’
Caro wanted to shake her. How could she? What kind of person accepts that kind of betrayal?
‘So are you married?’
For the first time, Louise’s face clouded. ‘We had a ceremony on a beach in Bali when Lila was a little girl. That was good enough for us.’
So he wasn’t technically a bigamist, and therefore he couldn’t be jailed. Another wave of disappointment.
‘And you knew he was coming home to us for all those years afterwards?’
‘Caro, don’t…’ Jack tried to interject again and she shot him a death stare.
‘Don’t. Speak. Yet. Just. Don’t.’
‘I knew,’ Louise admitted. ‘But I made a choice to wait – and it took a long time, but it was worth it to me. He always promised that when he retired he’d move to Glasgow full time, and he did.’
Caro had to swallow the urge to vomit. So it wasn’t even her mum’s illness that had driven him away. He’d had it planned for years. Or maybe he just told Louise that, and he was hedging his bets the whole time. She wanted to kill him.
But first she had one question for him. ‘So Louise knew all about us. Did Mum know about your cosy little set-up down here?’ Please say yes. Somehow it would make her feel better if Yvonne hadn’t been the only person in this messed up triangle who didn’t know what was going on, even if she’d chosen not to share it with her daughter.
‘No.’ Of course she didn’t.
‘You’re a fucking coward,’ Caro spat, making Louise jump to his defence again.
‘Caro, please, it was complicated…’
‘Did you know my mum is ill?’ she spat, then watched Louise recoil.
‘No, I didn’t.’
Caro could see she was telling the truth because for the first time, there was an edge of uncertainty on her face. That had rattled her.
‘Caro, don’t…’ Jack pleaded again.
‘I said shut up!’ she bit back, before resuming her conversation with Louise. ‘My mum has early onset dementia. She was fifty years old when it started. It led to her beingknocked down by a lorry. Right now she’s in a hospital bed, where she’s lain, in a coma, for months. She’ll die soon.’
For the first time, her dad’s expression changed to something that looked like genuine concern. ‘Caro, I’m sorry…’
‘You’re not,’ she shut him down, before resuming the conversation with Louise. ‘That spineless prick that you chose walked away from her when she first got sick and never looked back. Changed his number. Broke off all contact. I’m sorry. You seem like a nice person, but he didn’t choose you. You were just the better option because my mum couldn’t do anything for him anymore. The minute she got sick, he came to you. That should tell you everything you need to know.’
