That was another thing. Not only did she have an aunt, she also had two half-sisters who may or may not appreciate her existence.
She explained to Gayle about the letter her mum had sent to Harry. The letter should’ve arrived before he died but may have coincided with time in hospital. She had no idea. ‘Do you think Harry even read the letter?’
‘Going by the date he died and the date you say your mother wrote to him, he was still in what we believed to be good health. So I would expect he did read it. Unfortunately, things turned rather quickly. Not long after that date, I saw him at the hospital, and the news was devastating.’
‘I’m sorry.’
Gayle nodded. ‘He might have received the letter but had no idea what to do. And then…’ She chose her words carefully. ‘Harry was the sort of man who would have faced up to his responsibilities, but I imagine your mother’s letter would’ve been such a shock that he would’ve needed to take a bit of time to think about what the next step might be. He loved Susanna and Addie, and I believe that his first thought would’ve been his girls and what it would mean for them.’ She shook her head. ‘He just got sick so fast, went downhill so rapidly, he never would’ve got the chance to do the right thing, even if he wanted to.’
Louisa was heartbroken all over again that she and Harry never got the chance to meet.
Gayle suddenly gasped. ‘I remember something.’
‘Something important?’
She put her head in her hands. ‘It makes sense now.’
‘What does?’
‘Before he died, he said your name.’ She placed her hands firmly on the table. ‘Of that I am certain.’
‘Are you really sure?’ Louisa felt her pulse quicken, a small modicum of hope daring to enter her heart that the father she never knew had thought about her.
‘Absolutely.’ She recalled, ‘One day he asked me to find Louisa. I thought it was one of the nurses so off I went, but there was only a Louise or a Loulou when I asked the staff. I was going to ask him if he meant one of those names, but he was asleep by the time I reached his bedside again. I didn’t wake him and then I forgot all about it.’
Gayle leaned back against the booth seat. ‘That was thirty years ago. I’m not sure why it just popped into my head, but it did. I’m positive he said your name, which means…’
‘He read the letter.’ Louisa didn’t realise she was crying until Gayle passed across a tissue.
‘I really think he would’ve found a way to include you in his life,’ said Gayle. ‘I only wish you’d had the chance to meet him.’
‘What was he like?’
That day, Gayle had told her all about the man who was her father, starting with stories from their childhood, continuing into their days working at the family café and on to when Harry got married, and the arrival of Susanna and then Addie into the world. He might have had an affair, but it didn’t dampen Louisa’s view on the man, the connection that existed, even though he’d never got the chance to be her father.
Over the last six weeks, Louisa had continued to get close to Gayle, even after she returned home to England. They’d talked on the phone a lot, and Gayle had told her more and more about Harry and his two other daughters. And when Gayle first mentioned the idea of a living funeral and that it would hopefully get the girls to the island, she’d also told Louisa that it might be the right time for the truth to come out and for her to meet them both. Louisa had been terrified at the thought. What if the girls hated her given what she represented – an affair! What if they were suspicious of her motives?
Before she could change her mind and chicken out, she’d cancelled her plans and come over to the island. She wanted to meet the girls properly, even though she was scared. She’d initially booked into the inn, but Gayle was having none of it and offered up her accommodation out the back of the cottage. She’d said she would’ve let her have one of the spare rooms, were she not hoping that Susanna and Addie would come. And one afternoon when Gayle and Nancy were rushed off their feet at the Sweet Life Café, the opportunity to help out and earn some extra cash had come up. She could waitress, work the till, wash up and clear up, and Gayle even trusted her to do some of the deliveries around the island, which was fun. Gayle had opened her arms and her heart from the first day they met, and Louisa couldn’t be happier with how she was. She loved Gayle’s company. Gayle reminded her a lot of her late grandmother, the way she was strong yet kind. What she’d come to realise too was that despite her successful business, and her apparently together demeanour, Gayle was lonely. Her nieces were rarely in touch, apart from on dutiful occasions, her brother had gone, and while she had plenty of friends, Louisa suspected by the things Gayle said about her days bringing up Harry’s girls that she had a lot of regrets from that time. She’d urged Gayle to try to repair things with the girls and not leave it the way it was and had encouraged the idea of the living funeral. She’d even helped Gayle get the invites for the event sent out – she’d written all the envelopes, but she hadn’t seen the invite itself until Gayle handed her one to make it official. And by that time Nancy had already raised the alarm that Gayle had made a mistake.
‘Should I put that in the holding cabinet?’ Louisa asked Nancy who had just finished making another jam roly-poly.
They were following Gayle’s plans to the letter for today. Before guests arrived, they intended to pre-make as many puddings as possible, and as choices laid out on the tables dwindled, Nancy would be out here again if needs be. Gayle was off duty, her only task to talk to her guests, and because she was feeling a bit off-colour this morning Nancy had made a big vat of her signature vanilla custard under her instruction.
‘Is there much room left?’ Nancy deftly sliced the roly-poly and the pieces of fresh sponge fell gently onto each other, showing off their swirls of jam in the centre.
‘This one is only half full,’ Louisa confirmed as she checked the second holding cabinet which would keep food at the required temperature until it was ready to be served.
Nancy was already clearing down her workspace in preparation for the next thing. ‘On to the spotted dick and the sticky toffee pudding. But keep an eye on the space in the holding cabinet so I don’t get carried away, otherwise we’ll have to eat a load so it doesn’t go to waste.’ She grinned at Louisa. ‘Perk of the job.’
‘It certainly is.’ The smell of the sponge had already induced yet another rumble from her tummy. The guests were going to be very happy with all these yummy choices.
Her mum had given her blessing for Louisa to be here. They’d never had secrets. Lily had told Louisa about Harry when she was very little, and when Louisa was old enough to understand she’d told her about the letter he’d never responded to and that he’d had a family of his own when they had their brief affair.
For years, Louisa had resisted any urge to find Harry. She didn’t want to acknowledge a man who’d ignored her mother’s contact, a man who ignored the fact he had another daughter, and she’d held on to that feeling for years. She’d never wanted to do anything about finding him. It had been just her mother and her for such a long time that bringing anyone else into the equation would’ve felt weird, but both of them had started to talk about Harry more and more as the years went on. Her mum had told her that Harry already had two daughters, and they discussed what might happen when the girls found out about Louisa.
‘They probably don’t even know I exist,’ Louisa had said. ‘And when they find out, I bet they’ll be upset.’
‘Well, there is that,’ her mum had conceded.
