Addie wrapped up the phone call as she made her way back along the track in the direction of Bay Street and the Sweet Life Café. It was time to face the truth and get some answers from Aunt Gayle about Louisa, the younger sister she’d never known about, but who was right here.
Harry Rafferty had done a terrible thing, but unlike Jonty, he’d been there for his daughters. She couldn’t hate him for the one thing he did wrong and already she knew she couldn’t blame Louisa.
Neither she, nor Susanna, nor Louisa, had had any control over Harry Rafferty’s behaviour. But it was time for Susanna to stop trying to protect her. She was a grown up, and her sister had to remember that she could deal with things and had her own life to lead.
25
SUSANNA
Susanna stood outside the café. Addie had run off; she needed to process what she’d discovered, especially the part about Susanna keeping some of the details about their parents’ marriage and their fight from her, and Susanna was desperate to cling to some sense of normality in all of this.
With Gayle and Louisa still busy in the café kitchen, she called Alex’s number. It rang and rang. She tried once, twice, three times. On the fourth attempt, he picked up the call.
Everything that had happened came out in one garbled message.
‘It sounds a lot to cope with. Are you okay?’
His question almost floored her, and her voice trembled when she said, ‘Yes. I think so.’ Although right now she felt as though her whole life were imploding.
‘You never told me all that before, you know.’
‘I wanted to try to forget. Except it didn’t work.’
Now probably wasn’t the time – in fact, she knew it wasn’t – but hearing his voice, she couldn’t wait any longer to say, ‘We can’t carry on like this, Alex.’
‘Like what?’
‘We need to talk.’
‘Wearetalking.’
‘Not about my family woes. About us.’ She didn’t wait for him to say anything else before she added, ‘I have to know. Are we done?’
‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
She looked up at the sky. It was already dark, September bringing with it shorter days. ‘I mean, is our marriage over?’
‘Why would you ask that?’
Her breath hitched. ‘Because there’s something you’re not telling me. And I’m done with secrets. I can’t take much more. I haven’t pushed for answers, I’ve given you space when you needed it.’ She heard their doorbell sound in the background.
‘I have to get that,’ he said. ‘But I’ll call you back in a bit.’
‘Alex—’
‘We’ll talk, I promise.’
And then he was gone, just like that.
She was still looking at her phone when she saw Mateo across the street.
She stood up straighter as he noticed her, pulled herself together as she called over, ‘I thought you’d be long gone.’ She felt a sense of calm she’d been so desperate for finally descend. How did Mateo still have the power to make her feel that way when it should’ve been hearing Alex’s voice that did it?
He hooked a thumb over his shoulder as he walked towards her. ‘I own the flat above the newsagent. I rent it out but my tenant just left and it needs a repaint. I thought I’d do a bit more of it while I’m this way, before I head back to my place.’
She noticed his hands when he was in front of her. ‘You’ve got most of the paint on you.’
‘It certainly seems that way.’ His laughter rumbled out and took her back decades to all those lazy evenings at the marina, down on the sands, on the decks of boats whenever they could, hiding from the world together. ‘I’m not sure doing it with only artificial light was the best thing, but what could go wrong painting a ceiling white?’
