‘I know.’ She exhaled, gathering up her courage from the corners it had hidden in. ‘You’re totally right.’
‘What’s the house like, by the way?’
‘Kate!’ Olivia remarked. ‘What kind of a question is that?’
‘I’m curious, that’s all. From what you’ve told me about him, I can’t picture it.’
‘It’s …’ She looked out of the window at the towering mansion in front of her. No wonder he could afford to spend his days travelling the world, with a house like that. ‘Huge. Like, really huge. Super posh.’
‘It’s always the ones you least suspect, hey?’ Kate sighed. ‘Anyway, enough of me distracting you: get your arse in there.’
Olivia sat a little taller and took a short, sharp inhale. ‘OK. I’ll call you later?’
‘You’d better. Now go!’
Kate hung up the phone before Olivia could even say goodbye.
You can do this. You can do this. You can absolutely do this.
She wound down the window and reached over to the intercom buzzer.
‘Hello?’ a lady’s voice crackled.
‘Erm … hi,’ Olivia replied shyly. ‘It’s Olivia. Olivia Jackson. We spoke on the phone …’
‘Olivia! Oh my goodness, hello. Come in, come in. Park anywhere,’ she replied, buzzing open the gates.
Olivia pulled forwards slowly, trying not to gasp out loudas the true grandeur of the house came into view. She pulled up next to a gleaming 4X4 in Kate’s little Fiat.
Her stomach now felt so twisted she wanted to double over and weep. But there was no turning back now; Jacob’s mum was already at the front door waiting for her. She looked older than she imagined, her blonde hair almost completely grey at the roots, her eyes marked with the tell-tale black circles of a mother who hasn’t slept in weeks.
‘Hi, Mrs Green.’
‘Please, as I said on the phone, call me Helen.’ She pulled Olivia in for a tight embrace. ‘Thank you so much for coming.’
‘That’s all right. How is he?’
‘So-so.’
Olivia knew that was the parent code for ‘terrible’. She offered a consoling smile.
‘And does he …’ The question that had been plaguing her ever since she’d left London. ‘Does he know that I’m here?’
‘No.’ Helen loosened her hold. ‘But I know he’ll be so glad you are. Come, he’s upstairs …’
Olivia silently followed Helen through an enormous hallway and up a sweeping staircase.
‘Don’t be alarmed at his appearance; he probably looks very different compared to when you last saw him.’ She added sadly, ‘He’s still handsome to me though.’
‘My sister was very sick not long ago, so I’m used to how quickly the body can change.’ Olivia gave a small smile. ‘And don’t worry, he’ll always be handsome to me too.’
Helen placed a hand on Olivia’s shoulder. ‘Oh my, I’d better not cry in front of him. He hates that.’ She wiped her eyes and steadied herself. ‘Here we are.’
They were standing outside a dark wooden door, one ofmany down a long, narrow corridor. Helen knocked loudly, and Olivia felt her heart shoot up into her throat.
‘Jacob, darling?’ she called. ‘I have a surprise for you.’
‘Is it that life-sized chocolate sculpture I asked you for the other day?’ a familiar voice croaked back.
