She sighed, touching her palm to her bag as she walked, feeling the shape of the little box there before going over to activate the security alarms. Perhaps her aunt would know. They were meeting for dinner in less than an hour, and she could only imagine the way her aunt’s eyes would light up at the first mention of Ella’s grandmother’s potentially scandalous past.
Ella laughed. One thing was for sure: her aunt would have the exact opposite reaction to her mother, which was precisely why she was going to tell her first.
2
Ella walked through the door of Soho’s Barrafina restaurant and immediately saw that her aunt was already there, busily chatting to one of the chefs as she watched them cook from the high, bar-style chairs.
‘Kate,’ Ella said as her aunt rose to hug her. Kate gave real hugs—the kind of embrace that told a person you cared about them rather than the air kisses and back flutters that Ella was used to from anyone else in her life. It only made her adore her aunt all the more.
‘Ella, you look beautiful, as always,’ Kate said as they sat. Her eyes danced over her features as if she needed to map her niece’s face out after too long apart. In reality, it had only been a few weeks. ‘How’s life? Busy at the gallery?’
‘The gallery is amazing,’ she said with a sigh. ‘Amazing, but exhausting. I feel like one day is just rolling into the next at the moment, but I can’t complain.’
‘Are you painting?’ Kate’s eyebrows were drawn together in an almost comical way, she was so serious in her line of questioning.
Ella laughed. ‘You do realise you ask me that every time you see me, and my answer has never once changed.’
Her aunt’s face didn’t change either. ‘I keep asking because I hope that one day you’ll surprise me.’
Ella was grateful when the server came past to ask them what they’d like to drink. They both ordered wine, but from the arch of Kate’s still-raised eyebrows, she could tell that their conversation wasn’t over yet.
‘Isn’t it enough that I surround myself with art every day?’ Ella asked.
‘Is it?’ Kate sighed. ‘It sounds to me like you’re trying to convince yourself.’
‘I have a great life,’ Ella said, toying with her handbag, which she’d sat down with and which was still on her lap. ‘I love my work, I love mylife, I just—’
Their drinks arrived and Kate held hers up, waiting for Ella to clink hers against it. ‘I love that you love your life, darling.’
They both took a sip before placing their glasses down.
‘But?’ Ella asked, laughing. ‘I can hear the silentbut! Come on, just say it.’
Kate grinned and raised her perfectly groomed brows again, shrugging as if she’d been caught out. ‘But, I can’t forget the talented young artist who had every intention of defying her parents’ wishes and forging her own path in the world.’
Ella took another sip of her wine. ‘That was before.’
They sat in silence for a long moment, Kate’s hand covering hers. ‘I know, Ella. I know.’ She cleared her throat, the air heavy whenever anyone talked about her brother, or how everything had changed since his passing. ‘Anyway, tell me what happened today. At the lawyer’s office? I was here thirty minutes early because I couldn’t wait to hear all about it!’
Ella opened her bag and smiled up at her aunt. ‘You know Mum told me not to go, don’t you? That it would be a waste of time?’
‘I can almost hear your mother saying those exact words,’ Kate scoffed. ‘Of course she said that. But thankgoodnessyou didn’t listen.’
Ella took out the box and passed it to Kate. ‘I was given this box.’
‘A box? What is it for? Is there something inside?’
She nodded and gestured to the tiny wooden box. ‘Open it.’
Kate looked up at her again before tentatively lifting the lid, as if she expected something terrible to be inside. Ella watched as she carefully removed the sheet of music, taking her time to study it before placing it down and taking out the photograph. Her aunt looked perplexed.
‘What is all this? Why was it given to you? I’m not quite sure I understand.’
‘They’re apparently clues, from my grandmother, your mother, I think. If it’s all to be believed, of course.’
‘Clues, you say? I thought it was going to be something left to my mother’s estate. But this?’ Kate shook her head. ‘Well, this is certainly an unexpected turn of events.’
‘Would you believe it if I told you that your mother was adopted as a baby? That she was born at a home for unmarried mothers?’
