‘I promise I’ll come back,’ she said. ‘Why don’t I take the late-morning ferry tomorrow, and you can tell me all about how you found your way back to Bernard?’
Alexandra began to cry then, and Ella wrapped her arms around her, holding her until she stilled, instinctively knowing she needed to be held. She was clearly still grieving the man she’d loved almost all her life, the man she’d spent so many years yearning for, and so few years with him at her side.
‘He would have loved to meet you, Ella. After we were reunited, he often said that he would have loved a daughter or a granddaughter. It was our greatest regret that we didn’t have that chance.’
‘I’m sure I would have loved him too,’ Ella said, rubbing Alexandra’s back in big circles with the palm of her hand, before standing back a little and holding her at arm’s length, hands to her shoulders. ‘And if you don’t want to talk about him tomorrow, if it’s too painful to remember—’
‘Tomorrow,’ Alexandra repeated, nodding her head and looking away again, as if she could see something that Ella could not. ‘Tomorrow, I will tell you all about it.’
Ella made sure that Alexandra was settled and had everything she needed, hesitating before leaving but knowing that if she didn’t go soon, she’d never make the ferry.
30
Ella took out her phone as she walked, having just arrived back on Skopelos from seeing Alexandra for the second time, walking from the dock back to the house. She called Kate, smiling with relief when her aunt picked up on the third ring.
‘Hello, traveller.’
She sighed. ‘Is it strange that we’re not biologically related now?’
‘Strange? Yes. But does it matter? Not a bit.’
‘It’s so nice to hear you say that.’ It had been the only part of the entire journey that had made Ella deeply uncomfortable, finding out that Kate, the family member she felt so connected to, wasn’t actually a blood relative.
‘It’s that whole nurture-over-nature thing, right? We’ve nurtured each other for years, so this doesn’t mean anything. Other than being an incredible story that I can’t wait to hear more about.’
‘It’s a story, all right. I can’t wait to tell you all about Alexandra. She’s an incredible woman, but that’s not why I’m calling.’
Kate was silent at the other end of the line.
‘I’m worried about Mum, and how she’s taking it all. Have you heard from her?’
‘Not since she left. How have you found her?’
Ella frowned. ‘What do you mean? I haven’t spoken to her since…’
Ella almost dropped her phone, her eyes wide.
‘Ella, your mother—’
‘Is here,’ she finished for Kate. ‘I’ll call you back.’
She slipped her phone into her pocket and hurried the last few steps up to the house, where her mother was standing. She’d been sitting, her back against the door, her suitcase beside her. She was wearing a large sunhat and a dress, items of clothing Ella had never even seen her in before.
‘Mum, what are you doing here?!’ she said, giving her a hug. ‘I love the Meryl Streep vibe.’
Her mum hugged her back, before gesturing to the door. ‘Please tell me you have wine in there, because I’m in need of a very large glass.’
Ella nodded and opened the door, taking her mum’s bag and wheeling it in. The fact that her mum wanted wine and was dressed so differently, for her, told Ella that something was very, very wrong. Her mother wore beige trousers and silk shirts no matter the weather, with the rare exception of particularly cold days when she changed into beige cashmere.
She went to the fridge and found half a bottle of wine, taking down two glasses and filling them. ‘Mum, I know all of this must be very hard for you, finding out that—’
Her mother held up her hand. ‘Ella, I have to tell you something.’
She gave her the glass and went to sit down on the sofa, tucking her legs up beneath herself. ‘Okay.’
She watched as her mum took a large sip, closing her eyes for a moment before finally meeting Ella’s gaze.
‘I knew.’
