‘A girl?’ Alexandra’s eyes became misty with tears as she stopped in the middle of the path.
She reached out a hand to touch Ella’s stomach, hesitating at first, as if waiting for permission. Ella closed the distance, holding her hand over Alexandra’s.
‘A beautiful little girl,’ Alexandra said, looking into Ella’s eyes. ‘What a wonderful blessing. I shall very much like having a great-granddaughter.’
‘We actually had something we wanted to ask you,’ Ella said, as they began to slowly stroll again.
‘We were going to wait until after lunch,’ Gabriel said, ‘when everyone was together, but—’
‘We would like your blessing to be married here, in Greece,’ Ella interrupted. ‘We’d very much like to be married on the island, and celebrate at your home afterwards.’
Alexandra stopped again, this time looking between them. ‘A baby and a wedding? Santa Maria,’ she said, throwing her slender arms into the air. ‘How did I get to be so lucky?’
Ella bent down to kiss her cheek, wishing that Alexandra knew how fortunate they felt to have found her. To discover a grandmother she’d never known existed, and to be spending time with her like this, was almost impossible to believe.
Almost as impossible, she thought as she glanced over at Gabriel, as the fact that she was soon to be married, or that she’d just had her first showing at the gallery, and sold all but one piece from her Greek-inspired collection.
She blew Gabe a kiss when he caught her staring at him, and he just shook his head and laughed. It was going to be the holiday of a lifetime—a wedding and a babymoon, all rolled into one. Somehow, her life had changed in the most unexpected of ways, and she was loving every second of it.
* * *
Six days later, Ella stretched out in the sun, relishing the warmth on her skin. There was something about being on the beach in Greece that agreed with her; she knew it would forever be her perfect holiday destination, the place that she felt deep in her soul she had a connection with. It also seemed to be the place that inspired her best work, which would give her a very good excuse to return each summer. She would remind Gabriel of that if he ever tried to convince her to travel elsewhere.
She touched her palm to her rounded stomach then, smiling as she thought about the holidays they would be able to have with their little one when she arrived. It would be quite something to share the Greek islands with a daughter toddling around after them. Her phone pinged then and Ella rolled over, reaching for it and holding it up to try to see the screen in the sunlight, smiling when she saw that it was Mia.
After they’d had coffee together, she’d made sure to stay in touch and let her know how everything had progressed, excited to tell her how her clues had led her to Alexandra. Mia had seemed to love the updates, and Ella hoped that it would go some way to reassuring Mia that she’d done the right thing in reuniting the little boxes with their respective families.
How’s Greece?
Ella peeked over the top of her sunglasses and stared at the water for a moment, before replying. If only she could describe the beauty of the islands. It would be impossible to do it justice.
It’s amazing. There’s nowhere in the world I’d rather be.
She repositioned herself and waited for Mia to reply, wriggling so that her torso was shaded more by the overhead umbrella, her legs still warmed by the sun. They’d become firm friends over the past year, linked by the past but finding that they were both similar in so many ways. Only last week they’d had Mia over for dinner, and she had been one of the few personal friends she’d invited to her showing at the gallery.
I’ve just had news from the contractors demolishing Hope’s House.
Ella felt her heart skip a beat as she watched the little bubbles appear on the screen, waiting for the next message. What could Mia have possibly found?
They found a box of things that I’d missed, hidden in the attic. There were papers and other things that don’t make sense to me yet, but I also found Hope’s personal diary. It was tucked among the things in the box.
Ella shouldn’t have been so curious, not now that her grandmother’s story had been pieced together so clearly, but the whole history of Hope’s House fascinated her. She would have been lying if she’d said she didn’t want to know more; if anything, finding Alexandra had made her even more curious about the past, and she also felt a deep connection to Mia.
Have you discovered something of interest? Have you read the diary yet?
‘Ella, come on, we’ll be late for lunch!’ Gabriel called out from farther down the beach.
She waved to him, but kept staring at the screen, waiting for Mia’s response.
I think your grandmother was the last woman to give birth at the house, and I also think that Hope might have been adopted herself. I think it’s why she did so much for unwanted babies. But there’s more.
‘Ella, what are you doing? Your mum and Kate will be waiting.’ Gabriel appeared by her side, blocking the sun as he towered like a shadow over her.
‘I just have to read one more message,’ she said, smiling up at him and reaching to touch his arm. ‘Can you just pack my book and towel into my bag? I won’t be a minute.’
She mentions that she never made sense of what had been left for her. That she decided to store the things away for safekeeping. It’s made me wonder if there were clues left in the little box bearing her name, but perhaps she took them out and never bothered to return them.
‘Ella?’
