‘What about your box, Mia?’ Ella asked. ‘Have you discovered anything helpful yet?’
Mia shook her head and sighed. ‘Nothing. I don’t know where to start, it’s an absolute mystery to me.’
‘Wait, there was a box left for you, too?’ Georgia felt her eyebrows rise as she studied Mia.
‘Well, it was a box similar to the ones you were left, and it had my aunt’s name on it,’ Mia told them. ‘On her one, the name was etched into it rather than having a little note attached, but when I opened it, there was nothing inside.’
‘She’d already opened it?’ Georgia asked.
‘She must have. I only wish I knew what she found inside it, or why she kept the box all these years,’ Mia said. ‘She was a very private woman in many ways. She held the secrets of so many others, and I’m starting to think she had her own secrets, too. Secrets she never shared with the rest of our family.’
‘I think her box must have inspired all the ones you discovered,’ Ella said. ‘I think she held on to her little box because it meant so much to her, and because of it, she encouraged other mothers to do the same.’
Georgia sat back as Mia checked the time on her phone and Ella placed a hand on her stomach, groaning as she moved.
‘When is baby due?’ Georgia asked, as Ella shifted her weight again.
‘Four weeks,’ she said. ‘I was perfectly fine until a few days ago, and then she seemed to take up acrobatics. Uncomfortable doesn’t even begin to describe it.’
‘I can’t even imagine,’ Georgia said. She wasn’t one of those women who knew they wanted to be mothers, or who dreamed of what their children might be like, but looking at Ella she couldn’t think what it would be like to be pregnant and knowyou had to give your baby up. To know that so many women had passed through Hope’s House, so many mothers who had no choice but to give up the child they were carrying.
She reached for her box and looked down at it. Being with Mia and Ella, looking at the tender way Ella kept touching her stomach, it had suddenly given her a much deeper appreciation of what had been left behind. And she couldn’t help but wonder if her grandmother might have had a different outlook on life if she’d been given the box during her lifetime, if she’d known she was adopted, as the records at Hope’s House had confirmed. Because all signs were pointing at the adoption being a complete mystery, since the box had just recently been discovered, and she couldn’t believe that back then families would have openly discussed adoption. She only wished her dad was alive to ask, to show the sapphire to.He would have loved the mystery of it all.
‘It’s been so lovely meeting you again, Georgia,’ Mia said, as they all finished their drinks and stood. ‘If I didn’t have somewhere to be I’d suggest dinner, but maybe next time?’
‘I’d love that,’ she said, realising just how much she actually would like to see Mia and Ella again. ‘It’s been really nice connecting with you both. I just hope you don’t think I’m awful for not looking into all this sooner.’
Ella gave her a quick hug and Mia did the same.
‘Not at all. In fact, my advice to all of you at the meeting was to make sure you wanted to go down the road of discovering family secrets,’ Mia said. ‘It’s important to be prepared, to know that you can find out things that perhaps you wished you hadn’t.’
‘I think I might have left before you had time to say that,’ Georgia said with a grimace, pleased to see that Mia was laughing it off. ‘But I promise I won’t ever run out on you like that again.’
‘It’s fine. We all have those days, and I would never judge you. I’m only happy you have the box in your possession. I stillhave one that wasn’t claimed,’ Mia said. ‘Actually, not claimed isn’t quite true. We weren’t able to find any contact details for the name listed. The lawyer is still trying, but he’s not holding out much hope.’
‘What a mystery,’ Georgia said. ‘Let us know if you manage to find who it belongs to.’
‘And you make sure you let us know if you solveyourmystery,’ Ella said. ‘I can’t wait to find out how your family is linked to that striking stone.’
‘Dinner, once you have more to share?’ Mia asked.
‘Preferably before my bump is born,’ Ella added. ‘So don’t take too long.’
Georgia grinned. ‘Deal.’
They walked to the door together, Mia and Ella going in one direction and Georgia the other. She found that she couldn’t stop smiling.What a day. In fact, what aweek. Part of her wished she’d opened up to them a little more about what she’d already discovered, but until she had some sort of confirmation of what she’d been told, she wasn’t sure about discussing it with anyone.
The sun was shining as she walked, and Georgia picked up her phone as she strolled away from the restaurant. As with everything that happened in her life, her first reaction was to tell Sam all about it. She was starting to miss her—they’d gone from living together as teenagers, sharing a room at university and then working together every day as adults. Even when they’d first gone into business together, they’d worked from Sam’s parents’ house, falling asleep at their makeshift desks in the attic half the time. Georgia realised she didn’t even know whether Sam had bought the Cartier love bracelet at the auction. Before, they’d never have gone an entire day without speaking. Georgia also hadn’t teased Sam lately about her preoccupation with her new man. Smiling to herself, she opened her screen to call Sam,going straight to her favourites, but her phone began to ring with an unfamiliar number before she’d touched her friend’s name.
Switzerland.
She swallowed, suddenly realising just how invested she was in the whole mystery of the little wooden box and its contents, especially after being with Mia and Ella.So much for not wanting to connect with my father’s side of the family.
Her finger hovered as her stomach did a little flip, but she made herself answer.
‘Hello?’
‘Am I speaking with Georgia Montano?’
