LONDON, PRESENT DAY
Georgia opened the door to her flat and dragged her bags in behind her, pushing the door shut and walking over to her sofa. She flopped down into it, closing her eyes and hating how silent her home was. It wasn’t so long ago that she’d loved the solitude, especially when she was trying to focus on her work, but suddenly all she wanted was to be back in Geneva, exploring the city and going back to the restaurant Luca had taken her to on the lake.
Luca. It wasn’t just the city she missed. If it was, she could go downstairs and take a taxi to her favourite part of London. She could go out for lunch and shop to her heart’s content; she could go to the National Gallery even. There were many things she could do to replicate her time in Switzerland; the only thing she couldn’t do was conjure up the man who’d made her time there so special.
Georgia reached into her bag and took out the little wooden box. It had lost some of its meaning without the sapphire inside, but she still didn’t want to part with it. She turned it over in her hands and studied it; pictured her great-grandmother holding it, trying to decide what to put inside. Had her tears fallen on the wood? Had she held the little box to her chest, her heartbroken as she imagined her daughter one day discovering it? She retrieved the photo from the safety deposit box from her bag—the necklace still around her neck—and she stared down at the contents, wishing it didn’t hurt so much to think about a past that she hadn’t even known existed. Of the family out there somewhere who didn’t know her grandmother had even been born.
She blinked away tears and took out the newspaper clipping, toying with the necklace that she hadn’t removed since she’d returned home, the diamond nestled just below her collarbone. Even though she couldn’t read it, it didn’t make it any less important. Delphine had given birth while grieving for the man she loved, forced to give up her baby in order to save the children she already had. If ever there had been a heart-wrenching decision to be made, she couldn’t think of a worse one, and as she stared at the photo, looking at their faces, at the happiness that was so clear in their expressions, it truly broke her heart. They’d been in love and had to hide it from the world.
Georgia couldn’t stop wondering if her grandmother would have been different if she’d known the truth about her past, if she’d been the one to receive the wooden box and discover the clues. Perhaps it would have changed the way she felt about her daughter-in-law, or made her want to reconnect with her son. She also couldn’t stop wondering about why the sapphire had never been sent to her grandmother. Delphine had clearly expected that she would receive it, but as far as Georgia understood, no one, not even Mia, knew why those boxes had remained hidden for all those years.
And now here Georgia was, home, with her own decisions to make. She’d spent so much of her life focused on her business, looking no further ahead than to the sale they’d set their sights on, and for the first time in her life, she didn’t have a goal. She didn’t know what she wanted.
As a teenager, she’d been focused on school and exams; as a young adult she’d been consumed by her achievements at university; and as a young woman, she’d poured her energy into her business. It was almost as if she needed to find herself again, to understand what she wanted from life, and she had Luca and her great-grandmother to thank for showing her that success in business wasn’t enough to create true happiness.
There was a gentle knock on her door then. Sam was the only one who had her codes and keys, and before Georgia could rise, her best friend was opening the door, nudging it with her hip as she held out a tray containing coffees, with brown paper bags perched on top.
‘I had a feeling you were going to need this,’ Sam said, placing the tray on the table and taking out one of the coffees.
‘I’m so lucky to have you,’ Georgia said. But as the words came out of her mouth, as Sam looked at her, tears began to stream down Georgia’s cheeks.
‘Hey!’ Sam set down the coffees and sat on the sofa, wrapping her arms around Georgia and holding her in a tight hug. ‘If I’d known you’d get this upset over a flat white…’
Georgia laughed despite her tears, nestling her head on Sam’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry, I just, seeing you?—’
‘No need to explain. I think you’ve been holding back tears for a decade, so it’s high time they came out.’
Sam was right. She’d spent years reining in her emotions, refusing to be the victim when she knew she had so much to be thankful for, but after the past week, all her emotions seemed to be bubbling to the surface. Her grandmother, her parents, the love she’d been given by a family with whom she shared no blood ties, and then the way Luca’s mother had welcomed her with open arms. Despite the love of Sam’s family, she was suddenly acutely aware of what she’d lost, of what she’d grown up without. There was nothing easy about being an orphan, and the mostdifficult part to wrap her head around was that it was her grandmother who’d been left as a baby. Perhaps she’d known about the adoption, found out somehow, and that had turned her into the difficult, bitter woman she’d become.
‘I just…going on this journey, finding out more about my family’s past, it’s brought it all back,’ she said, dabbing at her eyes as she pulled away from Sam. ‘I can’t stop thinking about how much loss my family has endured.’
‘Are you also thinking about a certain handsome Swiss man?’
Georgia laughed. ‘I’ve barely thought of anything else.’
Sam sighed and reached for the coffees. ‘Well, I have croissants and pastries, so I’m ready to sit back and hear all about him.’
‘Honestly?’ Georgia said. ‘He’s perfect. He’s successful, warm, fun to be around, and he adores his mother. There was nothing not to like about him. I might even go as far as saying that I’ve never felt this way about a man before.’
‘But?’ Sam asked.
‘But he’s in Geneva and I’m in London,’ she said. ‘My home is here, and his home, his family, and his business, they’re all in Switzerland. It just wouldn’t work.’
Sam reached for her hand and squeezed it, keeping hold of her fingers. ‘G, I’m going to point out the obvious here, and I don’t mean to be blunt, but there’s nothing keeping you in London. I can see what’s keeping Luca in Switzerland, but why can’t you relocate there and give this a real chance? If he was truly that special, if you can see yourself with him, if you’ve fallen in love…’
Georgia stiffened.Love?Hadshe fallen in love with him?
‘Do you love him?’ Sam asked gently.
‘I haven’t known him long enough,’ Georgia said. ‘I mean, can you fall in love with someone that you’ve only known?—’
‘Do youthinkyou could fall for him?’ Sam asked. ‘Don’t overthink it, just say what’s in your heart.’
Georgia knew the answer, she just didn’t want to admit it. ‘I’m not going back there, Sam. Imagine how he’d react if I just turned up in Geneva again.’
Sam shrugged. ‘Think about it, that’s all I’m saying. If he could be the one, then why not spend some time there? You’ve always said you’d love to travel.’
‘Tell me about your weekend,’ Georgia asked, ready to move the conversation on. ‘Did you take my advice?’
