‘As soon as you left school?’
She watched as Harrison ate another clam, deciding that she may as well tell him the truth. She had nothing to hide; she’d just always kept most of her story about how she’d ended up training in London to herself.
‘I left home at eighteen, with some money my grandma had saved for me, and I’ve barely returned until now. I came back once for a funeral, where I saw my dad, and again for a wedding, where I chose not to see him.’ Charlotte took a deep breath and slowly let it go. ‘Sometimes I feel sorry for him, because of what happened with my mum, but then I remind myself that he was a father to two kids, and he chose to treat us that way. When I didn’t want to follow the path he’d determined for me, he made me feel as if I was no better than the wife who’d walked out on him.’
She paused to try one of the clams herself, loving the flavour of the white wine and garlic she’d cooked them in. Charlotte made a mental note to include a slice of fresh rye bread or toasted wholegrain loaf with this dish if she served it on a menu—it would be a shame not to have something to soak up the juices with. And it was then she realised that this was the first conversation she’d ever had with anyone where she’d been able to talk about her family issues without feeling emotional. Perhaps it was because he was a stranger, but Harrison was proving very easy to talk to.
‘Have you seen him since you returned?’ Harrison asked.
She shook her head. ‘I haven’t. I will, but it’s been so long that I’m not quite sure how to go about it, so I thought I’d bide my time a little bit.’
Harrison set down his fork, and she found herself studying how handsome his face was. ‘I know I don’t know anything about what your childhood was like or how it was becoming estranged from your father, but if I can give you one piece of advice, it’s to go and see him while you still can,’ Harrison said, his eyes locked on hers as they stared at each other across the table. ‘You never know when the choice might be taken from you.’
He cleared his throat and glanced away, and she took a small sip of wine to give him a moment, feeling as if they were talking about more than just her father. But she didn’t want to ask, and he didn’t offer more.
‘I will go and see him,’ she said. ‘Because you’re right—if something happened to him and we hadn’t reconciled, I’d never forgive myself. Besides, there’s a family mystery I need to tell him about.’
‘Well, that sounds rather interesting.’
She laughed and took another sip of wine, enjoying how relaxed she was with him. It should have felt ridiculous and strange being the only two people seated in a room designed for over a hundred, but somehow it felt like one of the more intimate dinners she’d had in a long time. And she knew that if she did take the job, she’d never forget her first experience of cooking in the kitchen and enjoying the evening with him. She’d always be able to glance out and remember what a nice night they’d had together, and that somehow he’d seemed to understand her complicated family relationships.
‘Trust me when I say that it’s a long story,’ she said.
He sat back and folded his hands behind his head. ‘It just so happens I have all night, especially with all this delicious food on board.’
So, Charlotte told him about the box—how it had been discovered and what was inside—watching as his eyebrows pulled together in disbelief when she got to the part about all the others being left for babies who’d been placed for adoption. She’d barely paused for breath, finding that she wanted to share it all with him despite barely knowing the man.
‘Do you have the box with you?’ he asked.
‘Unfortunately, I don’t. I left it with my great-grandmother, Amalie. Honestly, I think I would have had to prise it from her fingers if I’d wanted to take it. Just looking at it seemed to take her back in time, maybe to a happier place.’
‘What’s your gut feeling about it all?’ Harrison asked, leaning across the table to take the bottle of Pinot Noir and pour a little more into each of their glasses. ‘Why do you think it was left? What do you think the secret is about?’
She shrugged, cradling her glass in her hand as she considered his question. She’d gone round and round it so many times in her mind, trying to figure out why Amalie would have left it, but she’d still come up with nothing. Her only conclusion had been that a secret adoption had indeed taken place; but if that wasn’t the case, then she had nothing.
‘Honestly? I don’t know. I think that this is bigger than just my great-grandmother keeping a secret. It feels as if it’s something that’s been kept from our entire family. But then again, maybe I’m being dramatic.’
‘Maybe not. Times were different then, secrets were kept that we wouldn’t have to keep now,’ Harrison said. ‘How did she react when you asked her? Did she seem upset by it all? Could it be that your great-grandmother had another child? Another daughter who isn’t your grandmother?’
‘She seemed, I don’t know, almost happy to see the photo. It was as if she came to life again the moment she saw him and said his name, so perhaps you’re right about something being hiddenjust simply because of the times. But honestly, I don’t think she could have had another baby, given my grandmother’s birth date. The timeline just doesn’t add up.’
‘Perhaps a secret she didn’t want to keep then?’ Harrison asked. ‘Something related to the birth but not what you’ve thought of so far? Or a secret that someone else forced her to keep for them?’
‘But if Oskar is her secret, and then she married my great-grandfather, then who was Oskar? Was he her great love, and she’s had to keep him hidden all this time for fear of hurting anyone’s feelings? And if he was her one true love, then why didn’t she marry him? What reason could there have been for them to be parted? It honestly doesn’t make sense.’
Harrison shrugged. ‘Maybe. But then maybe a person can have two great loves? It doesn’t mean that she loved her husband any less, so perhaps he simply came before your great-grandfather, and they weren’t to be.’
‘You truly think so?’ Charlotte asked. ‘I mean, it’s not that I don’t believe a person can fall in love twice, but within such a short space of time it just seems…’
‘I think none of us knows what love and loss will do to us until we experience it ourselves.’
Charlotte sighed, noticing the way Harrison looked away again, as if he wasn’t comfortable talking about relationships, his voice husky. It was the same when he’d told her to be sure to see her father again before it was too late. But she didn’t feel that she knew him well enough to ask about his own relationships.
‘Anyway,’ she said, ‘I might discover more in the morning. We’re going back to see Amalie, and hopefully she’ll have another lucid moment and be able to share some more of her story with us. I’m only grateful that she’s still here to tell us what she can, because if this box had surfaced in a few years’ time, itmight have all remained a mystery forever, and we’d never have known anything about it.’
‘Well, on that note, I think I might call it a night.’ Harrison looked at the plates around them. ‘Actually, I’ve just realised that despite being in a restaurant, there’s no one to take these plates.’
‘It’s fine, I can?—’
