‘Amalie,’ Alexander said, pacing to the bed and then taking the chair. ‘I want you to know that it wasn’t my mother’s idea for us to get married.’
Amalie sat down, placing the baby on the bed beside her. ‘When you never wrote back to me?—’
‘Wrote back to you?’ he said, looking puzzled. ‘When did you write to me?’
‘To ask for your help, after Oskar died and before the baby…’ Her voice trailed off. ‘Your mother must have intercepted the letter.’
Alexander’s face hardened. ‘Tell me what you wrote.’
She nodded. ‘I asked for your assistance. I told you how heartbroken I was and that without your help I would be forced to give up?—’
‘Enough,’ he ground out. ‘Oskar was right to send you away, even though it had terrible consequences. He knew that it was best to make a new life far away from here.’
‘And you?’
He sighed. ‘I’m my father’s only heir now, and he’s ready to hand over the business in the coming years. If I had to, to protect you and the baby, I would willingly leave it all behind, but…’ Alexander looked uncomfortable.
‘If you’re afraid of telling me something, you needn’t be. If we’re to be married, I need you to speak your mind.’
‘It’s not that I don’t want to marry you, Amalie, it’s just…’ He shook his head. ‘You were the love of my brother’s life, and I don’t want to disrespect his memory.’
‘You’re not,’ she said, leaning forwards and touching his knee. ‘You’re saving me, Alexander, truly you are. And if we’re to be partners, then you need to know you can confide in me.’
‘I’ve never hidden my ambitions, and I want to take over the family business, but to do that, I,we, need to bide our time. I won’t stand for any bad behaviour towards you, but we need to tread carefully.’
Amalie understood what he was saying, or at least she thought she did. ‘You keep my daughter safe, and I’ll stand by your side and do whatever you ask of me,’ she said. ‘We might not be in love, but there’s no reason this marriage can’t be a success.’
Alexander’s smile reminded her of Oskar’s again, but it was slightly more reserved, and she had a feeling she knew why.
‘Did Oskar ever talk to you about his dreams?’ she asked.
‘When we were boys, yes, but not in recent years. Why do you ask?’
‘The first night we met, he talked to me of his dreams, and I think that’s what we need to make this marriage a happy one,’ she said. ‘We need to share our dreams, for us and for Aina, and work together to make those dreams come true.’
‘Then dream we shall,’ Alexander said, holding out his hand to her.
She placed her palm in his, feeling a sense of calm as an understanding of sorts passed between them. Amalie didn’t love Alexander, but she respected him, and she knew that maybe one day that might slowly develop into something more. But for now, she had an ally, someone who acutely understood her grief; and someone whom she knew would grow to love her daughter just as much as she did. For he would see himself in Aina, begin to feel that she was truly his, and although it wasn’t the life she had imagined for herself, Amalie was prepared to accept it.
Because in her heart, she knew that Oskar would accept it, too.
‘May I ask something of you?’ Alexander said. ‘And I want you to answer truthfully.’
Amalie met his gaze.
‘I don’t want anyone to ever know I’m not Aina’s father,’ he said, his voice low, almost pained. ‘If even one person found out our secret, it might change the way people looked at her, and I want more for her. I want more for us. I want to keep the truth a secret, forever.’
‘Then we won’t ever tell her,’ Amalie said, as tears pricked her eyes. ‘She will be your daughter, Alexander, and no one but us ever has to know the truth.’
Amalie thought of the little box then, of the photo, and as much as she’d wanted to retrieve the ring Oskar had given her, she wondered if she might not write that letter to Hope in the morning after all. Because even though she was prepared to agree with Alexander now, there was a little part of her that wanted that box to remain hidden with the photo of her and Oskar inside. Just in case there was ever a reason for the truth to be discovered, before all evidence of her daughter’s true father was erased for good.
29
PRESENT DAY
‘Harrison, what do you say we go out for brunch soon and then come back to…’
Charlotte stopped, her long wet hair wrapped in a towel and her body enveloped in Harrison’s thick towelling robe. She’d been in the shower for ten minutes, luxuriating in the hot water that had been almost impossible to step out from under, and in that time, it seemed that everything had changed.
