Then he took Joy by the shoulders, and his eyes—eyes that were the same shape as her own—grew damp. “It’s like she’s here, still with me. You look just like her. I didn’t know. I’m so sorry that I didn’t know about you.” He hugged her.
“Oh, chère,” Pascale said. “Perhaps she doesn’t want—”
“Je suis désolé.” Lowell started to release her.
“No, it’s okay,” Joy chuckled weepily and hugged him back. Hard. She closed her eyes and drank up what she’d hoped Otto would offer her: instant, unconditional acceptance.
Somehow Pascale herded them into an elevator, and Joy soon found herself in the well-appointed lounge of a suite. Refreshments arrived, but she barely noticed.
“I didn’t know if any of her family knew about me,” she said. “It seemed like she didn’t want anyone to know.”
“This is true,” Lowell said with regret. “It didn’t even occur to me Lorena might have had a child, not until Pascale saw the notice about Otto’s death. Frankly, my only thought on Otto’s passing was ‘good.’ I’m sorry if you feel differently about him, but he treated Lorena abominably. She was young, thought herself in love. He dazzled her with gifts, but she was his mistress, so he was ashamed of her. I thought that was the worst of it, but when I learned he had made her give up her child?”
“He didn’t know about me.” Joy explained how Otto had come to find out. “How did you realize I was her daughter?”
“There was a photo of you and your husband with the article on Otto. Pascale pointed you out to me. She noticed how much you looked like Lorena.”
“He brushed me off,” Pascale said, taking over. “But reading that Otto was your birth father, I just knew. The timing fit. Lorena missed our wedding because she went to New York. She and I had a terrible falling out over it. She had introduced me to Lowell. She was supposed to be my maid of honor, but she was adamant about leaving. Now I realize she knew she would have been showing on our wedding day.”
“Our parents cut her off when they learned of their affair,” Lowell broke in sadly. “They wouldn’t have helped her if she’d told them she was pregnant. I could have been kinder. She asked me for money to help her get to New York. I was glad she was leaving Otto, but I said she should wait until after the wedding. I don’t know where she got the money. Sold some of the jewelry he’d given her, I suppose. It breaks my heart. If I’d been more willing to help her, she might have kept you.”
“When she came back, things were still strained between us,” Pascale said with equal regret. “I didn’t want to forgive her. It seems so childish now, to hold a grudge over something so inconsequential. She must have been so frightened. Heartbroken. She was different when she came home. Older. Quieter.”
“But she went back to him?” Joy recalled.
“She did. I never fully understood what she saw in him. He was very rich, obviously. And very handsome,” Pascale admitted reluctantly. “Their second affair didn’t last long. She told me she thought he was ready to leave his wife, but he wasn’t. She said they’d both changed. That’s when she moved to Heidelberg and opened the bookstore.”
“Did she marry? Have more children?”
“No.” There were bright tears in Pascale’s eyes. “I always assumed Otto broke her heart. Now I’m sure that giving up her daughter did that.”
“Oh.” Joy covered her trembling mouth.
Pascale moved to sit next to her and rubbed her shoulders.
“We hope you’ll meet our children, though?” Lowell said hesitantly.
“I have cousins?” Joy picked up her head.
“Two boys and a girl,” he said with pride. “We haven’t told them any of this. We wanted to meet you first and see if you were open to it?”
Fresh tears brimmed her eyes. “I would love that.”
* * *
Axel went to the dance studio himself, catching Inga as she was leaving for the day.
“I still haven’t heard from her,” he told her, not mentioning that he could see Joy had her notifications silenced.
The choreographer hesitated, then sighed. “She told me you’d had an argument. I’m sure she’s just taking some time for herself. Let me see if she’s with any of my dancers.” She texted a group chat. “Michael dropped her at a hotel a few hours ago.”
She told him which one, and Axel went there, but when he asked the front desk to put him through to her room, she wasn’t registered.
Had she met someone here? Who?
Axel ordered a drink in the bar, wondering what the hell he was going to do if she refused to come back to him. He had ignored a dozen calls today along with countless texts and emails, all to do with Vorstoben and projects that meant nothing to him. How could anything hold any meaning for him when the one person he cared about above all others was hurting and avoiding him?
The best case was that Joy was giving him the silent treatment because he’d hurt her. The worst case was that she was looking for somewhere to live because he’d broken her heart.
