“That must have given you a shock, and not a pleasant one.”
“To begin with I assumed it was a hoax. Forty years, Eddie. I hadn’t heard from him in forty years, and then suddenly he lands in my email.” Embarrassed, she gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I haven’t seen you in a long time and here I am dropping all my problems onto you. Believe it or not, I didn’t come here for sympathy.”
“You don’t have to tell me that. I know you, remember? You never did look for sympathy. Empathy? That’s different. Personally, I’m feeling inclined to punch something. I’m proud I managed not to do him physical damage when I escorted him from the property.”
She felt something soften inside her. “What did you say to him?”
“You don’t need the detail. But I don’t think you’ll be hearing from him again.”
“Edward.” She said his name softly. “Still my hero.”
His gaze lingered on hers for a moment and then he grabbed forks and handed them to her. “Let’s take this outside.” His voice was roughened. “Evie is out, so no chance of her overhearing us if we’re talking in the garden. She lives next door.”
“In your mother’s house?”
“Yes, although you wouldn’t recognise the place. It looks like the inside of a beach hut. Turns out Evie has an eye for colour and design. I try and remember to wear sunglasses whenever I visit.”
She laughed. “And presumably you visit often as you’re next door. And you can keep an eye on her.”
“I’m discreet about that part. Mostly I just enjoy her company. There’s no rule that says you can’t enjoy the company of your own children.”
“True.” She thought about Abby and how much she’d missed her over the month she’d been away. “Evie is an impressive young woman. You must be proud.”
“I am proud, although I’m not sure how many of her qualities are down to me. I see more of her mother in her.”
“You don’t give yourself enough credit, but you never did. You were always a wonderful father. A wonderful man. You restored my faith in human nature.” She settled herself at the little table and listened to the sounds of the sea. “It has barely changed. We used to sit here and let the girls play. You had a sandpit and a paddling pool back then.”
“I remember. The sandpit went to a good home a long time ago, and the paddling pool developed a leak. I seem to recallEvie pierced it with a toy dinosaur.” He put the plate in the middle of the table, divided the omelette and handed her a fork. “I should have picked up an extra plate while I was in the kitchen.”
“Don’t bother. It won’t be the first time we’ve shared food from the same plate.” She took the fork and ate some of the omelette and he did the same.
She couldn’t quite believe they were sitting here sharing food and chatting comfortably when so much time had passed. It seemed impossibly intimate for two people who hadn’t seen each other for almost three decades. But it didn’t feel that long. The connection was still there, as powerful as ever.
“I told Abby everything.”
He sat back, his eyes narrowed. “Everything?”
Understanding the question he wasn’t asking, she gave a tiny shrug. “All right, not quite everything. I told her about my father, about what he did to my mother. And I told her about her own father. And I should probably be feeling guilty that I didn’t tell her the truth about him a long time ago, but I don’t.” She paused. “When that man walked into the room today, I felt—”
“Vulnerable?”
“Yes. For a moment I was eleven years old again and feeling worthless. I had no idea that seeing him would have such an effect on me. Fortunately, it was a mercifully short moment, but I’m glad it happened because it confirmed that I made the right decision not to tell Abby about her father when she was a child.”
“We talked about that at the time, but I wasn’t sure if you’d changed your mind as she grew up.”
“I didn’t. I suppose I thought that maybe I’d tell her one day, but it never felt like the right time. At what age do you tell a child her father didn’t want her? That she wasn’t important? I wanted her to be confident and secure. I wanted her to knowshe was loved and wanted, because she was. I didn’t want her to spend her life trying to prove herself.”
“As you did.”
She nodded. “I grew up fighting a constant battle between what he made me feel about myself and what I wanted to feel about myself. You know that.” She ate another piece of omelette and then put her fork down. “The crazy thing is that for a moment when he walked into that room, I thought maybe he wanted to apologise. I thought maybe the way he treated us had been on his mind and he wanted to clear his conscience. But he wanted money.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It made it easier. And it proved that people don’t always change. They don’t always see the error of their ways. Sometimes they stay as bad as you always thought they were. And in a way that makes it easier to deal with.”
“You do seem remarkably relaxed.”
“Because seeing him felt like closure.” She leaned back and smiled, slightly stunned by that realisation. “Listen to me! Until this moment I didn’t even know I needed closure.”
