Page 83 of The Stolen Child

‘But what about the life you could have had with me and our family?’ Lily whispered, feeling stung by the injustice of Jenny’s reckoning.

Zach glanced at her and nodded sadly. ‘I keep thinking about that too. I love my family and cannot imagine a world without them, but when I’m with you . . . I feel a connection too. You feel like family to me, Lily.’

Lily’s eyes glistened as she reached over to clasp Zach’s hand for a moment.

He pulled out his phone. ‘Jenny called me an hour ago. She’s given me an ultimatum. She said that if I go ahead and collect the results from the clinic on Wednesday, the family will all disown me. No matter what they are.’

‘She has no right to do that!’ Lily said, feeling her hackles rise in indignation for them and the truth they desperately wanted.

‘I’ve never seen Jenny like that. She’s rattled. She conceded that it’s a possibility that Mom did take me.’

‘She’s scared,’ Lily said. ‘This . . . whatever this is . . . well, it’s a threat to your family. Give her time.’

Zach grimaced. ‘But what if she’s right? If I pursue this and it is true, the consequences could be devastating for everyone. Would Mom face charges? Jenny’s worried that Mom and Dad’s marriage would be unlikely to survive the fallout too. So their divorce would be on my conscience along with breaking up the family.’

Michael omitted a low whistle. ‘That’s a lot to land on your shoulders.’

‘It’s a bloody liberty,’ Lily added, feeling her earlier ire at Zach’s mother now spread to her daughters too. She had tried to empathise with how they must be feeling, but the strain of this was taking an evident toll on Zach. ‘What about your feelings? What about the impact of this on you? Not to mention our family,’ Lily said. She took a deep breath, and tried to calm herself. Zach didn’t need her anger on top of his sisters.

‘What will you do?’ Michael asked, throwing a worried look in Lily’s direction.

Zach placed his head in his hands. ‘I don’t know.’

Lily saw mirrored sympathy in her husband’s eyes for Zach. He was in an impossible situation. She tapped Zach on his knee lightly. ‘Even if you don’t go to the clinic on Wednesday, I still will. We have to know, one way or the other. My family needs to know.’

‘The horse has bolted, mate,’ Michael said, shrugging. ‘There’s no point closing the stable door now.’

Zach nodded miserably.

‘You could tell your sisters it’s out of your hands now,’ Michael suggested.

‘Yeah. Blame me,’ Lily agreed. ‘Say I refuse to ignore the results.’

Zach stood up, taking his glass of wine with him. He couldn’t sit still, and Lily understood his restlessness. She’d felt the same way ever since he’d walked into her office twelve days ago and blown all their lives up.

‘What kind of a brother would I be if I left you to do all this alone?’ he said, smiling weakly at Lily. ‘I’m Robert. I feel it with every part of me.’ He thumped his chest. ‘And when we go to the clinic together the results will confirm that.’

Lily, her voice filled with empathy, stood up and moved closer to him. ‘I feel that too.’ She placed her own hand over his, which still rested against his heart. ‘I hate seeing you torn between two families. It’s a painful place to be and nobody wants that.’

‘If I ask Kimberly and Jason to stay quiet about it all, for me, will they? If I can reassure my sisters that there will be no criminal charges, they’ll calm down. I know they will.’

Lily’s heart sank because she knew that they couldn’t agree to that, nor did she want them to.

She answered as gently as she could. ‘Zach, you have to know that you can’t steal someone’s child and expect to get away with it. Your sisters will have to accept that too. If you are Robert, your mother will have to face the consequences.’

Zach picked up a framed photograph of Lily and Michael, taken on their wedding day, surrounded by their families. He touched Kimberly’s face gently, ‘By finding my other mother and sister, I stand to lose my mom and family too. How is that fair?’

His voice trembled with sadness and anger, and Lily could find no response to give him.

NOW

August 2023

Kimberly

Ace Funds, Ormonde Quay, Dublin

Tomorrow was the day of reckoning. Kimberly had been marking her calendar with an X every morning, each day bringing her closer to the truth. The wait was agonising, filled with a mix of anticipation and anxiety. Lily had called to see her at the office the day before. She’d not seen her daughter so animated. Nervous energy filled her every move as she stumbled through her tale of trips to Ronda and Marbella, and ultimatums from Zach’s family.