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Her eyebrows rise. “I didn’t realize it was that serious.”
“Yeah. It is.”
“Oh, I’ll miss you,” she whispers. “But I can make a diversion when I go to see Grandad and come and visit you.”
“That’ll be nice. Speaking of which… I was wondering whether you’d consider giving me Grandma’s engagement ring.” My grandmother died a few years ago, and my grandfather gave Mum her ring.
She meets my eyes, and smiles slowly. “For Heidi? Of course. What a wonderful idea. Here, finish the coffee, and I’ll go and get it.”
Trying to stay calm after the revelation she’s just given me, I pour the steamed milk over the espressos. I’m finding it hard to believe that my father’s done a complete U-turn. But then it sounds as if both he and Peter Huxley have had quite a shock over the past few weeks. Is it enough to force both of them to change? Once, I would have said no way. But now? Maybe it is possible for an old dog to learn new tricks.
Mum comes back out as I’m placing the cups on a tray and holds out a small velvet box. I open it. It’s not the biggest diamond in the world, maybe two carats at most, but the ring was handmade, and it’s very meaningful to me. The gold band is inscribed with tiny Old Norse runes both inside and out.
“Do you remember what they say?” Mum asks.
I nod, close the box, and pocket it. “Thank you.” I watch her place some cookies on a plate. “Are you going to be okay?”
She puts the plate on the tray, then turns and smiles at me. “I’ll be fine.Is i magen!”
I smile. It means ‘Ice in one’s stomach,’ or stay in control and play it cool. “Yeah.Is i magen.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Heidi
I was nervous about meeting Julian Oates, bearing in mind the issues Titus has had with him, and I feel a moment of panic when Titus goes out to the kitchen and leaves me alone with him.
But Julian is nothing but polite and genial. He asks me questions about my job, my family, and where I live in the UK, and I tell him a bit about the weekend Titus and I spent together there, where we met Alan Woodridge, and about his country manor.
“Alan must be thrilled to have Titus working with him,” I say. “I know he’s put an office aside for him.”
Julian stares at me. “He’s moving to the UK?”
I stare back. Holy shit. My face burns. “I’m sorry,” I say quietly. “I thought he’d told you.”
“No.” Julian glances out to the kitchen. “I’m guessing he was going to save that for today.”
Fuck. I look at my hands, wishing the ground would swallow me up. No doubt his father is livid that he’s the last to find out.
But as he looks back at me, I can see he’s stricken at the thought of his son moving away. Does he realize part of the reason is because of his attitude toward his son?
He says softly, “He must be very in love with you to make a decision like that.”
My blush deepens. “I don’t know… we haven’t known each other very long. And I would never stand in the way of his career. This is a great opportunity for him to learn from English scientists and computer engineers. He’s very excited about their investment, and what it’ll mean for the advances in IVF. I’m sure that’s the main reason he’s moving there.”
He smiles. “That’s a very modest answer. I can see why he likes you.” He picks a thread from his trousers. “Did Lawrence—Titus—tell you that he was conceived through IVF?”
My jaw drops. “No. I didn’t know that.”
“Ingrid and I had trouble conceiving. It was my fault. We went through two cycles that failed. She fell pregnant with the third. It’s why he’s an only child. It put a strain on our relationship, and we didn’t want to go through it again.”
I’m not quite sure what to say to that.
Footsteps echo on the floorboards, and Titus and Ingrid come back into the living room. He puts the tray on the table, and sits beside me as Ingrid hands out the cups.
“I didn’t know you were conceived with IVF,” I say.
“Mm. Sorry, did I not say?”
