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* * *
A week later Damon watched Lizzie and Thea’s plane take off into the mid-afternoon sky on its way to London. He’d worked hard in the intervening days to make up for his gaffe with the violin, and his reward had been seeing Thea gradually return to the ease they’d shared before they’d known they were father and daughter.
He understood Thea’s stout defence of her mother, and could only admire her for it. As Lizzie had said, it would take time to reassure Thea that things would be better now, not worse. And he was prepared to wait for as long as it took. For the first time in his life he couldn’t afford to be impatient. Thea was too important for him to get this wrong.
It was only when he turned to go to his car that he realised how alone he felt now they’d gone. Had he always felt this way? The answer was an unequivocal no. He’d never known what he was missing before today.
He stood by the car, gazing up at the sky until the jet carrying Lizzie and Thea away became a silver dot before disappearing. He and Lizzie had made certain decisions, which included taking things slowly, but those decisions, so carefully made, didn’t feel right to him now.
Climbing into the car, he released the handbrake and pulled away from the kerb.
Would Lizzie ever return to Greece?
He was so busy scrutinising the sky in the direction Lizzie’s jet had taken that he almost drove into a ditch. He adjusted his steering fast.
Maybe it was time to adjust his life and his thinking too.
* * *
Thea had buried herself in a book for the duration of the flight home, giving Lizzie plenty of time to think. Everything had been almost perfect during their last few days on the island, she mused. If there was a problem it was Lizzie, with her courage for others and caution for herself. She had never used to be like that, but she had to keep everything safe and steady for Thea.
Was Damon right in saying she should have a life too? Did Thea deserve a mother who could never pull back and see what was under her nose? Was she smothering Thea? Was that why Thea had said what she’d said about not necessarily following a career as a musician when she was older?
On the other hand Damon had got things right these past few days. His family had been more involved with Thea, and the more Lizzie had got to know them, the more she’d come to believe that having them in their lives could only be a good thing for Thea.
Now there was just the problem of Lizzie and Damon, and where they went from here...if they went anywhere.
There were grey clouds over London as the plane came in to land. The aircraft hit turbulence and juddered suddenly and Lizzie gasped and gripped the armrest.
‘What’s wrong?’ Thea asked.
‘Nothing. Everything’s perfect.’
So why did she have to try so hard to convince herself that this was true? Couldn’t she do as Damon asked and trust him for once?
Lizzie couldn’t even put a name to the doubt inside her, except to say that it refused to go away. It was a relief when the plane broke through the clouds and they landed safely.
* * *
Lizzie kissed Thea goodbye at the gates of the school boarding house where Thea stayed during term time. Thea was popular, which made parting easier, though it was never easy for Lizzie on the bus ride home. She always felt sad when she left Thea at school—and especially now, when she knew that Thea wasn’t wholly committed to a future as a professional musician.
Some fairly big decisions would have to be made soon. If Thea did decide to become a day pupil Lizzie would be the happiest mother alive. The complications it would throw up would just have to be worked through, like everything else. Flexi-working, Lizzie thought as she put the key in the door. That was the answer.
She’d just have to hope she could earn enough money working part-time and still be available when Thea needed her. She’d always found a solution in the past, so there was no reason to suppose that she couldn’t do so again.
The house that encompassed her bedsit was empty...echoing and empty. The owners were obviously away.
Shaking off the feeling of loneliness, Lizzie picked up her mail and wheeled her suitcase into her room. A coffee first, and then she’d look at the important things.
There was a lot of mail to throw away first—flyers, menus from the local take-away restaurants—and then one very official-looking envelope, with the name of a legal firm that shot fear into her heart stamped in confident black letters across the top.
Coffee would have to wait, she decided as she turned the envelope over in her hands. The last time she’d heard the name of this law firm had been eleven years ago, in court.
Might as well get it over with...
She didn’t even pause to shrug off her jacket. She just ripped the thick velum envelope open and took out the letter. She unfolded it and started to read.
For once she was glad of the small room and the bed immediately behind her as she sank down, trembling.
Was this what Damon meant by trust? Trust was as ephemeral as a puff of smoke. Trust was a state of mind for fools and romantics. And she had proved to be both, Lizzie concluded as she read the letter again.
Acting on behalf of Damon Gavros, the lawyer was asking—no, demanding—that a DNA test to establish Thea’s genetic link to Damon must be undertaken at a clinic of his choice at the earliest opportunity.
You will appreciate that my client is an extremely wealthy man who must take sensible precautions. A legal paternity test can settle matters such as child support, child custody, visitation dispute, and inheritance issues, and will satisfy immigration requirements.
A strict chain of custody under the supervision of this firm will ensure that samples taken remain in compliance with all legal requirements—
There was a lot more legalese, but she’d read enough. It wasn’t so much the request made by Damon’s legal representatives, but the fact that she’d been with Damon only a few hours before the letter had arrived and he hadn’t thought to mention it.
Holding the letter, she sat on the bed with her head bowed, thinking. It had never once occurred to her that Damon would doubt Thea’s parentage. She’d been a virgin when they’d met—which he knew—and she hadn’t slept with anyone else—which he also knew. Thea was Damon’s child. There wasn’t the smallest doubt about it. And yet he still wanted proof?
Maybe he thought the apple hadn’t fallen far from the tree.
Lizzie blazed inwardly as she thought about that. She took after her mother—as Thea did—not her weak and imprudent father.
The main thing now was to protect Thea at all costs. She must remain calm. She wouldn’t allow the test to happen. She had that power at least.
Even as she thought about it Lizzie felt her spirits reviving. Thea would not be made to think there was something wrong with her. And as for this lawyer suggesting that a man as rich as Croesus must take sensible precautions—perhaps Damon should have thought of that when they’d made love.
Yes, she’d been willing enough, and, yes, he’d used protection. But there had been a lot of sex that night, and maybe Damon hadn’t been as meticulous as he’d thought. She took responsibility too, and now it was up to her to protect Thea from every possible hurt.
But what angered Lizzie most was the way this had been done. What would have been so hard about Damon telling her to her face that he wanted a DNA test?
Her offer to give him time to integrate into Thea’s life was a joke now. She’d had no idea that love came with a price tag attached. It seemed to her that Damon was only interested in protecting his precious bank balance. And how would Thea feel, having started to build a tentative relationship with her father only to be told that he needed proof that he was her father?
If new love was a tender green shoot, Damon had just trampled it. Thea would be heartbroken if she ever lear
ned about this. Lizzie had never forgotten the feelings of abandonment she had suffered as a child, and was determined that Thea would never suffer anything similar.
It all boiled down to one simple question: was Damon Gavros fit to be Thea’s father?
Going on this evidence? No. He was not. Either Damon wanted to build a relationship with Thea or he didn’t, and no amount of test results could change that.
* * *
The twenty-four hours before he’d been able to file a flight plan to London had left him in a state of advanced impatience and frustration. He headed straight for the Greek restaurant when he arrived in the city, where he found Stavros in the kitchen. There was no sign of Lizzie, and his welcome from Stavros was unusually cool.
‘She’s at home,’ Stavros told him, in what Damon could only describe as a hostile tone. ‘Recovering,’ Stavros added significantly.
‘Is she ill?’ Alarm iced him.
‘Heartsick,’ Stavros said, staring pointedly at the door.
He took the hint. ‘Okay, I get it. I’m going. Her address...?’
‘If Lizzie had wanted you to know where she lives she would have given you her address,’ Stavros informed him with a cold stare.
‘I need that address now,’ he insisted. ‘And her mobile number, in case she’s not there.’
‘Can’t your lawyer supply those?’
