‘I’ll do Archie first,’ said Lottie, once Beth had returned to her seat and held her son again. She broke the seal, then without touching the part that was about to enter his mouth leaned forward. ‘Right, so I just have to twizzle this between the bottom lip and gum.’ She smiled at the baby. ‘Sorry, lovely. Might tickle a bit.’
Everyone watched her take the swab, then seal it back in the tube, and Spencer wondered if he was as careful. Could he have accidentally touched the cotton tip and contaminated it? He took a silent breath as his sister came at him with a separate swab to rub around the inside of his cheek. She swirled it around about ten times, then sealed that one away too before turning to Beth for her turn.
‘One down,’ she mumbled.
‘Do we really need to do five?’ he asked.
‘I’m happy to do twenty,’ said Beth, looking only at the table.
Spencer had no words for her, so shut up altogether.
Lottie placed everything in the prepaid tamper-proof envelopes, ready to post, then opened the second box and once more followed the instructions to the letter.
As soon as it was over, Spencer rushed to the street door, feeling the need for fresh air. It was hard being around Beth and not holding her. His heart felt torn in two. He was so sure she wasn’t lying to him, but the test told him otherwise. He just couldn’t think straight.
‘Spencer,’ she called, sprinting to his side on the doorstep.
‘Look, I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about the first test. I wasn’t—’
‘It’s not that. I don’t care.’ She tapped her chest. ‘I just want us to talk.’
He lowered his eyes, unable to meet hers and not kiss her. The pain was too much, and the confusion worse. Why was he even putting himself through more testing? Could he take the hit again? Lottie was so sure he’d messed it up last time. Now, he couldn’t think straight, and being so close to the woman he thought he loved was making the situation harder. He turned to walk away, but she grabbed his arm.
‘Please, Spence, don’t run away.’
He stared out at Berry Hill and at the seagulls. ‘I’m not running,’ he said softly. ‘I have to collect the boys from the Sunshine Centre. We’re searching for fossils.’ He felt her hand slip from his sleeve, and he missed her touch already.
‘Okay. But I just want you to know something before you go.’ He heard her breath catch, but he didn’t turn. ‘I didn’t lie. Hopefully you’ll see that when the results come back.’
Some of the test centres offered one- to two-working day results, and Beth had paid for the quickest, so it wouldn’t be long before he knew for sure if Archie was his son, but after the lasttest, he wasn’t holding out much hope, and Beth’s words were meeting a wall guarding his heart.
‘I have to go.’ Spencer walked slowly down the steep hill, inhaling the sea-salty air in large clumps. He daren’t look back in case she was watching, but suddenly he could hear footsteps behind him, then arms clutched his body as she embraced his back, causing him to stand stock still.
You’re killing me, Beth. You’re actually killing me.
‘Take this with you,’ she said quietly, then released him, and whatever spell was keeping him in place was broken.
Without saying a word, Spencer walked away.
The drive over to Penzance settled Spencer a touch. Looking out at wide green fields and quaint farmhouses had him thinking about family life. It was Easter soon, and he could just see himself hunting colourful eggs in the park with Archie. It was a nice dream.
A sign caught his eye, and with little thought, he pulled up next to someone’s gate so he wouldn’t be in the way of any traffic. He jumped out of his van and walked over to a man attaching an orangeFor Salesign to a post.
‘You interested?’ asked the man, following Spencer’s gaze down the short driveway.
Spencer scanned the small brown-brick cottage. ‘I remember the woman who lived here. Kathleen. She passed a while back now. How come this place is only going up for sale now?’
The man lowered his hammer. ‘Family have to wait a while before selling an inherited property.’
‘Yeah, I know about that stuff, but it’s been ages.’
‘They did have it on the market, but no takers. Rundown, you see. They took it off for a while, as one of them decided they’d take on the project, but that fell through, and now they’re trying their luck with us again.’
Spencer narrowed his eyes as the clouds moved away from the sun. ‘How bad is it?’
‘Structure’s all right. Just old. Unloved. You know how it goes.’
He nodded, stepping up to the small dark picket fence that made the entrance. Pink, purple, and blue came to mind. Potted flowers placed out front, a paddling pool at the back. ‘Three beds, isn’t it?’
