AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Anita ran over and hugged Lili. ‘Welcome to the family! This is amazing. You look just like me!’ She giggled.
Her laughter was infectious. Lili laughed too.
‘So, will you come?’ Anita asked.
Lili looked at her. ‘Come where?’
Anita sighed and turned to her grandmother. ‘You haven’t told her yet – have you?’
‘I was getting to that.’ Miriam took something out of her handbag.
Anita grabbed the plane ticket out of her hand and held it out to Lili. ‘Here’s a plane ticket for you to return with us to Israel. We all clubbed together to fly first class. Everyone is dying to meet you. All you have to do is bring your passport with you at check-in before we fly.’
Alex had returned, and he had overheard the conversation that was taking place in the summerhouse. Lili was just reaching for the ticket when she caught sight of Alex, standing in the doorway, raising his hands in the air in exasperation. ‘Well, I guess Washington will have to wait,’ he said.
Lili took the ticket, wondering when the right moment would be to tell Alex that she wasn’t going with him after all. She wanted to take over Sarah’s flower shop in Cobbler’s Yard and move into the old summerhouse. But it was more than that; if she was thousands of miles away in Washington, she would miss Hannah and Maisie, William and Bella. And Nate. Of course, she would miss him; she’d been missing him every day since they’d been apart. She’d even miss his squabbling parents; they still hadn’t signed the divorce papers.
Alex hovered in the doorway. He noticed Lili hadn’t introduced him to her family. He guessed why. ‘I suppose this is goodbye,’ he said.
Lili walked over to him and took a deep breath. ‘I’m sorry, Alex.’ She cast her gaze around the summerhouse. ‘This is where I belong.’
‘I know.’ He sighed heavily. ‘I had a feeling this would happen if you returned. I guess I would have been more surprised if you said you were still coming with me.’
He glanced at Miriam and the young woman who bore a striking resemblance to Lili. ‘I’m glad you found them, Lili,’ he said earnestly.
‘Thank you, Alex.’ She smiled at the thought that they were parting on good terms and remaining friends.
‘Let me know about your trip to Israel.’
‘I will. Likewise, about Washington.’
He smiled. ‘Ditto.’
Lili watched him go. Then she cast her eye around the cabin. Before she moved into her new home, and back into the lives of the family she had fallen in love with, first she had a plane to catch to meet the relatives she’d been searching for; she hoped they would become as much a part of her life as Nate’s family had.
Lili joined Miriam and Anita, and followed their gaze around the old summerhouse, taking in Otto’s paintings once more. Like Miriam and her family’s art collection, Lili had a decision to make. Soon the secret of the summerhouse, Otto’s real identity, would be revealed. It was inevitable that the truth would come out one day. Lili had to decide if his beautiful paintings should remain under lock and key in her private collection or if his legacy as an artist should be shown to the world.
She had already made a decision. She wanted to give Otto’s paintings to the museum, to put them on display for all to enjoy. She knew it was the right thing to do; above all, her great-grandfather had been an artist, and Lili knew in her heart that it was how he would have liked to be remembered.
Anita slipped her hand in Lili’s and squeezed it tight. ‘He was so talented.’
Lili turned to her cousin and smiled. ‘I know.’ She could only imagine, once the truth came out about Otto’s incredible story, what they would be worth. Lili knew the press would be all over it, back to her rags-to-riches story, as soon they discovered there was another art collection. Lili wouldn’t be surprised if she had no end of inquiries from art galleries, auction houses, and wealthy individuals, interested in acquiring her great-grandfather’s artwork. But she couldn’t sell Otto’s paintings only for them to sit in another’s private collection.
Besides, Lili didn’t care how much they might be worth. That didn’t matter to her. She already felt she was the richest woman alive, for she now had what she’d always craved, and what to her was priceless; something that all the money in the world couldn’t buy. Family. That was the legacy Otto had left her. She couldn’t wait to meet them all.
Anita turned to Lili. ‘So, will you come with us to meet your family?’
Lili looked at the plane ticket, her eyes filling with tears of joy. ‘When do we leave?’
