AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She met his eyes and frowned as if she didn’t recognise him but then she shook herself and nodded. ‘Hi… Finn. I… uhhhh. I…’ Her frown deepened and concern rushed through Finn. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
‘What it is? Are you hurt?’ He stepped forwards and held out a hand.
‘Hurt?’ Ellie snorted. ‘Oh… I guess I am. But not in a physical sense. No… I… Oh…’ She rubbed a hand over her forehead and sighed. ‘Do you want to come inside?’
‘Sure.’ He nodded. ‘I want to make sure you’re OK.’
Her features twitched as if she was unsure how to react but she gave a small nod then gestured at him to come inside. He stepped over the threshold and walked through the hallway to the kitchen then put his bags down on the table. Part of him knew that he needed to get the bags to Cole as soon as possible but he also needed to find out what was wrong with Ellie first because he was already very concerned.
Chapter20
Ellie
‘Ellie?’ Finn gently placed a hand on her arm. ‘Can you tell me what’s wrong?’
‘What’s wrong? Yes. OK.’ She sank onto a kitchen chair and rested her elbows on the table then steepled her fingers. ‘I’m a bit… shocked.’
‘What about?’ He sat next to her, his body facing her, his hands on his knees.
‘Well… I decided to start sorting through the attic because there’s a lot of Aunt Iris’s belongings still up there and I thought it would be a good idea to see what can be recycled and what needs to be binned. But… now I wish I hadn’t bothered. Sometimes, things are best left alone.’
‘That sounds ominous,’ he said.
‘Yeah… It kind of was. Ugh.’ She rubbed her eyes then lay her head on her arms and groaned. ‘This sucks.’
‘What does?’ He touched her hand and she sat upright again. ‘Can I make you a warm drink?’
Ellie laughed wryly. ‘Yes, because that’s going to make everything all right again.’
‘Sorry?’
‘Well, it’s what we do, isn’t it? A warm beverage will make everything better, won’t it?’
‘Uhhh…’
‘Sorry! Sorry, Finn, I’m being snarky and there’s no excuse for it. You’re being very kind and I would love a cup of tea, please.’
‘No problem.’ While he made tea, Ellie tried to compose herself. She was reeling from what she’d found and had no idea what to do about it but then, who would? And there was no one she could ask about it because everyone else involved was long gone.
When Finn placed a mug of tea in front of her, she wrapped her hands around it and took a deep breath. ‘Thank you. Right… so… I found some great clothes up there that I think Darcie might like for the shop and some that I’d like to keep. I also found useful things like spare jars that I can use for making chutneys and jams and some old photos that must be of family members I never even met. But then… I found a chest buried behind other boxes and so I brought it downstairs and took it out to the garden, then dusted it off and opened it.’
‘What was inside?’
Ellie shook her head. ‘It didn’t look like much at first… some things like birth and death certificates and some letters and then… I found one from my mum.’
‘Your aunt’s sister?’
‘Twin sister. They were identical twins. Iris and Rose.’
‘Of course.’ Finn nodded.
‘But the thing is… according to the letter… my mum wasnotmy mum.’
‘What?’ Finn was frowning now. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘The letter was from my mum, or the woman I thought was my mum and she was telling the woman I thought was my aunt how I was. Oh… that sounds so confusing. So, basically, my biological mum was actually Iris and my aunt was Rose.’
‘Wow!’ Finn’s eyes were wide and he was scratching at his chin with his thumb and forefinger making a rasping sound on his stubble. ‘Are you sure?’
