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‘After all those years?’ said Freya. ‘How selfish.’
‘Yes, I thought so too. Especially when I found out that she couldn’t have any more children.’
Emily said, ‘There are no American cousins?’
Wendy smiled at her daughter, shaking her head. ‘No, honey. The only cousin you have is Freya.’
‘I wish I’d known about her.’
‘I am so sorry, Emily.’
Emily said, ‘What happened. Did she try and take her?’
‘No. It was her husband who stepped in. He said that if had been his daughter, he wouldn’t want anybody to take her away from him. He’d put himself in Jeffrey’s shoes and told his wife that what is done, is done. There was no going back. Freya was a happy, thriving child, and his wife had no right to turn Freya’s life upside down on a whim, just because it suited her now to have her back in her life.’
They all fell silent.
Wendy said, ‘I’m so sorry, Freya. If you’d like to meet her sometime, I can arrange …’ She trailed off when she saw Freya shaking her head.
‘I’d understand, sweetheart,’ Alice added softly. ‘You must have questions that only she can answer.’
‘Is that why my maternal grandparents, your parents, didn’t want anything to do with me – because they knew I was no relation?’
‘It wasn’t you, Freya, it was me. They knew I couldn’t have children. They anticipated I might think of adoption. Then a baby appears without going through an adoption process. I made the mistake of confiding in my mother what had happened at the guest house, and they virtually disowned me, said it was wrong, and I should give you back to the lady at the guest house. But I couldn’t do it. I wouldn’t. I loved you so much, Freya. My heart would have broken if I’d had to give you up.’
Freya stared at the woman who had brought her up as her own. She was thinking about how her life had turned out. If she’d grown up in America, perhaps she wouldn’t be the person she was today. In fact, she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be. Her love of archaeology stemmed from Alice and all those wonderful books she’d grown up around. And of course, Cambridge, her home.
And she would never have met Tarek, the love of her life. And she probably would never have known her biological father, who most likely would never write that novel and be the great published writer he aspired to be – but that didn’t matter to her one bit. He was a great teacher, and he’d taught her how to live her best life. They both had.
By leaving her behind, her real mother had given her the most stupendous gift; the life she’d had right here in England, growing up with the two people she loved most in the world. Of course, Freya wasn’t going to tell them all this right now. She was still angry and upset about the secret they’d kept from her. But in time, she knew she could forgive them – how could she not? They were her parents.
Alice and Jeffrey said in unison, ‘Can you ever forgive us, Freya?’
‘Can you ever forgiveus?’ said Gerald, taking Wendy’s hand in his.
Freya looked at Gerald and Wendy. ‘I understand why you did it. And I’m glad.’
Wendy sighed in relief. Gerald slapped his thigh. ‘That’s fantastic.’
‘As for you.’ She turned in her seat to face her parents. She could feel Tarek’s hand close around hers, giving it a gentle squeeze, an unspoken suggestion to go easy on them.They are your parents, after all.Freya’s whole body seemed to tingle at his touch. How could she be away from him when he left for Alexandria? There was a simple solution to that. She looked at her parents. ‘Mum.’
Alice’s eyes went wide at Freya still calling her Mum. ‘Yes?’
‘I don’t know what this thing is between you and Omar.’ She had it on the tip of her tongue to say that she wanted it to stop. But how could she? They were all adults. If her mum still loved Omar, how could she stand in her way? ‘I want you to go home with Dad and have some marriage counselling, or at least talk to one another before you … you …’ Her eyes drifted to Omar.
Jeffrey grinned at this suggestion. For a moment, he thought he’d lost her – both of them. But now, although he knew it was possible she’d still leave him for Omar, or perhaps leave him anyway after she’d found out the truth, at least Freya had given him a chance to put things right. Oh, how he loved his daughter. He grinned at her.
Freya kept her face straight. ‘As for you, Dad.’
His smile faltered. ‘Yes?’
‘You’re not selling the house.’
‘Excuse me? But I’m doing it for you.’
‘I know you are, and that’s the problem. I think you’ve put me first all my life. What about what Mum wants?’
Alice stared at her.
