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Gerald sighed. ‘I know what you’re thinking – he’s not good enough.’
‘That’s right.’
‘But none of her past boyfriends have been good enough in your eyes. Sometimes I think you’re afraid of past mistakes being repeated.’ Gerald knew the moment the words were out of his mouth that he’d said something he’d regret. Even so, he added, ‘She’s not your little sister.’
‘No, she’s my daughter, and that’s even more reason for me to look out for her and make sure she doesn’t fall into the arms of Mr Wrong. Besides, he’s too old for her.’
‘He’s only in his early thirties.’
‘That’s still an age gap.’
‘You always said Emily had an old head on her shoulders.’
Anthea heaved a sigh and returned to unpacking the shopping. ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’
‘Perhaps that’s the problem.’
She whirled around. ‘Oh, so you think it would be a good idea if I went to see somebody and talk about my feelings over what I did to my sister?’
‘That’s a funny turn of phrase. I thought you did itforyour sister.’
‘For her own good. But was it whatshewanted?’
‘Maybe, maybe not,’ Gerald replied.
Emily was standing behind the kitchen door, trying to remind herself she wasn’t that little girl anymore – the one trying to listen in on her parents and older siblings, feeling left out that she had to go to bed early while they all sat downstairs, talking and laughing, watching TV long after she’d gone to bed. Or rather, after they thought she’d gone to bed. She had always felt left out, being the baby of the family, the little one.
She raised her eyes when she heard her dad suggest that Joss was in love with her, as though it was that obvious. It wasn’t obvious to Emily. Although he was doing her a favour, taking Alice and Marley to see the vet, if he loved her, he had a strange way of showing it. He wasn’t exactly falling at her feet or going out of his way to impress her, asking her out on a date, taking her to dinner or buying her flowers. In fact, she’d be surprised if he was interested in her at all.
Although he came across as easy-going and affable, there were times she caught his pained expression when he thought she wasn’t looking. It was as though something significant had happened in his past – or perhaps someonehad happened. Whatever her dad thought he saw, she didn’t feel Joss was in the market for a relationship – not yet, anyway. She wished he was, even though there was an age gap; that didn’t bother her. In fact, she preferred it. She didn’t want some young gun who still wanted to go to nightclubs and discos or – God forbid – raves. Emily wanted maturity. Sometime in the future she wanted to get married and settle down. She wasn’t ready for a family yet. Her career as a vet hadn’t even got off the ground. Perhaps when it had, she’d be ready. But she sensed Joss wasn’t ready, either.
Emily glanced at Hester, who was standing by her legs, looking up at her, probably wondering what they were doing standing behind the kitchen door.
She was about to go when she overheard her dad saying something about her mum’s sister. Emily had never met her. According to family gossip, she was the black sheep of the family. Her aunt had met an American and had emigrated to the US. Her mum and sister were estranged, and had been for years. It meant, to Emily’s regret, that the two families had never got together. She didn’t even know if she had American cousins, let alone their names or where they lived in the US.
At the mention of the aunt she’d never met, Emily desperately wanted to listen in and find out more, but Hester chose that moment to stand up and scamper off. Emily sighed and followed her. The guest house was a large house. The last thing she wanted was for Alice to arrive back to discover Emily couldn’t find her dog.
As she tiptoed away from the door, she couldn’t help thinking about her aunt in America. It had occurred to her before now to put her DNA up on one of these sites and see if she had a match with someone from America, a cousin over there perhaps. In fact, hearing mention of her aunt had piqued her interest once more.
Emily had heard of AncestryDNA and other websites of this nature. She had asked when she was younger about her aunt in America. She would have loved to visit and get to know her family over there. It was so exciting. Her mum did not share her sentiments. She wouldn’t talk about them, let alone consider visiting, so Emily had set the ball rolling to find them herself. It hadn’t taken long to join the site. She was still waiting to see if there was a match.
Chapter 13
Freya stood in the vault, deep in the bowels of the university museum, staring at her clipboard. She was meant to be cataloguing some artefacts in storage and putting some new acquisitions on display upstairs, but she had something on her mind.
The sound of her mobile phone interrupted her thoughts. She pulled it out of her back pocket. ‘Hi, Theo. Date night. Sounds like a plan.’ Freya smiled. Friday was always date night. They didn’t do anything extravagant. They usually ordered a Chinese or a pizza, or Theo cooked, which was a special treat. Sometimes they went to the cinema, but mostly they had a movie night in.
It was bit awkward doing that sort of thing, though, now they had moved out of their rental apartment and were living with her parents. Cuddling up with Theo on the sofa, with a takeaway spread out on the coffee table, was not something she’d do again in a hurry. Her mum and dad had said they had no objections, and although Freya had offered to buy them takeaway too, they’d said they wouldn’t hear of it. She couldn’t forget her mum’s sideways glances at the takeaway and what they were watching on the television, though – the latestAvengersmovie. The film hadn’t been Freya’s choice. It had been Theo’s turn to choose, but she’d enjoyed it nonetheless. Her parents had not.
That was when she realised that although she loved her parents dearly, and wasn’t unhappy about having to leave the bland, modern boxy rental apartment in a development on the outskirts of Cambridge, she had to acknowledge that this wasn’t working. But she only had a part-time job, and Theo was still applying for better paid positions. Their choices were very limited. However, during a heart-to-heart with her dad, he had come up with an idea that had surprised her. She was even more surprised that her mum had gone along with it. If it had been her own house, Freya doubted she would be able to bring herself to sell – but then she didn’t have kids, and she knew had no idea about the sacrifices parents would make for their children.
She thought again about her parents’ lovely old Victorian semi in its leafy Cambridge Street and the short cycle ride along the towpath of the River Cam to get to Cambridge city centre and the colleges.
‘I don’t see the appeal,’ Theo had said when she had raved about her childhood home before he first set eyes on it. ‘I mean, it’s old.’
‘But it’s got character,’ she’d said.
He hadn’t commented. She realised Theo liked brand spanking new, even if that was a house on a development with no greenery and no pleasant walks by a canal, just concrete and cars – although he had conceded that they were lucky to be able to move back in with her parents. And now her parents were selling up to give them a leg-up on the property ladder.
