And they were all in tears.
‘You can’t go back and be on your own,’ Ellie said finally. ‘Stay here, with us, at least for a while. Until you’re ready for a new start.’
Laura nodded but her face was still creased with pain. ‘Mam has to know,’ she said softly. ‘She would never forgive us for keeping it a secret from her.’
‘I can’t tell her.’ Fi shook her head sharply. ‘I can’t do that to her. I just can’t…’
‘It’s been hidden for too long already,’ Laura said gently. ‘Nobody else has to know, but it’s not fair to keep it from Mam. She needs to know so thatshecan tell you there’s nothing to be ashamed of. That none of this is your fault. That she loves you as much as we do.’ She took an audibly deep breath. ‘Is it okay with you ifItell her? When I pick her up at the airport?’
Fi looked from Laura to Ellie and back again. It felt like she hadn’t made genuine eye contact with either of her sisters in more than ten years but she’d shut herself so far away she hadn’t even realised how much she’d missed them.
Until now.
And her heart ached as she acknowledged that she’d missed her mother even more.
‘Aye…’ Her agreement was no more than a sigh of sound. ‘I think I’d like that.’
It was a step into unchartered territory.
A new beginning, perhaps?
It felt huge.
But fragile enough to need careful handling. Like a nervous horse, perhaps.
Maybe that was why Ellie was trying to lighten the atmosphere with her smile and cheerful tone.
‘I’ll tell you something else you might like. I made a daube de boeuf in my slow cooker yesterday. It’s full of carrots and garlic and it’s got bacon as well as the beef brisket, and I tipped in awholebottle of red wine.’
When had she last eaten any real food? ‘That soundssogood.’
‘It should taste even better today. I’ll bring some over for your dinner.’
The sudden cry from upstairs startled them all.
‘That’s my wee Bonnie awake,’ Ellie said.
Fi watched her heading for the stairs.
Laura was watching Fi. ‘There’s a wonderful old bath up there,’ she said. ‘And there’s some gorgeous soap and shampoo and conditioner that I put in there for Mam. Help yourself to anything.’
‘I will. Thank you.’
‘I’d better go, too. I’ll need to find somewhere to park at the airport so I can go inside to wait for Mam to get through customs.’ Laura wrapped her arms around Fi to hug her tightly. ‘I’m so glad you’re here,’ she said softly.
‘Me too.’
It was an automatic, polite response. It was only after the words had left her mouth that Fi realised how heartfelt they were.
5
Jeannie Gilchrist sat in silence, her heart breaking as Laura quietly told her that Fiona was in Tourrettes-sur-Loup and why she had fled from Scotland.
And the real reason she’d distanced herself from her family.
She stayed silent as Laura drove from the airport in Nice towards the mountains, absorbing the shocking revelations, and then fished in her handbag to find the neat rectangle of fine folded cotton she knew was in there. People shook their heads at her using old-fashioned handkerchiefs instead of tissues these days, but she loved the embroidery and the pretty, scalloped edges of the soft fabric.
She wiped her eyes and then drew in a new breath, steeling herself to face whatever needed to be faced. To do whatever needed to be done and, above all, to protect her precious daughters. As she always had, since the perfect life she had been lucky enough to find had managed to shift from a dream into a nightmare.
