‘May I ask what your mum’s surname is? I mean her maiden name.’ George’s voice was a whisper.
‘Appleton, that’s her married name but she was a Wilson before, Carmen Wilson.’
When Sam quickly placed the cup on the table then stood and rushed to George’s side, placing an arm around his shoulders as if to steady him, Leonora asked the obvious question. ‘What’s wrong? Have I said something to upset you?’
George didn’t speak at first, instead he gave a short cough and after Sam patted his shoulder in an encouraging manner, he spoke. ‘Yes, pet. I think I do know your mum.’
For some reason Leonora had goosebumps and the hairs on her neck prickled. ‘Really, how?’
His voice was a little bolder when he answered. ‘Well, if I’m not mistaken, I’m her dad. And that means I’m your granddad.’
Leonora could feel her mouth making the shape of an O and her eyes were locked in position, her brain going like the clappers as it tried to compute what she’d just heard. Finally it worked it all out. ‘Oh my… Are you Geordie?Mygranddad Geordie?’
And it was those words, one name that sealed the deal because when George heard her say it he crumbled, so did Leonora and it was left to Sam, who was equally emotional, to mop up their tears.
28
Geordie
Never in all his wild imaginings of the day he would find his daughter, had Geordie seen it played out this way. Right there in front of him, kneeling by his side on the floor was his youngest granddaughter and she was holding his hand. His own flesh and blood and he could feel her, see her, hold her. When she’d rushed across the room to embrace him he’d closed his eyes and let the moment wash over him, committing every second to memory. And now, after the emotion, amidst such a tremendous shock, all three of them were coming to terms with the reality of the situation.
Leonora spoke first. ‘I just can’t take it all in, can you? Me and Sam have been working together and we never knew we were connected like this. And all this time you’ve been living thirty minutes away from us, from Mum. And you came to the garden centre too. You could have passed each other by. Oh my word. This is going to blow her mind, you know. And yours, because she told us only last week, on Sunday, that she’s going to start looking for you. I need to ring her, or should I wait? What should I do? My head’s mashed–’
Sam interrupted. ‘I think we all need to take a breath first, before we do anything. This has been a huge shock for all of us.’
Geordie nodded but had so much to ask, say. ‘Did she? Well this is even more of a coincidence because I’d decided to do the same thing. I simply can’t believe this is happening. I really can’t take it in.’ To know that Carmen was going to look for him brought such joy to his heart. ‘Will you tell me about her, please. Have you got a photo? You don’t know how much I’ve longed to see what she looks like now. You have a look of her, the same colour hair, like mine used to be before I went grey, wasn’t it, Sam? Dark brown like Leo’s.’ When he looked to Sam he nodded.
‘Of course I’ll tell you. Let me get my phone: I’ll show you some photos of all of us. You have five great-grandchildren too… can you believe that!’ Leonora reached for her bag and dragged it across the floor and pulled out her phone, tapping on an album that said ‘Famalam’ then turned the screen toward him. ‘There she is. That’s your Carmen.’
Geordie frantically brushed away the tears so he could see properly and gazed upon the face of his little girl all grown up. He wanted to touch the screen and for his fingers to go right inside so he could touch her, make sure she was real. Her hair was still as dark as he remembered and she was slight too, like her mum. But the smile! It lit up the screen and his heart was so happy it made him giddy. He’d not been that for a long time.
‘She’s a bonny lass, all right. Look, Sam.’ He turned the phone so he could see and watched the look that passed over his face. They’d talked about it so much, the two of them, trying to find Carmen and he knew Sam would be happy too.
Leonora touched the screen. ‘If you swipe like this, I’ll tell you who they all are.’
Doing as he was told, one by one, the faces of his family appeared. As he looked on in total wonderment, his lovely granddaughter – how odd that sounded but so perfectly amazing – told him the story of their lives.
Leonora was back on the sofa, sipping coffee that Sam had made after the tea went stone cold. ‘I think I’ve told you everything but I’m sure you’ll have lots more questions so if you think of any, just ask.’
‘No, you’ve done a grand job of filling in the gap and that was some gap, wasn’t it. I am sorry about Sylvia though. Even though we parted on bad terms I kind of hoped that after all these years we might be able to put that behind us. It’s too late now and that makes me incredibly sad.’ It was true. He and Sam had hoped that with age had come wisdom and forgiveness but when Leonora grimaced, he realised it might not be the case.
‘The thing is you never could tell with Gran. She was one of a kind and set like stone in her ways so I’m not sure how she would have reacted but before she died she did say something to Mum that might give you comfort. It was the thing that encouraged her to look for you. Mum had always respected Gran’s feelings so it was kind of like permission, I think.’
Geordie steeled himself. ‘What did she say?’
Leonora replied, ‘She said something on the lines of wanting to tell Mum about you, before it was too late. She said she did it for Mum and if she saw you again to tell you she forgave you.’
Sucking in a lungful of air to steady himself, Geordie glanced at Sam who gave a nod and smiled. It was what they had both hoped for and Sylvia’s message meant as much to Sam as it did to him. It was Leonora’s turn to ask a question and it wasn’t totally unexpected.
‘So can you tell me about how you two met, and what happened to Martha, the lady that Gran said you ran away with? That’s all we know. She wouldn’t talk about it and neither did Mum, mainly because there wasn’t much she could say.
‘Mum said that you were having an affair with a woman called Martha, who came round on Christmas Eve and confronted you and told Gran everything. Then you left and chose Martha so Gran brought Mum here, to Manchester. What I don’t understand is where you two met and what happened to Martha. Did you split up?’
Geordie sighed and looked towards Sam who said exactly what he expected. ‘I think Leonora needs to hear the full story, don’t you? And then she will understand.’
Nodding, he then turned to his wide-eyed granddaughter and told her his story, a telling that was long overdue.
29
