Page 90 of The Knitting Club at Wagtail Ridge

‘Sure.’ Kelly’s voice sobered. ‘Is everything all right?’

‘I hope so. Can I have a quick word with her?’

He heard some muffled sounds then his daughter’s happy voice. ‘Hi, Daddy. We played Kerplunk last night and I won.’

‘Good for you.’ Matt was suddenly struggling to keep his voice even. ‘I’ve got some work I have to do right now. It means I can’t come and get you. But Kelly is going to give you breakfast and take you to school, okay?’

‘Sure, Daddy.’

‘Okay. You be good for Kelly and I’ll see you later. I love you, honey.’

‘I love you too, Daddy.’

After ending the call, Matt picked up the envelope and tore it open. The lawyer’s letterhead was still as intimidating as it had been in the earlier letters. This one repeated some of the same claims, but there was one new thing. His hand clenched as the words seemed to leap off the page.

Question of paternity … Given the date of birth and the circumstance surrounding … The non-marital relationship …

And then the most shocking words of all:Seeking a court-mandated paternity test as part of a custody hearing.

His world shrank to that line and the horrible words written there. Matt wasn’t even sure if he was breathing as the words shouted at him from the expensive white paper.

Question of paternity

Paternity …

He didn’t know how long he had been sitting there when his phone rang. He ignored it, but the caller was persistent. He finally dragged his eyes away from the paper and looked at the phone. Margaret Fuller.

He reached for it. ‘Hello, Ms Fuller.’

‘I have received a reply, Mr Ambrose.’

‘I know. It was delivered to me just now. By courier.’

‘I assume you’ve read it.’

‘Yes.’

‘So when I asked you if there was anything else, you didn’t think to mention this.’

‘It never occurred to me. Vicki is my daughter. There’s never been any question about that.’

‘Well, there is now.’

‘It’s not true.’

‘Let me ask you this, is there any possibility, however remote, that it is? And please be honest. At this point, lying will only make me unable to help you.’

Matt closed his eyes and let his mind go back to one of the best days of his life. He was twenty-three, footloose and happy that day he’d walked down to the park in Newcastle. The weather was warm and sunny, and the park was crowded with a food market and craft stalls raising money for charity. Feeling hungry, he’d stopped at the first stall, which was selling homemade sausage rolls. He’d stayed because of the smiling, dark-haired girl who took his money.

Matt had never believed in love at first sight. Lust, certainly—but not love. Until the moment he’d laid eyes on Kim and decided he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. It was like a kick in the gut, but one he welcomed. And it had been the same for Kim. He’d stayed by the stall all day, eating more sausage rolls than was good for him and falling irrevocably and helplessly in love. At the time, Kim had been living with someone else, but that night she didn’t go home to him. When all her wares were sold, Matt had helped her pack the stall away and the two of them had driven to the beach, where they’d sat and talked until dawn. When the sun rose, he drove her back to her home, she packed her things and, by the evening, was living with Matt. From that day, they had never spent a night apart, except when first her pregnancy, and then her illness, had sent her to hospital.

‘So I guess it is technically possible,’ Matt said, concluding his story. ‘Vicki was born nine months later. But we never for one moment considered that she wasn’t my child.’

‘Is your name on her birth certificate?’

‘Yes. Of course it is.’

‘That’s good. It would be even better if you’d been married, but that’s not really an issue. The question is, would you be happy to undergo a paternity test? To clear this up.’

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