Page 56 of Prudence
He appeared to swallow, his brow furrowing as he replied, “Padraig Balfe, it’s May 27, my granddaughter’s birthday, and it appears that I’m lying on my kitchen floor.”
I smiled a little at his dry humour on that last part. “And how are you feeling? Any pain?”
“I’m a little foggy headed. My tailbone feels bruised, and I’m thirsty.”
“All right. I’m going to get you a glass of water, but please stay where you are.”
As I went to the sink to fill a glass, Padraig said, “You’re the one who doesn’t like me.”
I blinked at his blunt statement, turning off the tap as I returned to kneel by his side. Placing the water down for a second, I said, “I’m going to help you sit up, but we need to do it very slowly.”
“Okay.”
Padraig allowed me to manoeuvre him into a sitting position before I brought the glass to his lips. He took a small sip before looking at me again as though waiting for me to address what he said.
“I don’t dislike you.”
Padraig gave a weak chuckle. “I’ve worked in the hospitality sector for over forty years, my dear. I know people and their body language. You, Miss Milly, are deeply uncomfortable whenever you run into me.”
Ah, hell, it was the awkward encounter in the hotel elevator that gave me away, wasn’t it? Releasing a breath, I decided to be candid for a change. “Nell Partridge is my aunt. She told me about your relationship with her back when you were teenagers, about the baby.”
Surprise claimed him before a sad expression passed over his aged features. “Ah, so that explains it,” he said, a hint of sorrow and regret in his voice.
“Yes,” I agreed, lifting the glass so he could take another sip.
“I always regretted how that turned out, but I just wasn’t ready for marriage back then. I was seventeen, barely knew how to do my own laundry, but I was determined to help with the child if she went ahead and had it. I would’ve tried my best.”
“Marriage?” I asked, frowning.
Padraig nodded, his expression faraway like he’d travelled all the way back there. “Your aunt probably told you all this, but when she discovered she was pregnant, she said the only way she’d keep the baby was if we wed. I told her I couldn’t marry her, but that she and the baby would be cared for. I’d get a job, make sure the child wanted for nothing. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t accept that, and I understand now why she didn’t. It was a different time. Having a child out of wedlock was considered a shameful thing by many.”
My gut twisted as I listened to him speak. Was he lying? Surely not. Padraig was still very dazed, and in my experience, it was moments of foggy headedness when people tended to speak honestly. He had, after all, just confronted me about not liking him, and I doubted it was something he’d ever bring up if he had all his wits about him.
I didn’t know how to feel, didn’t know what to think. Why would Nell leave out such a vital part of the story? In her version, Padraig told her outright he didn’t want the baby and that she should terminate the pregnancy. She painted him as the out-and-out villain and said nothing of asking him to marry her, nor of his promise to get a job and care for her and the child after it was born.
“That wasn’t quite how my aunt told it,” I said, and Padraig’s gaze met mine just as Derek stepped into the room.
“I found it at last,” he announced, carrying a small green box while I tried to comprehend the possibility that my aunt had liedto me in such a way that it had possibly changed the very course of my life. But why?
19.
Derek
When Milly and I stepped into the kitchen and found my dad passed out on the floor, I’d felt a panic that was second only to the time I’d come home and found Gigi unconscious after taking all those pain pills.
My father was a robust, healthy man and had barely been sick a day in his life. I was frozen, stunned, but then Milly took complete charge of the situation, quite like she had back in the schoolyard that day when Tristan cut his knee. Once again, she’d come to the rescue, and I was in awe and so grateful she was there.
She sent me to look for a medical kit, and I found it easily enough, but when I returned to the kitchen, the exchange between Milly and my father stopped me in my tracks. I paused behind the door to listen, and to say that what I overheard shocked me would be an understatement.
Dad been in a relationship with Milly’s aunt? Not only that, he’d gotten her pregnant, and she’d wanted him to marry her? How had Milly never told me this? It was clearly something she’d known about for a long time. The tail end of their exchange kept replaying in my head as I finally entered the room.
Your aunt probably told you all this, but when she discovered she was pregnant, she said the only way she’d keep the baby was if we wed. I told her I couldn’t marry her but that she and the baby would be cared for. I’d get a job, make sure the child wanted for nothing. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t accept that, and I understand now why she didn’t. It was a differenttime. Having a child out of wedlock was considered a shameful thing by many.
And then Milly replying,That wasn’t quite how my aunt told it.
What way had her aunt told it?
“Thank you,” Milly said, distracting me from my thoughts as she took the medical kit. “He seems stable now, though. I don’t think we’ll need this.”
