Page 91 of Merrily Ever After
‘Snap!’ I said, pleased to find something in common.
‘Got it.’ Delilah wrote it down. ‘Anything to eat?’
‘One of your mince pies please,’ said Emily.
Delilah looked at me and jerked her head towards Emily. ‘See. Obviously, the brains of the family.’
‘Uh-huh.’ Emily shook her head. ‘She’s the brains, runs her own successful company.’
‘Me?’ I protested. ‘You’re the smart one, Miss Marple, working out the clues. You’re the reason we’re both sitting here.’
‘Now, now, girls.’ Delilah laughed and went to fetch Emily’s order.
‘Remember meeting Astrid on Saturday?’ I asked. ‘She’s German and makes the most amazinglebkuchen, you’ll have to try some.’
Emily’s chest rose and fell, and for a second, she said nothing. ‘I’d like that.’
I gazed at her, realising that in the space of two minutes, I’d already decided that whatever the outcome of this meeting, I wanted Emily in my life. Even if this turned out to be a big mistake and we weren’t related at all.
‘So.’
‘So.’
We both spoke at the same time and laughed easily.
‘You go first,’ I said and sipped my latte.
‘I was just going to say that I hope I’ve done the right thing by contacting you now.’ Emily shifted in her seat. ‘It’s almost Christmas and you’re getting married, and you must be busy with Merry and Bright, but once I’d started putting it all together, I needed to know whether it really was you in that photograph, whether I really do have a sister.’
‘You did the right thing,’ I said, understanding completely. ‘And I’d have done the same. My fiancé Cole thought I was rushing into meeting you so quickly. But how could I not? It would have been like suspecting you had all six numbers on the lottery and not scrabbling to check your ticket immediately.’
Her eyes shone. ‘It does feel a bit like a lottery win.’
‘Cole says hi, by the way. He offered to come along too for support.’ I looked at my engagement ring and smiled to myself. He’d driven over this morning and held me while I’d cried, overwhelmed with the shock of seeing a photograph of myself as a baby, in my old home. I had almost nothing from my early childhood, no photographs of me and Mum. And all this time, a man who claimed to be my dad hadn’t been far away with his other daughter. A family I could have been part of instead of growing up alone. But today wasn’t about dwelling on the might-have-beens it was about finding out what I might have now.
She smiled. ‘So did Will. But he and I are very new, it’s too soon to be putting all this family stuff on him. And my best friend—’
‘Lives in Jersey?’ I said.
‘Well remembered!’ Emily looked impressed. ‘But I’ve told her about you. And Will and I FaceTimed her last night after delivering my letter.’
‘One latte and one mince pie,’ said Delilah, gently setting everything down on the table between us and gliding away after Emily smiled her thanks.
‘I haven’t been able to eat all day,’ Emily admitted.
‘Me neither.’ At that moment, my stomach kicked into action and gave an almighty rumble. ‘Whoops.’
We both laughed and Emily cut the mince pie in half and pushed the plate between us so we could share it. We bit into our respective halves, and I savoured the sweetness of the fruit, the kick of whatever alcohol Delilah had mixed into it and the lightness of the pastry. It tasted like heaven.
‘So. Let’s get the facts straight.’ I got out the photograph that Emily had sent and looked at it. ‘Like I said on the phone, the photo was definitely taken in our flat, and I’m as sure as I can be that the baby is me.’
She nodded. ‘And Ray, my dad? You recognise him?’
‘I only remembered his name after you told me. He was a friend of Mum’s, as far as I knew.’ I frowned; my memories were hazy from that part of my life. I had very clear ones of me and Mum, and I had vague recollections of various friends dropping into the flat and he was one of them. ‘He was obviously there at some point over my first Christmas, but I only saw him a handful of times when I was little. I think the last time I’d have seen him was when I was about five or six. I read my schoolbook to him, and I got fed up with it, so he read me a story instead. Andhe liked music,’ I said, with a sudden recollection. ‘He’d always put our little radio on. We didn’t have CDs or records or anything like that. But he’d sing or hum and whistle if he didn’t know the words.’
Emily stared at her. ‘Oh my gosh! I asked him what I was like when I was little, and he said something about me dancing in the flat. But Mum and I never lived in a flat. So that must have been you.’
My heart gave a leap. ‘I wonder what else he remembers. I’d love to hear about my mum.’
