“I’m saying that Jake just vanished,” Daphne shouted down the phone through stress as opposed to anger. “Our routine got disrupted. I mean it wasn’t just me who lost my job by the way, it was the whole bank. It didn’t matter what seniority, it was like OUT the door.”
“Yes, ok I’ve got that bit, I saw it on the news, the whole thing looked pretty horrendous, and I obviously thought of you,” Tish said, her face flushed. “But I don’t know how the job links to you losing Jake exactly?”
“Well after I packed up and left the office, everything was in chaos below the building, which was being mobbed by the media,” Daphne explained. “I’ve been so distracted recently, and I guess this didn’t help my state of mind. Anyway, as I was preparing to meet my commitment to Jake and to pick him up from school, a colleague who’d known about Richard and had heard about Lehman’s asked me to go over and see him about a possible role.”
“And…” Tish said, getting more and more puzzled.
“Well, to cut a very long story short,” Daphne replied, “Jake got picked up from school by his nanny as I just couldn’t get there in time. She managed to get him home and gave him some food, and she normally would put him to bed early to see if that would settle him. But he somehow managed to get out of the apartment without her even registering that he’d gone.”
“Christ,” Tish said, her eyes widening. “That’s scary that he could just do that. I mean that’s just so dangerous. Where the hell is he now?”
“Upstairs asleep, so don’t panic. He finds life difficult. He doesn’t see things the way we do,” Daphne explained. “And his daddy dying means he no longer believes people if they say they are coming back.”
“I can imagine,” Tish said, exhaling her discomfort at hearing all of this down the phone. “I mean, it is difficult enough for me to handle, but for Jake! He is just too young to be able to really understand what’s happened. How do you begin to explain the inexplicable?”
“It’s not just that Tish,” Daphne replied more cautiously. “Jake has got Asperger syndrome. It’s been officially diagnosed, and as he gets that little bit older it is becoming much more obvious.”
“Oh, wow,” Tish said. “That sounds like another card you’ve been dealt with that you don’t need in your life right now.”
“It’s a big complication,” Daphne agreed. “And it’s getting worse, just in terms of his little habits and rituals. His diagnosis is one of the main reasons I was putting pressure on your father to make a full-time commitment to us. When we met in New York, I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to meet him just because you felt sorry for him.”
“Christ,” Tish said. “What the hell happens next? I mean I feel so helpless being so far away. I have no idea what to say or do to help?”
“I know. The problem I have is that he might be upstairs sleeping now but he is going to do this again and again, if anything disrupts his routine or if he just decides he doesn’t like a situation or a person,” Daphne replied thinking aloud. “Luckily, my lovely neighbour spotted him before he got too far down the road. She knows all about the Asperger diagnosis and figured that something was wrong just by the look on his face and the fact he was out alone.”
“God, that was lucky,” Tish said. “I dread to think what could have happened if he hadn’t been spotted by someone kind like that.”
“I know, me too!” Daphne said in a stressed-out tone. “I mean the neighbour just has a great way about her, but it was so dangerous for him just to be out like that. She talked to him quietly, took him home and then rang me straight away. I feel bad that I even went to talk to this guy about a new job, but I did it for Jake. I mean, although I’ve benefited from an inheritance, I still need to continue to earn money to ensure he gets the very best education and type of support. But I shouldn’t have bothered because he just freaked when I didn’t show up.”
Tish instinctively knew she just had to be in New York with Daphne. If her dad was alive today that’s exactly where he would be, supporting Jake and just making things feel a whole lot better for both of them.
Even with her limited understanding of the subject, she knew that kids with Asperger syndrome grow up introverted and that family contact is pretty much the one thing they need around them to feel less isolated.
And that was how Tish ended up back in New York for the second time in the space of a few months. She slept in fits and starts on the flight over. Recalling Jake’s beautiful face from the photo and his shiny dark blue eyes, so similar to her father’s, she dreamt about him for the second time and in her dream she knew she had to help him and to be in his life. It was her father’s wish, she believed, more than ever that they should be together.
She tried for hours to get comfortable under a British Airways blanket and wrestled with a pair of padded eye covers to see if they would help sleep come. But it was all to no avail and Tish was grateful when the flight touched down on time.
Quickly collecting her overnight bag from the locker above her seat, having learnt from Simon that traveling light had many advantages, Tish made her way to the front of the plane and as she disembarked her heart raced at the prospect of finally meeting Jake.
As much as she’d hated finding out in Peter Heyworth’s office that he existed, Tish definitely wanted him to exist now and the thought of seeing him for the first time propelled her forwards quickly through the crowded airport.
As she got into the arrivals hall, her eyes scanned the sea of faces standing in front of her, some holding white cards with names on them as others just stood in a vague line watching expectantly for loved ones.
At the outer edges of the crowd, Daphne’s smile beamed out at Tish over the small but compressed crowd. Dressed in dark jeans, flat pumps, a blazer and scarf with her hair tied up, she looked much younger and less formidable than she had in the Japanese restaurant.
Tish’s heart lurched, as she saw a small child emerge from the back of Daphne’s legs where he’d been hiding. As Daphne called out Tish’s name, he jumped up and down in an excitement that mirrored his mothers and looked up at as if searching for clues as to what do next as a huge smile illuminated his chubby face.
As Tish walked towards them both she realised that nothing in life had prepared her for the moment she would meet Jake Thorpe. And neither was she prepared for the first words he would say to her.
As she got close up to him, Tish expected a kiss or a hug, but Jake turned away anxiously still clinging to his mother’s legs. He didn’t seem to want to make eye contact of any kind.
“Now Daddy is gone,” Jake said, still with his back turned, “you are my new daddy.”
“Hello Jake,” Tish said, bending down to pick him up and to try and reassure him by giving him a big kiss, unsure how to reply. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
“Hi, Tish,” Daphne said, looking down anxiously at Jake as she hugged them both at once. “Thanks so much for coming to see us. We’re so excited you could make it over. This is one good thing about not working. I now get time to spend with both of you.”
“It’s exciting for me too,” Tish said, beaming from ear to ear, trying not to sound too disappointed by Jake’s reaction. “It’s so good to be here and to see you again and to meet you too Jake. How special is that?”
“Special,” Jake said, without looking up at her as he continued to clutch on to his mother.
“Let me take your luggage,” Daphne offered. “I thought we could go home first and you can rest up for a bit. I’ll then make us all a nice healthy meal and we can chill out and just get to know each other,” Daphne smiled as they walked out to get a yellow cab into town.
“Sounds ideal,” Tish said as she tried carefully to take hold of one of Jake’s chubby hands. “I didn’t manage to get any sleep on the flight over, so a bit of shut eye will probably do me some good.”
The cab journey to Daphne’s Manhattan apartment took about an hour as the traffic was snarled around the edges
of the city. But the time passed quickly with Jake starting to feel more comfortable in her company and he sharing some of his drawings from his colouring book and pointing out all the buildings he found interesting on the way in. He also talked a lot about himself.
“I bet you didn’t expect to come back so quickly?” Daphne smiled, as she looked over at Tish as Jake nodded off on the back seat between them both, exhausted by all the excitement of meeting Tish.
“No,” Tish answered. “I didn’t. Especially now the film has got such good reviews. We went to the premiere, and the reaction from the audience was pretty amazing, especially given it was such a low-budget movie.”
“Yes,” Daphne said quietly. “I’ve been reading some of the reviews. It sounds like it’s not going to be just a one hit success either. You must be delighted. I hadn’t realised that you starred opposite Cameron.”
“Why? Do you know Cameron McKenna?” Tish enquired with a look of surprise after picking up on the way Daphne referred to him with an air of familiarity.
“Yes, absolutely, I met him shortly before I started seeing your father…” Daphne replied, as she ruffled Jake’s hair and stared out of the window looking like she needed to compose herself.
Chapter 24 - Cameron McKenna
Sitting across from Daphne in her apartment over lunch had been a roller-coaster event. Not only had a new truth been shared, but the full extent of their parallel double lives had been fully exposed.
“Is there anything else you need to tell me?” Tish asked just to be certain that was it. “I mean I’m glad you told me everything, but it is almost a film in itself.”
“There is nothing else,” Daphne replied with her head in her hands. “That’s it. The only question is what do we do next? Richard couldn’t bear the idea of having a DNA test done. He just couldn’t live with the possibility of finding out that he wasn’t actually Jake’s father. He was adamant that Jake was his son, but I guess his doubts must have started increasing when the Asperger syndrome came to light, as there was no history of it in his or my family that we knew of.”
“And I guess the piercing blue eyes could have been inherited from either Cameron or Richard?” reasoned Tish, as she recalled how Cameron had stared at her in the back of the limo with eyes that had an uncanny similarity to those of her father.
“Exactly,” Daphne said regretfully. “Your father knew I’d had a very brief liaison with Cameron just before I got together with him. It was pre 9/11 and he was a client of one of my colleagues, he’d just started to make a name for himself and, although he was largely still unknown over here, had started to make quite a bit of money and even back then he was skilled in the art of seduction. The world then was totally different. We took risks and lived lives that seem unbelievable in today’s world of new austerity.”
“How seriously did Dad think Cameron could be Jake’s real father?” Tish asked, trying to block out any reminders about Cameron, unsure about whether she wanted to know the answer.
“Never,” Daphne replied. “He believed that Jake was his son. He felt that right up until the time he died. But remember his mind was clouded at the end. I think even he was beginning to doubt his stance on the markets and that could have led to doubts about other things creeping into his psyche as well. He just loved Jake so much, he simply couldn’t have handled finding out he wasn’t his own flesh and blood.”
“Well, whoever the real father is, I know my dad would have wanted me to provide you with my unwavering support,” Tish volunteered after hardly a moment’s thought. “I mean that child has gone through so much and will have a lot to deal with later on in life, so I want you to know that, whatever the outcome of any tests or conversations, I will remain loyal just like Dad would have done, even if he’d had to do that at a distance.”
As Tish spoke those words of comfort, Daphne got up from the table and hugged her as tightly as her father used to. Sobbing she said, “Thank you Tish. Thank you so very much. You are as generous as your father was, how special for me that you’ve agreed to be part of our lives despite everything. I mean you probably could sense just by meeting him today that he just needs constant support and love.”
“Well, yes I suppose so but it’s my pleasure,” Tish said smiling. “I knew as soon as I met Jake today that I loved him and will always be there for him as a friend but also as a half-sibling if he’ll have me.”
“Well it’s probably more than I deserve but wonderful news for him and his future,” Daphne said gratefully before being interrupted by Tish who was anxious to change the subject.
“In all of this I forgot to say how sorry I was about the job,” Tish said, suddenly remembering. “I read a few of the financial papers on the way over here. It’s dreadful about Lehman’s but it looks like Dad called it absolutely right. Everyone is now expressing the same views about the banking system as he was well over a year ago. ”
“Yes,” Daphne said sadly. “Your dad was always right about the markets and I truly believe he was right about Jake. Unfortunately for me, I have to live with the guilt that I taunted him with the uncertainty that Jake might be Cameron’s son on the day he died, and I don’t expect you to forgive me for saying that to him, however generous you’ve been towards me today. That was what I couldn’t find the guts to tell you until now.”
Chapter 25 - The Beginning
Tish hurried across the village green with armfuls of fresh flowers from the meadows, eager to get home. Bernard had told her that she needed to be at the house by eleven as he was doing things in a strict order of being asked to do them, and was working methodically through her mother’s ‘To Do List’, which read like a military campaign.
She smiled as she caught sight of the house. So much had changed since Christmas Day 2007. The holly trees and Christmas wreath had been replaced by garlands of fresh country flowers and little lanterns of light that would illuminate the whole house and garden to welcome the evening wedding guests.
Whilst a lot of the exterior remained the same, it was the small differences that spoke the loudest. Two large hearts made from seasonal nuts hung together from the cherry tree by the gate – a sign that this was now Bernard and Pamela’s home – and a small Dalmatian puppy panted in the front garden excited to see her.
As Tish opened the door, she heard Jake laughing as Pamela put a beautiful big fresh oxeye daisy in the top pocket of his page-boy jacket. Tish smiled at the scene in front of her.
The discrete DNA test that Tish and Daphne had arranged had revealed that this beautiful unique little boy was indeed her flesh and blood, and that Richard Thorpe had been proved right once again.
With new voices and sounds, the house had finally sprung back to life. The voice of her father was still missed every day, but a new family and a younger generation had started to slowly give everything a new meaning and created a fresh cycle of life.
A lot of water had passed under the bridge since Tish’s second visit to New York. Daphne and Jake had come to London and stayed in Richard’s flat whilst being taken on a guided tour of London by Simon, who had showed them everything and anything they wanted to see.
And after everything that had happened since they’d first met on the train to Paris, Simon had proposed to Tish on a surprise weekend to Florence. He’d done it in a full restaurant with a napkin ring on impulse, and yet he’d told her that night under an Italian canopy of stars that he had known the first time he’d met her on the Eurostar that she would be his.
Tish had not hesitated to say a big resounding YES, making both of them cry and making the Italians in the restaurant go wild with rapturous applause. After all, as both Pamela and Daphne had explained, life was all about making choices.
Her reply had been unquestionable because she was sure she had grown to truly love Simon and she also knew that her father would have blessed the union from the grave. One more thing he’d been right about.
Pamela’s relationship with Bernard had just happened gradually and n
aturally. First, he’d spent all his time at the house and then he’d simply moved in. Her mother seemed to be in the first flush of love and, being with them, Tish realised for the first time that love does not always come perfectly packaged and in the order that it should.
As Tish breathed in the scent of the sweet fresh flowers that had been pulled straight from the earth, she went upstairs to her room and laid the different varieties out on her bed.
One by one she made four posies. One for her mother, one for Daphne, one for Frances and finally her own – everything about this wedding was to her design and specification. The only thing she’d allowed was her mother’s obligatory To Do list, which Bernard had been administering like clockwork for the past few weeks.
As she took out her silk cream dress and vintage shoes, she looked out across the village from her bedroom windows. Not long now she thought before she would be Tish Grealy. The vicar had already ordered the bell ringers to start ringing in anticipation, and she smiled as she listened to the fervor of their ringing, grateful no doubt that Richard had remembered them also in his will.
She smiled as their perfect ancient chimes peeled out across the village green and beyond. Dad would be so pleased she thought, that the bells were sounding so cheerful for all to hear and that Simon was about to make her his bride.
“Tish darling, are you upstairs?” Pamela shouted out from the kitchen. “Bernard has pulled the car up in front of the house. He says you have only got five minutes I’m afraid before he needs to get you and Jake to the church. We don’t want Simon to fret and think that that you’ve changed your mind at the last minute and jilted him at the altar.”
“Oh, Mum,” Tish cried out laughing. “Please! As if I would do that after everything that’s happened! I mean, let’s face it, he is the only man I know on this planet who could have coped with the hand we were dealt and still be prepared to marry me.”
“Well, that’s exactly why I don’t want you to be late,” Pamela shouted back. “Jake is down here ready to walk you up the aisle and Daphne’s just gone up at the church.
The City Affair Page 12
