It Started with a Secret

by Jill Mansell

  The next moment, a furry body slid past her bare ankle, and she realized that while she’d been spying on Christina, Radley the silent assassin had been spying on her.

  Thanks a lot, cat.

  Chapter 24

  “Who’s there? What’s going on?” Equally startled, Christina dropped the sandwich bag into the sink as she spun around.

  Lainey clutched her chest. “I didn’t know Radley was behind me and he caught me by surprise. I came to see if you were OK. I was worried about you.” She flushed at the semi-lie, then looked from the headless electric toothbrush to the transparent plastic bag in the sink. “What are you doing?”

  Because there were some questions you just had to ask.

  Christina was shaking her head, casting around for inspiration. Finally, she swallowed and said accusingly, “You aren’t a mother. You don’t know how it feels. Wait till you have children, then you’ll understand.”

  Lainey stared at her. “I don’t even know what that’s supposed to mean.”

  “I miss Seth! How often do I get to see my son? Not very often at all. And I miss him so much…so I just thought it would be nice to have his toothbrush as a keepsake, to remind me of him when we’re apart.”

  It was the worst lie in the history of lies, which kind of went to show the nonsense you could come up with when you had an entire bottle of wine inside you. Even Christina had the grace to look ashamed. Lainey glanced at the unzipped quilted leather shoulder bag sitting on the window ledge and saw something poking out of it. She pointed. “What’s that?”

  “Nothing.”

  But she was already crossing the bathroom, beating Christina to it and plucking out a second sandwich bag. Inside this one, a small bird’s nest of hair was clearly visible.

  “You went into India’s room. That’s her hair, taken from her hairbrush.”

  “I…I thought it was Seth’s.”

  “It’s purple,” said Lainey.

  “Well, keep it, then. I didn’t realize. You can have it back.”

  Lainey looked at the two electric toothbrushes lined up next to the sink, the bright-pink one on the left and the headless black one on the right.

  “Seth has an en suite bathroom,” she said. “He doesn’t use this one. That black toothbrush belongs to Violet.”

  Christina’s narrow shoulders slumped. “Oh for fuck’s sake. Why can’t anything ever go to plan?”

  “Let’s go downstairs.” Lainey gestured to the bathroom door. “Come on, I’ll make you a coffee.”

  “Don’t bother. I may as well just leave.” Christina picked up her shoulder bag and took out her phone. “I’ll call a taxi.”

  Downstairs, the front door opened and slammed shut, and they heard a volley of barks as the dogs greeted the latest arrival with delight.

  “That’s Seth,” said Lainey.

  “OK, this is important.” Christina clutched her arm. “Can you please not tell him about this?”

  Lainey fitted the head back onto Violet’s toothbrush, then dropped the bundle of purple hair into the toilet and pulled the flush. She followed Christina down the staircase and they found Seth in the kitchen, taking a fresh box of coffee pods out of the cupboard.

  “Mum, you’re early.” He greeted Christina with a kiss. “What time did you get here?”

  “I’ll make the coffee.” Lainey began laying out cups and saucers, aware that Seth was giving her a quizzical look.

  He studied his mother. “Is everything OK?”

  “Yes, yes, of course everything’s OK. Why wouldn’t it be? I got the time wrong, that’s all!”

  Lainey took the coffee pods from Seth, who said, “What were you both doing upstairs?”

  “I was cleaning the carpet in Harry’s room.” She hesitated. “And your mum was—”

  “Admiring the view,” Christina blurted out. “From the window on the landing. It’s…such a great view from up there.”

  Lainey busied herself with the coffee machine, paying extra close attention to the pods.

  Seth said, “Is something going on here that I should know about? Mum?”

  “No!”

  Lainey saw him glance through the kitchen window, clocking the upturned wine bottle in the ice bucket next to the chaise longue. He turned to look at her. “Can we just have a quick word outside?”

  “Oh, for God’s sake. Fine,” Christina almost shouted. “I’m going to have to tell you now, aren’t I? Because if I don’t, she will. And it’s so unfair, because I’m not even ready.”

  A muscle was jumping in Seth’s jaw. “Not even ready to tell me what?”

  * * *

  Lainey had made the coffee and left them to it. Having carried the drinks through to the living room and closed the door, Seth sat down opposite his mother.

  “Right, first things first. Where’s the boyfriend?” For a second he struggled to recall the name of his future stepfather. “Laszlo.”

  “We broke up.” She wrinkled her nose at the cup in front of her. “Do we have to drink this? I’d rather have wine.”

  “I think you’ve had plenty.” As long as he could remember, his mother had been an overenthusiastic drinker; he was used to it. “So that means the wedding’s off?”

  Her shrug was dismissive. “He was a lying toad who only cared about himself. And don’t say you told me so, because you didn’t.”

  “Is he the reason for this visit?”

  She shook her head. “No.”

  “So why are you here?”

  “Darling, you know I love you. With all my heart.”

  Of course she did, in her own chaotic way. Seth nodded. “Just tell me what’s going on.”

  “Well, remember I called and told you about bumping into Shelley in Marbella? So she joined us for lunch, and we had a wonderful afternoon catching up, talking about the old days and all the people we’d known back then…you know how it is, such fun hearing all the gossip about old friends…” She paused to lean forward and take a gulp of the unwanted coffee, and Seth said nothing, because he could sense she was building up to the important bit.

  The cup clattered back into the saucer and she began fiddling with the many bracelets on her thin wrist. “And then Shelley told me she’d heard some news about someone we’d both known a long time ago. He was Italian…a bit of a playboy type…great fun, you know what I’m saying. Anyway, apparently he’s really ill now, doesn’t have long left to live. And you know what it’s like when you suddenly discover that someone you care about is about to die…it gets you thinking about the past. Because I liked him a lot, I really did. And apparently he never went on to have children. The thing is, according to Shelley he’s practically a billionaire and a total recluse. He lives in a massive villa on the shore of Lake Como. And I just thought it might be a nice idea to pay him a visit.”

  Seth frowned, because this was a bizarre idea even by his mother’s standards. “You mean he’s incredibly wealthy and doesn’t have anyone better to leave his money to, so maybe he’ll take one look at you, decide to change his will, and bequeath you all his worldly goods?”

  For a long moment, Christina stared out of the window as seagulls wheeled like kites overhead. Finally, she turned back to him. “You do have a low opinion of me, don’t you? But maybe I’m not as selfish as you like to make out. And remember, when I came here today I didn’t want to tell you any of this, but now you’re forcing me to do it.” She paused once more, preparing herself, and in that split second, he knew. “You’re the reason I want to see him, Seth. Because there’s a good chance he does have a child he could leave his money to.”

  And there it was. Almost, but not quite, a complete bombshell of a surprise. “Me.” He sat back and shook his head.

  “Possibly. It’s not definite.”

  “If you didn’t come here to tell me this, why did you come he
re?”

  “To find out,” said Christina. “Without you knowing about it. This is all Lainey’s fault—she caught me in the bathroom trying to take your toothbrush.” Impatiently, she added, “Except it was the wrong bathroom and it wasn’t your toothbrush.”

  “So you were going to try to match my DNA with…?”

  “The hair from India’s brush. Well, that was plan A. But it was purple, wasn’t it, so goodness knows if it would even still work anyway. Then I tried to get your toothbrush. I just wanted to find out the truth,” she blurted out. “After all these years of deliberately not thinking about it, all of a sudden I needed to know. And it’s dead easy for the testing people to see if two samples belong to half siblings. So if the test proved that you were Tony’s all along, I could stop wondering!”

  Seth marveled at the way his mother’s mind worked. He strongly suspected the large-amount-of-money situation had been the deciding factor.

  Christina was frowning now, studying him closely. “I have to say, you don’t seem that surprised.”

  “Don’t I?” Seth finished his coffee and summoned a brief smile. “Maybe that’s because I’m not.”

  * * *

  “Oh no.” Lainey covered her mouth and gazed at Seth sitting next to her on the dry sand. “I mean, I’d kind of figured it out, but how awful for you. I’m so sorry.”

  She’d known as soon as he’d asked her to come down to the beach with him that her guess had been right and also that he didn’t want to confide in Majella, who would be devastated by the news.

  “Thanks.” Ruefully, Seth added, “Funny how it didn’t occur to my mother to say sorry. There again, I’ve known her long enough not to expect too much.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m OK. I’m fine.”

  “Really?” How could he be?

  He scooped up a handful of dry sand and let it sift through his fingers. “When I was seventeen, my mum called me on the afternoon of the last day of school before the Christmas holidays. She wanted me to fly out to Barbados and spend Christmas and New Year’s with her and a bunch of her posh, druggy friends in a five-star hotel. Which wasn’t my idea of fun. So I asked if I could stay in London with Dad and Majella instead. The girls were two years old,” he explained. “I just loved spending time with them. But of course it hurt my mother’s feelings; she was offended that I’d want to be with Dad rather than with her. And that was when she told me the chances were he probably wasn’t my real father anyway.”

  “Oh no.”

  Seth shrugged. “She was upset, and I’m sure drinking was involved. She just lashed out.”

  What must it have been like, growing up with a mother like that? “Did she apologize afterward?”

  “She didn’t even remember saying it.” He glanced sideways at her, smiled briefly. “And I only found that out this afternoon. After the phone call, I never mentioned it again, and neither did she. Today, she told me Tony might not be my biological father and couldn’t understand why I wasn’t surprised.”

  “But what made her tell you today?”

  His eyes glinted with amusement. “Ah, well, she’s just found out the other contender is about to die. He’s absolutely loaded, it turns out, and doesn’t have any other children, so Mum thought I might want to pay him a quick visit and introduce myself.”

  He was calm on the outside, but Lainey wondered what he must be feeling.

  Cautiously she said, “And…will you?”

  “No.” Seth shook his head. “Really no. I don’t see the point. He’s just someone who had a one-night stand thirty-three years ago with my mother. Poor guy. Imagine being on your deathbed and a complete stranger turns up waving a Father’s Day card.”

  “Some people would want to do that.”

  “I’m sure they would. But I’m not one of them.”

  “Have you Googled him?”

  Another shake. “I don’t know his surname, and I don’t even want to know it. That’s how uninterested I am. Because I already have a father. Dad might not be around anymore, but he was the one who brought me up. I loved him and he loved me. And I love the rest of my family too.” He paused to watch the frilly-edged waves roll in, ghostly white in the moonlight. “I don’t want them to find out about any of this, by the way.”

  “Oh God, of course not.” Lainey barely had time to feel offended before his hand came to rest on her arm.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I completely trust you. I just meant there’s no need for them to know, because it’s all so irrelevant. Apart from anything else, this guy might not even be related to me.”

  “You don’t want to do the DNA test to find out?”

  “No.” He moved his hand away and Lainey’s arm felt suddenly naked; she tried not to feel bereft.

  “OK.”

  “As far as I’m concerned, Tony’s my father and that’s that. End of.”

  “Well, good.”

  “Are you shivering?”

  The physical contact had caused the fine hairs to stand up on her forearm, and he must have felt them. Lainey, not cold at all, said, “Yes, getting a bit chilly now.” In her head, floozy Lainey added, But if you put your arms around me, that’ll warm me up.

  Luckily, floozy Lainey didn’t say this out loud.

  “Come on, let’s get you inside.” Already on his feet, Seth reached for her hand and hauled her upright. “Kit’s going to be wondering where you’ve gotten to.”

  The soft sand shifted beneath her and Lainey, caught off balance, stumbled against him. For a moment their eyes met and time stood still, adrenaline surging through her bloodstream. The impulse to lean in and feel his body against hers was almost overwhelming. What if she were to give in to temptation and actually do it?

  It was one of those sliding-doors moments. Oh, but she was the employee here, working for Seth’s family; how could she be the one to make the first move? What if he were to pull away in horror, saying, God, what are you playing at? You can’t do that—have you lost your mind?

  “Sorry, my flip-flop went sideways.” Breaking contact, she made an exaggerated point of wriggling it back into place on her foot. “And I do need to catch up with Kit, because tonight was his first date in months, so he’s going to want to tell me how it went.”

  “We’d better get you back for the debrief then.” As they made their way up the narrow path to the bottom of the garden, Seth said, “Who’s he seeing, anyone we know?”

  “His name’s Tom, and he runs that bar on the harbor; he’s got white-blond hair and—”

  “It’s OK. Everyone knows Tom. He’s a…character.” Seth held the gate open for her to go through ahead of him.

  “You hesitated,” said Lainey. “What does that mean?” Because hesitation was never good news.

  “Sorry, they might hit it off and everything’ll be great.”

  “But?”

  “Well, he has a reputation as a bit of a heartbreaker.”

  “I guessed he might. He looks the type.” Who’d have thought it? Two in the same small town. “But what can you do? Luckily Kit’s used to being dumped and having his heart broken.”

  “It’ll all come good in the end. He’ll meet the right guy one day.” As he said it, they both heard the rhythmic rib-ribbit sound of a frog in the garden pond over to their left.

  “Let’s hope so.” Lainey nodded in the direction of the frog. “I suppose we all have to kiss a few of those first.”

  “And hope they aren’t poisonous,” Seth said with a grin.

  Chapter 25

  It was about the least romantic place for a reunion, but that didn’t matter at all. The sky was gray, rain was falling steadily over Bristol Parkway, and the parking lot was full of grim-faced people hurrying from their cars into the shelter of the station. But when Wyatt caught sight of Penny, he felt
his heart lift like a helium balloon. There she was, wearing a lemon-yellow raincoat and pale-pink pumps, and carrying a navy umbrella covered in multicolored cats and dogs. It was like one of those Disney moments when the sun comes out, flowers open, and woodland creatures burst into song.

  Oh, it was so good to see her again.

  He waved and pulled into the short-stay section of the parking lot, and Penny splashed her way through the puddles, hauling her purple overnight case behind her. She’d caught the train from Walsall to Bristol, he’d driven here from London, and now they’d be making the rest of the journey down to Cornwall together.

  Wyatt jumped out of the car. For a split second, they both hesitated, then Penny threw herself into his arms and he swung her around. “Look at you,” he cried. “It’s so good to see you again!”

  “Same! I can’t believe it!” She was beaming, her umbrella tumbling to the wet tarmac. “I did wonder if it’d feel weird or awkward, even just for a few seconds, but it doesn’t at all. Not even a tiny bit.”

  “It doesn’t feel awkward.” Wyatt agreed. “It feels right.”

  And it did. He thought he must be the happiest man at this train station. When they’d finally stopped grinning at each other like idiots, he reached for her case and lifted it into the trunk of the car alongside his own.

  “Louis Vuitton.” Penny nodded at his case, then pointed to hers. “Discount store.”

  “Yours looks fine.” He rolled up her umbrella. “I like this too.”

  “So do I. It makes people smile.”

  As did she. Wyatt said, “Hopefully we won’t need it for the wedding.”

  “We won’t. The weather’s clearing from the west. By the time we reach Cornwall, it’s going to be sunny and fabulous.”

  “And did you bring along your CDs?”

  Penny gave him a How could you? look and pulled them out of her shoulder bag. “Of course! I’ll even let you choose the first one.”

  Whenever they’d traveled by car, they had loved to sing along to Penny’s music collection.