I’ve got a pesky tickle in my nose, but I rub it hard and it goes away.
Paloma gives a low chuckle and says, ‘You’re here already? Oh my God, can you actually believe what’s happening to us? It fees unreal. My head is all over the place. I don’t think I’ve ever felt so … I don’t know, elated! She laughs. ‘It’s lovely to know you feel the same.’
There’s another pause, then: ‘You mean you can’t wait all of three seconds for me to join you in there?’
My heart beats faster. He’s coming out. Jake is coming out!
A dark shape appears in the little porch, half-hidden from view. Paloma smiles up at him and holds out her arms. And he walks right into them.
And a spasm of shock grips me. It’s not Jake who’s pulling her to him as if he’ll never let her go.
It’s Theo …
I feel faint; it’s just so not what I was expecting to see. Theo wrapped around Paloma? It can’t be happening. I knew she liked Theo – but she never gave me any indication that she cared for him in that way!
I swallow on the lump of misery in my throat, watching them break apart and laugh, while still clinging to each other. Perhaps she’s guessed how I feel about Theo myself, and that’s why she’s kept this meeting a secret.
My nose tickles – worse this time – and I rub it furiously.
But next second, an enormous sneeze surges out. In the silence of the night, it sounds deafening and they both swing round. Paloma flicks the light on her phone and then it’s shining on my guilty face and they’re both looking at me with startled expressions. As well they might.
Theo takes a step towards me.
‘Twilight?’ says Paloma, wonderingly. ‘What on earth are you doing there?’
I glance miserably from her to Theo and back again. ‘I was – er – looking for my purse.’ I dig it out of my bag and hold it up. ‘But now I’ve found it. Have a nice night!’ And I flee from the pub car park, just wanting to escape their bemused and pitying looks. I hear Theo shouting after me, and a moment later, Paloma joins in. But I’m jogging along the high street by this time, heading for home, and I’m there in under a minute.
As I fumble to get the key in the lock, I reflect that at least I have one thing to be happy about. I’ve never been fitter!
All the better for running away from scenes that would break your heart into a million pieces …
*****
I’m already hiding under the covers when the doorbell rings.
It shrills out three times with a pause in between. Then my mobile starts ringing. Quickly, I reach out a hand, fumble around for the offending object on the bedside table, and turn it off.
The last thing I want to do right now is have a discussion with Paloma and Theo about Paloma and Theo! I’m still trying to process the whole thing. I’d rather get over the shock and have time to practise my ‘delighted-for-you’ face so that neither of them ever knows that my heart has been unceremoniously ripped into pieces.
A single warm tear leaks out of my eye and is absorbed by the duvet that’s wrapped tightly around me, in spite of the summer night’s sticky heat.
*****
Somehow I manage to sleep, and when I wake next morning, it’s to the sun blazing through the curtains and someone banging on the door.
When I turn on my phone, I’ve got twenty-six missed calls.
Paloma shouts through the letter slot. ‘Twi, please let me in. I’m worried about you. We both are.’
A lump fills my throat at her casual mention of ‘we’. They’re obviously a couple already.
She tries again. ‘I’ve got news I think you’d like to hear.’
I stare glumly through the chink in the curtains. I’d beg to differ, to be honest. But I suppose I have to face up to it at some point. I can’t stay in bed for the rest of my life …
Dragging myself up, I peer down onto the driveway. And Paloma chooses that moment to give up and turn away, so I have to bang on the window to attract her attention. Better get this over with. I’ve got a café to open in an hour.
I go to the door, plastering on a smile before I pull it open. ‘Hi! Sorry about last night. Behaving so weirdly. I was overtired, I think.’
Can people behave like trainee psychopaths when they’re overtired? I suppose it’s possible.
‘That’s okay.’ She takes my hand and leads me gently into the living room, as if I’m a five-year-old who’s lost her favourite stuffed rabbit. I plop down on the sofa.
The smile is still in place. It’s starting to ache a bit. ‘So!’ I say cheerily. ‘You and Theo, eh? Wow, I’d never have guessed.’
She beams at me. ‘I know. Me neither. It all happened so suddenly.’
I smile harder.
‘One minute, I have no family at all,’ she laughs. ‘And the next, I have a gorgeous half-brother!’
Chapter 40
I stare blearily at her, feeling as if my brain has gone numb.
Paloma’s face is wreathed in smiles and tears of joy are pooling in her eyes.
‘I’m sorry,’ I say slowly, ‘But I thought you just said Theo’s your half-brother?’
She nods and the tears burst their banks. ‘He is. I’ve been waiting for the results of the DNA test we did. And yesterday they arrived and it’s true! Theo is my half-brother.’
Light is starting to glimmer through the darkness.
Theo is related to Paloma? No wonder they were so pleased to see each other last night.
‘But – but how?’ I stammer. ‘I mean, how did you realise? When did you realise you might be related?’ I shake my head. ‘It’s all so … unbelievable!’
She slides along the sofa and grasps my hands. ‘Isn’t it? I’m so sorry I couldn’t tell you. I just wanted to keep it to myself until I knew it was true.’
My head is spinning but I
