A flicker of sadness crosses her face. ‘That’s exactly why I was cautious this time,’ she murmurs. ‘Because that … disappointment … was horrendous.’
I squeeze her hands. ‘It must have been.’
‘I couldn’t even talk about it to you; it was such a shock. She died in a house fire when she was only forty-two, along with her husband. She’d married by then, you see.’
‘Oh God, how terrible.’ My heart aches for her. To have discovered where her birth mum lived and then to find out something so tragic …
She sits up, visibly brightening. ‘What I didn’t know at the time was that after she had me, my birth mum went on to have another child. I ran out on that woman, Sylvia, before she had a chance to tell me. But I went back later and had a proper chat about Mum. Sylvia knew a few people who remembered her. She was really kind. And she told me that when Mum got married, two years after having me adopted when she was sixteen, her surname changed to Steel and she and her husband had one son.’
My eyes widen in amazement.
‘It was the day of the run when I had a breakthrough,’ she rushes on excitedly. ‘You remember when I had to gather in sponsorship forms for Lucy? Well, that’s when I saw Theo’s full name for the first time. Theo Steel. In black capital letters. I thought I was going to faint right there on the spot! So later, I plucked up courage to ask him some casual questions about his family and he said his parents died when he was young. And then Olivia asked him how he lost them both at the same time and he told us they died in a house fire when he was eighteen.’ She beams at me. ‘So then, of course, I knew it must be him!’
A memory dawns on me. ‘I saw you that day, talking with Theo and Olivia. I saw the expression on your face. You must have just stumbled on the truth. That Theo was your half-brother!’
She nods. ‘That was when he told us about the fire, and I knew.’ Tears are running down her face, and I pull her into a tight hug, my own throat choked with emotion for my lovely best friend, who deserves this so much after everything she’s been through in her life.
I’m so wrapped up in her happiness, it’s a few moments more before I realise what this means for me.
If Theo is Paloma’s half-brother, Theo and I are always going to be connected. It’s bittersweet, though, knowing we can never be together …
I get Paloma a paper hanky and she mops her face. Then she sits back and smiles. ‘So, enough about me. What about Jason?’
I grin. ‘He’s back with Lucy would you believe? But I really don’t mind,’ I add quickly, when her face falls. ‘Honestly, I don’t.’
It’s probably time I told my best friend that the reason I don’t mind is because I’m madly in love with her half-brother! God, what a mess!
Paloma nods firmly. ‘He was never totally right for you anyway.’ She grimaces. ‘Actually, I’ve got something else to tell you.’
I stare at her. ‘More revelations?’
She nods, looking guilty. ‘I know I keep saying I can’t stand Jake, but it turns out there really must be a fine line between love and hate.’
‘You love him?’
‘No!’ She laughs. ‘At least, not yet. Give us time. But we are desperately in lust.’
‘Why didn’t you tell me?’
She shrugs. ‘I wouldn’t admit it to myself, never mind anyone else. I thought he was far too like Knob-Head Rufus – you know, arrogant artist, up his own arse – and I should give him a wide berth if I knew what was good for me. But when I was doing his website work, he sort of won me round.’
I burst out laughing and start singing, ‘I knew it! I knew it!’
‘Did you?’
‘You were quite obviously snogging in the garden on launch night! You both looked so hilariously furtive coming back up to join everyone. Separately. I was watching from the treehouse.’
After we’ve laughed about that and I’ve told her the brilliant news about Dad, we go through to the kitchen to make coffee and she says, ‘So that’s my love life sorted. But what about you?’
I feel my face flushing. ‘What about me? I’m fine on my own, thank you very much.’ I turn my back on her and start spooning coffee into two mugs.
She peers at me. ‘Twi? You’ve just put four spoons of coffee in there.’
‘Oh, shit, have I?’
‘Twi? Is there something you’re not telling me? There is, isn’t there? Oh my God, it’s Theo, isn’t it! That’s why you were behaving so oddly last night, lurking in the bushes.’
My goofy smile says it all.
She throws back her head and appeals to the ceiling. ‘Why on earth didn’t I guess?’
Sitting forward, her eyes shining, she says, ‘Theo is single. So what are you going to do about it?’
I shake my head miserably. ‘He thinks he’s jinxed.’
She frowns. ‘Oh God, I know. He told me all about his fiancée and the baby. He’s had so much sorrow in his personal relationships, he’s afraid of getting involved again. But maybe you’d be the one to change his mind?’
‘Hang on.’ I stare at her. ‘What did you say? There was a baby?’
She nods. ‘Rachel died in hospital being treated for pre-eclampsia. The baby died, too.’
I’m too stunned to speak. Poor Theo. How much loss can one person bear?
She frowns. ‘Actually, there’s something else you need to know,’ she says and I can tell from her face I’m not going to like it.
‘Theo needs to go where the work is if he wants to pursue his career as a translator. He told me last night. He’s moving to London.’
Chapter 41
When Paloma leaves, I head for
