Justin looks at her with a vexed brow.
‘We were young,’ she goes on, oblivious to his bemusement. ‘You were my first love and I will always love you, but it was a mistake to think we could recapture what we had.’
‘Take whatever time you need to get this all straight in your head,’ he says. ‘But know that I’ll be here, waiting for you.’
She looks at him, knowing that he means it, and if it were possible for a heart to literally break, she’s sure she’s just felt the first crack. She kisses him long and deep, as if it is the last time she’ll ever see him, before opening the door and running down the corridor.
‘Lauren,’ he calls out after her. ‘It wasn’t your father who told me. It was your mother.’
37
Kate
‘Lauren!’ Kate shouts through the letterbox, whilst simultaneously banging on the door with her hand. ‘Open the door!’
The rage that she had largely managed to contain from her mother’s house to here is threatening to boil over. How could they have kept this vital piece of information secret for all this time? Whilst Kate is running all over the country, desperate to uncover the truth and vindicate her father, Lauren and their mother have known from the outset exactly who Jess is.
Suddenly everything seems to make perfect sense; their closeness back then and as they were growing up; the colossal rows that Kate would cover her ears to; the seemingly natural pairings of Lauren and Rose versus Kate and Harry. It’s all so crystal clear. Except now, instead of believing that the special relationship she’d shared with her father was what he wanted, it now feels as if it was forced; exiled by his wife and firstborn. How could they have done this? How could they have left Jess to a life of foster care and misery? No wonder she had come looking for answers, prepared to take anyone down who came between her and the truth.
Tears of fury run down Kate’s face as she continues to slam her palm against the door. ‘Lauren!’ she shouts.
The door opens and Kate almost falls into the woman on the other side. But it’s not Lauren.
‘Kate! What on earth’s wrong?’
‘You!’ cries Kate. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’
Jess puts a finger to her lips. ‘Please, I’ve just managed to get Jude asleep.’
‘What?’ says Kate. ‘Are you here alone? Where’s Lauren?’
‘She’s gone out,’ says Jess. ‘With Simon.’
‘You’re looking after the children?’ says Kate in utter disbelief.
Jess looks at the floor. ‘Well, yes, I . . .’
Kate gives a hollow laugh. ‘Oh my God, this is insane. So you know? You’re in on it as well? Everybody knows but me, it seems.’ She swallows the acrid taste in her mouth that makes her feel like she’s drowning. ‘Where is she?’ asks Kate, lowering her voice, if not for Jess, then for the children. ‘Where’s Lauren?’
‘I . . . I don’t know,’ stutters Jess. ‘She went out a couple of hours ago. She didn’t say where – I assume she was meeting Simon in town.’
Kate shakes her head numbly as she calls Lauren for the seventh time.
‘What’s wrong?’ asks Jess. ‘What’s happened?’
‘Who are you?’ hisses Kate, leaning in close.
‘I . . . I’m sorry, I don’t . . .’
‘You’re not Jess Linley at all, are you?’
Jess recoils, physically backstepping into the living room as Kate follows her.
‘I’ve been to visit some of your old friends in Bournemouth.’
Jess’s eyes widen. ‘You have? W-why?’
‘Because I knew something wasn’t right. Your story just didn’t add up and now I know why.’
Jess raises her eyebrows in question, but it doesn’t look as though she wants to hear the answer.
‘There was no way my dad would have done what everyone’s been accusing him of.’
‘But Harry was my dad,’ says Jess, laughing nervously. ‘It’s been proven by DNA testing.’
Kate looks at Jess as if seeing her for the vulnerable young woman she is for the first time.
‘They haven’t told you, have they?’ she asks incredulously, almost to herself.
‘What the hell’s going on?’ cries Lauren as she comes through the door that Kate hadn’t yet had a chance to shut.
The anger that Kate feels towards her sister knows no bounds. ‘How could you?’ she spits.
‘How could I what?’ says Lauren in a high-pitched voice. ‘Jess, why haven’t you answered my calls? I’ve been ringing and ringing.’
Jess looks from one sister to the other in confusion. ‘I’m sorry, my phone must be in my bag.’
‘Where are the children? Are they all right?’
Jess nods. ‘Yes, of course, everything’s fine.’
Lauren slumps forward, as all the adrenaline that has put her on high alert drains out of her body.
‘Oh my God, I thought something had happened,’ she breathes. ‘So, what’s going on? Why are you here, Kate? Why have you been calling me incessantly?’
‘If you’d answered, you’d have found out.’
‘Please,’ says Lauren, rubbing at her head. ‘Just tell me what’s going on? Is it Simon? Where is he?’
‘Oh,’ says Jess. ‘I thought he was with you.’
Lauren shakes her head. ‘Er, no, he’s working. I went out with a friend.’
‘I’ve just come from Mum’s . . .’ starts Kate.
Lauren raises her eyebrows expectantly.
Kate throws a sideways glance at Jess. It’s taking all of her resolve not to launch into a blistering attack on Lauren, because, despite herself, she doesn’t think it’s fair on Jess. Then she remembers that Jess hasn’t exactly played by the rules either, so the game still feels as if it needs to be won.
‘She told me what happened when you were sixteen,’ Kate says, leaving it hanging there.
‘Wh-at?’ says Lauren, choking on the word.
‘Does Jess know?’ shouts Kate, unable to contain herself.
Lauren looks to her pleadingly, as if begging her to stop. ‘Does Jess know what?’
‘That you’ve uploaded Emmy’s DNA instead of your own?’
‘What?’ shrieks Lauren. She’s a
