CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
When Rhona came to my rescue that first day, I’d heard the address she’d given to the taxi firm – in a village ten minutes away – so I knew where she lived.
I parked outside the cute mid-terrace cottage and switched off the engine. Collecting the bouquet of roses from the passenger seat, I took a deep breath and got out of the car. Rhona must have seen me pull up because she’d opened the door and was standing there waiting, a nervous look on her face.
I walked up the path and she invited me in.
‘I’m so glad you came,’ she said, tears in her eyes as she looked at the flowers. ‘I’ve been desperate to explain but I didn’t think you’d want to listen after . . . well, after what I did.’
I could see she was genuinely upset and my heart softened a little. ‘These are from a grateful guest,’ I said, placing the bouquet in her arms.
‘Oh.’ She looked surprised and I suddenly realised she must have thought the flowers were from me. ‘They’re lovely.’ She put them straight down on the hall table and asked if I’d like some tea.
As she boiled the kettle, she started to tell me her story.
And by the time we were sitting across from each other at the little kitchen table, my eyes were already wet with emotion at what she’d told me about her early life and the great losses she’d suffered.
‘I want to show you something,’ she said, getting up. I heard her go upstairs and when she came back down, she was holding the little wooden box.
‘This was what I wanted when I broke into your house,’ she said, opening it up and handing it over to me.
‘You didn’t break in. You used a key,’ I reminded her with a smile.
She sighed. ‘Same thing. I should never have done it. But I was desperate, you see.’
‘I know you were.’ My eyes widened as I looked at the contents of the box. A baby’s tiny nametag, a rattle and a small cuddly rabbit. And tucked underneath, a folded birth certificate.
I handed it back to her with tears in my eyes. ‘Oh, Rhona. I’m so sorry.’
She sniffed. ‘You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. I deserved the sack for what I did.’
‘No, I meant I’m desperately sorry for what you went through . . . with your baby and her father . . . Joel . . . have you ever tried to find them?’
She shook her head. ‘My life since then . . . it’s been on hold in a way. I went to live with my aunt and started a cleaning job to earn money, then I set up my own business and poured all my energy into making it a success. I think I worked so hard to try and block out my memories. I certainly didn’t have time for romance. Not that I wanted a relationship – not after Joel. When my aunt died, I was clearing out her flat when I came across a letter. . .’ She looked down, scrunching her eyes up as if she was trying to hold it together.
I reached over and covered her hand with mine. ‘What was in the letter?’ I asked softly.
She looked up and gave a stiff little smile. ‘It was a letter to me from Joel, saying he’d heard the tragic news about Mum and was so sorry. He poured out everything that was in his heart . . . saying he loved me and we belonged together. It must have arrived with all the sympathy cards when I was in a daze of grief after Mum died.’
‘So your aunt had the letter all that time? It must have got bundled up with the cards by mistake.’
Rhona shook her head. ‘The letter was open when I found it. My aunt had read it. She probably guessed he was the father and she didn’t want to risk him marching in and interfering with her plans to have the baby adopted.’
I stared at her in horror. ‘Oh, Rhona. That’s terrible. How could she do that to you?’
‘When I realised what she’d done, I knew I had to get away from that flat and all the memories. So I sold up and decided on a totally fresh start. I actually felt free to be me for the first time in a very long time. So I rescued Mungo from the local shelter. Great-Aunt Mildred would never have let me have a dog in the flat, and to be fair, it wouldn’t have been right anyway. A dog needs space to sniff around in. So then I realised I wanted to live in the country, in a house with a garden that was perfect for Mungo.’
‘So you decided to move back home? To Sunnybrook?’
She shook her head. ‘No. It was only ever going to be temporary, coming here. I knew that in order to properly move on, I’d have to first exorcise the ghosts of the past that had kept me trapped all these years, and to do that, I’d have to return to the place it all happened. I was overwhelmed with a need to rescue my keepsake box from Bogg House. I thought that once I found that, I’d be able to make peace with the past and move on.’
‘And has it worked?’ I asked softly.
‘No.’ She gave a bitter laugh. ‘I actually feel more stuck than ever now. I even started to wonder if I should start searching for my daughter.’
‘Well, you could.’
‘No.’ She shook her head firmly. ‘I’ve decided I’m definitely not going down that path. It wouldn’t be fair on her. She probably hates me for giving her away and I really wouldn’t blame her. That’s why it has to be her decision to find me. Not the other way around.’
‘But you don’t know she hates you. Maybe she’s been wanting to find you.’
‘Well, then, she’ll come looking for me.’ She pressed her lips together determinedly and folded her arms, and I nodded, seeing that her mind was made up and knowing it was probably pointless to argue.
‘Your aunt, if you’ll pardon me saying it, Rhona, was a proper piece of work.’
‘I agree. Her past had made her the way she was, though. She was bitter about life. It wasn’t her fault.’
I smiled at her generosity but didn’t reply. Instead, I said, ‘Would you like your job back?’
‘Really?’ Hope flared in her eyes.
‘Of course.’ I smiled. ‘In fact, if you don’t come back, I don’t know what on earth I’m going to do. It’s been mad crazy and completely chaotic since the departure of the best glamping site assistant I’ve got.’
‘I was your only glamping site assistant.’
‘True. But that doesn’t mean you’re not brilliant.’
We chuckled. Then we stood up and hugged each other tightly.
When we drew apart, a tear slid down Rhona’s face. Quickly, she brushed it away. But I knew it wasn’t just getting her job back that was making her emotional.
Rhona might have decided against searching for her baby and her lost love.
But there was no reason why someone else – someone who cared about her – couldn’t go searching instead . . .