CHAPTER SIXTEEN
I growled internally. Billy must be buying her a bay tree.
He was an idiot! What on earth did he see in her? She was just using him!
Fed up with everyone that day, I did a convoluted detour to the exit to avoid the pair of nauseating lovebirds then I marched across to my car.
When I got back to the flat, Saul’s car parking bay was empty. They still weren’t back. The engine still running, I drummed my fingers on the steering wheel, thinking. Then I performed an abrupt about-turn and hared off down the road.
I wanted to talk to Antonio and there was no time like the present. I’d get to the bottom of ‘the mystery of the missing dad’ if it killed me in the process! Antonio might not remember much after all this time. It was likely to be another dead-end.
But it was worth a try . . .
*****
On the way down to Brighton, I thought about Gary and his fledgling relationship. It was such a big thing for him. No wonder he’d seemed tense that morning – and there I was, badgering him to give me an answer to my problems and emoting all over the poor man.
He’d looked quite scared and I didn’t blame him.
The thing with Gary was, he was in control at work... in his element doing practical things. But ‘feelings’ were a different matter altogether. After losing his wife and son so tragically, he’d obviously done a pretty comprehensive job over the years of shutting down his emotions. But he was such a lovely man and I really hoped he and Maureen would work out.
Stopping in a layby, I phoned the number Antonio had given us when we saw him in Brighton that last time. He sounded surprised but pleased to hear from me, and when I asked if I could possibly call in to see him that day, he agreed immediately and said he’d put the kettle on. Cheered by this turn of events – it was good to be actually doing something, even if it didn’t lead me anywhere – I felt my spirits lifting on a fresh wave of optimism as I drove the rest of the way down to Brighton.
I’d liked Antonio a lot when we first met, although I was feeling rather nervous when I buzzed him at the street entrance to his flat. He let me in and I ran up the stairs, and there he was, standing in the doorway waiting for me. His big smile and hearty welcome instantly banished any awkwardness on my part.
He made tea, arranged some amaretti biscuits on a plate, and took the tray through to the sitting room, while I explained why I was there.
‘I just need to know who my dad is but Ada and Skye have been no help at all. Ada says she had a one-night stand that she was too embarrassed to tell us about and she doesn’t even remember his name.’ I shrugged helplessly.
‘But you don’t believe her?’ Antonio asked softly.
I sighed. ‘You know what? No, I don’t. But I don’t know why she’d lie like that. I mean, what’s she hiding?’
He frowned. ‘It certainly doesn’t sound like Ada, having a one-night stand. I got to know her well in Edinburgh and I’m inclined to agree that she might not be telling you the whole truth.’
I nodded. ‘Did she have any other friends – male friends – when she was living up there with Skye? I know she got on well with Ray, who owned the corner shop?’
‘Ray? Yes. Good bloke. Shame he and his wife split up.’
‘Do you think they might have split up because Ada and Ray had a... thing?’
He shook his head slowly. ‘I doubt it. I mean, she got on well with Ray. But she was good friends with Maggie as well, and she’d never have gone behind Maggie’s back like that. Ada just wouldn’t do that to a friend.’
‘Right. What about other people she was friendly with?’
His brow furrowed for a while then he laughed apologetically. ‘Sorry. It was all so long ago.’ He pressed his forehead as if hoping to prompt a memory. ‘There was a young girl living in the flat above them. I do remember her. What was her name?’ He clicked his fingers, trying to recall it. ‘Zo?. That was it. She was about Skye’s age – maybe a little older – and she was on her own with a baby, and I remember Skye used to babysit sometimes when Zo? was working hard, finishing a garment for a client. She was a dress-maker and she worked from home because of the baby. I think she struggled a bit, being on her own, but Skye was a good friend to her. So was Ada.’ He frowned. ‘Actually, just before I left Edinburgh, I heard that someone had reported Zo? to social services, suggesting she was an alcoholic, which I don’t think was true. I mean, I suppose it might have been true but I never saw any evidence of it, although having said that, I didn’t know her all that well. But living in a block of flats, you hear everyone’s comings and goings, and Zo? gave the impression of being a good mother – responsible and caring. I can’t actually remember the baby’s name.’
‘I wonder what happened to the baby?’ I murmured, almost to myself. ‘You don’t think the child was taken away from Zo?, do you? By social services?’
He shrugged. ‘I really couldn’t say. We left Edinburgh around that time.’
‘Or... maybe not by social services. But maybe by someone who wanted to help a friend – to help a single mother who wasn’t coping?’
He looked confused. Then his eyes widened. ‘You mean Ada?’
‘Yes.’ I was trembling now. ‘What if Zo? knew she wasn’t giving her child the life she wanted her to have? And what if there was someone who was willing to step in and prevent the baby being taken into care?’
I swallowed hard, my mind in a whirl. Could it be that Ada wasn’t actually my biological mother? Was that the secret she and Skye were protecting?
‘Could Ada have adopted me?’