CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Antonio looked astonished. ‘Well... it’s a possibility, I suppose.’ I could tell he thought it might be a little far-fetched.
I grinned sheepishly. ‘I know, I’m probably way off track, imagining things that never happened. I suppose it just shows how desperate I am for answers.’
‘No, but it is something to consider.’ Antonio rubbed his chin pensively, then he gave me an odd look, his shoulders drooping. ‘Actually, Blossom, there’s something else for you to consider.’
‘What’s that?’
He hesitated, rubbing his brow. ‘The thing is, ever since you and your sisters came to see me that time, I’ve been thinking about what you said about looking for your father.’
‘Yes?’
‘Well, I know I told you that Ada and I never had... a sexual relationship. But... well, that’s not strictly true. There was one night...’
‘One night?’ I leaned forward.
He nodded, almost apologetically. ‘We’d been out for a drink and something to eat, as we often did. But that night, I wasn’t my usual chatty self and Ada could see that. I was feeling really sad because I was having to leave my home in Edinburgh and head back to Italy with my wife. Her dementia was getting worse and she needed her family around her, and of course I wanted that for her. But it meant leaving my parents behind in Edinburgh and I was feeling quite down about that. Ada invited me in for a whisky to try and cheer me up, and I don’t know how it happened – it was all so long ago – but we kissed and then we got a bit carried away.’ He broke off, grinning rather awkwardly. ‘Sorry. You probably don’t want to hear about your mum’s sex life.’
‘No, I do! I mean, not about the actual sex part, obviously. But I need to know!’ I’d been hanging on his every word. ‘So you’re saying you did actually... do it that night?’
He sighed. ‘It’s all a bit hazy – it was a long time ago and I’d drunk a lot that night. I guess we just wanted to comfort each other. Whether or not we were intimate enough to bring you into existence, if you see what I mean... well, I really can’t be sure, and I’ve always assumed not.’ He gazed at me sadly. ‘But I guess it’s a possibility.’
‘Wow. I can’t believe it,’ I breathed, staring at him in wonder. My heart was beating very fast. ‘So you could actually be my dad.’
‘I suppose I could.’ He rubbed his hands over his face and looked at me wistfully. ‘I just hope you wouldn’t be disappointed... if it turned out to be true.’
‘Of course I wouldn’t.’ I laughed rather awkwardly. ‘I just hope you wouldn’t be horrified if it turned out to be true.’
He smiled broadly, his brown eyes twinkling. ‘Blossom, there aren’t many delightful surprises to be had by the time you get to my stage in life. But I can assure you that finding out I have a daughter as lovely as you would definitely be one of them.’
I felt myself relax with relief. ‘So would you... will you do a test? So that we can find out for certain, one way or the other?’
He nodded. ‘Of course I will.’
*****
I drove back to Guildford in a daze.
Could Antonio be my dad, after all?
The trouble was, however lovely a notion it might seem to me – and Antonio as well – there was a definite fly in the ointment regarding this theory: Ada obviously realised he wasn’t. And she was the one person who would surely know the truth.
She’d told me my whole life that Antonio was my dad – but as soon as I met him and he revealed that they’d never had a sexual relationship, Ada had immediately backed down and said actually, she’d been lying to me and it was a one-night stand.
Why would she do that? Didn’t that point to the fact that she’d been lying to me all along about Antonio, and my biological dad was someone else altogether?
And what about Skye and Ada’s friendship with single mum Zo?? Could there be something in my admittedly wild theory – that Zo?, beset with money and drink problems, found she couldn’t cope and chose to place her baby in the hands of caring people who could. Could Zo? be my real mum? It seemed mad, but they did say that truth was stranger than fiction. Maybe, in this case, it really was...
When I arrived back, Saul’s car was there, and so – fired up by my visit to see Antonio and all the new information – I marched into the flat and cornered Skye in the living room, where she was watching TV.
‘Skye, tell me who my real parents are. Because I’ve just been to see Antonio and now I’m not only confused about who my dad is. He said it could be him, by the way. But I’m even starting to wonder if Ada’s actually my biological mother. So please, just put me out of my misery and tell me!’ I gazed at her pleadingly.
She stared at me miserably and I saw her eyes were puffy. Oddly for her, she wasn’t wearing any makeup and her skin was deathly pale. I guessed I wasn’t the only one who hadn’t been sleeping properly since the night of my ill-fated birthday party. She sighed and I sat down opposite her, sitting on the very edge of the chair with my arms folded. Skye ran her hands through her hair, as if she was working up to tell me something, and my heart was beating so fast it was making me feel nauseous. She was going to tell me at last! But how would I feel once I knew the truth? Relieved? Happy? What if it posed even more questions I didn’t know the answer to?
Then she bowed her head and made a strange little noise of fury in her throat. When she looked up at me, I could see her face was already wreathed in apologies, and my heart sank. ‘Blossom, I want to tell you the truth – I really do – but I can’t! Look, it’s such an impossible situation I’m in. But please don’t hate me. Because I really couldn’t bear that.’ She leaned over and caught my hand and I saw the tears in her eyes, but I wrenched my arm away.
‘I’m going to Edinburgh to talk to Zo?. Maybe she’ll be able to shed some light on what the hell went on up there twenty-odd years ago!’
‘Zo??’ Skye looked bewildered. ‘Oh, you mean our neighbour in the flat upstairs? How on earth do you know about her?’
‘Antonio told me about her – about how she was a single mother with a baby and social services were called.’
Skye nodded. ‘Someone reported her for drinking excessively while in charge of a baby but she would never have done that. A glass or two of wine, maybe, but it was never excessive. The thing is, it was all such a long time ago. I doubt she’ll still be living there.’
‘Yes, well, I’ve got to try. Maybe she can tell me the truth about my birth, even if you can’t!’ I scraped back my chair and charged out.
‘Blossom, wait!’
‘No, I won’t wait. I’ve waited all my life. I’m fed up with waiting.’
I grabbed some things from my room and shoved them into my overnight bag. Rori had said I could stay at her flat any time I wanted, and since it was obvious Skye and I could no longer inhabit the same small space comfortably... I’d take up Rori’s offer. My head was reeling as I drove to her flat in Sunnybrook. Maybe Rori would be able to make sense of all the disjointed facts swimming around in my mind?
Motoring along the high street, I suddenly realised the traffic lights were changing and I slammed on my brakes, clearly annoying the driver behind, who sounded their horn furiously several times. When the way was clear again, I pulled into the side of the road to let the person past. A bit of road rage would be the perfect way to round off one of the weirdest, most stress-filled and confusing days of my life!
I was shaking. So I switched off the engine and sat there for a while, taking big breaths in and out, trying to calm down.
And then I saw her.
Jenna. Standing outside the newsagents.
She was smiling flirtatiously through the window at someone inside, flicking her hair like mad and sticking her ample chest out, and I sat there waiting for Billy to emerge.
A figure appeared in the doorway and Jenna moved in, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him long and slowly on the lips. But it was only when they drew apart at last that I realised with a shock that it wasn’t Billy she was kissing.
She was full-on snogging a bloke I’d never seen before!
Angry confusion at the mess my life had become merged with absolute fury at Jenna for betraying Billy like this. The force was enough to galvanise me into determined action.
What a seriously nasty piece of work! Flaunting herself and kissing that guy in broad daylight, obviously with no thought whatsoever for Billy. He’d be utterly heartbroken if he could see the great love of his life right now!
I scrambled out of the car, forgetting to unclip the seat belt first, which held up proceedings somewhat. Then I charged over to Jenna and the object of her lust.
‘So is this the new man, then, Jenna?’ I demanded.
She turned and gaped at me. ‘He’s... just a friend,’ she muttered at last.
I gave a harsh, disbelieving laugh. ‘Er, you don’t have tonsil tennis like that with a friend!’ Mind you, Ada and Antonio did, apparently, but that was beside the point. ‘So have you told Billy that you’re fed up with him and you’ve moved on to someone else? Or is he blissfully in the dark as to your own personal plans for the future?’ Noting her guilty look, I nodded irritably. ‘Well, I can see from your face that you haven’t told him. So let me give you a warning, Jenna. If you don’t start treating Billy the way a lovely man like him deserves to be treated, then I’ll tell him myself what you’ve been up to behind his back. Okay?’
Jenna still hadn’t said a word, which was rather lucky for me because I wasn’t used to confrontation. I hated it, in fact, and I avoided it wherever possible. So if she’d snapped back at me, you probably wouldn’t have seen me for dust. But she could clearly see that I was thoroughly riled up and not about to take any nonsense from her...
‘Okay?’ I repeated loudly.
She shrugged, looking sulky. ‘Okay.’
The guy’s eyes were like saucers. ‘Who the hell’s she?’ he muttered. ‘And who’s this Billy?’
I gave Jenna a final look of contempt, before turning and marching back to the car.