Chapter 13
‘Bloody hell,’ was Finn’s reaction when Jade finally got the chance to tell him the full story properly, which was much later that night when they’d all had supper and Ben was safely tucked up in bed.
They were now sitting on the sofa with Mickey between them, and a half-finished bottle of red wine on the table.
‘Bloody hell. That’s unbelievable. How do you feel? ’
‘I don’t think I quite know.’ Jade held her hands out in front of her to show Finn that her fingers were trembling slightly. ‘I think I’m still taking it all in.’
‘You will be. I was like that for days.’
‘Really?’ She looked into his calm grey eyes. ‘Shit. I was hoping it wouldn’t take that long.’
‘You’re made of sterner stuff than me.’ He winked. ‘You’ll have got your head around it all by tomorrow and will have arranged another visit.’
‘Oh, God, I’m not sure about that. I feel as though someone just exploded a bomb in my head. Everything I thought I knew was true, isn’t. Well, not everything, but quite a lot.’
‘I know that feeling.’ He held out his arms and she moved closer, much to the disgust of a disgruntled Mickey who was now getting squashed. ‘There’s room for you too, mate,’ Finn told him, shifting so that he could cuddle them both.
‘You’re the one person who really does know how I feel.’ Jade leant into his embrace and stroked Mickey with her free hand. ‘It was such a shock, Finn. But the more he told me, the more I knew he was telling the truth. I’d have known it anyway, even if he hadn’t had the documents to prove it.’
‘Do you know why your mum didn’t want him in her life?’
‘Only what he said. That they were incompatible. I can totally believe that. He struck me as being quite gentle and measured. And Mum was spiky and frosty. She’d have walked all over him if they’d stayed together.
She liked men who could stand up to her and there weren’t many of those.
’ She thought back. ‘We had a chef she used to argue with a lot at the Arleston Court. Brian, his name was. I think they may have had a fling once. Maybe more than a fling, but they were never obviously together, if you know what I mean, so I was never sure. She certainly never wanted to get married again.’ She paused.
‘Brian came to her funeral. He put a red rose on her coffin. That made me wonder too.’
‘Sounds like you’d have had a different kind of life if they had stayed married. Maybe one with more conflict in it, as well as a whole pile of cousins.’
‘Yes. You could be right.’ She loved the gentleness in his eyes. She loved the way that he totally got this. That he knew exactly what to say. Just the right mix of humour and empathy.
He topped up their glasses and handed hers over, and Jade sipped the velvety red wine, glad of its warmth. She rarely got drunk but she was pretty tempted now.
‘What does your father do for a living?’
‘I don’t know. I never asked. It didn’t seem important. Looking at that car of his you’d assume he didn’t have two pennies to rub together but he must have been quite well-off once. He gave Mum quite a large sum for his lifetime of maintenance.’
‘Maybe that’s why he’s broke now. Maybe his finances never recovered.’ Finn gave her a wry smile.
‘Yes. You could be right. I guess we’ll slowly learn about each other as time goes on. Like you have with your mum and the rest of your family.’
‘You will, I’m sure. And I know it all seems like one hell of a big shock now, but it’s also exciting, having a new family to get to know.’
Jade drained her glass. She wasn’t so convinced about that.
She still felt raw and vulnerable. Finn had always had his dad in his life, but since her mother had died she’d had no relatives in the picture.
She’d got used to it. It had made life simpler.
She’d been more than happy to just have Finn, and of course Sarah and Ben, who she’d always considered family too.
Finn put his half-full glass back on the table. He hesitated and then his eyes widened and he swore and clapped his hand over his mouth.
Jade looked at him in alarm. ‘What is it?’
‘I’ve just had a terrible thought.’
‘So I gathered. For God’s sake. What is it?’
‘Are we going to need to rearrange the top table at the wedding yet again?’ Finn smirked and after a moment in which she had the urge to thump him, Jade snorted with laughter.
He was the only one who could have got away with making a comment like that.
But the atmosphere which had been heavy and serious a few moments before had now lightened considerably.
‘I don’t think I shall be inviting him to our wedding. It’s only a month away.’
‘A lot can happen in a month,’ Finn said sagely. ‘So let’s not speak too soon, hey?’
Sarah was equally astounded to hear Jade’s news when she came to pick Ben up on Sunday afternoon.
Jade had a quiet word with her as they stood in reception while Finn and Ben went to collect Ben’s overnight bag and the dozens of possessions he always left scattered about in the cottage.
Ben was prone to leaving something behind that later turned out to be so important he needed Finn or Jade to take it round after he’d got home.
‘I haven’t mentioned it to Ben,’ Jade told Sarah. ‘I haven’t told anyone else about it yet apart from you and Finn. I need to get my head around it first.’
‘Of course you do. Bloody hell. What a shocker.’ Sarah shook her head. ‘Are you OK?’
‘Yes, I am. I’m better than yesterday. It still all feels a bit surreal.
But I think Finn’s right. I think once it’s properly sunk in, I might be quite excited.
Why should Finn be the only one who gets a bunch of new relatives?
’ she added flippantly. Flippancy had always been a self-defence mechanism when she was feeling vulnerable.
Sarah smiled and rubbed her arm affectionately. ‘I’ve often worried about you being so alone. When it comes to blood relatives, I mean.’
‘That’s rich, coming from you.’ Sarah was adopted and had never known her biological parents.
‘Yes, but I’ve got Ben. It’s different for me.’
The tenderness in her eyes said it all and Jade nodded, knowing what she meant. She guessed that if you had kids it didn’t matter if the rest of your family was absent, or was that just one of those assumptions that everyone made before they were parents themselves?
‘Did Finn tell you about his chat with Ben about the fight business with the boy at school?’
‘Yeah, he did. The little bugger. Ben and I will have words about that. I don’t think he’ll lie to me again.
He’ll have to forfeit his pocket money this week.
’ She paused. ‘Finn also told me about the solution you’d suggested.
I think the class visit’s a great idea. But I’m not sure we can do that in a hurry.
I think these things might have to be arranged weeks in advance so they can be slotted into the curriculum. I’ll check though.’
They stopped talking as Ben came hurtling in through the reception door with an excited Chocko in tow.
‘Hi, Auntie Jade.’ He glanced at the corner where Mr Spock’s cage had always been.
‘I really miss Mr Spock. Is there any more news about his new home? If they don’t like him will he have to come back? ’
He looked hopeful and Jade wished she didn’t know how he felt. ‘I miss him too. But he’s got a lady friend now. And that’s better than him being here on his own.’
‘I know. Her name’s Talky Tallulah.’ Ben frowned. ‘But she might not like him.’
‘Apparently, she does, although it’s not been that long. They haven’t come properly face to face yet.’ She smiled at him. ‘But I do have some good news on that score. Stella’s Uncle Malcolm said he’s going to send some video footage of their first meeting so we can see how they get on.’
‘Yay, yay, yay,’ Ben shrieked. ‘When’s he going to send it?’
‘As soon as he thinks it’s the right time. Don’t worry. I’ll forward it to you as soon as he does.’
‘You can’t rush these things, Ben,’ Sarah added. ‘Now have you got all of your stuff?’
‘I think so.’
‘And have you got all of Chocko’s stuff?’ Last time he’d been here, they’d left her favourite ball behind and Ben had insisted that someone go back and get it. Not that it was that far a journey between Duck Pond Rescue and Ben’s house, but it still took up the best part of an hour, there and back.
‘We’ve got everything,’ Ben said as Finn appeared in the doorway of the office. ‘Haven’t we, Dad?’
‘Fingers crossed.’ Finn held up crossed fingers. ‘Do I get a hug?’
‘S’pose.’ Ben submitted reluctantly to a hug from both his father and Jade.
‘No more fighting,’ Finn told him quietly as he reached the door.
‘I promise,’ Ben said, eyes wide, as he shot a glance at his mother, who’d pretended not to hear this exchange.
‘Take care,’ Jade told him as they went outside and Sarah and Ben climbed into their car.
Sarah wound down the driver’s window and called back to Jade. ‘You guys take care too. Especially you,’ she mouthed to Jade. ‘I’ll see you at our wedding dress fitting next week.’
‘I can’t wait,’ Jade told her truthfully.
From his position beside her, Finn smiled and waved too.
He hoped Jade was going to be OK. So far she was putting a very brave face on it, but he knew only too well what a murky mire of emotions arose when you realised your past was not the fixed picture you’d always been told it was.
When a bombshell of truth was dropped into your life, everything changed, and it took a long while to adjust.
Once the shock had worn off, he had a feeling Jade might struggle to readjust.
He’d been lucky with his reunion with his mother, Bridie, because although she had left him and Ray when he was six years old, he did at least have a memory of her.
And of course Ray had always loved him to bits.
They’d had a great relationship on the whole.
And he’d had grandparents who’d adored him too.
His childhood, although minus a mother, had always been full of love.
Jade hadn’t had any of this. She’d told him how difficult her relationship had been with her mother.
How she’d been brought up by a series of nannies.
Money had never been an issue in Jade’s childhood, and now they both knew why, but time and love had been conspicuous by their absence.
Finn had a feeling it was going to be much harder for Jade to adjust to the bombshell that her father hadn’t been quite the bastard Elizabeth had made him out to be, but had in fact wanted to stay in touch with his child.
Not least because Elizabeth wasn’t here to explain why she’d done it.
Surely it hadn’t just been out of malice towards Hector.
Surely every mother wanted what was best for her child.
Elizabeth must have had more solid reasons to banish him than the fact they were incompatible.
But Finn was very aware that Jade might never get to know these reasons and he ached for her.
He ached for Hector too. When Jade had told him the story of Hector sitting in his car outside the hotel gardens, hoping to catch a glimpse of his daughter, Finn had felt his heart break a little for the man.
He’d forgiven Sarah for not telling him he had a son for years too, but it had hurt like hell when he’d first found out.
What a minefield it was for Jade to discover now that she had not just a father who cared, but a grandmother and an aunt and cousins. Finn had the feeling there’d be a rocky road ahead. He hoped he could help her navigate it without too much drama.