Ten minutes later we reconvened on the couch, this time with bottles of beer, bowls of pasta and a wood fire crackling in front of us. I couldn’t remember feeling quite as content for a long time. When we finished eating, Dan put his bowl down on the coffee table and picked up my laptop.

‘Okay. I’m gunna message them,’ he said. ‘What do you think I should say?’

I took a sip of my beer while pondering. ‘Start general,’ I suggested. ‘Say you did a DNA test to try and find relatives who might be able to help you find answers about the man you suspect was your father.’

Dan began to type furiously. I read the message over his shoulder and my stomach dipped as he pushed send.

He put the laptop back on the coffee table. ‘Thanks for doing this with me. I’m not sure I’d have had the guts to follow through on my own. I doubt I’ll be able to think about anything else until she replies. That’s if she replies.’

‘I think I might have a way to distract you,’ I said, putting my drink down before climbing onto his lap.

Seconds later, his hands found their way under my jumper and, at least for a little while, we succeeded in forgetting all about Stacy Wilson and how she might be related to Dan or Bill.

Chapter 51

51

Perth

Almost a week later, we were losing hope that Dan was ever going to hear from his possible sister when he woke one morning to a reply. He rang me immediately and his voice was shaking so badly he could barely get the words out as he read me the message.

Dear Daniel

Sorry for taking so long to answer your message. My wife and I were camping, and I didn’t receive your message until we returned. I must admit I’m both surprised and very curious to have heard from you. The DNA results indicate that we are either siblings or first cousins, and as my father William Jackson …

‘William?’ I interrupted. ‘As in the long form of Bill?’

‘Oh geez, you’re right. I hadn’t even thought about that.’

Silence followed a few seconds as we both digested this.

‘Anyway, what else does the message say?’

‘That although my profile picture bears a strong resemblance to William, I’m much more likely to be a cousin than a half-sibling, because her father died in an explosion while fighting in Vietnam, when her mother was pregnant with her. He didn’t even know he was going to be a father, and that was eight full years before I was born.’