‘Well, I’d better carry on looking elsewhere for somewhere to rent. Thanks for telling me about the artists. It’s saved me wasting my time here.’

He smiled as he drove away. Gotcha, Stacy!

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Hope stared at herself in the mirror and sighed. These days she tried very hard not to fool herself about anything, and though she was wearing her best clothes and had washed and blow-dried her hair, she still looked shabby, faded and older than her forty-one years. She felt older too.

Well, there was nothing she could do about that. It was Janey who mattered now, and Millie, of course. But she had to make sure Janey wasn’t going to be hurt by this new turn of events.

She arrived at the café five minutes early, but Adam was there already, sitting fiddling with a smartphone and frowning at it. She’d have recognised him anywhere, even though she’d not seen him for nearly twenty years. Unlike her, he didn’t look anything like his age and his hair was still mainly dark, only lightly frosted with silver at the temples.

When she stopped by the table he looked up and pushed his chair back, taking her hand before she’d realised what he was doing.

‘Dorothy? Is that really you?’

‘I’m Hope now,’ she corrected.

‘Sorry – Hope. Do sit down. What can I get you?’

‘Coffee, flat white. I can pay for it myself.’

‘Let me. I’ll just turn this off and put it away.’ He fiddled with the phone and shoved it carelessly in his pocket, by which time she’d sat down opposite him.

She watched him signal to the server then turn his attention fully on her. She couldn’t work out what to say or do next so waited for him to speak.

‘It’s been a long time. I’m so sorry Judith stopped me knowing you and I had a child.’

‘Are you really?’

‘Yes. She could be … possessive. When she said she wanted us to split up, Gemma stayed with her and she deliberately drove a wedge between us. That upset me. I couldn’t understand why my daughter suddenly didn’t want to spend time with me.’

‘And are things better between you now?’

‘Much better. Gemma was there when I found quite a lot of other things besides your letter, you see, things that exonerated me of what her mother had accused me of. Even so, it’s not easy going but we are starting to build bridges. As I hope to build connections between myself, you and Janey.’

The server brought her coffee across and Hope fiddled around, putting some sugar in from one of the long, thin little packets. She sat stirring it for longer than was necessary till she realised what she was doing and put down the spoon.

Adam broke the silence. ‘How did Janey take the news? Did she agree to meet me?’

‘Yes. But she’s afraid you’ll think the worse of her because she has a child.’ Hope smiled involuntarily. ‘As if anyone couldn’t love an adorable little darling like Millie.’