He shrugged her off, scurried across the room with his face turned away from her, then left for his loft. Shelly started to go after him, but then decided he needed space to deal with his demons.

*

An hour later, Gordon came back into the kitchen and slumped into the dining chair.

Shelly sighed. ‘I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t want to upset you, I wanted . . . hoped, you know, that we could all come together as a family, at least once.’ It was her turn to get emotional. ‘I’ve been so lonely.’ She studied her hands.

‘I wish it was gone, all this pain,’ he said.

‘Mum wouldn’t want us hurting like this either.’ She looked up. ‘It’s incredible that my son, your grandson, has found us. Let’s make the most of it, please.’

Gordon was silent for a while, then he spoke gently. ‘I genuinely thought I was doing the right thing, Shelly. You do understand that, don’t you? I had so much pain, and I was at war with the world for the injustice of Maggie’s death. Then you, my little girl, up the duff. Of course it was my fault. I knew I’d driven you away when I should have been there to support you. But I’m human too. We’ll never know if I made the right decision, because we can’t know how things would have turned out for you both if you’d kept the baby. It’s just . . . you were so young, Shelly.’

Shelly recalled the giggling girls in the café. That’s how she must have appeared to her father and in that moment, she understood him completely. She got up, placed her arms around him, and kissed the top of his head. ‘You made the right decision, Dad. In your position, I’d have done exactly the same.’

He sighed and hung his head for a moment. ‘You don’t know what that means to me, Shelly love. All right. Invite him here on Sunday for a roast.’

‘I’m on call next weekend, so the Sunday after, will that be all right for you, Dad?’

He stared at his knees silent for a moment. ‘Well, I’m not sure about that. I’ll have to consult me social calendar, won’t I?’ Then he looked up. Smiling sadly. ‘Of course it’s all right, daft girl.’

Chapter 32

CHAPTER 32

GERTIE

Syros, 1916.

WANTING TO SEE A LITTLE more of Syros, we hurried down the gangplank and discovered the town had an energy that we had not experienced before. The place was very different from the sleepy island of Kea.

The town appeared to be a steep hill that ran down into the dark, blue sea. This hill was topped by an imposing, angular building which covered the entire peak. Strong, straight, unembellished walls of sun-bleached yellow were pierced by rows of small rectangular windows, and before it, the largest of many ornate bell-towers.