Sharon stared at her for a moment, trawling the recesses of her brain to recall how she knew the younger woman. When she realized, she half-smiled, showing a row of perfect white teeth.

‘Grace Conlon? As I live and breathe. What brings you here?’

‘It’s Sumner now.’ She smiled. ‘I just wanted to talk to you about something, Sharon. Mind if I come in?’

Sharon frowned in response, weighing up whether to allow this long-lost acquaintance to step into her plush cream-carpeted hallway. Seconds later she opened the door wider and allowed Grace inside.

Sharon was the perfect hostess. She’d always been all about presentation. She went to the kitchen to make tea, while Grace sat in the stuffy, overly furnished sitting room. Returning a few moments later, Sharon made polite conversation about the weather. She asked about Jake and told Grace all about her holiday home in Spain. Grace smiled and answered politely until she could bear the pretence no longer.

‘As I said, there’s something I wanted to ask you about, Sharon.’

Sharon placed her china teacup onto its matching saucer. ‘Go on.’

Grace was planning on broaching the subject gently, to try and determine if the older lady knew the truth or not. But maybe it was the ten minutes of inane chatter or the fact that this room was suffocating her, she got straight to the point. ‘Was Tommy Nathan’s father?’

Sharon’s hands trembled and she placed the teacup and saucer onto the marble coffee table. God forbid she should spill a drop on her shagpile.

‘I don’t know what you mean, love,’ she stuttered.

‘I think you do, Sharon. Was he?’

‘Where did you hear such a thing?’ Sharon composed herself quickly and shook her head, attempting to dismiss Grace’s question as nonsense, but her immediate reaction had revealed otherwise.

‘From someone who knew Tommy well.’

‘Ridiculous,’ she huffed.

‘Don’t you think people deserve to know the truth, Sharon?’

‘No.’ She shook her head. ‘Tommy wouldn’t want it to come out now.’

‘Then what about Jake? Don’t you think he deserves to know who his grandfather was? What a great man he was?’ Grace almost balked at that last comment. Jake’s grandfather was indeed a great man, but his name was Pete Sumner, not Tommy McNulty. Grace saw Sharon soften.