Flynn sat, and rubbed a hand over his face. ‘Do you remember I told you that my parents had a big row, and she told him to take a running jump if he wasn’t happy.’

‘You said she’d never expected him to take her literally.’

‘That’s it. That’s always the bit of the story people remember.’ He shrugged. ‘I’ve told it lots of times, and not once has anyone ever asked me what they fought about. What was so serious that he would pack up and leave.’

Jodie didn’t want to ask. She met Flynn’s sad, serious brown eyes, and she didn’t want to know. The truth was vastly overvalued.

But she couldn’t break her gaze and finally, he spoke. ‘They had a huge row because Mum changed her mind.’ Flynn got to his feet, crossed to the sink, and filled a glass with water. For a second, he simply looked into it, then he lifted it to his mouth and emptied it in two long gulps. He put the glass down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

‘I’m adopted, Jodie. The first time… when you said you’d given a baby up for adoption… I tried to tell you but you didn’t want to talk about it anymore and cut me off.’ He looked back at her then, a wealth of pain in his eyes. ‘It’s never been an issue for me, so I didn’t think any more about it.’ He laughed harshly. ‘Or I should say, it’s never been an issue before.’

He pushed away from the sink and walked to the far end of the room, putting as much distance between them as possible. ‘After they adopted me, my parents were supposed to emigrate. The plan was to go to Australia, but Mum decided it would be better to bring me up in the UK. That was what the row was about.’

Jodie stared, her mouth suddenly dry. How many families adopted babies with plans to emigrate immediately following adoption… perhaps a few… how many of those had planned to go to Australia… maybe some. Or none. ‘It’s just a coincidence,’ she said but she saw the truth in his eyes and felt it in her heart. This was why there’d been that instant connection between them. An unconscious recognition between a mother and her son.

‘Maybe,’ he said.

And Jodie knew from that one word that, regardless, their relationship would never be the same again. ‘We can get a DNA test done, it only takes a few days.’

‘Okay.’ He took a step in her direction, then shook his head and jerked a thumb towards the door. ‘I need to get some air.’