“Sorry I overreacted,” he continued. “It freaks me out that Mom and Dad chose to go back there. I still don’t understand their decision so I was a bit preoccupied after seeing them.” He shook his head. “Here they had a lovely bungalow with a garden, not far from the beach. There they have a concrete apartment and it’s too cold to go out for four months of the year. It’s crazy they retired to a place like that.”

Suddenly Val saw that Peggy had been right. Bill had been upset about his parents’ situation and not specifically with her. A huge weight lifted from her shoulders. He wasn’t going to break up with her. Their argument had just been a hiccup in an otherwise strong relationship. She realized in a flash that she had been too insecure to cope with it because she had no previous experience of healthy relationships.

“There seems to be something about being Russian that gets into your blood,” she said, composing herself. “Even when they live overseas they continue to celebrate Russian Easter in Russian churches, to drink Russian vodka and read Russian books. Maybe you can’t understand that magnetic pull if you’re not born and bred there.”

“Oh, God, that bloody Orthodox church on Robertson Road! I spent far too much of my childhood there, watching an old bloke in a dress swinging incense around.” Bill grinned. “You got off lightly.”

“My dad went to the Robertson Road church like clockwork. The priest used to come to our house sometimes. What was his name?” She wrinkled her brow.

“Methodius,” Bill said. “Father Methodius.”

“Of course! The last time I saw him was at Dad’s funeral.” She shuddered, thinking back to that bleak day, when Tony stood by her side probably calculating in his head how much of a windfall he’d get from the inheritance.

“He actually came to your house?” Bill questioned. “Your dad must have been close to him. Did you ever think of asking him what he knows about your dad’s early life? Maybe he could shed some light on it. A priest is the one person a man can be honest with.”

Val stared at him, her mouth hanging open. It was so blindingly obvious, she couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of it before.

Chapter 62

Sydney, September 1976

THE SCHOOL TERM BEGAN AND VAL RETURNED TO HER lectures at the university, so it was the following weekend before she could seek out Father Methodius. Bill offered to take Nicole for a walk with Bess, and Val caught a bus across town to Centennial Park.