‘I can’t answer that,’ Andrea had said. ‘But maybe he was embarrassed? Scared that he would fail and so that’s why he kept it to himself. I’m sure his plan was to show you eventually.’

The hard part had been deciding what to do about it. Should they confront Tony? Should they talk with Pete and Darren? Should they find a way to give Tony the opportunity to own up to it?

In the end, they’d decided to do nothing for now and to discuss it further, up at the holiday house. Jill wanted a little time to think it all through.

They stood out on Jill’s front porch to say their goodbyes. Andrea wrapped her arms around herself and shivered despite the warmth of the late afternoon sunshine. A light breeze was snaking its way around her body but instead of finding it refreshing she felt like it was giving her a chill.

‘Do you want a cardigan to take with you, love?’ Jill asked.

‘I think it’s more of an emotional shiver.’

‘I’m not surprised.’

‘Do you mind that I brought this to you, Jill? I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what else to do.’

‘Absolutely not,’ Jill said. ‘You did the right thing. He’s my son and I deserve to know.’

‘Remember how I asked you if you thought Tony would be open to having kids?’

‘Yes.’

‘I brought it up with him before I discovered this . . . news. He said he was happy to think about it.’ Andrea looked down at her feet and then back up at Jill. ‘Now I’m so confused. I feel like I don’t even know who he is anymore. What kind of man does something like this? Who steals from their late father?’

Jill looked past her, out towards the quiet street. An unreadable expression on her face. She looked like she was about to say something and then seemed to change her mind. She shifted her gaze back to Andrea. ‘I honestly don’t know,’ she said. ‘But we’ll figure this out.’

‘All right, I’d better get going. I should check in on Heather and Violet when I get home. I haven’t been able to catch her over the past few days.’

‘Good luck,’ said Jill.

Andrea drove home feeling frustrated that they hadn’t come to a conclusion about confronting Tony. But she supposed it was fair that Jill needed the time to digest. The problem was that it had already been percolating in Andrea’s mind for the past few days. Tony would surely know something was wrong with her. She wasn’t a good enough actress to hide her emotions completely.

Although it helped that she had her own guilty feelings to balance things out.

Chapter Sixteen

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Thursday 24 December — Christmas Eve

Mimi

‘Did you check the oil and water?’

‘Yes, even though we got it serviced last week, I double-checked.’