Keira stretched her mouth into a smile. ‘Yeah, how about that, so I am.’
‘You have a visitor, Keira,’ Marietta announced the following day. ‘She is waiting in the lounge.’
Keira went downstairs to find her mother sitting on the edge of one of the leather sofas, her fingers twisting the strap of her handbag agitatedly. ‘Mum, what a surprise. I was going to visit you today as I wanted to tell you—’
‘Keira…’Robyn got to her feet. ‘Wait, please, I have something to tell you first.’
Keira put a hand up to her throat. ‘Is Dad OK?’
‘Yes…yes, of course he is. He’s fine…just fine…’
‘What, then?’
Robyn removed yet another layer of coral lipstick from her lips with a nervous movement of her tongue. ‘Keira, I have a confession to make.’
Keira stood very still, her palms moistening in mild panic. Her mother’s normally well groomed figure seemed to have an element of disarray about it; her shoes and handbag didn’t match and Keira noticed that one of her mother’s painted nails was chipped when she put her hand up to her throat in a gesture of discomfiture.
‘I have been so critical of you with regard to your affair with Garth,’ Robyn said with a grimace of remorse contorting her features. ‘It’s very hypocritical of me because I once did the very same thing to your father when we were first married.’
Keira’s eyes opened wide. ‘You did?’
Robyn nodded, her cheeks going pink. ‘I had a brief fling with an old friend…He was an artist.’
This time it was Keira’s turn to moisten her dry lips. ‘You mean…you mean I’m not Dad’s daughter?’
‘You are his daughter, Keira, there’s no doubt about it,’ Robyn said. ‘I must admit I was a bit uncertain at first but after a while I just knew you were his. Your father was furious with me, as you can imagine, but he took me back and
nurtured me through a very difficult pregnancy. I will always love him for that.’
‘But he doesn’t love me.’
‘That’s not true,’ Robyn insisted. ‘Oh, he’s a stubborn old goat, of course, and it took him years to accept you were his, which meant he was often a little distant towards you. He realised his mistake when Jamie was born. You were so alike, but I guess by then it was too late. He didn’t know how to be a loving father to you. He wasn’t used to being affectionate towards you.’
Keira frowned. ‘Why are you telling me this now?’
‘I wanted to clear the air between us,’ Robyn said. ‘I know we haven’t had the greatest mother-daughter relationship there is, which is probably more my fault than yours. I felt so guilty about what I’d done that it made it hard for me to stand up for myself all these years. I didn’t stand up for you either. I was so very grateful to your father for not divorcing me that I didn’t want to rock the boat. But I’ve been thinking a lot about you lately. I guess that’s really why I am here telling you this now. I don’t want you to make the same mistake with Patrizio that I made with your father. Patrizio’s a strong man and a very determined and proud one.’
‘Yes…yes, he is.’
‘You are happy with him, aren’t you, darling?’ Robyn asked. ‘I’ve been so worried about you. I don’t want you to get hurt.’
‘Oh, Mum,’ Keira said, hugging her mother to her tightly. How she wished she could tell her she was in a similar situation with regard to her pregnancy!
Robyn began to shake with sobs. ‘I have been such a terrible mother to you. I can’t seem to get it right, no matter what I do.’
‘It’s all right, Mum.’ Keira stroked her mother’s back. ‘I’m just glad we’ve been able to talk about it now.’
Robyn dabbed at her eyes with a tissue. ‘You told me you had something to tell me,’ she said, stuffing the tissue up her sleeve. ‘What is it?’
Keira took an unsteady breath and announced, ‘I’m pregnant.’
‘Oh, my darling girl,’ Robyn said, reaching for her again. ‘I am so happy for you. It’s exactly what you and Patrizio need to bring you even closer together. Have you told him yet?’
‘Yes, she has,’ Patrizio said from the door.
Keira turned from her mother’s embrace to look at him. ‘I—I didn’t realise you were coming back today…’
‘Come here, cara, and give me a kiss,’ he commanded. ‘Your mother will not be offended, will you, Mrs Worthington?’