The Secret Father

His whole attitude as he bent his head was one of familiarity—intimacy. He picked up Lindy’s bag and tucked it under one arm, the other curled around her shoulders. Together they ran out into the rain. The car they got into was a silver Mercedes.

The expressions that flickered across Sam’s face coalesced into stone as he stood there, the rain streaming down his face. Slowly, almost as if he’d forgotten how to accomplish the familiar task, he got back into the car. He drove out of the car park, out of the market town and onto the open country road. After several miles he pulled off the road into a lay-by. Arms across the steering wheel, he laid his head on his hands. When he straightened up again his eyes were bleak, and his manner totally composed.

The farmhouse kitchen was filled with light and warmth on even the dullest of days. Two small figures flung themselves at her brother-in-law and attached themselves firmly to his long legs.

‘Bess has had kittens—come see!’

‘Five, we counted,’ an identical voice added. ‘Come see.’ They fairly danced with impatience as they released him.

‘Where is this miracle of procreation?’ Adam asked, giving Lindy a resigned grin.

‘Your sock drawer, Uncle Adam.’

‘My what?’

‘You can’t move her—Aunty Anna says so. She says it’s your fault for leaving it open.’

‘She would.’

Lindy laughed as she watched him being led off by his twin nephews.

‘Aunty Hope is here too.’

This belated piece of information drifted towards Lindy. With a surge of pleasure she rushed towards the drawing room.

‘Hope! Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?’

‘My little surprise.’ Hope looked up, a quizzical smile on her face. She was seated beside the third Lacey sister. Small, slight and dark, Anna, the married triplet, managed to give an impression of vitality even when curled up amongst the cushions.

‘I didn’t know either,’ she confirmed. ‘The royal visitation took me completely unawares.’

‘Less cheek, you,’ Hope remonstrated.

‘Come and sit down—you look whacked,’ Anna observed. She pushed several cushions onto the floor and patted the space beside her.

Lindy didn’t need a second invitation. The high-ceilinged room was filled with rich, earthy colours, lovely fabrics and textures, and a log fire crackled in the hearth. It was a deeply relaxing room with a warm, soothing ambience. It was a place she associated with laughter and love. There was a shadow of envy in her eyes as she looked at her glowing sister. Anna seemed to be very relaxed about her multiple pregnancy.

‘I think the hours they expect you to work are ridiculous,’ Anna observed. ‘It’s inhuman, I told Adam. I can’t imagine why anyone would want to work in a casualty department.’ She took a bite out of a piece of Turkish delight and gave a sigh. ‘I always hated this stuff.’

‘I enjoy work, and I doubt it’s harder than looking after the twins twenty-four hours a day.’ Lindy liked exhaustion—she needed exhaustion! Sometimes she thought the locum job in the casualty department at St Jude’s, where her brother-in-law was a consultant surgeon, had saved her sanity. She had moved back home to her parents’ farm and she was a frequent visitor at Anna’s rambling home. It should have been impossible to feel lonely whilst surrounded by her loving family. Yet for some reason her sense of isolation increased daily.

‘What have you done with Adam, Lindy?’ Hope asked, looking around as if she expected to see him materialise.

‘On the twins’ list of priorities you come way down below the new kittens. Am I right?’ Anna asked Lindy.

Lindy nodded. ‘They hijacked him.’

Anna had taken on her husband’s twin four-year-old nephews when they had married, along with a teenage niece and an older boy who was now twenty. To top that she was now expecting twins of her own, and showed every indication of thriving on what would have exhausted a lesser mortal.

‘Are you staying long?’ Lindy asked Hope, stroking the ears of the dog that had placed its head in her lap.

‘Flying visit,’ Hope said. ‘I spent the morning with Mum and Dad. It’s a hive of activity at the farm. Mum’s been wildly baking for a WI thing at the farm tonight.’

‘Why do you think I’m here? You need psychological counselling before you can take an evening of those ladies.’ They took a great interest in all things romantic, and Lindy didn’t feel up to a grilling, even a good-natured one.

‘Talking of emotional states…?’ Hope let the question hang in the air.