Millionaire's Woman

Jo went with him eagerly, the dog padding after her, and Jack got up and caught Kate to him.

‘I’ll send Dad home and then we sit down with Jo. If she knows she’s adopted she might as well know the rest of it.’

Kate put her head on his shoulder. ‘You’re right. I’ll just load the dishwasher and clear up, then maybe we can walk in the garden. It might be easier outside.’

‘It won’t be easy anywhere,’ said Jack heavily, ‘but it has to be done.’

Between them they managed to make the kitchen tidy by the time Jo came back with Tom, carrying a huge Easter egg. She put it on the table and went straight to Kate to throw her arms round her, burrowing her face into her shoulder.

‘I showed Joanna some photographs,’ said Tom, his eyes meeting his son’s. ‘But I left the explanations to you.’

‘Dad-—’ began Jack wrathfully, but Kate shook her head.

‘I’m glad you did, Tom.’ She put Jo away from her and looked into the dazed elfin face searchingly. ‘Jack and I need to tell you a story, darling, to explain why you look just like the girl in the photograph.’ Kate looked up. ‘You needn’t stay, Tom.’

‘I started it, so of course I’ll stay.’

‘Then let’s take Bran out into the garden,’ suggested Jack. ‘We’ll make our confessions in the sunshine.’

‘Confessions?’ said Jo fearfully, looking from his face to Kate’s.

Once outside the four of them paced along the gravel paths and around the millpond while Kate told Joanna her story. When she came to the part where she heard that Jack had married someone else, he took over and told his daughter how he’d been a fool to even look at another woman, let alone get into a situation where he felt he had to marry her.

‘But you had to take responsibility for the baby,’ said Jo, going straight to the heart of the matter.

‘Exactly. But not only was the baby born too soon to survive, it turned out that I couldn’t have been the father, so Dawn agreed to a divorce.’

‘But what happened to your baby, Kate?’ asked Jo. Then, seeing the look in Kate’s eyes, she breathed in sharply, an incredulous look dawning in her own. ‘Oh. You mean—’ She swallowed hard. ‘I’m the baby?’

‘Yes,darling. Elizabeth persuaded me to let her bring you up because I was on my own and was quite ill for a while after you were born. Also I had to work and she could look after you better than I could.’ Kate took in a deep, shaky breath. ‘But it broke my heart to part with you.’

‘And you look like the girl in the photograph because she’s my mother,’ said Jack with such obvious difficulty that Jo’s lip trembled in sympathy. ‘I’ve only just found out that I have the incredible luck to have a daughter, but Kate couldn’t bear to tell you the truth because you’re still grieving for the only parents you ever knew.’

Joanna stopped by a carved stone bench. ‘I need to sit down.’

‘Me, too,’ said Tom, and took her hand to draw her down beside him.

Joanna fondled Bran as she looked up at Kate and Jack, who were leaning against each other for support. ‘You know, I was going to look for my real mother one day, as long as you didn’t mind, Kate.’

‘Now you don’t have to,’ said her grandfather.

‘No, I don’t.’ Jo was silent for a long time, but at last she stood up and flung her arms round Kate. ‘Now I know why I’ve always felt so close to you. But I used to try and hide it so Mum wouldn’t be hurt.’

‘And I tried my best just to be Auntie,’ said Kate unsteadily, ‘but it was so hard. I could hardly bear it sometimes. I hated it when they sent you away to school. The day they took you off to Manor House I cried my eyes out.’

Jack had been very silent during this exchange, but Kate could feel the tension in his body. She was about to put him out of his misery and ask Joanna how she felt about him when her child detached herself and held out her hand to him.

‘I’ve only just met you so this is pretty weird.’ She smiled shakily. ‘But I’m sure I’ll get used to you as my father pretty quickly now I know.’

‘If this was a film,’ said Kate, trying to introduce a lighter note into the situation since Jack was near to tears as he grasped his daughter’s hand, ‘you would run into his arms and cry “Daddy!”’

To her relief Jo chuckled. ‘You’ve been watching too many TV movies.’

‘I’d like it very much, just the same,’ said Jack huskily.

‘OK then,’ said Jo, smiling at him, and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek as he put his arms round her and hugged her close. ‘So what do I call you now?’ she asked.

‘Jack works for me,’ he said promptly.