‘She won’t come with him,’ Lauri said obstinately, once she was alone with Laurence Daniels. ‘Why should she?’
‘Because I still love her.’
‘You don’t know her!’ her eyes sparkled angrily. ‘You haven’t seen her for almost eighteen years. You don’t know the woman she’s become.’
‘I can see how well she’s brought you up, what a beautiful young woman she’s made of you. You’re everything she was at that age, loyal, trusting, and independent.’
‘But she’s never told me she’s my mother! Doesn’t that tell you anything? She’s ashamed of my birth, of having once loved you. She’s had years to tell me the truth, and yet she chose not to. I think the reason for that is obvious.’
‘I hope you’re wrong,’ he said fervently. ‘I really hope you’re wrong.’
Lauri didn’t know what she wanted any more. To find that Jane was the woman Laurence Daniels loved. And Jane must have still loved him after her baby had been born, why else would she have called her daughter Lauren, a female name as much like Laurence as she could make it.
She wasn’t surprised when Alex came back into the hospital room alone, although his first words soon disillusioned her.
‘Jane’s outside,’ he told them almost triumphantly. ‘She wants to see you, Lauren.’
She stood up, swallowing nervously. This would be the first time she had ever faced Jane as her daughter. She stepped outside the room, conscious of Alex standing behind her. As she looked at Jane her whole world suddenly zoomed back into focus. Jane loved her, had always loved her, and their relationship had always been much closer than just aunt and niece, she knew that now.
&nbs
p; Jane rushed towards her, her anxiety evident. ‘Are you all right?’ she demanded to know. ‘Mr Blair would only tell me that you were at the hospital.’ She searched Lauri’s face for sign of injury. ‘What happened?’
‘I’m not hurt,’ Lauri assured her with a smile, tears shining in her eyes. ‘I’m not hurt at all—Mum.’
Jane’s face went very white. ‘M-Mum?’ she gasped, her face now a sickly grey colour.
‘Yes,’ Lauri squeezed her hand reassuringly. ‘And there’s someone in that room over there who would like very much to talk to you.’
‘Wh-who is it?’ Jane gasped.
‘Can’t you guess?’ Lauri teased.
‘L-Laurence?’ Jane asked dazedly.
Lauri nodded. ‘My father. He’s Alex’s brother-in-law.’
Jane looked at her employer. ‘Then Beth—’
‘Was my sister,’ he acknowledged gently. ‘But that’s all in the past. Laurence is all alone in the world now.’
‘He loves us both very much,’ Lauri continued, ‘and he wants the chance to prove it. I’d like you to give him that chance,’ she added softly.
Jane’s big brown eyes flooded with tears, her usual calm assurance completely deserting her. ‘You—you like him?’
‘Very much. Much more than I do Robin,’ Lauri added mischievously.
‘Oh, my God—Robin!’ Jane turned to Alex. ‘I completely forgot about him when you said Lauri was at the hospital. Whatever must he think of me?’
‘It’s all right,’ Alex soothed her. ‘I had a word with Steve while you were getting your coat. He was going to take Robin aside and explain the situation to him.’ He looked at his wrist-watch. ‘The party should be breaking up about now.’
‘Oh, this is terrible!’ Jane put her hands up to her face. ‘He’s going to hate me when he knows the truth.’
‘Does that really matter?’ Lauri asked gently. ‘If I’d known before that I was your daughter, with Robin as my prospective future stepfather, I would have told you exactly what I think of him. I hate him. He’s stuffy and disapproving, and he would never have made you truly happy.’
‘So you don’t want me to marry him?’
‘I’d rather have my real father. I’ll even be bridesmaid at the wedding,’ Lauri smiled shakily.