Sarah's Secret (14 page)

Sarah felt physically sick. She closed the door, gazing at the child clasped in Margaret’s arms, her mind frantically trying for an explanation Davy could cope with.

‘First of all, young lady,’ said Margaret firmly, meeting Sarah’s eyes over Davy’s untidy head. ‘I think you should have a bath, and by that time we’ll all be feeling a lot calmer. You gave us a dreadful fright, Davina Tracy.’

‘I’d better ring Mrs Kendall,’ said Sarah, pulling herself together.

Davy turned round in alarm. ‘She
will
be cross with me!’

‘Not when I explain,’ said Sarah firmly. ‘You go off and have a scrub in Grandma’s bathroom while I ring her.’

Shortly afterwards Jake arrived, his face so haggard Sarah held out her arms, smiling jubilantly to reassure him.

‘Davy’s home! Grandma’s taken her upstairs for a bath.’

‘Thank God.’ His hug endangered her ribs. ‘What on earth happened?’

Sarah explained, then looked up at him in anguish. ‘It’s all my fault. She overheard when I was talking to you about not being her mother. And now I’ve got to find some way to explain.’

Jake led her into the kitchen. ‘Make me some coffee, darling, while we think of the best way to tell her.’

Comforted by the ‘we’, Sarah put the kettle on, then leaned against Jake when he put his arm round her.

‘You would have had to tell her one day, Sarah.’

‘I know.’ She looked up at him in appeal. ‘Will you stay while I talk to her?’

‘I’ll do whatever you want,’ he assured her. ‘But will Davy want me around in this situation?’

‘I don’t know. But
I
want you.’

He kissed her swiftly. ‘Then I’ll stay.’

When Davy came in with Margaret her eyes lit up at the sight of Jake, obviously pleased to see him, and he swept her up in his arms.

‘Next time you want to go walkabout you ring me and I’ll fetch you myself, Davy Tracy,’ he said with mock menace, and sat down with her on his lap.

Davy settled herself comfortably in Jake’s hold, her questioning eyes on Sarah. ‘Grandma said you’d explain once I was clean.’

‘Right, then,’ said Sarah, bracing herself.

Margaret met her eyes. ‘I said you’d tell Davy who her mother was.’

The slight emphasis on the word ‘mother’ clarified things for Sarah. ‘I was going to tell you this when you were older, Davy—’

‘I’m nine,’ Davy interrupted hotly. ‘Not a baby.’

Sarah’s eyes filled. ‘No,’ she said thickly, ‘you’re not. Thank you,’ she added, when Margaret handed her some kitchen paper.

‘Am I adopted, then?’ blurted Davy.

‘Good heavens, no, darling.’

‘But if you’re not my mummy who is?’

Sarah took a deep breath. ‘It was your lovely granny, Davy. But she was so ill after you were born she just couldn’t look after you. So she gave you to me. You were my very own baby right from the first, though I had to share you with Granny and Gramps later on, when she was better—Grandma, too.’ Sarah smiled lovingly.
‘You were lucky, really, because when you were little you had four people to spoil you.’

‘I asked Sarah to be your mummy,’ said Margaret huskily. ‘Anne—your granny—was so ill, you see, and I was much too old. I thought Sarah would be the perfect mummy for you. And I was right, wasn’t I?’ Unaccustomed, painful tears welled in her eyes as all three of them waited with bated breath for Davy’s reaction.

It seemed a very long time before Davy let out a deep sigh and slid off Jake’s lap to go to Sarah. ‘I didn’t think I could be adopted, really, because everyone says I look just like you.’

And thank God for it, thought Sarah, weak with relief.

‘Are you hungry, darling?’ asked Margaret, blowing her nose. ‘I could cook something.’

‘I’ve got a better idea,’ said Jake, and grinned at Margaret. ‘Let’s ring up for a giant pizza. Do you like pizza, Grandma?’

‘I’ve never tasted it,’ she confessed, smiling. ‘But I’m sure it’s delicious.’

The weeks before summer term ended at Roedale were a halcyon time for Sarah. Jake went with her to sports day and watched Davy win the sprint, and displayed his pride as openly as any father there when the winner’s ribbon was pinned on her shirt. This momentous event was eclipsed only by the wedding, which took place soon afterwards, with Davy as chief bridesmaid, followed by Nina and Chloe, when Sarah walked down the aisle in the long white dress Jake had insisted on for his bride. There were so many contenders for Davy’s company while her mother was away on honeymoon that in
the end she spent part of it with the Rogers family and part of it with Nina and Chloe, and in between was chauffeured on regular visits to Margaret, to reassure her that Grandma wasn’t lonely.

The housing situation had been solved with remarkable simplicity, and to Margaret Parker’s deep approval. Her bosom friend Barbara lived alone in a large house not far from the Rogers home, and the lady was only too happy to move into the ground-floor flat in Campden Road and sell her house to Jake and Sarah.

‘But we’ll live in my flat while the renovations are being done,’ said Jake, on the first night of their honeymoon.

Sarah looked out at the moonlight silvering the garden of the Greenacres Hotel and pinched herself hard.

‘What’s the matter?’ he demanded as she winced.

‘Just making sure I’m not dreaming.’ She gave him a wry, wondering smile over her shoulder. ‘You must admit it’s a touch unreal. Not so long ago I was a hardworking single parent, then
wham
I fell in love with the unique and wonderful Mr Jacob Hogan.’

Jake laughed and turned her in his arms to look down into her face. ‘Not unique, exactly. I’m one of a pair, remember.’

‘Not to me,’ said Sarah firmly. ‘You, my darling husband, are one of a kind.’

Jake kissed her by way of appreciation, then kissed her again at length. ‘It’s getting cold,’ he whispered. ‘Let’s go to bed.’

‘It’s not cold at all,’ she said, laughing. ‘Though I like the idea of bed. But first,’ she added, ‘there’s something I’ve been meaning to ask you.’

‘Ask away.’

‘When you took us home to your parents the first time
Liam apologised for the infamous car incident, and said he’d caused you enough trouble already. What did he mean?’

Jake gave her a wry smile. ‘You remember I told you that my London lady met someone else she preferred?’

‘Vividly.’ Sarah reached up and kissed him. ‘Though I don’t understand how she could!’

‘Thank you, my darling.’ He kissed her back. ‘But I introduced her to Liam one weekend.’

‘What happened?’

‘She forsook me for my identical twin.’

‘
What?
The woman has no taste. Besides, you and Liam aren’t really identical.’ Sarah smiled up at him. ‘To me, darling, you’re unique.’

‘Definitely time for bed,’ said Jake, and picked her up.

‘Will making love be different now we’re married?’ asked Sarah, when he laid her on the wide white bed that had filled her with such misgiving the first time she’d seen it.

‘Probably,’ said Jake, his eyes gleaming with anticipation. ‘I’ve never made love to a married woman before.’

‘Same here with a married man.’

‘Or any other man at all,’ said her husband, with deep satisfaction.

‘True.’ Sarah gave him a glowing smile and held up her arms. ‘Only you, Jake Hogan. Only you.’