Someone Else's Life (17 page)

Holly

“Holly!” Dad calls after me as I race away down the steps, my heart on fire, pounding as hard as my footsteps. “Holly, wait!” he calls again. “Holly, please!”

I shake my head fiercely, trying to erase the image of Rosie in his arms—his daughter—his
real
daughter.

“Holly.” He catches my arm. “Holly, please, come back inside.”

I pull away.

“Holly.” He blocks my path. “Holly, please.”

“Tell her to go,” I say, biting my lip against the tears. “Tell her to go, and I’ll come back.”

He looks at me for a long moment, his eyes pained.

My throat swells and I pull away.

“Holly—where are you going?”

“I’m moving in with Josh,” I call over my shoulder. “He’s going back to college, and I’m going with him!”

“Holly, wait—you’re not moving in with your boyfriend—”

“He’s my
fiancé
!” I round on him. “If you’d bothered to listen to me for a second, you’d know that. Josh proposed in New York—
that’s
why we came home early. We’re getting married.”

He stares at me. “You’re
what
? Holly—you can’t—you’re
eighteen
!”

“I can do whatever the hell I like—and you can’t stop me!” I yell at him, tears swimming in my eyes. “After all, you’re not my father!”

He freezes, trapped in the cage of light from the window, pain blasted across his features.

I turn away, my cheeks blazing and run, just run, as fast as I can. I fling open Josh’s car door and throw myself inside.

“Let’s go.”

“Holly …” Josh pulls me close. “Baby, you should’ve let me go with you. Was she still there?”

“Oh, yeah!” I laugh, blinking fiercely, trying to stop the stupid tears streaking down my face. “Oh, she was still there, all right.” The image of the two of them burns my eyes.

Josh strokes my knee. “Babe, I’m sure your dad—”

“Can we just go?” I interrupt. “Please?”

He looks at me, then starts the car. “Sure.” He pulls into the road. “Where would you like to go?”

I turn, surprised. “With you. Back to Harvard.”

“You want to stay with me? In my dorm room?” he laughs. “Trust me, that dorm ain’t no place for a lady.”

“Please,” I beg. “I don’t seem to have
any
place right now.”

Josh sighs. “Baby, there is nothing I’d like more than to take you with me—but at college? Holly, you’d be on your own all day while I’m at class … Besides, running away isn’t the answer—you have to stay here, work things out with your dad.”

“He’s not my—”

“Yes, he is.” Josh pulls over, looks me straight in the eye. “He’ll always be your dad. He brought you up—and all on his own before Megan came along. Now, that can’t have been easy—you’re a little spitfire when you get going—”

“I am n—!” I protest, but Josh places his finger on my lips.

“But he’s done a pretty fine job, if you ask me.” He moves his hand to my cheek. “Now, Holly, Minnie Mouse or Donald Duck—whoever you are: you’re still you.” He leans closer. “And I love you.”

He kisses me and I feel myself beginning to melt.

“And so does your dad.”

I bite my lip.

“So, Donald, where would you like me to escort you to? If you’re not quite ready to go home, I’m sure Melissa would love to have an impromptu slumber party and a chance to show off what is now, I believe, the state’s largest collection of Johnny Depp DVDs …”

“Who needs Johnny Depp?” I whisper, leaning in as he wraps his arm around me, strong and warm and safe.

“Well, that’s true,” he agrees, kissing the top of my head. “But she also got a nauseating amount of chocolate for Christmas, and it would be an act of pure human kindness to help her eat it. I’ve done my best, of course, but there’s only so much a mere man can do. Time to call in an expert.”

I grin and slap him playfully.

“And then of course there’s the pièce de résistance—Dumbledore, the farting cat who’s guaranteed to drool on your face …”

“Sold!” I laugh, nuzzling closer.

“Everything’s gonna be okay, okay?” he whispers, smoothing my hair.

“Okay,” I sigh, ignoring the insistent buzz of my cell phone in my pocket.

Rosie

“I should have gone after her.” Jack slams the phone down and paces the kitchen. “I should’ve—”

“No,” Megan soothes. “No, she just needs some space, that’s all. It’s a lot to deal with.”

“But she’s my daughter—and she’s out there on her own—”

“She’s with Josh,” Megan corrects him. “He’ll look after her. He’s a good kid, Jack.”

“A good
husband
?” Jack challenges. “A good husband for my
teenage daughter
?”

“She’s eighteen, Jack—”

“I know that!” Jack snaps. “Don’t tell me about my own daughter!”

Megan looks away.

He sighs and leans against the counter. “I’m sorry,” he mumbles. “It’s just—she’s
only
eighteen. She’s my baby—my little girl.”

“I know,” Megan smooths his hair gently. “And
she
knows too. She knows you’re her dad and she loves you.” She kisses him.

I glance at Andy, who nods and clears his throat.

“Um, we should—we should really be getting back to the B and B,” I say, moving toward the door.

“Do you need a ride, honey?” Megan offers. “I need to go pick up Ben from my mom’s anyway.”

“Thanks.” I smile. “That would be—”

“No.” Jack looks up. “No, you can’t go—not you too.” His gaze locks on mine. “You should stay here.”

I hesitate. I don’t want to leave, not now I’ve found him—but part of me wants to run as far and as fast as I can.

“Jack—” Megan begins.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” I say, my cheeks burning. “You and Holly need some time alone, you need to talk …”

“It’s just to a B and B, Jack—she’ll still be in town,” Megan reasons.

“No,” Jack says, his voice firm. “I’ve gone eighteen years without knowing my daughter.” He swallows hard. “Don’t you think that’s long enough?”

Megan looks at him, then at me, then closes her mouth and looks away.

My heart thumps loudly in the stillness.

“Rosie,” he says gently, his green eyes so wide, so nervous, so vulnerable. “Will you stay?”

Holly

“That is
so cool
!” Melissa exclaims, squealing and hugging her pillow, startling Dumbledore who immediately leaps off the bed and scurries downstairs.

I scowl at her. “Weren’t you
listening
? Exactly which part of my life falling to pieces is cool?”

She rolls her eyes. “Don’t be so melodramatic—this is unreal!
Holly
, don’t you get it? You have a
mom
!”

Despite myself, my heart flutters.
My mom
.

“
Holly!”
Melissa squeals, grabbing my hands and squeezing them. “You probably have a whole other family in England—land of Shakespeare and castles and kings and—”

“I don’t want another family—I want
my
family!” I snap, pulling my hands away and hugging my knees. “I want my dad back.”

“Holls.” Melissa places her hand on my knee. “He’s always gonna be your dad—like,
duh
, you couldn’t even get rid of him at the prom, remember? How he wouldn’t go home? How he offered to chaperone? To DJ?”

A smile tugs at my lips.

“He’s not going
anywhere
, believe me—look how many times he’s called you just tonight.” I glance guiltily at my muted cell phone. “But you’re telling me you don’t wanna meet your mom? Your actual
mother?
All these years you thought she was dead, fantasized about what she was like, how things might’ve been, and now …” She squeezes my knees, her eyes sparkling with excitement. “She’s
alive
! Holly, your mom’s alive!”

“She’s
always
been alive—don’t you get it? Melissa, Dad lied—he
lied
to me, all this time. He told me she’d died.”

“Well,
yeah
!” Melissa rolls her eyes. “Well, he would, wouldn’t he? That bitch on the phone is obviously a waste of space—who wouldn’t rather have a mom who’s dead than one who tells her daughter to get lost when she turns up at her door? What a cow.”

I twist my finger tightly in my hair. I hadn’t thought of it like that.

“Holls, he was just trying to spare your feelings. Imagine if you’d gone looking for her like that Rosie girl did and she slammed the door in your face? How crushed would you be?”

I bite my lip, imagining it—the hope, the excitement, the earth-shattering rejection. It would be devastating. It must’ve been devastating. I frown, reluctant to feel sorry for Rosie.

“Well, he still shouldn’t have lied.”

“Well, duh,” Melissa says softly. “But then, he’s a guy, what do you expect? Emotional issues aren’t exactly their strength.”

“You’re not kidding.” I smile despite myself. “You should’ve seen how he flipped when I said I was going to stay with Josh at Harvard.
‘You’re eighteen
—
you’re too young to get married!’ ”

Melissa’s jaw drops and she stares at me. “Shut up! You’re
engaged
?”

Before I can react, Melissa screams and leaps on top of me, strangling me in a bear hug.

“Oh, my God! Oh, my Goooooodddd!”
She releases me momentarily. “
When? How?
Wait!” She looks at me urgently. “
Promise
me I’ll be your maid of honor! Please, Holly! I’ve never been a maid of honor, and—”

“All right, already—you can be my maid of honor!” I laugh, and she lunges on top of me again, her squeals, if possible, louder than ever.

“Oh, my God! Oh, my God! This is awesome! This is the best day of my life! My best friend is gonna be my sister-in-law, and I’m finally going to be a maid of honor!” She squeezes me hard. “And you! What the heck is your problem? You’re finally gonna meet your mom—your
real, cool English
mom—and you’re
getting married
! Your mom can come to the wedding! Hey—you can probably get married in a castle, lucky thing!”

“Whoa, there!” I laugh. “One step at a time!”

“I’ve gotta call Josh—I can’t
believe
he didn’t tell me!” Melissa grabs her cell, punches in the number, puts it on speaker, then squeals loudly as he answers.

“I can’t believe you’re getting married!”
she shrieks, flying at me in another hug as Josh laughs, all my worries fizzling away as excitement bubbles up inside me.

We’re getting married!

Melissa squeezes me tight, her grin splitting her face as this time I squeal too. She’s right, I am lucky. I have my friends, my family—Dad, and Megan and Ben; I have Josh and the promise of our new life together,
our own family
. I smile, hugging my secret. And somewhere, far across the Atlantic, I have a mom. My heart cartwheels at the thought. My
real
mom. Not some woman who gave birth to me and then couldn’t be bothered to stick around. It was an accident—we were separated by accident. She never meant to leave me at all.

And now I can’t wait to meet her.

Rosie

“What you doing?”

I look up to see Ben watching me in the bathroom mirror as I rub the two cotton buds against the inside of my cheek. I turn and smile.

“I’m doing a test,” I tell him. “For DNA.”

“Oh.” He screws up his nose. “Like ABC?”

I laugh. “Not really.” Though actually, it’s almost as easy. I can’t believe all it takes is two cotton buds rubbed inside each of our cheeks, sealed in two labeled paper envelopes, posted off to the lab with a check and a downloaded form—and hey presto: 99.9 percent accurate DNA results in less than a fortnight. It’s scarily simple.

Ben watches intently as I seal my cotton buds into the envelope with my name on, and I smile.

“You want a go?” I pull a fresh bud out of the box, and he eyes me uncertainly for a moment before opening his mouth, displaying rows of tiny pearly white teeth.

Ever so gently, I rub the cotton tip against his cheek and he giggles. “That tickles!”

“You’re not ticklish, are you?” I gasp, tickling under his armpit. He collapses to the floor, squirming gleefully, his laughter filling the room.

“What’s going on in here, then?” Jack grins, appearing round the doorframe with Megan.

“Daddy!” Ben cries, leaping into his arms.

“Hello, trouble.” Jack grins, rubbing his nose against Ben’s. “How’s my monkey?”

“I’m not a monkey!” Ben protests. “I’m Ben!”

“Of course you are.” Jack smiles, kissing his forehead. “And do you know who this is?” He points at me.

Ben shakes his head furiously, his hair flying in his eyes.

“This is Rosie,” Jack tells him, brushing his fringe back and looking at me. “She’s your big sister.”

Ben stares at me, eyes wide, and my breath catches.

“
Might
be your sister,” Megan amends quickly. “Let’s wait till it’s official, huh?” She looks at Jack sternly. “That’s the whole point.”

“Of course, of course.” Jack nods. “You done with yours?” He nods at the envelope by the sink.

“Yep,” I say, handing it over. “All done and dusted.”

“Great,” Jack says. “I’ll go drop them in the mail.”

“Now?” Megan says.

“The sooner the better, I think.” Jack smiles at me wearily. “Then we’ll all know where we stand.” He passes Ben to Megan and jogs downstairs.

Megan looks at me awkwardly.

“I’m sorry if I seem …” She falters. “I don’t mean to be skeptical, just with children it’s better if things are definite, before …”

“I understand,” I tell her, hugging my arms. “Have you heard from Holly?”

“No,” Megan sighs. “She’s still not answering her cell phone, but her friend’s mom called—she’s staying with them. So at least we know she’s safe.”

“Good. That’s a relief.”

“Yes.” Megan nods. “It is. Anyway, I’d better get this one to bed.” She ruffles Ben’s hair. “It’s been a long day.”

I nod. “I think I’ll get an early night too.”

“Okay, well, you know where everything is.” Megan smiles. “Good night.”

“Night.”

“Night, Rosie.”

I look up, my heart jumping at my name on Ben’s lips as he waves to me over Megan’s shoulder. I smile and wave back until they disappear through the doorway.

I sigh, flooded with conflicting emotions, then push open the door to the spare room and collapse into Andy’s waiting arms.

“Are you okay?” he whispers, stroking my hair.

I nod, my cheek pressed tight against his chest, my eyes glued once more to the family photo in its broken frame—the warmth I feel gazing at my dad, at my gorgeous little brother, fading as I look at Holly, the terrible casualty of this reunion. I close my eyes, feeling sick to my stomach.

“You did really well down there, you know?” Andy says. “That took a lot of balls.”

I smile despite myself.

“I know it wasn’t easy—especially after Kitty …” He squeezes me tight. “But you did it. You found your dad and you told him. I’m proud of you.” He kisses my head, his words tickling my ear. “You did what you came to do.”

I open my eyes.

“That’s just it,” I whisper, feeling sicker than ever. “Now what?”