Secrets (22 page)

Chapter Fif
ty-Five

By the time Janey returned from the Whistler excursion it was late afternoon. The Canada Companions arranged to have a quick freshen-up before meeting for pre-dinner drinks in the bar. Janey was the first down to the foyer area. Stepping out of the lift, she couldn’t see anybody else from the group. On a whim she turned on her heel and stepped back into the elevator. Punching a button, she waited impatiently for the doors to slide shut. The lift lurched upwards. Seconds later, the elevator dinged and the doors opened again. A corridor stretched ahead. It was deserted. She walked the short distance to room 601 and, for a moment, hesitated. The sound of silence roared in her ears. She put an ear against the door listened. Nothing. Finally she rapped hard on the solid wooden panels.

‘Garth?’

There was no answer.

***

Emma drove the car onto the driveway of the house she shared with Adrian. Ratcheting up the handbrake, she looked at Garth in the rear view mirror.

‘Here we are,’ she announced cheerfully. Her upbeat tone belied an inner anxiety. Her stomach was churning. ‘Home at last.’ She released the seat restraint. It flew noisily backwards. ‘Shall I get Anna out?’

‘No, it’s fine. I’ll see to her.’

‘Okay.’ Emma gave her most dazzling smile. ‘I think Anna would prefer you to help her anyway. She’s been an absolute angel with you. She definitely remembers her daddy.’

Garth didn’t trust himself to speak. Wordlessly he shifted himself out of the car and walked round to Anna’s side. Opening the door, he leant in and released the baby seat’s safety straps. Moments later the little girl was on his shoulder. Her head instantly flopped down as she snuggled into him. Two chubby arms wound around his neck. After a glorious day of fresh air, picnics and fun, Anna had slept most of the journey home.

Emma made sure her smile remained glued in place. Going to the boot, she emptied out baby paraphernalia. As she loaded up her arms, she glanced at Garth. ‘Would you like to give Anna her bath while I start dinner?’

‘Sure.’ Garth hugged the drowsy child to him as he trailed Emma up to the front door. He glanced around. Nice neighbourhood. Swish houses. Very affluent looking. He gazed up at his brother’s house. It was typically North American. Three levels starting with a basement den-cum-playroom. The driveway was large with plenty of parking space. Apart from Emma’s car, it was devoid of vehicles. He wondered if his brother’s car was in one of the triple garages adjacent to the house. ‘Is Adrian home?’ He followed Emma into a spacious inner hall.

‘No. He won’t be in for another hour or so. That’s if he comes home at all.’ She dumped the baby gear on the floor. She’d sort it out later. Moving around Garth, she shut the front door.

‘But he knows I want to see him, right?’

‘Oh yes,’ Emma assured. Ever since Garth had announced he was flying to Canada, Adrian had done nothing but moan. He wasn’t happy about his brother’s mission to unearth the real truth about paternity. There had been a number of heated rows about it. Last night Adrian had used it as an excuse to storm out and behave like a tom cat until the early hours. His departing words had been full of bitterness.

‘It’s a damn pity you didn’t stick to sleeping with me instead of parting your legs for my flamin’ brother,’ he’d roared. ‘Then we wouldn’t be in this chuffing situation.’

‘And it’s a damn pity you didn’t wear a chuffing jacket,’ Emma had screamed after him. Adrian had stomped off, slamming the door behind him. Emma had promptly hauled it back on its hinges. ‘And whoever you’re off to see,’ she’d screeched, ‘make sure you’re wearing a chuffing jacket
this
time!’

It hadn’t helped that Nancy, their neighbour, had been returning with her twelve-year-old daughter from an early evening dance class. They’d heard every word.

‘Really, Emma.’ Nancy had looked pained. ‘Can’t you watch your language? It does rather lower the tone of the neighbourhood.’

‘Don’t look down your long nose at me, you snooty bitch,’ Emma had snarled. She’d then resorted to more door slamming to shut out Nancy’s apoplectic face. Since moving into this house it was amazing the front door was still on its hinges. She’d immediately regretted the door banging when Anna, upstairs in her cot, had started to cry.

Emma had instantly adopted a soothing tone. ‘Mummy’s coming. Don’t cry, bubba. It was just the naughty wind catching the door.’

And now, as Emma moved around her large and very beautiful American-styled kitchen, she remembered how much calmer life had been when living with Adrian’s older brother. She moved into the hallway and called upstairs. ‘Are you okay, Garth? Can you find all Anna’s stuff?’

‘Yes, thanks.’ Garth’s voice floated down the stairwell. ‘We’re fine. I gather hers is the room covered in pink and lilac butterflies and that it’s not yours and Adrian’s room.’

‘Spot on,’ Emma chuckled. What Garth didn’t know was that another pink room next door to Anna’s was now Emma’s room. The sleeping arrangements between her and Adrian had changed within weeks of moving here. Emma had been fed up with Adrian disturbing her in the small hours as he crept in covered in lipstick and cheap perfume. She couldn’t remember the last time they’d been intimate. In England their couplings had always been fast and furious. Neither had wanted to be caught out by Garth. Adrian had even dared to make love to her in the living room whilst his brother was writing fiction in the study. It had given a thrilling edge to their love-making. At other times the pair of them had resorted to the confines of Adrian’s car, Emma’s skirt rucked up around her thighs as Adrian pumped away. It had been so exciting. So daring. Their affair had been full of
va-va-voom
. Once together in Canada, lying side by side in their vast American bed, their couplings had become perfunctory. Brief. And finally non-existent. Adrian didn’t “do” routine sex. He did dangerous imaginative sex. Emma could imagine Adrian in his office, behind his secretary as she bent over an open filing cabinet, while Adrian’s boss worked just feet away next door. Or on the balcony of a swish apartment block, meshed against some pretty girl and getting a thrill from outside sex with an oblivious general public far below. Sighing, Emma set about making a tomato, red onion and feta salad to go with some huge succulent steaks.

Upstairs, Garth was in his element. The months fell away. It was just him and Anna in their own little bubble. Anna was splashing away happily in the tub. Garth picked up a plastic duck. He whizzed it through the air making Anna chuckle. ‘Mr Duck is after your feet!’ he said in a high falsetto voice. Anna shrieked with delight. ‘Oh nooo! Mr Duck has gobbled up one of Anna’s tiny toes. Look!’ He brought one hand out of the water, fingers curled into his palm, a thumb poking through. ‘See! It’s Anna’s toe-toe!’ He wiggled his thumb about and Anna stared, captivated. She had a half-smile on her face and was completely caught up in the drama of her lost toe. ‘Quick, we must put Anna’s toe back on her foot before Mr Duck gobbles it up!’ Anna emitted a series of excited screeches as Garth plunged his hand back into the bath water and touched Anna’s chubby foot. ‘Ta da!’ Garth sang. ‘Anna’s toe is back on her foot!’ He laughed at the little girl’s astonished expression. She was adorable. His heart expanded with love. He missed this. The simple things, like daily bath routine, he’d once taken for granted. Another wave of parental love whooshed over him. It would be so easy to fall back into this wonderful bit of monotony that other tired and harassed parents saw as a chore. Why was life so complicated for some people? Why couldn’t Emma have just maintained the status quo? They could have rocked easily enough through life together, looking after little Anna between them. He knew they hadn’t loved each other, and he wasn’t deluded about Emma’s feelings for him, despite her saying otherwise. But they’d been companionable enough together. They could have made it work for Anna’s sake. “We can have all that again,” Emma had said to him on the return journey to the house. “Think about it, Garth. Please.” And he’d been thinking about it ever since. Emma’s suggestion of dismissing DNA tests and reverting back to where they’d left off constantly badgered his brain. Oh that it could be so simple…to pretend none of this mess had happened and he was Anna’s father. From nowhere an image of Janey flooded his inner vision. Beautiful, kind, funny, Janey. Garth felt his chest tighten with feelings he’d never had for Emma. In that moment he knew there was absolutely no going back.

‘Come on, little lady.’ Garth reached for a pink fluffy towel with a teddy bear hood. ‘Let Daddy get you out of this tub.’ Oh my goodness. He’d said
Daddy
without even thinking about it. He gave a deep sigh. Old habits die hard. As he lifted Anna out of the water, a shadow fell across the doorway. Garth glanced up to see Adrian standing there. His face was pinched and white. He looked livid. There was a pause as the two men regarded each other.

‘Hi, bro.’ Garth was the first to speak. ‘Long time no see.’

‘Hi yourself,’ Adrian spat. ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing playing happy families with my kid?’

Chapter Fifty-Six

For a moment Garth ignored Adrian. Making sure Anna was warmly wrapped in her towel, he hunkered down to the floor and laid her on the baby changing mat.

‘Did you hear me?’ Adrian demanded.

‘I most certainly did, probably along with the neighbours next door. Are you always so loud?’ Garth patted the towel over Anna’s body. The little girl gurgled happily, oblivious of the hostility crackling around her.

‘Who the chuffing hell do you think you’re talking to?’

‘You. And watch your language. Especially in front of Anna.’

‘She’s only one year old,’ Adrian sneered, ‘so hardly likely to remember anything.’

‘Kids are like sponges at this age,’ said Garth, reaching for a nappy.

‘You’ve got some flamin’ front,’ Adrian roared, ‘coming over here, bathing my kid, telling me what I can and can’t say in my own home.’ Anna was suddenly alive to the tone of Adrian’s voice. She screwed up her face and began to sob. ‘Oh for f–’

‘Careful,’ warned Garth.

Adrian’s face was working with fury. ‘Now look what you’ve done.’ Turning on his heel, he made to stalk off.

‘Hey, just a minute.’ For a big man, Garth was on his feet in a flash. He grabbed hold of Adrian’s arm, stopping him in his tracks. Garth didn’t recognise Adrian’s attitude. Oh sure, the guy had always been one to let off the odd expletive, but usually in humour, not rancour. But then again, the fella obviously felt threatened having his brother turn up with all DNA guns blazing. For a moment Garth felt like he’d dropped into a scene from “The Jeremy Kyle Show”. Any minute now a tattooed muscled-up minder would hover while Jeremy thrust a microphone under Garth’s nose and yell, “Home wrecker!” And was he? Garth pondered this as Anna’s sobs filled the air. Angrily, Adrian shrugged Garth off. Turning on his heel Adrian strode off, feet stomping loudly down the stairs. Garth let him go. He turned his attention back to Anna. Bending down he scooped her up, and patted the sobbing child absent-mindedly on the back. No, surely he couldn’t be any more of a home wrecker than Adrian. His brother had waltzed into Garth’s living room without any preamble and shattered his world in a micro-second. The emotional fall-out had mushroomed outwards upsetting Garth’s world and that of his parents too. Perhaps if Adrian had thrown himself into being a doting daddy, Garth would be a little more understanding of his brother’s fury right now. But if everything Emma had said was true, then surely Adrian wasn’t interested in either Emma or Anna? He certainly hadn’t changed his Casanova ways. In the brief moments of seeing his brother, there had been no interaction on Adrian’s part with Anna. He hadn’t greeted the child. Not a smile or a kiss. Just walked in and thrown a noisy tantrum.

Anna’s sobs were subsiding now. Garth maintained the rhythmic back patting, gentle and soothing. Another minute passed and the baby was finally quiet.

‘There, there. All better, eh?’ Garth murmured. ‘Now, little lady. We’ve got the nappy on, but nothing else. Let’s pop you in your pretty jim-jams and see what Mummy wants us to do next.’

Garth was just buttoning Anna into a cotton two-piece with a giraffe on the front when Emma appeared in the doorway.

‘Adrian’s gone out.’

‘Ah.’

‘He said he’ll be back in a couple of hours, when he’s gathered his thoughts.’

‘Fair enough.’

‘Which means he has a legit excuse to have his ruffled feathers soothed by a trollop before coming back here to face the music.’

‘Emma, there is no music to face. Why does he feel so threatened? Even if Anna is my child, she’s
here
! In Canada! She’s with you and Adrian. There’s not much I can do about that unless I went to Court for custody.’

Emma paled. ‘You wouldn’t do that, would you?’

‘No,’ said Garth quietly. ‘Of course not. I wouldn’t dream of taking Anna away from her mummy.’

Emma’s eyes filled with tears and she visibly trembled. ‘Please don’t ever do that. I couldn’t cope. I really–’

‘I said I won’t,’ Garth interrupted. ‘Anna has her family here – you and Adrian. You both made your choices all those months ago. You wanted to be with each other and live here in Canada. As long as Anna is happy and has two loving parents bringing her up, I would never tear the family unit apart. If I’m proved to be her father, then I’ll simply be appealing to the pair of you to grant me access now and again. That’s all. I just want to know I can hop on a plane every couple of months and spend some time with her. I could even,’ Garth took a deep breath, ‘re-locate. I can just as easily do my job over here.’

‘Garth,’ Emma’s voice shook with emotion. ‘I gave you a solution earlier today. You don’t have to do any of that. Just let me come back to England with you. Find it in your heart to forgive me. Please. What I did was beyond hurtful. I know that. I realise this is going to sound like an old cliché,’ Emma gulped, ‘but time heals. It does. Truly. We can put all this behind us.’

‘Emma–’

‘Shh,’ she stepped towards him and, standing on tiptoe, placed a finger on his lips. ‘Let’s get Anna fed and into bed. She’s tired. We’ll talk over dinner. Although I dread to think what those steaks will be like by the time we sit down to eat.’

Garth and Emma were half way through supper when Adrian returned.

‘Evening,’ said Garth amicably.

‘Are you still here?’ Adrian demanded. He slung his keys down on the dining table. They landed with a clatter and Emma visibly jumped. Garth could feel his own nerves jangling.

‘Bro, can you just sit down and listen to me. I’m not here to turn your world upside down.’

‘No? So why all this talk of DNA tests?’

‘I merely want the truth. That’s all. Surely that’s no crime?’

‘And where does that leave Emma and me? I’m only with her because of Anna.’

Emma gasped. ‘You told me–’

‘And what if you
are
Anna’s father?’ Adrian cut across Emma. ‘What then?’

‘I just want to see her now and again. That’s all.’

‘Anna doesn’t exactly live round the corner from you, matey.’

‘Details,’ Garth shrugged. ‘I’d also like us to get over this hostility and be friends again.’

Emma gaped at Garth while Adrian stared at his brother incredulously.

‘Do what?’ He gave a bark of laughter. The sound held no mirth. ‘I stamped all over you. Took away your partner and the kid you adored. And you stroll in here and want to be friends?’ Adrian’s eyebrows had almost disappeared into his hairline.

‘You’re my brother,’ Garth said simply.

Abruptly, Adrian pulled out a dining chair. He sat down heavily. Reaching for the bottle of wine Emma and Garth had been sharing, he sloshed some into the glass that had been set for him. There was a pause as he put the glass to his mouth and drank. Setting the glass down again, he gave Garth a contemplative look. When he next spoke, his voice was softer. ‘You always were the nicest one of the two of us.’ His admission also held a note of defeat. ‘Look…I’m not going to lie, matey. I’ve missed you. But there’s another part of me…,’ he shrugged helplessly, ‘that just doesn’t damn well like you.’

Garth smiled sadly. ‘It’s called
sibling rivalry
.’

Adrian nodded slowly in agreement. He looked Garth in the eye. ‘I’m sorry. Sorry for what I did. But do you know what? If I could turn back the hands of time, I’m not convinced I wouldn’t do it all over again. Because that’s the sort of bloke I am. A shit.’

‘None of us can change the past,’ Garth murmured. ‘It is what it is. The only thing I’m interested in is the future.’

For a moment there was silence as Adrian digested this. ‘Are you here to take Emma back to England with you?’

There was another pause as Garth appeared to contemplate the question. He knew Emma was holding her breath. Hoping he’d say yes. ‘I told you. I’m simply here to find out the truth. The DNA results will be ready tomorrow, and then I’ll leave you good people in peace.’

Adrian regarded his brother thoughtfully. ‘You might as well stay the night. In fact…,’ he momentarily hesitated, but then rallied. ‘I’d like that.’

Garth gave a slow smile, his face lighting up with obvious pleasure. ‘Thank you.’

‘And tomorrow, when the results are available, I’ll come with you.’ For a second Adrian’s voice caught. ‘I’d like to be there for you, as I know you would for me.’

‘I’d like that too,’ Garth replied.

Only Emma remained silent, her face wretched.