Page 92 of The Summer That Changed Us

‘What’s he saying?’ Zoe whispered, coming closer, her brow creased with concern. Ruby had dropped off to sleep in her mother’s arms, her thumb tucked into her mouth.

‘You put Ruby to bed, I’ll tell you in a minute,’ Grace mouthed.

But Zoe didn’t move. Roger was still speaking, so she forced herself to focus on what he was saying. ‘That’s a possibility. There could be a number of reasons,’ he said gently. ‘He could already have another child.’

‘You mean as well as Olivia and Austin?’ Grace’s heart was racing. ‘I don’t think so. He was going out with Julia when he was still at school. He’d only have been a boy himself before then.’

Roger cleared his throat. ‘What I’m trying to say is, that if Myles’s recent affair had resulted in a pregnancy—’

‘Oh my god!’ Grace grabbed the worktop for support and stared at Zoe.

‘Grace?’ Zoe demanded. ‘What is it? What is he saying?’

She shook her head; she couldn’t answer right now, it was difficult enough to follow one conversation, let alone start another.

‘If it had,’ Roger continued, ‘then it would be natural for Myles to want to make provision for another child in his will.’

‘But … but … ’ Grace’s head was spinning, trying to connect the dots. ‘He didn’t say anything.’

‘Grace?’ Zoe’s voice sounded distant and echoey. Grace put her other hand to her ear, trying to block out her sister.

‘In a minute,’ Grace said absently and twisted away so she couldn’t see her.

‘No,’ Roger confirmed. ‘He didn’t. And we might never know. Myles’s death was completely unexpected, he assumed he’d be around for decades to come. It’s only a theory, but if there was… is … a child, he may have thought that he’d have the chance to tell you about it at some point in the future. But that chance never came.’

‘So, let me get this straight.’ Her head was all over the place; she had no chance of getting anything straight, but she had to try. ‘You think the wording in Myles’s will was left deliberately vague to allow for other children to claim a share from his estate.’

Zoe gasped loudly but Grace couldn’t meet her eye; she needed to process it herself first without having to manage Zoe’s reaction, too.

‘Um. Yes,’ Roger confirmed. ‘I counselled Myles against the particular phrasing, but he was adamant.’

‘So now what?’ Grace felt for her wine and took a gulp. It had gone straight to her head and she was grateful for the buzz, glad of the slight remove from reality.

‘No one has come forward with a claim on his estate except of course Austin and Olivia. Speaking frankly, without proof that any other children exist, there’s not a lot else we can do, but I felt I should make you aware of the facts. As it stands now, each of Myles’s offspring has an equal claim on his estate.’

Grace pressed a hand to her mouth. Roger made it sound as if her husband had left a whole tribe of descendants behind him. But even if it was only one extra child, it was too horrific for words.

‘Each of Myles’s offspring has an equal claim on his estate,’ Grace repeated slowly, swallowing the lump in her throat.

Her underarms prickled with perspiration and the phone felt slippery in her hand. Heat radiated from her body in waves and she wondered vaguely if she was going to faint. She blinked and looked around for Zoe, suddenly needing the touch of another human. But Zoe was out of reach, laying a sleeping Ruby down on her playmat on the floor.

‘I don’t know what to do,’ she murmured.

She heard him sigh softly down the phone. ‘You don’t have to do anything, but if you felt up to it, you could go back through his bank statements and diaries once more, see if anything looks amiss.’

Amiss. What a feeble word to describe the hell Grace now found herself in. A child. Myles and his mistress may have had a child.

It was difficult enough to imagine the man she’d been married to ever being unfaithful to her. But what Roger was suggesting presented her with an entirely different picture. What if he’d been in love with this woman? What if he’d been planning to leave Grace and set up home with her and this child? Had she been at his funeral? Her mind whirred, desperately trying to recall who’d been there. The service had passed by in a blur. She’d sat at the front of the chapel, her parents on one side, Zoe on the other. She had sobbed as ‘It Must Be Love’ by Madness, Myles’s favourite song, played while the curtains closed for one final time in front of his coffin. If his lover had been there, she probably wouldn’t have even noticed, she was too wrapped up in her own grief to absorb anyone else’s.

‘I thought he wanted to change the wills because we’d sold the business, but maybe that was just an excuse,’ Grace mused aloud. ‘Which means he knew something last summer that I didn’t. Myles was a good father; whatever else he’d done, whoever else he’d let down, he would want to do right by his children. However many there are.’

Grace walked over to the sofa and sank down, still with the phone pressed to her ear; she was exhausted with all this.

‘As I said, there’s no need for you to do anything if you don’t wish, but … ’ Roger drifted off, sounding uncomfortable.

‘You OK?’ Zoe sat beside her, her own eyes brimming with tears.

Grace shook her head. How could she be?