“It’s not life-threatening!” laughs Mum. “It’s just a blood disorder, which can be a risk in certain situations. In surgery, for example. The blood clots too thickly… ”
“Don’t!” Janice winces. “I can’t bear talking about blood!”
“The doctors told Jess she should warn other members of her family to get tested, and that was the spur. She’d always known she had a father somewhere but didn’t know his name.”
“So she asked her mother who her long-lost father was… ” Janice chimes in avidly, as though she’s following a Ruth Rendell miniseries on the telly.
“Her mother is dead,” explains Mum.
“Dead!” exclaims Janice, looking appalled. “From the blood factor?”
“No,” Mum responds patiently. “From a car crash. But her aunt had the name of Jessica’s father written down in an old diary. So she got it out and gave it to Jessica.”
“And what was the name?” breathes Janice.
There’s a pause.
“Mum, it was Graham!” says Tom, rolling his eyes. “Graham Bloomwood. Obviously.”
“Oh yes,” says Janice, looking almost let down. “Of course it was. Well, goodness me.” She exhales sharply. “What a dreadful shock. For all of you.”
“We were in quite a state when we got the news,” Mum admits. “You know, that’s why we didn’t come to the Hawaiian quiz evening at the church. Graham didn’t really have a migraine.”
“I knew it!” says Janice. “I said to Martin at the time, ‘Something’s not right with the Bloomwoods.’ But I had no idea it was a long-lost family member!”
“Well,” says Mum comfortingly, “how could you?”
Janice is silent for a moment, taking it all in. Then suddenly she stiffens and lays a hand on Mum’s arm.
“Jane. Just be careful. Has this girl laid any claim to Graham’s fortune? Has he altered his will in her favor?”
OK. Janice has definitely been watching too many TV murder mysteries.
“Janice!” says Mum with a laugh. “No! It’s nothing like that. As it happens, Jess’s family is”—she lowers her voice discreetly—“rather well-off.”
“Ah!” breathes Janice.
Mum lowers her voice still further. “They’re rather big in frozen food.”
“Oh, I see,” says Janice. “So she’s not all alone in the world, then.”
“Oh no,” says Mum, back to normal. “She’s got a stepfather and two brothers. Or is it three?”
“But no sisters,” I chime in. “We’ve both had that gap in our life. That… unfulfilled longing.”
Everyone turns to look at me.
“Have you had an unfulfilled longing, Becky?” asks Janice.
“Oh yes. Definitely.” I take a pensive sip of coffee. “Looking back, I think I always somehow knew I had a sister.”
“Really, love?” Mum says in surprise. “You never mentioned it.”
“I never said anything.” I give Janice a brave smile. “But deep down I knew.”
“Goodness!” says Janice. “How did you know?”
“I felt it in here,” I say, clasping my hands to my chest. “It was as if… a part of me was missing.”
I make a sweeping gesture with my hand — and make the mistake of catching Luke’s eye.
“Which particular part of you was missing?” he says with apparent interest. “Not a vital organ, I hope.”
God, he has no heart. None. Last night, he kept reading out bits from my Long-Lost Sisters book, then looking up and saying, “You cannot be serious.”
“The soul mate part, actually,” I shoot back.
“Thanks.” He raises his eyebrows.
“Not that kind of soul mate! A sisterly soul mate!”
“What about Suzie?” says Mum, looking over in surprise. “She’s been like a sister to you, surely. She’s such a dear girl.”
“Friends come and go,” I say, looking away. “She’s not like family. She doesn’t understand me like a true sister would.”
Janice looks at Mum sympathetically. “You’re being very brave, dear. But you must have suffered when you found out.”
“It was difficult,” says Mum, sitting down at the table. “I can’t pretend it wasn’t. Although, of course, the affair happened long before Graham met me.”
“Of course!” Janice says hastily. “Of course it did! I wasn’t for a moment suggesting that… that he… you…”