LITMIR.BIZ

      When she got back to the cottage, the first thing Joanna did was run herself a bath.

      Her legs were covered in sand, yes, and she didn’t like the gritty feeling on her skin. But despite what she’d told Matt, her back was aching, and she felt a warm bath might ease the stiffness in her bones.

      Callie knocked on the door as Joanna was drying herself. ‘Would you like an iced tea, Mrs Novak?’ she asked, with a certain amount of diffidence. She was evidently feeling guilty for causing such a panic over Joanna’s disappearance.

      Joanna sighed, wrapping the huge bath towel around her and opening the door. ‘That sounds good,’ she said, earning a relieved smile from the young woman waiting outside. ‘Sorry if I worried you earlier. I’ll be out in about ten minutes.’

      Deciding it was too warm, even for shorts, Joanna slipped a loose cotton caftan over her head. The ankle-length dress, patterned in shades of green and apricot, was cool and comfortable. She’d bought it at a boutique on one of her trips to town. Typical tourist wear.

      She’d washed her hair, too, and she left it loose about her shoulders. She didn’t expect to see anyone, other than the two women who worked at the cottage. She was sure Matt would have his hands full if his parents were coming to stay.

      It was a day for relaxing, she decided, as though most days didn’t fall into that category anyway. Maybe it would be a good day to check up on what was happening in the rest of the world.

      With that purpose in mind, she carried the worn leather case containing her father’s old laptop out onto the veranda, where Callie had left her a tray of iced tea and a dish of newly baked muffins. She was going to be horribly fat when this was over, she thought ruefully, taking one of the muffins and biting into the rich fruity filling. She doubted David would appreciate his new partner looking like a blimp.

      Thinking of David reminded her that after the baby was born, she’d be going back to London. It was no longer an appealing prospect, but after today she was only fooling herself if she thought that Matt was going to change his mind about her. She could feel the baby moving energetically inside her. A particularly sharp kick, just below her ribcage, had her wincing at the unexpected blow. Was Matt’s son exacting the revenge his father was denied?

      Finishing her muffin, Joanna drank some of the iced tea and then set her glass aside. Pulling the laptop towards her, she unzipped the case and pulled out the old computer. She didn’t know why she bothered putting it in its case really. It was hardly in pristine condition.

      The last time she’d used it, she’d scanned some of her father’s old emails. She’d hoped she might find something about the accident and what his reaction had been. But Angus had evidently kept his business correspondence in an encrypted folder, and she didn’t have the password, or there was nothing about the case to find.

      The only anomaly, which she’d just read the evening before, was an email from a betting website. It was a demand for money, informing her father that he was several hundred pounds in the red. Obviously, whoever had sent the email didn’t know Angus had died, and, knowing what her father had always thought about gambling, she ignored it. She had intended to mention it to Matt the next time she saw him. But after this morning’s episode, that might be some distance in the future.

      She pulled the computer out of its case, as usual, but this time a worn scrap of paper fell to the floor. Bending to pick it up, she saw it was a letter. And judging by its shabby appearance, it was probably older than the computer itself.

      Frowning, she unfolded the page, wondering how long it had been there. It must have been lodged in one of the compartments, and because there were so many tears in the paper it was written on, it hadn’t dropped out straight away. Back in London, she used the computer at the gallery to do her work, and it was only since she’d been here that it had been of any use.

      The letter she’d rescued was dated June 1980, and Joanna whistled through her teeth. Goodness—that was almost forty years ago. Why on earth would her father keep a letter that long? Surely it must have been written while he was still at university?

      Was the letter from her mother? It started Darling Angus and that was a very intimate form of address. Turning the page, Joanna looked for her mother’s signature. But instead it read Much love, Adrienne.

      Adrienne!

      The address was Girton College, Cambridge. Girton! Her mother had attended one of the London universities. Had her father been involved with this woman before he and Glenys had got together? Had her mother known about this other woman in her father’s life?

      Joanna frowned, turning back to the front of the letter and reading the address again. Whoever had written it had been a student at Girton College. Her father had been at Trinity College, Cambridge, but that was all she knew.

      She felt a little guilty, reading a letter that had so obviously been addressed to her father. But, as with the emails, it couldn’t hurt him now. Besides, she was only human. And she was curious.

      Reading on, she frowned in concentration.

      Darling Angus,

      It isn’t easy for me to write this letter, my dear, but I’m afraid I can’t see you again. We’ve had some wonderful times together, and I’m going to miss you, terribly. But you must have realised, as I did, that it couldn’t go on for ever, I’m going back to the States to marry Oliver—

      Joanna broke off, her jaw dropping. Oliver! Was this letter from Adrienne Novak? she wondered incredulously. Although of course, Adrienne’s surname hadn’t been Novak in those days.

      She read on.

      It will make all the difference to my family. He’s promised to help Daddy financially, and you know I could never live on a shoestring, my dear. I’m returning to New York at the end of the week. But before I left I wanted to wish you every happiness for the future. I’m sure you and Glenys—

      Joanna’s jaw dropped. She couldn’t help it. It was one thing to speculate if her father had had an affair and quite another to have it confirmed.

      —will get married as you originally intended. I don’t think either of us took our relationship seriously. I know I didn’t. We’re two different people, Angus. It’s been fun while it lasted, but like all good things it must sadly come to an end.

      Much love…

      Joanna was stunned. The tone of the letter really irritated her. She wondered if her father and mother had been engaged at the time. If they had, this was such a betrayal. She doubted her mother knew anything about it, and it certainly showed Angus’s outrage at his wife’s departure for the hypocrisy it had been.

      She wondered why her father had kept the letter for so many years. Had he had some intention of using it for his own ends? Why else would he have kept it, unless he’d had some ulterior motive for doing so? Which undoubtedly cast a shadow over other things he’d done.

      Was that why Adrienne had always hated her? Had she been afraid that Angus might tell Oliver about their affair? It must have been a bitter irony that her son should have fallen in love with Angus’s daughter. No wonder she’d tried her best to keep them apart.

      Did it also explain why her father had been so willing to merge his company with NovCo? And why, initially, he hadn’t opposed her marriage to Matt? The accident had brought things to a head, of course, and he’d involved her in it. But could the accusations Angus had made against Matt and his father now be seen in a different light?