“She is,” Toby agreed. “And that’s my daughter, Andrea. Your niece, truly.”

“Andrea,” I repeated. I stared down on the spherical, grinning face staring up at me via a pair of glasses and located myself smiling in flip. “How previous is she?”

“She’s eleven,” Toby smiled proudly.

I used to be about to press extra when my eyes landed on the final individual within the image. A stout, aged man with a beaming smile and a thick, darkish beard. “And this?”

Toby’s smile faltered. “That’s Dad—Francis…”

“He seems to be so completely different.”

“Completely different?” Toby frowned.

“After I regarded you up earlier than, I got here right here, the photographs I noticed of him had been all younger. However right here he’s… I suppose that is the primary time I’ve truly seen an image of him.”

Francis Ashbluff. My father. An odd ache pulled at my coronary heart, and I swallowed round a rising lump in my throat. By no means had I thought of any kind of emotion towards the person, however there was one thing painful about seeing him smiling, completely satisfied, with a household whereas figuring out he had deserted me and my mom.

“I’m sorry,” Toby mentioned softly, then he rose all of the sudden and crossed to the desk. “I can’t think about it’ll carry you a lot consolation, however you had been on his thoughts.”

I tore my gaze away from the image. “I used to be?”

Seated on the desk, Toby rummaged via the papers, nodding. I set the image down and rose to hitch him as he pulled out an envelope.

“Your mom despatched two letters, and he saved them. I don’t know the precise particulars between him and your mom, however she despatched a letter years in the past asking for medical assist. You had been sick, and she or he was in want of assist.”

“I used to be sick?” I accepted the letter and glanced down. Seeing my mom’s handwriting was painful, a shock since I hadn’t seen it in years. Judging by the date, this was after I was nonetheless a child and had been struck down with measles. My mom had requested for assist paying hospital payments in addition to a number of offended paragraphs about abandonment. Studying them, I chuckled to myself.

“This sounds identical to her,” I mused. “Did he assist?”

“I’m unsure,” Toby answered truthfully. “Possibly? After I checked my father’s data, a big quantity was written off again then, however it’s laborious to inform. The uhm…” He paused after which handed the second letter over slower. “This one was more moderen.”

I slid the letter on prime of the opposite and commenced to learn as Toby spoke.

“Your mom was sick, most cancers?”

“Sure,” I replied tightly.

“He needed to see her. I do know that a lot as a result of the date she despatched this, two days later, my dad was alleged to go on an emergency journey, however he couldn’t as a result of that weekend I had a snowboarding accident, and he stayed with me within the hospital.”

Scarlett’s coronary heart stopped. “What occurred?” I requested distantly, however the story by no means reached me. I used to be too distracted by the date of the postmark on the letter. My mom had despatched this per week earlier than she had died. A final try to achieve out, because the letter was crammed with phrases of remorse and clarification. What shocked me essentially the most was that my mom had talked about me a number of occasions, detailing how I had cared for her and the way fantastic I used to be, nearly begging Francis to come back and see her. After which she handed away one week later.

“—I used to be within the hospital for 3 months,” Toby completed, drawing me again to him. “It was fairly scary. And studying that, I can’t assist however suppose that if he had gone, if he had taken that journey then…” He trailed off, and I lifted my gaze to Toby’s.

“Studying that, after which some, I feel… it contributed to how offended I used to be at you. Or not you however quite, my father. And I’m sorry, however I hope… I hope figuring out that he tried to come back and see me brings you some type of consolation.”

“Probably not.” I swallowed laborious and re-folded the letter. “She died years in the past. He had loads of time to come back and discover me however selected to not.”

Toby’s forehead furrowed, and he nodded. “I’m sorry.”

That didn’t cease my thoughts from wandering, although. How completely different would issues have been if he had turned up? If I had realized I had household simply as my mom mentioned her remaining goodbyes?

Wouldn’t it have been a superb reunion?

A mushy knock on the door disturbed my ideas, and Toby stood because the door swung open. A maid popped her head in.

“Sir, dinner is served.”

“Glorious, thanks.” Toby stepped across the desk. “Prepared to satisfy everybody?”

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