At Home With The Templetons (60 page)

He spoke into her hair, his arms tight around her too. ‘How can it be? She took eight years from us. Nothing can ever excuse that, or change that. Nothing.’

She held him closer, told him again that it didn’t matter, it would be all right, everything would be all right. They were both crying now. If anyone was watching, they were oblivious. The rain was falling. They didn’t feel it.

‘It’s all right, Tom. It’s all right now. It is.’ She said it again and again, holding him, feeling his arms holding her so tightly in return. A minute passed, two, three.

He moved back from her, just slightly, enough to be able to look down at her. ‘Gracie, how can you be so sure? So calm? Aren’t you angry with her too? You must be. You have to be.’

She shook her head, gazing up at him, her eyes still bright with her tears. ‘Tomorrow I might be. Tonight I might be. But how can I be angry now?’ She reached up and touched his face.

‘I can’t tell you how many times I wished that I would be here like this with you, close to you, touching you. Holding you.’ Her arms tightened around his back, and she felt the strength of his body through his T-shirt. ‘And now I am. You’re here. We’re here together.’ She smiled then. A big beautiful smile. ‘It’s all right now, Tom. It wasn’t, but now it is. Now it will be. Can’t you see that?’ He laughed then, actually laughed, shaking his head as he gazed down at her, his face filled with love and something else - a kind of wonder. He tightened his arms around her. ‘Gracie, I’m sorry. That deserves an answer, a proper answer, but I have to kiss you again first. Just for a second.’

He leaned down and kissed her for more than a second.

She felt it immediately, that slow molten feeling in every part of her body, stronger than ever. It was a shock to step back from him, to realise they were in public, that people were watching, that the light rain had become heavier, that it was now coming down in torrents around them.

His house was only ten minutes’ drive away. Her hotel room was closer. They went there. There was more talking to be done, eight years worth of talking to be done, but the moment they came into her room, to see the rain falling through the trees outside, to see the glow of her bedside lamps, the bed warm and inviting with its red covers, they moved back into each other’s arms. The talking could wait.

Less than twenty-four hours later, they were both at Melbourne Airport. Tom was catching the early flight back to Perth. Neither of them had slept much. They had made love, talked, laughed, cried, held each other and made love again.

He had offered to stay longer, to resign, to never write a word about cricket again if that was what she wanted, but she insisted he go back to Perth. She knew where he was now, he knew where she was. She wasn’t going anywhere. She would stay in Australia for as long as she could. And while he was in Perth there was something she’d decided to do. Something she had to do.

As she stood in Tom’s arms at his departure gate, he told her again, as he’d told her since she made the suggestion, that she didn’t have to do it, on her own or at all. Nina was his mother.

‘I need to see her, Tom. I have to. And I think it might be better this way.’ Gracie felt strangely sure of it.

In the night, their bodies entwined, words and kisses being exchanged in turn, they’d spoken again and again about what Nina had done. Each time, they’d asked the same question. Why?

‘She said she did it to protect me,’ Tom said, his voice soft in the darkness. ‘She was worried I’d be hurt even more. She thought it was for the best.’

Gracie was still more confused than angry. Perhaps the anger was still to come. ‘But she knew me. She must have known I would never hurt you. That I loved you.’

Wrapped in each other’s arms, it felt miraculous to talk of their love again, to know that the eight years’ separation hadn’t changed how they felt.

‘Are you sure you want to see her?’ Tom asked once more, as they stood at the gate. ‘You don’t have to, Gracie. I mean it. I’d understand it if you never wanted to speak to her again.’

‘I need to, Tom. I need her to tell me why she did it.’ ‘Wait until I get

back. Wait until we can go together.’

She shook her head. ‘If I don’t go and see her as soon as I can, then I think I never will.’

He touched the side of her face, kissed her again. The softest of whispers in her ear, ‘I love you, Gracie Templeton.’

She didn’t need to tell him how she felt. She’d told him over and over during the night. But she told him again now too.

She stayed at the gate until Tom had gone from sight. He’d be back in three days’ time and she’d be there waiting for him. Now, though, she needed to make a phone call. It was early but she had to do it now. She took out her mobile and dialled the number Tom had given her. Her heart was thumping. It rang once, twice, a third time before it was answered. ‘Nina Donovan speaking.’

‘Nina, it’s Gracie. Gracie Templeton.’

An intake of breath. Almost a sob. ‘Gracie? Where are you? Gracie, I’m so ‘

Gracie couldn’t talk to her here, like this. ‘I need to come and see you.’

They arranged the time and place. In five hours’ time, at Nina’s house in Brunswick. Gracie hung up before either of them said anything else.

Within an hour, she was back at her hotel. In the taxi from the airport, she’d realised she needed help. In her room, despite the time, knowing it was late, she phoned her mother in London.

She wasn’t sure how much she would tell her. As soon as she heard her mother’s voice, though, as soon as Gracie assured her she was fine, she told Eleanor everything. Her mother’s joy for her, for her and Tom, was immediate. Her anger, her confusion at what Nina had done, followed as quickly. Gracie interrupted her, with question after question. ‘Why would she have done it, Mum? Hurt not just me but Tom as well? I need to try and understand before I see her.’ ‘You’re going to see her? On your own?’ ‘Today.’

‘Gracie, is that wise?’ There was worry in Eleanor’s voice.

‘I have to, Mum. But I need your help first. You’re my mother.

Would you have done the same thing, if the positions had been reversed? If I’d been the one badly hurt?’

There was silence for a few moments before Eleanor spoke. ‘Gracie, it was a difficult time. Decisions made in the heat of it all, things said, words spoken that can never be unsaid. We were all in shock, remember. It was bad enough for me, but Nina had to fly across the world, not knowing what awaited her -‘ ‘But it was afterwards that she lied about my letters, that she told Tom I never wanted to see him again. She told Tom that she was worried I would hurt him somehow.’

‘Every mother feels that way for her children, Gracie. Even if we’re mistaken sometimes. No one wants the people they love to feel any pain.’ ‘But Nina was my friend. She must have known I’d never deliberately hurt Tom, or her. That’s what I can’t understand. At first, yes, but not to tell him about my letters for eight years?’

Eleanor’s voice was soft. ‘Tom was the centre of Nina’s life for so many years, Gracie. Perhaps she did regret her lies, I don’t know. But sometimes it’s impossible to see a way of fixing your mistakes, to admitting you’ve made an error of judgement, especially when love like that is involved. Especially if you think you’ve done it for the right reasons.’ ‘But what could be right about it? What reason could she have? You’d never have done something like that, would you? Lied to me for so long, even if you felt you needed to protect me from something?’

‘It’s not that black and white, Gracie. Nothing ever is.’ She paused. ‘But yes, I’d always do anything I could to protect you too. To keep you safe. I can’t begin to describe the feeling, but it’s like an urge, an instinct, to give you the best life, the happiest life I can.’

‘That’s why you didn’t tell me about you and Dad for so many years? The truth about all the money? The reason you split up? To protect me?’

Another long silence from Eleanor. ‘That was part of it, Gracie, yes. I couldn’t tell you everything. You were too young. You would have worried too much. And I still think that was the right decision.’

Gracie suddenly needed to keep talking, to know everything. ‘But how did you know when it wasn’t going to work out with Dad? When it was time to stop trying?’ ‘It wasn’t one moment, Gracie. In the same way it wasn’t one thing that made me fall in love with him. Many things happened to bring it to an end.’ ‘The money problems?’ ‘They didn’t help.’

‘Then what? If all you loved about him at first didn’t change, and your personalities didn’t change, couldn’t you have stayed together, enjoyed what you could about each other?’ ‘It’s not always that simple, Gracie. I had to decide how much I could forgive and I finally realised I’d reached my quota.’ ‘I don’t understand.’

Across the world, in her London living room, Eleanor realised the conversation was taking a dangerous turn. She needed to think quickly before she spoke again. ‘Gracie, you know, I think, that your father and I had difficulties in our marriage even before we went to Templeton Hall.’ ‘I guessed. And I’d hear you fighting. Charlotte used to hint at things, too. But you still stayed together for so long. Was it just for us? Or because you still loved him?’ ‘I loved your father very much, Gracie. Too much, probably.

But the problem with Henry is he always wanted everything. Lots of money, big houses, a big career.’ Eleanor hesitated, then decided it was time to be as honest as she could be. ‘And not just me, I discovered, but other women as well.’ ‘Women? He had affairs?’ ‘I think so, yes.’

‘Oh, Mum, I’m so sorry.’

Eleanor smiled. ‘Gracie, it’s all right. It is. It’s all in the past now.’ ‘Did you know any of the other women?’

‘Most of them, no.’ She hesitated. ‘One, yes.’

There was an intake of breath from Gracie. ‘It was Hope, wasn’t it? Dad had an affair

with Hope.’

‘No, Gracie, it wasn’t Hope. She liked to tell people that they had, but it wasn’t true.’

‘But one of the women was a friend of yours? Is that what you mean?’

‘I thought she was, yes.’ Eleanor stopped there. ‘It doesn’t matter now, anyway. It’s all a long time ago now. And if it did matter once, it doesn’t now, for so many reasons.’

Gracie’s voice changed. ‘It was Nina, wasn’t it? Mum, is that what you’re saying? Did something happen between Dad and Nina when we were all living in the Hall? Would that explain so many things? Why she might have done ‘

This time, Eleanor didn’t hesitate to lie. ‘No, Gracie, it wasn’t Nina. And I’m not going to tell you who it was.’ She paused, before making another decision. ‘But there is some thing your father did that I need to tell you about. Something that will affect you more than the others. I’ve only just learnt about it myself, but if this isn’t the right time, Gracie, I want you to say.’

‘No, tell me, please.’

This time Eleanor didn’t hold anything back. She told Gracie everything, about finding the lease, about contacting Henry, about all she now knew about Templeton Hall.

Gracie was quiet for a long moment when Eleanor finished talking. ‘I can’t believe it,’ she finally said. ‘None of it was true? We don’t own Templeton Hall? We’ve never owned it?’

Eleanor already regretted telling her. ‘I’m afraid not, Gracie. Your father invented the whole inheritance story, from start to finish.’

There was another long silence and then Gracie started to laugh. Really laugh.

‘Gracie? Are you okay? Are you all right?’

‘I am. I am. And I don’t think I’m surprised about it. I really don’t.’ She laughed again. ‘It actually makes sense. Being there this week, seeing it all again, it all felt like some sort of a dream, make-believe. And that’s why, isn’t it? It felt make-believe because it was make-believe.’

‘You really don’t mind? I was worried that of all of you, you’d be the most upset. Gracie, I mustn’t know you at all.’ ‘I’m too happy today to be upset.’ Another laugh. ‘But now everything makes sense, all those heirlooms and paintings of our ancestors appearing out of nowhere, all the changing stories … None of it was true?’

‘Not as far as I can tell. If it’s any consolation, Gracie, your father fooled me completely too. He told me he didn’t think I’d agree to moving the whole family to Australia if there wasn’t a family link, if it wasn’t an inherited property.’

‘Was he right? Would you have agreed to go if you’d known he was just leasing it?’

‘Of course not.’

They both laughed then.

‘Are you furious with him?’ Gracie asked.

‘On one hand, completely and utterly. On the other hand, no. What’s the point? I think I’m running out of fury, Gracie. The older I get, the more I realise I’m not in charge of the world or the people in it. I can’t control them any more than I want them to try and control me.’

‘Try and tell Charlotte that. In fact, wait until Charlotte hears about this.’

‘I’ve told Henry he has to tell her. And Audrey, too. As for Spencer, he happened to walk in on us today so he already knows. Not that he seemed to mind ‘

‘Spencer’s back in London?’

‘And back living with me for a little while, yes. His Irish girlfriend has apparently had enough of him. Though I did hear him ringing Hope and offering his services as a highly paid nurse, so I suspect he won’t be with me for long.’ Before Gracie had a chance to comment, Eleanor continued. ‘That’s enough talking, my Gracie, for you and for me. I love you and I’m so very happy for you and Tom and please give him my warmest wishes.’ She paused. ‘And I’ll be thinking of you with Nina today.’

‘Thanks, Mum. For everything.’ ‘I don’t think I was much help.’

‘You were. I promise.’ A pause. ‘Is there anything you want me to say to her from you?’

Eleanor didn’t need to think about that. ‘No, Gracie, there’s not. Nothing at all.’

Three hours later, Gracie was in a taxi on her way to Nina’s house in Brunswick. She’d spoken to Tom before she left her hotel. He’d just landed in Perth. When he asked her how she was feeling, she told him the truth. She was so happy and sad and confused, all at once, all the-different feelings swirling inside her. There was anger now too. The more she’d thought about it, the more she’d realised what Nina had done to her, to Tom.