The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth

Author:Sally Hepworth [Hepworth, Sally]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan Australia
Published: 2022-09-09T00:00:00+00:00

36

PIPPA

THEN

‘I have to tell you something,’ Gabe said.

I pulled two glasses out of the cabinet, set them on the kitchen counter and looked at him expectantly. It didn’t occur to me to be worried, even though, on reflection, the words ‘I have to tell you something’ rarely precede anything good. On hearing them, my heart rate didn’t speed up. I didn’t have the faintest idea what was coming.

It was just that things had been so damn good. Three weeks earlier we’d moved into our stunning new dream home – a four-bedroom renovated Edwardian house with a swimming pool and a rich green lawn. Freya was a delight: a busy but thriving almost two-year-old. We’d just put her to sleep in her big girl bed. We’d even been talking about trying for another baby.

‘I’m so sorry.’

I thought it must have something to do with money. The house had been so expensive. We’d taken out a mortgage that was a challenge to the risk-averse side of me, but Gabe was so confident that we could afford it. I remember feeling a flash of annoyance at myself. Why had I listened to him? Why hadn’t I suggested something smaller and cheaper? Perhaps it was because his boss, Max Cameron, seemed to believe that he could do no wrong? It was hard to imagine that he had anything other than complete job security.

But it wasn’t the house.

‘There’s a little girl,’ he said.

It should have taken me longer to understand. I should have been confused. I should have asked, ‘What do you mean there’s a little girl?’ But I knew. Perhaps I’d been primed for it since learning about the night he spent with the barmaid. I assumed it had been more than one, but I hadn’t pressed him on it because I couldn’t bear to have my fears confirmed.

I broke into silent tears. The kind that fall without effort or noise or even feeling. The kind movie stars cry. It was a strange thought, in among everything else. I’m crying movie star tears!

‘I got the call a couple of days ago. A woman I used to know . . . she died of a drug overdose.’

I closed my eyes, unable to look at him as I listened. Gabe told me he didn’t remember the woman, though he had memories of sex, shameful memories that he’d tried to push down. She’d certainly never got in touch to let him know of a baby. The little girl was six months younger than Freya. His name wasn’t on the birth certificate. The woman’s friend had been the one to identify Gabe as the father. The baby’s name was Asha.

There had been a DNA test, of course, but when I finally saw her I realised that we needn’t have bothered. Her mother was of Indian descent, and Asha’s eyes were brown and her skin too. But she had Freya’s mouth, her chin, her smile. She was Gabe’s daughter. Anyone with eyes could have told you that.

I considered leaving him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.