A Summer on the Riviera by Rachel Barnett

Author:Rachel Barnett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bonnier Publishing Fiction
Published: 2023-01-12T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

Felicia couldn’t shift the lump that had settled in her throat, couldn’t seem to swallow past the golf ball of emotion lodged behind her tongue. This holiday was supposed to have been full of joy and special moments, precious time with Nicki, the provision of a change in her will to favour the nephew she had always loved in place of her own child. A way to make the best of the future she still had. Not a way to rake up the past.

The conversation continued around her, and she did her best to tune back in to it. Patti had moved onto another of MIM’s more improbable storylines – there were plenty to choose from – but Felicia simply couldn’t get a grasp on any of it. Blood roared through her ears, and she worked at loosening her fingers from the frame of her chair.

Jeremy continued to look awkward, swigging at his glass with increased rapidity and punctuating the conversation with laughter she recognised as a sign of nerves. Trying to act normally always translated into over-exaggerated movements and sounds, and Felicia was amazed nobody else seemed to have noticed.

Even though there had been no way to keep the baby – not without ripping her entire life apart, and the lives of those around her – Felicia still carried the guilt of having given her daughter up for adoption as if it were a physical weight. No matter how many times Jeremy reassured her the adoptive family had been chosen with extreme care, the child would want for nothing, it was all for the best and that the truth would never be revealed, it didn’t lessen the heavy, muffled feeling she experienced every time adoption was mentioned. While the world carried on around her, it was as if she was drowning, weighted down with arms and legs that felt as if they were encased in lead.

It was purely chance that Bella resembled her in certain respects – it had to be. There was no way Bella could actually be her daughter. She might be the same age as her child, and share passing similarities, but that didn’t mean anything. How many people in the world shared their colouring? Millions. And hadn’t Bella stated that she had a brother – that the pair of them were adopted at the same time? Felicia was sure a brother had been mentioned.

Felicia needed to relax, breathe, and take a moment to restore her equilibrium. Allow the intensity of the unexpected turn in the conversation to ebb away. Jeremy wouldn’t say anything further – he had clearly realised the level of his error. One look at the pink tips to his ears, and the request for yet another top-up of vodka was enough to establish that he would be keeping his mouth firmly closed for the rest of the evening.

It came as a relief when Nicki took her hand and suggested they have an early night. She allowed him to lead her away

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