The Last Orphan : A totally devastating but ultimately uplifting WW2 historical novel (Amherst Island Book 6) by Kate Hewitt

Author:Kate Hewitt [Hewitt, Kate]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781837900008
Publisher: Bookouture
Published: 2023-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Leon waited, eyebrows slightly raised, that faint, encouraging smile curling at the corner of his mouth, everything about him seeming gentle and attentive. Still Rosie struggled to know how to begin. What to say, to confess, because already she knew he would think differently of her once it was said. Of course he would. She took another breath to steady herself.

“It’s a common or garden story, I’m afraid,” she warned him, right at the start. Best he knew that upfront. From somewhere, she summoned a false, brittle-sounding laugh that made her wince to hear it, although Leon’s expression did not change. “And rather sordid, as well. You will think less of me for it. I know so.” She cringed inwardly, knowing she was trying to push him away. Part of her, she realized, was desperate to talk about what had happened… and another part wanted to back away as fast and far as she could. If Leon left, if he told her she didn’t need to speak of it, after all, she wouldn’t say another word. She would, she decided, never, ever speak of it again, to anyone.

“Tell me,” Leon replied, “and let’s see.”

It was not the response Rosie had been expecting, and yet she admired him for his honesty. He wasn’t going to give her any false assurances that he wouldn’t think less of her, because, of course, he couldn’t know. And she respected that honesty, that fairness. But did she really want to tell him everything? Could she bare her heartbreak, her shame, after all this time, and in front of someone she didn’t know all that well?

The alternative, she knew, was simply to push it back down, and she feared she couldn’t do that anymore. The pain, the poison, had to come out, otherwise it really might damage her forever.

“I met someone when I was serving in London,” she told him after a moment, choosing her words with care, her tone flat and strangely unemotional, almost as if she were simply telling a story, talking about someone else. It was easier that way. “His name was Thomas. He was charming and funny and kind, and he looked like a movie star. He swept me off my feet—do you know that expression?” She turned to look at Leon, who shook his head.

“I do not, but I think I am able to guess.”

“Yes, I suppose you would. I was very naïve, really, with so little life experience. Romance had completely passed me by, and I didn’t even mind, not really. I’d always been quiet…” She trailed off, thinking of her cousin Violet, who had always encouraged her to creep out of her shell, and she had, oh, she had… with Thomas. Always with Thomas. “Anyway,” she resumed, “Thomas brought me out of myself. He made me laugh, and, amazingly, I made him laugh too, which felt almost like a miracle. I’d always been serious, you see. I have a cousin—she was my best friend, although we barely talk now.

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