She nodded. I was glad she got it. I wasn’t ready to meet my cousins and other family members. I needed time to absorb everything I just learned, and I wanted to figure out who my father was and who his family was, and if anything had happened to him after the death of my mother.
I was sad for her—and sad for myself. She hadn’t wanted to give me up. She’d changed her mind. She’d wanted to keep me and Kent, and she hadn’t been allowed to.
“Do you have any photos of her?” My voice cracked as I asked.
Barbara nodded. “Yeah. I brought some with me in my bag. Would you like to see them?” I nodded, unable to answer. She opened her handbag and passed me a stack of photographs, which I took eagerly.
My mother was a young girl in most of the photos, a teenager in some. She’d been beautiful: long, blonde hair, the same blue eyes as mine, a big, happy smile. She’d been a happy child. She was nothing like I’d imagined her to be. She’d been absolutely beautiful, and my heart ached for the fact that I’d never gotten to meet her, that I never knew her, that she’d died.
I wondered how different my life would be if she’d been able to keep me and raise me. I probably wouldn’t be a billionaire now, but I knew as I stared at those photos I wouldn’t have cared. I’d give all of my money to have her back. Every single penny.
I loved her. I loved her, and I didn’t even know her. This was my mother. This was the woman who had given birth to me, the woman I had hated my entire life when I was growing up. But looking at these photos, seeing her face, there was no hate left in me anymore, just sadness.
I felt Abby’s hand on top of mine, squeezing. I looked up and into glistening brown eyes. She cared about me. She cared about how I was feeling. I wasn’t used to people caring.
“You okay, my dear?” Barbara said softly.
“Yes.” I nodded. “Thank you. May I keep some of the photos?”
“You can have all of them, darling. That was your mum,” she said softly, “and I know she’d want you to have them. I wish I had more, but I don’t really know where the rest of the albums are.” She looked sad. “My husband, he liked to put stuff away in boxes, and we got boxes upon boxes upon boxes in the shed. And, well, I don’t know where they were. But I found these.”
“These are fine. Thank you,” I said. “Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It really means a lot to me.”
Chapter 36
Abby
* * *
I could see tears in Dylan’s eyes as he stared at his mother’s photographs. I was surprised that he had let me see him in such a vulnerable state. Maybe he hadn’t realized just how much meeting Barbara would affect him. Or maybe he’d realized he needed the support, though I doubted he would ever have admitted it.
He was a good man. A much better man than I’d realized.
I was deeply moved that he’d told Barbara that he’d had a happy family when I knew he’d gone from foster home to foster home. He’d lied, obviously, to make her feel better about the situation, which was something that he didn’t have to do.
My heart ached for him. His mother’s story was so sad, and his early life had been so sad. I just wanted to pull him into my arms, and kiss him, and tell him everything would be okay. I thought about my own parents and about how blessed I was, about how my mother and father loved each other and loved me. They doted on me, and I’d never doubted that love.
Suddenly, Dylan stood up. “We should be going now, I think.”
I looked over at Barbara, who was still eating her scone.
“Of course. You must be busy,” she said.
“Yes, I’m sorry. I had hoped we’d be able to spend more time together.”
“Well, if you’re free for dinner tomorrow night—”
Dylan opened his mouth but I jumped in first. “We could do that.”
Dylan looked at me. I could tell from the look in his eyes that he wasn’t happy with me for accepting the invitation, but I felt like he needed to spend more time with his family. I’m sure it was overwhelming, but it wasn’t like they lived down the road. They were in Scotland, and we lived in New York. And yes, he was rich and could hop on a plane anytime he wanted to. But how often was he really going to come to Scotland?
“We’d love to have dinner with you,” I added. “Is there a particular restaurant where we should meet you?”
“No, I’d love it if you’d come to my house,” she said. “Well, we live in a flat, but you know.”
“That would be great,” I said. “Could you write down the address? And say what time, and we’ll be there.”
“Ooh, great. Let me grab a pen.” She opened her handbag, took out a piece of paper and a pen, and scribbled down an address before handing the slip of paper to me. “Come at seven, and I’ll make sure I get as many family members there as possible. They’d be happy to meet you. They’d be happy to meet you both, actually. Two Americans, fancy that! We don’t meet many Americans. I mean, plenty come to Edinburgh, of course. Scotland is practically a hot spot these days. But we don’t have many Americans come to our house. Oh, dear me. I’m just mumbling on, I suppose.”
“You make perfect sense,” I said with a smile. “Right, Dylan?”
“Yeah.” Dylan nodded. He looked a little stunned, but at least that was better than looking pissed off. “We’ll see you for dinner tomorrow. Thank you for the photographs.” He waved the small stack of pictures. “We should be going now, Abby. We have work to do.”
“We always have work to do.” I smiled at Barbara. “We’re busy people, but tomorrow will be amazing. Thank you for the invite.”
“Oh, you’re welcome, dear.”
“I have a son, you know, if she’s interested in long-distance relationships.”
“She’s not interested.” Dylan said quickly and I stared at him, surprised. His tone was brusque and I could see him clutching his glass tightly.
“Well, I wouldn’t say not interested in a long-distance relationship,” I said. “I’ve never been in one. It seems like it would be hard work…”
“You don’t have time for a long-distance relationship.” He glared at me now. “You’re barely even able to do your job well.” I stared at him, my lips pressed together tightly. I would not go off on him, in front of his aunt.
“Ooh. Well, I was just putting it out there,” Barbara said with a laugh. “I do suppose that the two of you might have some sparks, eh?”
“I don’t know about that,” I said.
“That’s not what you said last night,” Dylan said with a wink.
My face heated up. “Really, Dylan?”
“What?” He shrugged. “I’m nothing if I’m not honest.
“Uh-huh.” I shook my head. I gave Barbara a big hug. “It was really nice meeting you. And we look forward to dinner tomorrow. What should we bring?”
“It’s just yourselves, deary, just yourselves.”
“Maybe we’ll get some scotch as well,” I suggested. “Or a dessert?”