The Light Over London(91)

As soon as she unlocked the door, she went to her purse. Liam had teased her the day before about the size of it, but she’d felt compelled to bring everything they’d found with her—including Gran’s files and the wooden box.

She spread the paperwork out on her bed. There, printed innocuously at the top of the medical record next to Iris Warren’s name, was her blood type. B. Cara laid Granddad’s dog tags on top of the records. The single “B” that recorded Granddad’s blood type shouted out the truth to her.

“What are you seeing that I’m not?” Liam asked.

A little breathless as her whole world shifted, Cara said, “Gran’s blood type is B. Granddad’s blood type is B.”

“Okay . . .”

“When Mum was in the crash, the surgeons at the hospital tried to save her. They transfused her. She had type-A blood. I don’t remember much from my biology classes, but I do remember being made to do Punnett squares to figure out possible genetic combinations for a child. Two B-type parents can’t have an A-type child. It’s impossible.”

He stared at her for a moment. “So you’re saying . . .”

“Mum wasn’t Granddad’s daughter. At least not biologically. Liam, I need to go see Gran.”

This was what the fight between Mum and Gran had been about. Cara knew it with absolute certainty.

“I’ll go tell the hotel we’re checking out early,” Liam said.

She was already moving to her suitcase when he stopped and came back to her. He cupped her jaw, tilting her face, and kissed her. Her whole body buzzed with the reassurance of that kiss.

When he pulled back, he nodded and without another word went to sort things out with the hotel.





24


CARA


It was after eight when Cara and Liam arrived, unannounced, at Widcote Manor. No one was at the front desk, so they walked straight through to the lifts.

Now, standing in front of Gran’s door with the weight of decades of secrets on her shoulders, Cara hesitated. Liam stroked a hand down her spine, letting it rest on the small of her back. “It’s going to be okay.”

“I’m about to accuse my Gran of having an affair and passing off my mum as Granddad’s daughter,” she said.

“No one’s family’s perfect,” he said.

When Gran answered the door, she was dressed in a pair of silk lounging trousers and what looked like a modified man’s smoking jacket.

“Well, this is a lovely surprise! I thought you were both in Cornwall,” said Gran.

“We were. We just drove up,” said Cara.

“Well, come in, come in! You two must be exhausted,” Gran said, ushering them in. “Claire from down the hall baked a cake today, and she left the entire thing here after tea. She said she didn’t want the calories tempting her, even at eighty-one. I’ll just put on some tea.”

It was strange, Gran pottering about happily while Cara knew that she was about to change everything.

Cara slanted a glance at Liam, and he nodded. She closed her eyes, willing herself to be strong enough to do this, because she needed to know. Needed to hear Gran tell her the truth.

“Gran, could you come back for a moment?” said Cara.

“I’m just putting the kettle on, dear,” Gran called.

“Gran, please.”

Gran’s low-heeled mules clattered from kitchen tile to hardwood as she reappeared. “What is it, Cara?”

“I know.”

For a beat, Gran stood still, a tea towel hanging from her hands. Then, slowly, she sank down onto the sofa. “How?”

“Your medical records and Granddad’s dog tags,” Cara said.

“I don’t understand,” said Gran.

“You and Granddad both had type-B blood. Mum was type A.”

Gran shook her head in disbelief. “I can’t believe after all this time—”

“I’m not angry,” Cara said softly. “And I’m not going to judge you.”

Gran gave a strangled laugh.

“I’m not,” Cara insisted. “I just want to know what happened.”

She wanted the full story, just as she had with Louise and the diary. But with Louise’s story it had been about the mystery and the responsibility to another family. With Gran it was deeper, more personal. This was Cara’s own family history, and it was time to pull the secrets from the dark into the light.

“I’ve never told anyone,” said Gran with a shuddering breath.

“I can leave if that makes it easier,” said Liam.

“No, you might as well stay. You know this much already,” said Gran, hugging a pillow to her stomach.

“Why don’t you start with telling us what you really did during the war,” Liam said.

Gran looked up sharply. “How did you find out?”

“I recognized the name Fenny Stratford. If you were billeted there, it was a logical jump that you would’ve worked in the area. I had a friend look into your service record, which confirmed it.”

Gran rolled her shoulders back as though preparing for a speech. “Cara, when I joined the ATS, we were required to undergo a series of aptitude tests. I tested as having a high aptitude for word puzzles. I was requisitioned by the Government Code and Cypher School and made to sign something called the Official Secrets Act. Do you know what that was?”