Page 12

chapter twelve

Gabriella slid the second sourdough loaf in the oven, and dusted off her hands.

She started cleaning up Mr. Rodney’s kitchen, wiping down the kitchen table where she’d been kneading the dough. She always baked when she needed to calm her thoughts, and since she’d seen Ben that morning, her mind had been racing.

The front door opened on the murmur of voices, and she called out a greeting.

“Gabriella.” Solomon walked in, looking sharp enough to cut through steak.

“Hey there.” She smiled as she walked over to the the sink and rinsed out the cloth she’d been using.

“Smells good.” Mr. Rodney appeared in the doorway, head lifted a little as he breathed in the scent of the loaf cooling on a rack on the counter top. “You’ve spoiled me now. I can’t stand the mass produced supermarket rubbish anymore.”

Gabriella lifted her brows. “I should hope so. My bread bears no relationship to that dreck.”

“Smells like a good bakery in here.” George was the last one into the kitchen.

Gabriella’s smile widened. She liked George a lot, although she didn’t see him often. He was Solomon’s right hand man in whatever they did together, and she wasn’t talking about their jobs for British Rail.“Hi George. How’re things?”

They had all been out to dinner at the Calypso Club, and Gabriella could smell the scent of spices on them.

“Good, good.” He turned at the sound of a knock on the door and went off to answer it.

“You expecting someone?” Solomon asked his uncle.

Mr. Rodney shook his head. “Maybe it’s Jerome?”

George stuck his head in. “Jerome says there’s a man here for you, Gabriella. Just been up to knock on your door. Not the copper.”

She wiped her hands dry and walked to the front entrance. Just Jerome stood in the hallway.

“I let him go. Wasn’t sure if you wanted him to know you were in.” Jerome shrugged.

“He left?” Gabriella hurried to the main entrance to the old Victorian that had been divided into small apartments. She was curious as to who it could be.

As she opened the door, she was just in time to see Ben closing the garden gate in the weak light of the street lamp.

“Ben!”

He turned, smiled in relief, and came back up the path toward her.

“I was visiting my neighbor. Come in.” She stepped back, giving him room to enter, and then saw George, Solomon, Jerome and Mr. Rodney all watching from the hallway.

She cleared her throat. “Ben, these are my friends and neighbors.” She introduced them, and Mr. Rodney insisted on inviting Ben in for tea.

“You came over on the ship with Gabriella from Australia?” Mr. Rodney sounded intrigued. “You’re one of the friends she meets with every now and then?”

“Yes.” Ben glanced at her, as if surprised at how much Mr. Rodney knew. “Trevor, Dominique, Gabriella and I traveled over to London together from Melbourne. We like to keep in touch.”

“Mr. Rodney used to live opposite me on the second floor,” Gabriella explained. “We walked to the bus stop together a few times when I went out to meet you and the others.”

“Now I have this lovely flat,” Mr. Rodney said, waving his hand around. “And it came with an oven that Gabriella can make her bread in.”

“She made the bread for the passengers on the ship over,” Ben said. “We all worked in the kitchen, but Gabriella was the only one who had actual skills.” He sniffed the air. “I’d forgotten how good it smelled.”

They indulged in small talk for a while, and finally Gabriella realized she couldn’t stand it any more. “What couldn’t wait until tomorrow?” she asked Ben. “Have you been told you can’t help me?”

There was sudden silence.

“What’s this about?” Mr. Rodney asked. “Help you with what?”

She clasped her hands, trying to contain her nerves. “Ruby Everett has found my father for me. Or, we think she has.” She had no qualms talking to Mr. Rodney about it. She had long ago told him her reason for coming to London and he had given her help in her early efforts to find birth and death certificates. “Ben is a lawyer and I asked him to look into what my next steps should be.”

“Gabriella, this sounds very promising.” Mr. Rodney set his mug of tea down.

“I know.” She lifted her shoulders to get rid of tension. “I wanted Ben to make sure the information was right before I approached the man Ruby thinks is my father.”

“You make it sound as if there might be trouble,” Solomon said.

She looked over at him, gave a nod. “Big trouble.”

“How so?” George asked.

“Because of who he is. Did your senior tell you you can’t do it?” she asked again, her gaze fixed on Ben.

“No.” He looked like he was uncomfortable talking about it, and she realized he didn’t want to say anything in the company of people he didn’t know.

“You can speak freely.” She had been through a lot with every person in this room. She trusted them, and knew they might have some interesting insights.

Ben looked around, and then gave a nod. “My senior hired me, an unknown Aussie outsider, because he’s pretty anti-establishment. I think he’s got a chip on his shoulder against the upper classes. The rumor is that he’s the bastard son of a lord or something. Got sent to the right schools and universities by his father, but his old man never acknowledged him openly. It led to him being tormented by his legitimate peers.

“I don’t know if that’s true, but it is true that he has utter contempt for a lot of his colleagues. He hides it pretty well, but it’s there. He hired me mainly because I’m an Australian who has no connections to the law community here.”

“So he’s fine with you helping me?” Gabriella asked.

“He’s positively thrilled.” Ben rubbed the back of his neck. “Maybe a little too thrilled.”

“Why’s that?” Solomon asked.

“Because Gabby’s father is a viscount.” Ben lifted both hands. “And her case will destroy her father’s reputation and cut the children he’s had with the woman who thinks she’s his wife off from what they think is their inheritance, and put it in Gabby’s hands.”

There was a moment of stunned silence.

“You’re a lady, then?” George’s amusement broke the tension.

“Maybe,” Gabriella said, sending him a grin. “Could you tell?”

“Of course.” He pointed a finger at her.

“You’re worried his motives are revenge against the establishment that rejected and hurt him, more than representing Gabriella’s interests?” Solomon asked.

Ben gave a nod. “Exactly. But he’ll do this pro bono, Gabby. He says it’ll be a pleasure.”

She had, at most, been expecting some advice from Ben. To have a full silk, a QC, actively involved in her case, was not something to dismiss out of hand. It was more than she’d envisioned, by far.

“You think having him on this will be to my advantage?” she asked Ben.

He gave a nod. “He’s brilliant. And when he sets his mind on something, I haven’t known him to lose yet. He’ll be an attack dog on your behalf, but in this case, it might be on his own behalf, too.”

“A balm for slights of the past, not necessarily from those involved in this case, but from others in their group?” Mr. Rodney asked.

Ben nodded. “And once we set out on this path, I don’t think there’s a way to get off until it’s done.”

“You still want to go ahead, Gabriella?” Solomon asked.

She thought about it, but not for long. “My father’s trapped my mother in limbo for years and years. She can’t move on with her life because of him, while he’s married and has a whole new family. I’m going ahead.”

“All right, then.” Ben stood. “I’ll let my boss know.”

She got up herself, gave him a quick hug. “Still see you tomorrow?”

He nodded. “I’ll be there.”

Solomon had been leaning against the counter, but now he pushed himself away. “You need a lift, Ben? George and I are off and we could drop you somewhere.”

There was something going on behind Solomon’s friendly offer, and Gabriella wondered what it could be, but Ben happily agreed and they walked out together.

The oven timer for the second loaf broke the silence that had fallen as the front door closed, and Gabriella realized she had been sitting, hands clasped, almost in a daze.

“I’ll take this loaf and be out of your hair, Mr. Rodney.” She pulled it out of the oven and wrapped it in a cloth.

“You be careful, Gabriella.” Mr. Rodney had gotten to his feet as she’d dealt with the bread. “It sounds as if your father and his new family have a lot to lose if you come into their life. I’ll tell Solomon to get the lads to keep a close eye.”

“I will,” she promised. She could add her father into the same group as the man in the green Jag. And the farmer who’d electrocuted her.

As she and Jerome walked upstairs together to their flats, she pondered on the number of people who seemed to have a reason to wish her harm.

Fortunately, there were more people who consistently helped and supported her. She had friends at her back. She wasn’t going to go up against her father alone.

She firmed her resolve. Her father had made his bed. Now he would have to lie in it.