Page 185 of The Missing Sister

‘Hello there, can I help you?’ he asked.

‘I’m looking for Katie.’

‘Aren’t we all,’ the man shrugged with a grim smile. ‘She’s at work as usual. And who might you be?’

‘My name is Mary McDougal, and I’m Katie’s sister.’

He looked at me for a while, then nodded. ‘You’ll be the one that disappeared then?’

‘I would, yes.’

‘Well, she’s due back around four, in about twenty minutes. I’m Connor, by the way, Katie’s husband. Do you want to come in and have a cuppa? I was just making one for myself.’

‘Thank you,’ I said as he ushered me inside and into the kitchen. ‘Sit down, take the weight off your feet.’

I did so, looking round at what was obviously a state-of-the-art kitchen, with no expense spared.

‘I can’t be saying she’ll be home on time,’ he said as he put a cup of tea in front of me and sat down. ‘As you can see, she doesn’t need to work, but no matter what I tell her, her old people up at the home come first. Dedicated, she is. So, can I be asking you where you disappeared to for all these years?’

‘I moved to New Zealand.’

‘Now that’s a place I’d love to visit, if I could ever get my wife to take a holiday. Whereabouts are you? The North or South Island?’

I told him and we chatted pleasantly about the country and the vineyard, until I heard the sound of a car coming up the drive.

‘Must be your lucky day. My wife is home on time for once.’ Connor stood up. ‘Why don’t you go and sit in the lounge across, and I’ll tell her you’re here, prepare her, so. ’Twill be a shock for her; I wasn’t around when you left, but I know how close the two of you were.’

‘Of course.’ I went into the room he’d indicated, which looked more like a showpiece in an advertisement than a home. Everything, from the cream leather sofas to the faux mahogany side tables and grand marble fireplace, was immaculate. I heard low voices beyond the door, and finally my sister came into the sitting room. She looked exactly the same as I remembered her: slim, elegant and the spit of our mother. Her red hair was piled up on her head and as she came towards me, I saw her lovely pale skin was clear of wrinkles, as if she had been held in aspic since I last saw her.

‘Merry.’ She studied my face carefully as I stood up. ‘It reallyisyou, isn’t it?’

‘It is, Katie, yes.’

‘Jaysus, I don’t know what to say.’ Her voice trembled. ‘I feel like I’m in one of those reality TV shows where two long-lost sisters meet again.’ She started to cry. ‘Merry, come here and give me a hug.’

We hugged for a long time, until she finally pulled away and indicated the nearest sofa.

‘My legs are shaking. Let’s sit down,’ she said.

We did so, and she reached towards the glass coffee table to pull a wad of tissues out of a box.

‘I’d always wondered what I’d say if you ever turned up; I hated you for going and not even leaving me a note to say why or where. I thought I was your best friend? Wewerebest friends, weren’t we?’

Katie wiped away her tears harshly.

‘I’m so sorry, Katie,’ I said, gulping back my own. ‘I’d have told you if I could have, but... I just couldn’t tell anyone.’

‘Not true,’ she said, her voice rising. ‘You left a note for that Ambrose of yours, didn’t you? I know because I got hold of his telephone number and called him. The note said you had to go away, but he wasn’t to worry about you. And then you disappeared for thirty-seven years. Why, Merry? Please tell me why.’

‘I had no choice, Katie, believe me. I never meant to hurt you or the rest of our family. I was trying to protect you.’

‘I knew you were keeping secrets from me, Merry, but I’d have never told. Ah, Jaysus, I can’t stop crying.’

‘I’m so, so sorry, Katie.’ I put my arms around her and hugged her again as she wept.

‘I’d have done anything to help you, you know I would. Come with you if that was what you needed. We shared everything, didn’t we?’

‘We did, yes.’