Page 36

NOW

August 2023

Lily

Ronda, Spain

Zach had been quiet since they’d left the Alvarez villa, refusing to debate the new information they’d gleaned from their hosts. He marched purposefully into Ronda town centre, and all Lily could do was try to keep up with his long strides.

He only stopped when they reached the foot of what looked like a church.

‘The Convento de Santa Benedictine,’ Zach said, waving towards the building with cream brickwork that was typical in the area. The convent was at the top of a flight of wide steps, lending it an air of grandeur and majesty.

‘Do you think this Sister Monique is still here?’ Lily asked, using her hand to shield the sun as she looked at Zach.

Zach shrugged. ‘There’s only one way to find out.’ He reached up to rap a brass knocker loudly on the wooden door.

‘What are you going to say?’ Lily whispered as they waited.

‘I don’t know. I’ll figure it out,’ Zach replied.

A few moments passed before the door opened to reveal a diminutive nun, who was no more than five feet tall. She was dressed in grey, from her veil to her long-sleeved blouse and knee-length skirt. She looked up at them both and smiled a welcome.

Lily had to let Zach take control, and how smoothly he could switch to fluent Spanish once again impressed Lily.

‘ Estoy buscando a la Hermana Monique ,’ Zach said.

The nun’s smile broadened, and she pointed to herself, ‘ Esa soy yo .’

Zach looked triumphant as he quickly told Lily that the woman in front of them was Sister Monique.

‘Hello, Sister,’ Lily said, fighting the urge to curtsy.

‘English?’ the nun replied.

‘Irish,’ Lily responded.

‘Slàinte!’ Sister Monique said, saying the Irish term for ‘cheers’, then cackled laughter at her joke, with Lily and Zach joining in. She then continued her conversation with Zach again, back in her native Spanish. Lily heard the Alvarez name mentioned, but struggled to understand any more.

The smile left Sister Monique’s face as Zach spoke, and she watched him guardedly. She responded curtly and waved for them to go, closing the door firmly behind them.

‘What was that about?’ Lily asked, dumbfounded by how the exchange had gone from friendly to frosty in seconds.

‘I need a drink,’ Zach grumbled. ‘I’ll fill you in once we get to the bar.’

He led Lily to a small tapas bar that he had enjoyed during his time in Spain. The bar was once an old storehouse with old-style piping lacing the walls. Lily and Zach ordered nine different tapas dishes and a bottle of Rioja to share.

‘Come on, what did Sister Monique say to you?’ Lily asked again.

Zach seemed lost in his thoughts as he stared at the brick wall to their left. A waitress appeared with their wine and filled their glasses.

‘I have never needed a drink more. I’m sorry for being so quiet. My head is about to explode with everything I’ve found out today. Did you see Sister Monique’s face when I mentioned my mom and I staying at the convent?’

Lily nodded. Even if she couldn’t understand the conversation, body language was impossible to misinterpret.

‘She clammed up!’ Zach said. ‘Then swore that she didn’t remember us ever visiting the convent. That she had no recollection of bringing us to the Alvarez villa. That they were mistaken. But I could tell she was lying. She practically threw us out, didn’t she?’

‘It all seemed a little odd,’ Lily agreed. ‘Add that to the confusion around the dates you arrived here . . .’

Zach sighed. ‘Everything points to me being Robert, doesn’t it?’

Lily nodded slowly. The evidence kept piling up.

‘The timing of your arrival at the Alvarez villa in July 1983, a few weeks after Robert was taken from our cabin, feels too coincidental.’

‘What does that make my mother?’ Zach whispered. He shook his head as if trying to dislodge the answer that had formed in his mind. ‘Can we not talk about it for a bit?’ Zach asked, taking a sip of his red wine.

‘I’ll be too busy eating to talk,’ Lily joked as their waitress walked over with several pisto and tapas dishes. Lily went straight for the goat-cheese croquetas , which melted in her mouth. ‘We’ll need another of these,’ she joked to Zach, who took her at her word and immediately ordered another.

‘I’m not sure I’m ready to share this one,’ Zach teased, spearing a piece of juicy meat from the pork-cheek stew.

Lily tried some and groaned in pleasure. It was the perfect contrast to the sweet and pungent cheese dish. But the vermicelli pasta with light garlic butter and sweet wine sauce made her taste buds explode delightfully. ‘Worth coming for the food alone!’

‘Surprisingly healthy too,’ Zach said.

Lily wasn’t sure she believed him as she dipped a slice of thick, crusty bread into creamy aioli.

‘I need distraction. Earlier today, when we were driving here, you said you had to come home from Australia. I sensed a story. Wanna spill?’ Zach asked.

Lily sighed, because, while Zach wanted a distraction from Robert, this question brought her firmly back to him. ‘You might not want to hear this. It’s about Robert. Dad thought he’d found you.’

‘Oh,’ Zach replied, his fork hovering in the air as he took that in.

‘The thing is, we’d been through that scenario many times. Over the years, when a new age-progression photo came in, we’d lose Dad. He’d dive in again, determined that this time that photograph would lead us all to you.’

‘That must have been difficult to contend with,’ Zach said, watching Lily closely.

‘Yep. I didn’t only lose my brother in 1983, I lost part of my parents too,’ Lily replied. Her throat tightened, and she felt her eyes sting. She picked up her wine and took a long gulp.

Zach refilled both their glasses. ‘We’re not driving, so drink up . . .’

Lily played with a piece of chorizo on her plate, then asked, ‘Have you heard of the StolenChild network?’

‘I don’t think so.’

‘It’s an international agency for the parents of missing children. Dad is one of their most active members. They help keep the names and photographs of missing children in the public domain. The members support each other as pictures of the progression of the new age are made.’

‘Ah! I remember now. Your dad spoke about an agency on the Ireland AM interview,’ Zach said. His nose scrunched up a little, and it caught Lily’s breath. There was a photograph at her mother’s house of Robert cradling Lily on his lap, and he had the exact same expression on his face. It was uncanny. She felt a flutter of excitement ripple through her.

‘Australia,’ Zach prompted.

‘Right. I’d almost finished my year in Australia, and as it was so much fun, I decided to stay on for another year. But then I got a call from Gaga. My grandfather. He’s Dad’s father, not Mom’s father, so he’d be your step-grandfather if you are—’

‘Got it,’ Zach said in understanding, sparing Lily from further over-explaining.

‘Well, Gaga is about the only one who can handle Dad when he gets into one of his spirals.’

Zach raised his eyebrows in question.

‘I’ll give you an example. I have dozens, but this is one of my favourites.’ Lily took another long sip of her wine. ‘One spiral happened when Dad heard about a sighting of a kid that matched your description in Germany. He booked a flight and began knocking on random doors, trying to find you. People thought he was deranged.’

‘When was that?’ Zach asked, his eyes wide as he listened.

‘1991. And the reason I remember it so clearly is because it was at the time of my First Holy Communion, which Dad missed because he was looking for Robert. And Mum missed it because she was so angry that he was looking for Robert that she went to bed with a migraine. I’d have been alone at the altar if it wasn’t for Gaga.’ Lily closed her eyes momentarily, thinking about her lovely Gaga who always saved the day for her, as a child, and still now when she needed him. ‘In the end, Gaga had to fly to Germany to drag him home.’

‘Oh, Lily. I’m so sorry.’

‘I got used to it.’ Lily sniffed. ‘Honestly, it’s fine. And it wasn’t all bad. I was loved. In an abstract, distant way.’

There had been many other absent moments in her childhood. She shook her head, refusing to allow herself to wallow in any self-pity. There were plenty who had it worse than her. She glanced at Zach. If he was Robert, well, he’d had it tough, no doubt about it.

‘Okay, back to Australia and that particular spiral. As I said, Gaga called me, worried about Dad. Reluctantly, I might add, because he didn’t want to ruin my trip. But Gaga had fallen and broken his hip, and he was snookered. Anyhow, a few weeks previously, a guy had landed on Dad’s doorstep and claimed to be Robert. Manuel, he was called. But everyone called him Manny.’

‘Jesus,’ Zach said, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

‘Yep. That name might be apt. Because his guy claimed to have had as many miracles as Jesus had had.’

Zach giggled and clinked glasses with Lily, who giggled along with him. It was nice that Zach got her sense of humour.

‘Manny said – wait for this; it’s a good story – that he’d been found by a fisherman, washed up in a remote Spanish inlet, half drowned. The fisherman took him home and cared for him, returning Manny to health. It took years for the fisherman to admit that he knew the kid was Robert from the cruise ship. But he’d hidden this, because he had nobody to take over his business. He wanted a son.’

‘This is wild,’ Zach said, taking another slug of wine.

‘Oh, it gets better! Dad became convinced that this Manny was Robert. And, to be fair, he was almost identical to the latest age-progression photograph.’

‘I get why you are so sceptical about them now,’ Zach said, shaking his head.

‘The stories I could tell. But, back to Manny, Dad moved him into his home and gave him money. Mum met him, but, to her credit, she was one hundred per cent certain he was an imposter. I mean, the story was too incredulous.’

‘For sure. How on earth did they think that Robert, at three years old, was supposed to have gotten over the railing and fallen overboard in the first place?’

‘Exactly,’ Lily said, spooning meatballs onto her plate.

‘What happened? Did they DNA test him?’ Zach asked.

‘Yeah, but the results took ages to come through back then. And that’s when Gaga called me in a panic because he thought Dad would be bankrupt before they found out the truth. This guy was draining Dad’s bank account daily.’

‘I’ve heard of romance fraud, but DNA fraud is a new one for me. Wow,’ Zach said, sitting back in his chair.

‘I’ve seen it all over the years. Trust me. Anyhow, I had no choice but to come home from Australia. First and foremost, to get rid of the fraudster. And then to pick up the pieces from his deceit. Dad goes up pretty fast, but, like a rollercoaster, he always comes crashing down afterwards.’ She demonstrated an explosive drop with her hands.

‘They are lucky to have you. Kimberly and Jason,’ Zach said. ‘I hope they know that.’

Lily shrugged. She wasn’t sure they did. ‘Gaga says it’s easy to take something for granted that’s right under your nose. As I said, I know they love me, but I wish they’d show it a little more.’ She looked up and caught Zach’s eyes watching her thoughtfully. ‘You had a happy childhood with your parents, though, didn’t you?’

Zach answered immediately. ‘The best. It was a charmed life. Which is why this is so difficult for me. Because if I am Robert that means my entire life has been a lie. And I don’t know what to do with that.’

Their waitress sidled up to the table and topped up their wines, emptying the last of the bottle.

Lily leaned back in her chair and looked down at her tummy, now swollen with good food. ‘Zach, this was an incredible meal – the best I’ve had in a long time. But I am about to burst. I’ve eaten too much.’

Zach held up the empty bottle. ‘Another one?’

‘Could we go for a walk first, and then we can find a bar for another drink?’

With the plan made, Lily insisted that she pay for their meal, as Zach had paid for the car and villa. Then they walked to the Puente Nuevo, Ronda’s famous bridge, that Zach had told Lily about. It spanned a narrow chasm that divided the city into the old town, La Ciudad, and the new town, Mercadillo.

Lily looked down into the breathtaking panorama of the gorge and the Guadalevin River.

‘It looks like a romanticist painting, from the national gallery.’

‘Especially in this light, bathed in the golden sunset,’ Zach agreed.

‘What does Puente Nuevo mean?’ Lily asked.

‘New bridge,’ Zach said with a smile. ‘Which is funny because the bridge was built in 1759. By American standards, that’s pretty old.’

‘It looks like a fortress, the way the stone is carved into the cliffs,’ Lily remarked in wonder.

‘Yeah. It’s almost three hundred feet high. I feel like I’m in another era whenever I stand here,’ Zach admitted. He turned to face her. ‘I’m glad you’re here too, Lily, that you came with me. Thank you.’

‘It’s okay,’ Lily replied, feeling a rush of affection once more for this man who had been a stranger to her a short time ago, but who was now beginning to feel like family.

‘Zach . . .’ Lily began as a group of birds flew up from beneath the bridge in synchronised movement. ‘Maybe it’s the wine, this place, I don’t know, but I want you to know that I believe you. I feel it too. You are my brother.’

Zach moved closer and put an arm round her shoulders as they watched the birds continue to swoop and twirl as one beneath them. ‘You’re trembling.’

‘Scared,’ Lily admitted.

‘Of me?’ Zach asked in a whisper.

‘No!’ Lily answered quickly. ‘I’m scared that for the first time in a long time I’ve allowed myself to believe that Robert – you – could be alive. But if I go to sleep I’ll wake up tomorrow, and it will all have been a dream.’

She leaned in closer to Zach, and they watched the birds until they disappeared under their feet once again.