Forgive Me by Lesley Pearse Read Free Book Online Page A

talk to her about things
in an adult way. But she didn’t hold out much hope of that.
    She had only walked about a hundred yards
when she saw headlights coming towards her, and as it got closer she recognized the car
as hers. Ben was driving it. He’d passed his driving test a short while ago, but
he wasn’t insured to drive. Spotting her, he did a U-turn in the road, and jumped
out.
    ‘Where have you been? I’ve
searched all over for you,’ he said frantically. ‘I’ve been so
worried. Dad was horrible, I’m ashamed of him.’
    Ben had always been sensitive and caring
about others, and Eva was so touched by his anxiety for her. She felt she had to make it
better for him. ‘Yes, he was horrible. But Isuppose he’s
hurting and needed to lash out at someone. I just wish it hadn’t been
me.’
    ‘I shouted at him and said he should
be ashamed of himself.’ Ben put his arm around her awkwardly. ‘I said if he
felt he had to tell you, then he should’ve picked a better time.’
    ‘Did you and Sophie know all
along?’
    ‘Of course we didn’t. It was as
much of a shock to us as it was to you. But as far as I’m concerned, nothing will
change between us. You’re still my sister,’ he said as he wiped his damp
eyes with the back of his hand.
    ‘Thank you, Ben, that means a
lot,’ she said. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do now, though.
I think it would be better if I moved out. But I really don’t know anything about
this studio. Do you?’
    Ben shook his head. ‘Nothing at all.
But if it helps, I think Dad was ashamed when you ran out. He said he’d been
telling Mum for years she should tell you the truth. Sophie said he was cruel too. She
said it was bad enough losing Mum and she didn’t want to lose you too.’
    ‘Did she?’
    ‘Yes, she did, and she meant it. But
come on home now, you’re like a block of ice.’
    Eva got into the car, and as they drove she
told him what she’d been thinking while she was in the field. ‘What else is
there we don’t know about? It’s scary, thinking you know someone well and
then you find out you don’t know anything.’
    ‘I wish I’d never found out Dad
could be like that,’ Ben said tartly. ‘It’s as if everything we
believed in has collapsed. I’d better warn you that Sophie is freaking out again
too. She thinks Dad wants to move away. She’s an imbecile sometimes; Dad never
said he wanted to sell the house, only that he couldn’t. He isn’t going to
dump us.’
    ‘It looks like he wants to dump
me,’ Eva said glumly. ‘We haven’t even got through the funeral yet. I
dread to think what else will come out of the woodwork then.’

Chapter Three
    On the morning of the funeral Eva woke to
the sound of heavy rain.
    She got up and went to the window. Her room
looked out over the garden wall on to the estate of new houses. She could see that the
patio on the nearest one was awash.
    The last few days had been really
spring-like with warm sun, and she’d hoped it would remain that way for the
funeral. Now the thirty or more people coming back here afterwards would have to be
indoors; the house was big enough for that, but it would have been less stressful if
some of them could have been out in the courtyard.
    Flora’s post mortem had shown she had
no medical problems. Eva had been hoping against hope there would be something, as at
least that would make sense of why her mother chose to end her life. If there was
another man in her life, that hadn’t come to light either. But then Eva had known
that was never a possibility because Flora rarely went out on her own. She was always at
home.
    Her death had been the most terrible thing.
Just thinking about it made Eva’s chest so tight she could hardly breathe, and she
wondered how she would ever get over it. Then for Andrew to tell her he wasn’t her
father in such a nasty way had crushed her even more. He had made an apology of sorts
the following night, his excuse being that he was upset and