He stepped up to the railing, standing beside her now, with his hands deep in his trouser pockets as he looked out to sea. Eva could see his profile: his broad, intelligent forehead, his strong nose, his lips that she’d once explored with such excitement and daring.
‘I thought I must have upset you,’ he said quietly. ‘We were both virgins. At the time, you seemed keen. I know you were keen, but I’ve often wondered if... I don’t know...if I’d scared you.’
Oh, Griff, never. Tears stung Eva’s eyes. ‘That wasn’t the problem, honestly. It was—’
‘Excuse me.’
A voice brought them both swinging round. It was a girl—the waitress with the purple streaks in her hair.
Had she been sent to summon them inside? Eva wasn’t sure if she was annoyed or relieved by the interruption.
‘What is it?’ Griff snapped, making his own reaction quite clear.
‘I was hoping to speak to you both,’ the girl said, but she seemed less confident now. She was wearing a white shirt and black skirt and she fiddled with the buckle at her waist.
Eva glanced Griff’s way and saw his eyes narrow as he frowned at the girl. ‘Well?’ he demanded impatiently.
‘I wanted to introduce myself.’ Her grey eyes were huge with an emotion that might have been overwhelming excitement or fear. ‘You see,’ she added, lifting her hands from her sides, palms facing up in a gesture that was both nervous and helpless, ‘I’m your daughter.’
GRIFF FELT AS if he’d been king-hit, knocked to the ground, left in a gutter, bruised and battered. He stared at the girl in appalled disbelief. Surely he hadn’t heard her correctly.
Their daughter?
Impossible.
And yet, as he slowly gathered his wits, he had to ask himself if this wasn’t also entirely possible. He’d used precautions back then, but heaven knew he’d been inexperienced and overexcited at the time. Hell. There was evidence enough in what had followed—Eva’s rapid departure and silence.
And now, twenty years later, this creature, this attractive young woman, tall and dark-haired, with clear pale skin and shiny grey eyes and an air of familiarity that had nagged at Griff from the moment he’d seen her.
Their daughter?
Emotions tumbled through him like the pounding surf. Shock. Anger. Sadness. Regret. And then another thumping wave of anger.
All this time, all these years—Eva had kept their child a secret? His first impulse now was to round on her, to demand a full explanation.
A quick glance Eva’s way, however, showed her sagged against the railing, white and trembling, possibly even more shocked than he was. Unfortunately, she wasn’t denying the girl’s claim.
‘I’m sorry,’ the girl said. ‘I know this must be a huge surprise. A shock, I expect. But I was so anxious to meet you both. That’s why I took this waitressing job as soon as I heard about the reunion. I was so excited when I saw the list of names and realised that you were both going to be here.’
Dazed, Griff rubbed at his temple. Could this girl, this unique, vibrant being, really be an amalgam of his and Eva’s genes? A life they’d created?
He still couldn’t quite believe he was a father. He didn’t want to believe he’d been a father all this time. Bloody hell.
A thousand questions demanded answers, but he wasn’t prepared to expose his total ignorance in front of the girl. At this point, there was no way of verifying her outrageous claim.
‘What’s your name?’ Eva asked in a whisper, while she kept a white-knuckled grip on the railing, as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.
‘Laine,’ the girl said. ‘That’s the name you gave me, isn’t it? Laine Elizabeth?’
Tears shone in Eva’s eyes as she gave a sad, slow nod. ‘Yes,’ she said and, with a single syllable, she answered Griff’s biggest question.
‘I’m Laine Templeton now,’ the girl said. ‘Or sometimes Lettie to my closest friends, because my initials are L.E.T. The people who adopted me—the Templetons—live in Brisbane.’
‘And they told you about me?’ Eva sent a frightened glance Griff’s way. ‘About...us?’
Laine shook her head. ‘No, I didn’t want to upset them, so I went straight to the adoption agency. I’m over eighteen, so I was perfectly entitled to find out the names of my birth parents.’ Her gaze met Griff’s. ‘I’m studying law at UQ. I was intrigued to look you up on the Internet and discover you’re a barrister.’
Griff felt as if he’d swallowed glass. He supposed he should feel some kind of fatherly connection to this girl. He wanted to feel sympathy for Eva, but he was too busy dealing with his own roiling emotions.
Eva shouldn’t have kept this from him. She shouldn’t have carried this burden alone. Damn it, she should have shared the news of her pregnancy.
Sure, they’d been young at the time, only just out of school, and both of them with big career dreams with absolutely no plans to start a family. He hadn’t been anywhere near ready for parenthood, but it cut deep to realise he’d been denied the chance to face up to this challenge, to at least be part of the decision-making.
‘Look, I know this is a bolt out of the blue,’ Laine said, and she was already taking a step backwards as she looked carefully from Griff to Eva. ‘I just wanted to introduce myself initially, but I guess you need time to...adjust.’
‘Yes, we do,’ Griff told her more sternly than he’d meant to.
She smiled shyly, awkwardly.
‘I’m sorry,’ Eva said through trembling lips. ‘I...I...’
Clearly, Eva was struggling to say anything coherent.
Laine lifted her hand then and gave a shy, shining-eyed smile and a stiff wave. ‘OK,’ she said. ‘I dare say my timing hasn’t been great.’
Griff felt torn. This was his daughter, after all. It felt totally inadequate to just greet her with Hi and ’bye. But he was too shocked to think straight. ‘Look, this really is a shock,’ he said. Maybe—’
Eva spoke up. ‘Maybe tomorrow.’
‘Yes, sure,’ said Laine. ‘I’m sorry if I’ve upset you. I...I...’
‘We can at least exchange contact details tomorrow,’ Griff suggested. That would be a start, and about all they could manage under the circumstances. Eva looked as if she was about to collapse.
‘Thanks,’ said Laine. ‘I’ll see you then.’
She backed away quickly and as she left via the glass doors Eva opened her mouth as if she wanted to say goodbye, but no sound emerged and she looked as if she was about to collapse.
Griff stepped towards Eva again, torn between wanting to tear strips off her and feeling desperately sorry for her. What must it be like for a mother to be reunited with her baby after nineteen long years?
‘Are you OK?’ he asked.
Eva shook her head. ‘Not really.’
She was still clinging to the railing as if it were a life raft. Clearly, she needed to sit down and Griff was wondering where he could take her so that they could be private.
‘Would you mind walking me back to my motel?’ Eva asked, as if her mind had been on a similar track.
It was the perfect option. ‘No,