Jade made her way back to the farmhouse where Susan and Dan were placing Tupperware boxes crammed full with sandwiches and salads in the rear passenger footwells.
‘Are you all set?’ Susan asked.
‘Pretty much.’
‘I’ve put a roadmap in the back with your route plotted out just in case technology lets you down,’ said Dan.
‘Thank you,’ Jade said, and leaned in to hug him.
‘No, thank you for everything,’ said Susan. ‘I know it’s not been easy, especially the last few week, but I’m glad we’re still friends. Now promise me one more thing, will you?’
‘Of course, what is it?’
‘Promise me you’ll look after my boy.’
‘Mum, I’ll be fine.’ Mark smiled and kissed her on the cheek, before throwing his rucksack across the back seat.
‘I promise,’ Jade said. ‘Neither of us are leaving this family any time soon.’
Chapter 99
NICK
Nick’s eyes fixed on the doorway as he waited for the undertakers to carry the coffin into the crematorium.
A song he’d chosen by Amy Winehouse played through the speakers, as the wicker coffin was placed on a table in front of the packed room and the minister took her position. Nick’s parents stood either side of him, each holding on to an arm as Sally came to a rest before them.
The coroner had released her body to the family eight days after her death and, although the inquest had been opened and adjourned, Nick had been informed off the record that a previously undetected aneurysm in Sally’s brain, the cause of many of her recent headaches, was likely to have been to blame.
Her sudden loss was a shock to Nick’s system, but it wasn’t the only one. Sally’s baby boy had been taken from her womb by emergency caesarean section as she died. He was alive, and his skin was as dark brown as his hair.
‘How many times did it happen?’
‘A few.’
‘How many is a few?’ Nick repeated, more firmly this time.
‘I don’t know, I didn’t count. Quite often though, I suppose.’
‘Was it just sex?’
‘No.’
‘What else was it then?’
‘She was my Match.’
‘What?’
‘We did the test and Sally was my DNA Match. At least, that’s what we thought.’
Nick stopped pacing the lounge and stared at Deepak. Baby Dylan slept close to his chest, his head resting on a towel draped across his shoulder.
It had been impossible for friends and family who’d visited Dylan to see anything but the difference between his dark skin compared to Sally and Nick’s chalky pallors. After the shock of Sally’s death, and the subsequent realisation that his son was not biologically his, something told Nick that the boy’s real father was close to home.
Shortly after, Sumaira and Deepak, recent parents themselves, arrived at the flat to offer their condolences and meet Dylan for the first time. The panicked look on Deepak’s face was enough to tell him what he had feared was true. They said little and didn’t stay for long. Nick later noted their absences at Sally’s funeral.
Now, Deepak perched stiffly on Nick’s sofa, his eyes bloodshot and underscored by dark bags.
‘So all those months ago, the night it all kicked off between Sally and me, I was right when I said you and Sumaira weren’t Matched?’
Deepak nodded. ‘We did the test after we got married, but Sumaira was too ashamed to admit it to anyone. You know how some people can look down on couples that aren’t Matched.’
‘But what makes you think Sally was your Match?’
‘Sumaira and I took the test a couple of years ago and found out we weren’t Matched. My email came and it was her. Sally. It turned out she worked with Sumaira – coincidence, huh? I wanted to meet her so eventually I made Sumaira arrange that night we all went out for Chinese …’
Nick nodded slowly. ‘That was the evening we had to leave early because Sal wasn’t feeling well.’
‘Yeah,’ Deepak laughed, but tears were still in his eyes. ‘We all had a lot to drink that night, didn’t we? I had a lot of beers, but I felt it: you know what I mean. It was as if all these lightbulbs had been turned on at the same time in my head.’
Nick did know what he meant. He tried not to think of that first day he met Alex. ‘She’d felt the same thing as you, hadn’t she?’
‘Yes.’
‘So you started sleeping together.’
‘No, not for a long time after that. We became friends on Facebook first, then we started Instant Messaging, and met for the occasional lunchtime coffee or dinner. But that wasn’t enough so gradually it escalated.’
Nick knew how hypocritical it was for him to feel animosity towards Sally for her lies, when his and Alex’s relationship had followed almost the exact same pattern, but still he found Deepak’s words hard to swallow.
‘She was going to leave you,’ Deepak added hesitantly. ‘And I was planning on leaving Sumaira. We’d spent too long going behind your backs and we wanted to be together out in the open. Then Sumaira got pregnant with the twins and I came to my senses. I knew I couldn’t just walk out on my wife. So I ended it with Sally. I don’t think Sally was too happy, but I was certain that I wanted to stay with Sumaira and I told her that. That’s when she booked those tickets to Bruges, to try and reconnect with you.’
Nick had known there was something off about Sally’s sudden desire to go away together. ‘Go on,’ he said to Deepak.
‘When Sally thought she might be pregnant, she started panicking because she didn’t know which one of us was the father. She was scared if she told you the truth you wouldn’t want to stick around and that you’d leave with Alex. She was so petrified of ending up a single mum.’
‘So she used me.’
‘I guess so.’
There was something that had been bugging Nick about Deepak’s story. ‘You chose Sumaira, and it sounds like Sally chose me. How the hell did you two deal with not being together? I know how powerful it feels when you meet your Match …’ It had been six months now since he’d last seen Alex and it was physically killing him to not be around him.
‘I don’t think we were actually Matched,’ Deepak admitted reluctantly. ‘I saw the news in the papers. I think we were one of those false Matches. It’s only when I look back on it that I realise after those initial few months of excitement, the spark gradually vanished and we became like every other couple cheating behind their partners’ backs. And even thinking back to that night we first met and the “explosions” people talk about, I think we were just drunk and got carried away with it. I’m really sorry, mate.’
Deepak’s apology was in earnest, but Nick couldn’t bring himself to accept it.
‘We both knew it, but because we thought we were Matched, we thought we had to stick together. In the end, all we had was an affair.’
‘There’s something else that’s been bothering me,’ Nick interrupted. ‘If Sally thought she was Matched with you, why did she want us to take the test?’
‘I think she wanted to give you an “out” … letting you go and be with your Match meant she wouldn’t have to break your heart and look like the bad guy when she left you. Instead, she’d be the victim in all of this. Then when you found out you were Matched with a bloke, it was just as much a shock for us as it was for you, and we never thought you’d want to meet him. She was surprised she managed to talk you into it.’
‘Are you all set?’ Susan asked.
‘Pretty much.’
‘I’ve put a roadmap in the back with your route plotted out just in case technology lets you down,’ said Dan.
‘Thank you,’ Jade said, and leaned in to hug him.
‘No, thank you for everything,’ said Susan. ‘I know it’s not been easy, especially the last few week, but I’m glad we’re still friends. Now promise me one more thing, will you?’
‘Of course, what is it?’
‘Promise me you’ll look after my boy.’
‘Mum, I’ll be fine.’ Mark smiled and kissed her on the cheek, before throwing his rucksack across the back seat.
‘I promise,’ Jade said. ‘Neither of us are leaving this family any time soon.’
Chapter 99
NICK
Nick’s eyes fixed on the doorway as he waited for the undertakers to carry the coffin into the crematorium.
A song he’d chosen by Amy Winehouse played through the speakers, as the wicker coffin was placed on a table in front of the packed room and the minister took her position. Nick’s parents stood either side of him, each holding on to an arm as Sally came to a rest before them.
The coroner had released her body to the family eight days after her death and, although the inquest had been opened and adjourned, Nick had been informed off the record that a previously undetected aneurysm in Sally’s brain, the cause of many of her recent headaches, was likely to have been to blame.
Her sudden loss was a shock to Nick’s system, but it wasn’t the only one. Sally’s baby boy had been taken from her womb by emergency caesarean section as she died. He was alive, and his skin was as dark brown as his hair.
‘How many times did it happen?’
‘A few.’
‘How many is a few?’ Nick repeated, more firmly this time.
‘I don’t know, I didn’t count. Quite often though, I suppose.’
‘Was it just sex?’
‘No.’
‘What else was it then?’
‘She was my Match.’
‘What?’
‘We did the test and Sally was my DNA Match. At least, that’s what we thought.’
Nick stopped pacing the lounge and stared at Deepak. Baby Dylan slept close to his chest, his head resting on a towel draped across his shoulder.
It had been impossible for friends and family who’d visited Dylan to see anything but the difference between his dark skin compared to Sally and Nick’s chalky pallors. After the shock of Sally’s death, and the subsequent realisation that his son was not biologically his, something told Nick that the boy’s real father was close to home.
Shortly after, Sumaira and Deepak, recent parents themselves, arrived at the flat to offer their condolences and meet Dylan for the first time. The panicked look on Deepak’s face was enough to tell him what he had feared was true. They said little and didn’t stay for long. Nick later noted their absences at Sally’s funeral.
Now, Deepak perched stiffly on Nick’s sofa, his eyes bloodshot and underscored by dark bags.
‘So all those months ago, the night it all kicked off between Sally and me, I was right when I said you and Sumaira weren’t Matched?’
Deepak nodded. ‘We did the test after we got married, but Sumaira was too ashamed to admit it to anyone. You know how some people can look down on couples that aren’t Matched.’
‘But what makes you think Sally was your Match?’
‘Sumaira and I took the test a couple of years ago and found out we weren’t Matched. My email came and it was her. Sally. It turned out she worked with Sumaira – coincidence, huh? I wanted to meet her so eventually I made Sumaira arrange that night we all went out for Chinese …’
Nick nodded slowly. ‘That was the evening we had to leave early because Sal wasn’t feeling well.’
‘Yeah,’ Deepak laughed, but tears were still in his eyes. ‘We all had a lot to drink that night, didn’t we? I had a lot of beers, but I felt it: you know what I mean. It was as if all these lightbulbs had been turned on at the same time in my head.’
Nick did know what he meant. He tried not to think of that first day he met Alex. ‘She’d felt the same thing as you, hadn’t she?’
‘Yes.’
‘So you started sleeping together.’
‘No, not for a long time after that. We became friends on Facebook first, then we started Instant Messaging, and met for the occasional lunchtime coffee or dinner. But that wasn’t enough so gradually it escalated.’
Nick knew how hypocritical it was for him to feel animosity towards Sally for her lies, when his and Alex’s relationship had followed almost the exact same pattern, but still he found Deepak’s words hard to swallow.
‘She was going to leave you,’ Deepak added hesitantly. ‘And I was planning on leaving Sumaira. We’d spent too long going behind your backs and we wanted to be together out in the open. Then Sumaira got pregnant with the twins and I came to my senses. I knew I couldn’t just walk out on my wife. So I ended it with Sally. I don’t think Sally was too happy, but I was certain that I wanted to stay with Sumaira and I told her that. That’s when she booked those tickets to Bruges, to try and reconnect with you.’
Nick had known there was something off about Sally’s sudden desire to go away together. ‘Go on,’ he said to Deepak.
‘When Sally thought she might be pregnant, she started panicking because she didn’t know which one of us was the father. She was scared if she told you the truth you wouldn’t want to stick around and that you’d leave with Alex. She was so petrified of ending up a single mum.’
‘So she used me.’
‘I guess so.’
There was something that had been bugging Nick about Deepak’s story. ‘You chose Sumaira, and it sounds like Sally chose me. How the hell did you two deal with not being together? I know how powerful it feels when you meet your Match …’ It had been six months now since he’d last seen Alex and it was physically killing him to not be around him.
‘I don’t think we were actually Matched,’ Deepak admitted reluctantly. ‘I saw the news in the papers. I think we were one of those false Matches. It’s only when I look back on it that I realise after those initial few months of excitement, the spark gradually vanished and we became like every other couple cheating behind their partners’ backs. And even thinking back to that night we first met and the “explosions” people talk about, I think we were just drunk and got carried away with it. I’m really sorry, mate.’
Deepak’s apology was in earnest, but Nick couldn’t bring himself to accept it.
‘We both knew it, but because we thought we were Matched, we thought we had to stick together. In the end, all we had was an affair.’
‘There’s something else that’s been bothering me,’ Nick interrupted. ‘If Sally thought she was Matched with you, why did she want us to take the test?’
‘I think she wanted to give you an “out” … letting you go and be with your Match meant she wouldn’t have to break your heart and look like the bad guy when she left you. Instead, she’d be the victim in all of this. Then when you found out you were Matched with a bloke, it was just as much a shock for us as it was for you, and we never thought you’d want to meet him. She was surprised she managed to talk you into it.’
