switched my phone back on. I didn’t bother even looking at the older messages but focused on the last text which had landed from Dad.
Darling Tess, I know that me turning up here earlier and telling you everything must have been a shock. Please let me know how you are feeling as soon as you get this. Please also know that it was never my intention to hurt you, or make you think any less of your mother, I just couldn’t live with the secret any longer and felt you deserved to know the truth. I hope, in time, that you will come to understand.
It was a relief to be able to message him straight back and say with complete honesty that I was feeling surprisingly fine, even though I knew that the revelations about Mum would take some assimilating. It was incredibly sad to think that she had lived a lie for much of her life and I wished things could have been different, for all our sakes. Had she not died so young – and given what Vanessa had told Dad – then it might have been, but that was something I couldn’t dwell on. Nothing would be gained from wasting time grieving over the unknown.
What I could say with complete certainty, however, was that it wouldn’t take me long to get used to the idea that Hope was my sister. The fact that I knew her and Sophie so well was obviously a huge help and I already loved them both dearly.
I ended my text back to Dad with words that I hoped would settle his head as well as his heart:
Coming back to Wynmouth and getting to know Hope and Sophie has made me realize the true value of female friendship and I’m looking forward to a future which includes these wonderful women in our little family.
Dad’s message also said that he would see me soon and requested that I didn’t open his letter. Thanks to our earlier exchange, I already had an idea of what the missive said and was happy to leave it. Guessing that he had headed back to work, I returned my attention to thoughts of my three friends and the fun we were going to have as a result of finally getting our relationships on the right tracks.
*
Thankfully, it was a warm, dry night and the tide had been on its way out for some time when we met down by the rockpools. Hope came carrying leftover snacks from the café, Sam had bottles of beer and Coke in an ice bag and Joe and I had blankets and candles. We lay in a row, quiet for a while, staring up at the stars and revelling in the fact that Wynmouth had almost zero per cent light pollution.
‘This is nice,’ said Hope, who was lying next to me with our respective fellas either side.
‘It is,’ I agreed, giving her hand a squeeze.
‘All finally feels right with the world,’ she sighed, turning her head to look at me, a very content smile lighting up her pretty face.
‘It certainly does,’ I smiled back, feeling amused to have earlier worked out that she had inherited Dad’s awful pen-sucking habit.
I wondered what other Tyler traits we had in common. We were in complete agreement that we wouldn’t share our news about being half-sisters for a few days at least, and only then if Sophie and Dad were happy for us to go ahead, but I knew that when the time came the boys would understand that we had needed to get used to the change in family dynamics first. That said, I was very much looking forward to seeing the expressions on their faces when they did find out.
‘Do you agree with that, Joe?’ Sam asked, pulling himself into a sitting position and unzipping the bag with the drinks in. ‘Do you feel as though everything’s right with the world?’
Joe sat up too and Hope and I then followed suit, passing on the bottles Sam handed out.
‘Of course, he does,’ said Hope. ‘Don’t you, Joe?’
He didn’t answer straightaway and we all twisted around to look at him.
‘Almost,’ he eventually said, ‘it’s definitely better than yesterday anyway.’
Hope looked concerned and I guessed that my hunch in the pub earlier had been right. There was still something between him and Sam.
‘Do you think we should tell them?’ Joe then asked, leaning forward so he could see Sam.
‘That’s entirely up to you,’ Sam answered. ‘It’s your call, mate.’
Joe