Secrets and Lies Read Online Free Page A

bread and slid it to her sister. ‘Cut it into thin slices and butter it while I prepare the filling.’
    ‘You’re being awfully bossy, Es.’
    ‘I know, that’s what comes of being a nurse.’ Opening a tin of salmon she drained it, mashed it up then spread it on the bread and added some mustard and cress that was growing on damp blotting paper in the larder. One of Meggie’s attempts at gardening, she supposed, and hoped it was edible.
    She sliced off the crusts and cut the sandwiches into fingers, leaving Livia to arrange them while she investigated the pantry further. The remaining half of the Christmas cake was cut into squares, and a sprig of holly decorated the top.
    Livia gazed dubiously at it. ‘Perhaps we shouldn’t. Holly berries might be poisonous.’
    ‘Only if you eat several at once. Have you invited the old man?’
    Livia offered an emphatic, ‘Certainly not.’
    ‘I remember old Major Henry as being a nice old man. Why don’t you ever invite him? He’s Meggie’s grandfather, isn’t he? One of these days she’ll put the two Sangster names together. You know what she’s like. She’ll want to know why she hasn’t been encouraged to socialize with her grandfather.’
    ‘You forget that Denton adopted Meggie when she was a baby. Although she knows who her father is, she thinks of herself as an Elliot. I’ll tell her when she’s sixteen and old enough to understand things better, that’s soon enough.’
    ‘What if she learns of the connection before then . . . from Major Henry himself perhaps?’
    Livia smiled. ‘If he as much as breathes a word of it I’ll turn him out of the cottage, and he’ll have nowhere else to go. This conversation is now at an end, Esmé. As I’ve told you before, it’s none of your business. Pass me a sprig of parsley, if you would.’
    Amid an atmosphere of slight awkwardness, Livia took the eggs from the stove, plunged them into cold water and began to peel the shells from them. Cutting them in half she laid them on a bed of parsley.
    Esmé noticed the exasperation in her sister’s eyes. There was more to this than met the eye. She knew it. ‘If you ever need someone to talk to in confidence, I’m all grown-up now.’
    Livia looked her straight in the eye. ‘Then act it. I have Denton to confide in. From the goodness of his heart, he took you and Chad in and treated you as part of our family. You’ve done well and we’re proud of you, but don’t think that responsibility has always been easy. Although you’re still welcome in our home now you’re able to support yourself, I’d like to remind you that you’re Meggie’s aunt. As such, you have no say in my daughter’s upbringing. Is that understood?’
    Livia had never been so straightforward with her, or so resentful-sounding. In one fell swoop she’d built a barrier between them, and it hurt like hell. Tears pricked her eyes. Everything Livia had said was true,
    Esmé nodded and said into the frosty atmosphere, her voice thick with unshed tears, ‘You couldn’t have made it clearer, Livia . . . sorry. I wasn’t trying to interfere, and you know I’m grateful for all you’ve done for me. So is Chad.’
    They rarely quarrelled, and eventually Livia heaved a sigh. ‘I didn’t mean it Es. I know you have a special relationship with Meggie . . . you helped her into the world and she adores you.’
    ‘No . . . you were right. I’ve taken you and Denton for granted. When you took Chad and me out of the orphanage it was like having a mother. Then there was Richard Sangster, who was so wonderful to us while he lived – and then darling Denton, who we adored at first sight, and still do. I’m a selfish pig.’
    She was folded in a fierce, brief hug. ‘You know you’re always welcome here, Es. I don’t know what I’d do without you.’
    ‘Yes, you do . . . you have Meggie and the boys to keep you busy.’
    There was a brief pause, and then, ‘Yes, I do have the boys . . . and Meggie.’