Three Amazing Things About You (42 page)

‘You don’t think . . .’ Flo knew that Zander had helped a female, but that was the extent of the information she’d received. The recipient had sent a beautiful thank you card to Lena, but as far as she knew, Lena hadn’t replied. And since Lena was the next of kin, there was nothing more she could do about it.

‘Well that’s annoying; it doesn’t say the exact date.’ Margot was ahead of her; she had now found the threethingsaboutyou website and was scrolling back through the entries. Then, abruptly, she stopped. ‘Here it is. Oh sweetheart, look . . .’

Her heart thudding crazily, Flo looked at the entry. Her gaze skittered over the words . . .

. . . Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU to the wonderful family of the donor for giving me this gift, this incredible chance. I hope you know how amazing you are. Your courage, kindness and generosity will always be remembered.

Flo took in the date, although by now she already knew.

Tuesday the twenty-fifth of June.

‘It’s her. It’s
her
. She’s the one. I can’t believe it. Look at her.’ Breaking into a wobbly smile, Flo studied the photograph in the magazine of a pretty, healthy-looking girl with short dark red hair, huge bright eyes like Bambi and a dazzling smile. She was wearing a dark blue outfit and a striking scarf with splashes of colour like cascading fireworks across a night sky.

At that moment, a thud of recognition hit Flo in the chest. She stared into the brown eyes of the girl in the photograph, then at the scarf once more.

‘Can you go back to the magazine piece?’ she asked Margot.

Margot obliged and handed her the iPad. Flo expanded the photo and stared again. The scarf was inky blue, with explosions of fuchsia, lime green, purple and gold.

It was a one-of-a-kind scarf.

It had cost more than the girl wanted to pay, but she’d been unable to resist, returning to the stall later on that afternoon to buy it.

Flo briefly closed her eyes, conjuring up a mental image of the girl in the wheelchair, with her striking pallor and those deep violet shadows under her eyes, and the plastic tubing delivering oxygen from a cylinder into her poor diseased lungs. Yet despite her obvious ill health, she’d been cheerful, good-natured and likeable. Basically, the kind of person you’d instinctively want to be friends with.

Above the sound of Alexandra’s babbling, Margot leaned across and said, ‘Are you OK, darling?’

Nodding, Flo felt her eyes swim with tears, but for once they were happy tears. ‘I’m fine. I can’t believe we found out this way, but it really does make it better.’

‘She looks lovely. Sounds it, too.’

‘She is,’ said Flo. Wait until she told Patrick about this. ‘And guess what? I’ve already met her.’ Her hand shook slightly as she pointed to the photo. ‘In fact, I sold her that scarf.’

Dear Rose (yes, I know you’re Hallie, but you’ll always be Rose to me!),

I have an update for you.

You probably won’t remember, but last year I wrote to you with my problem. Basically, I loved my cats but my wonderful boyfriend hated them and wanted me to get rid of them. And you told me he wasn’t a wonderful boyfriend at all.

Well, I cried when I saw your reply, but eventually realised you were right. He couldn’t believe it when I ended our relationship, and the following months were pretty miserable. I will admit that I began to wish I hadn’t done it.

But in September I went along to our local cats’ home to see the new kittens and got chatting to a man called Paul who was there for the same reason. We ended up adopting one each from the same litter.

And guess what? Paul turned out to be a far nicer man than my old boyfriend. We kept in touch at first so we could compare our sibling kittens (their names are Bo and Marvin) and then we fell in love. We now live together – with all our cats! – and I’ve never been happier in my life.

So
thank you
for your kind words and excellent advice. You were definitely right, and Paul and I are both hugely grateful!

We’re also very glad to hear that your own life is so much better now too. You are amazing!

With love from

Maggie xxx

Well, hooray for Maggie and Paul. Hallie flagged the email so it wouldn’t get lost in her inbox. Updates were always welcome, but those with a happy ending were far nicer to read than the other kind.

She took a slurp of tea, a bite of toast and a moment to appreciate the fact that she was lazing in bed through choice rather than because she didn’t have the energy to get out of it.

OK, it was ten in the morning. Soon she would get up and drive over to collect her mum and Bea, and together they’d head into Oxford to spend the afternoon shopping. The fun to be had from actually visiting lovely shops and experiencing objects with all your senses, rather than buying almost everything online, was a thrill that was yet to wear off.

She finished her mug of tea and opened the next email.

Dear Hallie,

Firstly, here are the three things about me:

Now, here we go. My name is Flo Fenwick and I live in Bristol with my baby girl, Alexandra. Almost eighteen months ago, I was lucky enough to meet and fall in love with a wonderful man. We were very happy together and looking towards the future when sadly he lost his life in a car accident and my happy new world, as I knew it, ended overnight.

I’ve just read that feature about you in the magazine. You look and sound so lovely. I used to read the letters people sent to Dear Rose, and your brilliant replies, but I confess that following my boyfriend’s accident, I rather lost interest in other people’s problems. So it was cheering to read the feature and discover that you were in fact Dear Rose.

In it, you also stated that you would love to be able to get in touch with the family of your donor, which is – as I’m sure you’ve guessed by now – why I am writing to you today. I may not strictly be family, but Zander was the most important person in my life. And following his death, I discovered I was pregnant with his child.

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I couldn’t be happier to learn that the transplant was such a success. If you’d like to see photos of Zander, I’d love to send you some. (As a proud new mum, I have plenty of his daughter too!)

I hope this is a nice letter to receive, and that it hasn’t come as too much of a shock to you. The last year has been pretty hard, but things are starting to get easier for me now. Finding out about you has definitely helped.

Oh, and if you’re wondering about that time we met before, cast your mind back to last year and Denleigh Horse Trials. The stall where you bought your scarf? The woman working on the stall who was forced by her boss to wear a purple trilby? Yes, that was me. (You missed Prince Harry, by the way – he called in not long after you’d left. Really!)

So there we are then, I’ll give you time to catch your breath and digest this information. When you’ve recovered from the shock, it would be lovely to hear from you.

Love and best wishes,

Flo xxx

Wow.
Well
. Sitting back against the pile of pillows, Hallie slowly reread the letter from the beginning. Flo sounded wonderful. And she wasn’t even aware yet of the other half of the story . . .

When she’d gathered herself, Hallie began a fresh email.

Dearest Flo,

Thank you, thank you. Your letter has made me indescribably happy too. We have
so
much to talk about. Can I phone you? Would that be OK?

Also, when can we meet up?

It had been an unorthodox way of going about things, but it had all worked out in the end. Hallie smiled at the memory of Jonathan’s look of disbelief when she’d told him about her meeting with Flo. ‘It’s all meant to be taken very slowly and carefully,’ he’d said, shaking his head. ‘It’s a highly emotive situation, best handled by professionals. That’s why we’re here.’

‘I know, but we’d found each other completely by accident. It felt like serendipity.’ Struggling to explain, Hallie had waved her hands. ‘It felt right for all of us. As soon as I told Flo about Rory, she wanted to meet him too. So that was it, we arranged for all of us to go down to Bristol together. And we met up at Flo’s flat in Clifton. It was the most amazing day.’

And it really had been. Rory and Tasha had travelled down from London. She and Luke had driven from Carranford. Together they’d introduced themselves to Flo, all aware of the miraculous connection between them. Hallie had taken Flo’s hand and pressed it to her chest so she could feel the steady beat of Zander’s heart beneath her fingertips. Then they’d both felt Hallie’s old heart thudding away inside Rory’s ribcage.

And all thanks to Zander. Well, Zander and Flo, who had been so completely determined that his organs shouldn’t go to waste.

A bond had been forged between them on their first day together. Against all expectations, Flo had been as grateful to them as they’d been to her. By that evening, a friendship had been born and they’d stayed in touch ever since.

And now it was the twenty-eighth of April, a beautiful spring day and Rory McAndrew’s birthday. They were on their way to the party being held at his and Tasha’s flat, along with assorted friends and family.

Hallie said, ‘We’re in Hampstead. Nearly there now,’ and experienced a squiggle of excitement at the prospect of seeing them again.

And then they were there, on the doorstep, ringing the bell and being welcomed by Tasha.

‘Yay, you’re here!’ Tasha threw her arms around Hallie. ‘Rory, look!’

Rory appeared. ‘New-family! Come on in!’

He’d coined the phrase last year, linking them all together. Hallie hugged him and said, ‘Happy birthday. You’re looking fantastic.’

Rory’s green eyes sparkled. ‘You too. All good?’

Hallie, as had become their new-family ritual, pressed the flat of her hand against his chest and felt the bump-bump-bump of her own heart. ‘All very good. Oh wow, I can hear her already!’

They both turned to see Alexandra beaming and crowing ‘BABAAAGAADAAWOOOOO,’ as Joe carried her into the living room on his shoulders. Catching sight of Hallie and Luke, she raised her volume to the next level and wriggled to be allowed to reach them.

‘Here, you’re welcome,’ said Joe, as Hallie held her arms up to take her from him. ‘She’s bursting my eardrums.’

Now thirteen months old, Alexandra was a happy, noisy baby who rarely cried and who loved social occasions.

‘Good to see you getting into practice,’ Luke told Joe, because Carmel was now seven months pregnant.

‘Tell me about it.’ Joe grinned. ‘By June we’re not going to know what’s hit us.’

Hallie, cuddling Alexandra, inhaled the amazing baby smell of her fluffy dark hair. ‘Hello, beautiful! Look at you!’

‘Gadaboo,’ said Alexandra, reaching up to grab Hallie’s silver hooped earring.

‘Gadaboo to you too.’ Hallie pretended to bite Alexandra’s tiny fingers, making her squeal with laughter.

‘Now, has anyone seen a baby around here? Noisy little thing in a red onesie?’ Flo was threading her way across the crowded living room. ‘Ah, found her . . . Hallie, hello!’

They embraced fondly and Hallie said, ‘How are you doing?’

‘Great. She’s teething, by the way, so she might try to chew your hand. How was your holiday?’

‘We had the best time, didn’t we?’ Hallie turned to Luke, who had whisked her away on a surprise break to Venice in March. ‘It was brilliant; when Bea called and asked me where I was, I told her I was sitting at a café in St Mark’s Square being served a drink by a handsome waiter. And it was actually
true
.’

‘Ah, that’s fantastic. How’s work going?’

‘Oh, I love it so much. I get to boss Luke and Tess around and squeeze in extra appointments when I think the patients deserve them.’ Had it been nepotism, when the vacancy for a new part-time receptionist had come up at the surgery and she’d applied for the job? Ha, probably, but she’d made up for it since with dedication, efficiency and sheer hard work.

‘And how’s Bea?’

‘Same as ever.’ Hallie grinned, because they hadn’t only got to know each other; they were starting to know each other’s friends too. ‘She met a lovely man at the gym, spent weeks flirting with him over the rowing machines, then eventually he asked her out and she was
so
excited . . .’

Flo was wincing in anticipation. ‘Oh God, what happened?’

‘She’d only ever seen him in workout clothes . . . you know, shorts or tracksuits. And that was great. Until they had their date and he turned up wearing bright pink chinos. Poor chap, that was it, kiss of death.’

‘So Bea’s on her own again.’

‘For the moment. But she’s found someone else to lust after, and this one’s guaranteed to break her heart.’

‘Is that really guaranteed?’ Luke frowned. ‘Who is it?’

Hallie smiled. Luke hadn’t encountered him yet. ‘The new barman at the pub. His name’s Angelo, he used to work as a male stripper and he met his last live-in girlfriend when she hired him for her hen night.’

‘Ah,’ said Luke. ‘OK, you win. He’ll definitely break her heart.’

‘I always win because I’m always right.’ Hallie winked at Flo. ‘And how are things with Lena?’

‘You won’t believe this, but not too bad at all. She’s really making an effort to get herself together.’

Having heard all about Zander’s sister, it wasn’t difficult to guess the reason for the improvement: since it had evidently dawned on Lena that she no longer had her brother around to rely on and bail her out of every hole, she’d finally decided to make the effort to become a less selfish person. Hallie nodded. ‘Well, good.’