Robbie had absolutely no idea what was driving Laura's emphatic desire to see the contents of his wallet.
Frowning, he sat down next to her on the sofa and watched as she pulled out from the front part of his wallet a couple of bank notes, a receipt and a trio of dog-eared business cards he kept in there. Obviously not finding what she was looking for, her fingers deftly moved to the other compartment. She pulled out more receipts and thumbed through them with croupier like speed and dexterity.
Finally, she found what she was looking for.
"Here!" She exclaimed pulling something out that was hidden amongst the scrappy bits of paper. Robbie was now even more confused. In her hand she held the snapshot photo he had shown her earlier in the week.
"Me and Tommy?" He said, an amused questioning smile on his face "What's that got to do with the price of eggs?"
Laura ignored him, she was too intent on the photo which she was studying with the same meticulousness as if it had been a forensic test result. She turned it over and read the back and then turned it back to look again closely the picture of Robbie and Tommy on Scarborough beach. Then she picked up the handout of Rose and looked carefully again. She looked at Robbie, a bright look in her eye. She handed Robbie the photo and the handout. "Look at them, Robbie" She said.
Robbie looked back at her, taking the photo back and looking at it, not really sure at what he was supposed to be looking at. He looked at Laura, dumbfounded again.
Laura's eyes were bright and alert, and Robbie almost felt like they were working on a case, so intense was her look and conviction. He shook his head slightly.
Laura, her eyes even more intent, "Look at Tommy, Robbie, and then look at Rose" She said.
Robbie frowning, still confused, did what Laura said. He looked at Tommy and then Rose.
And his jaw dropped.
There was no mistaking it.
"Bloody Hell" he said quietly, "Am I seeing what you're seeing?"
He didn't take his eyes off the photos "Rose. She's the spit of Tommy"
"Yes" said Laura, her eyes still shining with excitement "Now look at the back of the photo"
Robbie turned the photo over. He read aloud what he had written, on the back of the photo, all those years ago, in blue biro.
"Me and Tommy Rose, Scarborough, June 1971" He looked at Laura. "Bloody Hell" He said again.
"Now look at Rose's date of birth" Laura said, and Robbie switched his focus to the handout.
"Date of birth 28th March 1972" He said as he looked at Laura again. "Tommy. Tommy Rose. He was her father"
"You said Tommy shacked up with a lass" Said Laura "Rose's date of birth, or date of assumed birth as she was found abandoned, matches up with the date you and Tommy were in Scarborough"
Robbie looked again at the photos. The similarity between Rose and Tommy was unmistakable. Rose had Tommy's hair eyes and mouth, and strikingly so.
"She said she was found in a fish crate, with a note saying that her name was Rose" Robbie said. "Her birth mother, she must have named her after Tommy's surname."
"If she was local, she must have hidden the birth and the pregnancy" Said Laura, looking at Robbie.
He frowned as he contemplated the situation.
"It goes without saying we can only confirm this with a DNA test, we can't assume this all on just these facts" Laura continued.
"I'd say it was pretty obvious though"
"Obvious or not, Robbie, it can't be fact until we have the science, and if there's no traceable family members we may never get to do that"
"Tommy had a sister" Said Robbie thoughtfully "She was older than him, a nice lass. They were close as I remember. She was heartbroken when he died. I don't know if she's still alive though. And if we could trace her - well, it's a lot to take in, a lot to take in if it turns out not to be as we think, although I don't see any other explaination. It is all a bit odd, isn't it, I mean, what are the chances?"
Laura raised her eyebrows in contemplation. She looked at Robbie, the bruise around his eye was as varied as a painter's brush stroke, a complex smudge of blacks and reds and purples. She was suddenly aware she had neglected his injuries and wellbeing in the ensuing revelations.
"Robbie, you said something about a painkiller, let me get you one" She said, her hand on his knee
"Ah, I'm alright, I could murder a cup of tea though"
Laura smiled. She could tell he wanted a painkiller but didn't want her to worry.
"Right" She said. "A cup of tea and a tablet it is then" Laura got up from the sofa leaving Robbie with the photo and the handout.
Robbie sighed. What a mess he thought. He looked at the photo of him and Tommy and thought back to the time it was taken. It had been a hot day, the beach was crowded and the sea had been full of people and children of all ages swimming and cooling off. Robbie looked at Tommy's face staring out from the photo, down all the years. If only you'd known he thought would you have done anything? Tommy had been a bit of a lad but now Robbie thought about things a little differently. Maybe Tommy wouldn't have done anything if he'd known he'd left a girl pregnant. Or maybe he would have. Robbie realised that he'd only spent a few short years, months even, with Tommy. How well can you know someone or know yourself even at that age and for a short amount of time. How things change as you get older he thought, how time seems so odd and stretched out yet so far away.
That day on the beach had been the day he and Tommy had seen the gypsy. Robbie frowned. She had been right after all. Stay away from the water she had told Tommy. And when he'd told her to get lost, in not so kind a way, she'd paused a while, just staring at him. Robbie remembered Tommy was a little spooked by her. He'd responded by more derision and swearing but the old woman had held her gaze at him. You'll never leave here. She'd said You'll always be here, in Scarborough and all around, mark my words. And Tommy had laughed at the old woman and walked off. Robbie had felt bad and he apologised to the gypsy who was just a frail old woman after all. He'd given her some money as a way of apology but she'd refused. And then she had told Robbie his fortune. Robbie put the photo down with a heavy sigh. He looked at the picture of Rose and thought about how odd and cruel fate could be, how random events could shape a whole life. And he thought again of the gypsy's words to Tommy. She had been right on both accounts. He was still in Scarborough, albeit through Rose's life.
"Here you go" It was Laura with a cup of tea. Robbie looked up at her. She was smiling at him, her face and eyes full of affection and love and care. She set two mugs of tea down on the table and then handed him two bullet shaped painkillers before sitting down next to him.
"You get those in your system and then after this cup of tea I'll make a pan of soup" She said with almost matronly assurance. Robbie smiled back at her; suddenly incredibly aware of how much he loved her and how close to death he'd been only a few hours before.
"Yes Doctor" He said with a wink and a smile, giving her a long gaze.
Sipping at their tea they discussed how odd it all was, and Laura chatted about the probabilities of coincidence while Robbie was mulling over what might happen to Rose now, whether things might change in her life.
After a while an easy silence fell between them, they were still both tired and a little overwhelmed after the tide of events that had come to pass. Both had also realised that their break away was nearly over. With this in mind Robbie was about to suggest that maybe they could go for a walk on the beach in the afternoon when suddenly Laura's phone buzzed and chimed with her familiar ringtone.
"Oh" She said, looking at the caller display. "I think you should take this" And she handed the phone to Robbie with a smile.
AN: Thanks for continuing to read everyone. I hope you are all well. I am really finding writing a good distraction at the moment from many things, not just the virus, so this story is progressing quickly; so much so that I will have to start thinking about my next writing project. . . Anyway all the best for now and thanks for keeping on reading - as long as people want to read I will keep on writing :)
ML
