Free Twinned by Alice Ann Galloway Page A

psychic standoff.
     
    Despite my previous convictions that the connection with Joel was real I begin to tell myself that the visions could quite plausibly have been some kind of temporary insanity... perhaps it was all a delusion, nothing more. Because my brain knows that it only makes sense to marry Richard if I tell myself he really is the one . In my heart I would rather be crazy than stupid.
     
    The wedding approaches.
     
    *****
     
    I get home from work one day in February to find a letter on the doormat. This doesn’t strike me as unusual until I see that it’s addressed to me and it has French stamps on it. I don’t know anyone in France. I place it on the kitchen worktop while I fill the kettle, switch it on to boil and grab a mug. Outside the wind is blowing a gale. The kettle boils and I make myself a cup of tea. It’s six o’ clock – Richard should be home at about midnight. He mentioned he was having dinner with the boys from work and then going on for drinks.
     
    I sit down at the dining table with my cup of tea, looking out of the patio doors. A plastic bag is blowing around the garden and I stand up, thinking I’ll go and retrieve it so I can put it in the bin, when I remember the letter.
     
    Intrigued, I open it. To say that I am shocked would be a massive understatement. Inside the envelope is a sheet of white A4 paper, folded three times. Within the top folded section is a photograph of a little boy. I would guess he is about two years old.
     
    Written on the paper, in elegant script, is the following:
     
     
    My name is Selina Tiberghien.
     
    This is a photograph of my son, Etienne. While I appreciate the money that his father sends, I do not appreciate you preventing my son from knowing him. Please take a good look at Etienne’s photograph. Please, please reconsider.
     
    It is not my son’s fault that he was born. I feel sure that Richard would wish to know him. He is a wonderful little boy.
     
    Selina
     
     
    I feel like my head is going to explode with the thoughts racing around it. I can’t catch my breath; Richard has a son.
     
    I think I may be sick. Instinctively I call Elisa. I ask if I can come over right now and she says ‘Yes’ and asks if I am OK. I say I will explain when I get there. She lives about an hour’s drive away. I need to get out of my house, immediately. I can’t even contemplate Richard coming home before I have worked out how I feel about this shocking revelation, just a few weeks before our wedding.
     
    I lean against the doorframe between the kitchen and the hallway. I try to compose myself. If what Selina says is true, Richard has lied to me for years. He has ignored his own son, he has told Selina that I am responsible for his decision not to see Etienne, he has given Selina his money… soon to be our money. Has he even sought proof that Etienne is his biological child?
     
    I remember the argument between Selina and Richard that I witnessed in Paris. Now I know why .
     
    I grab my mobile phone, the letter and photo, my keys, my coat; I leave the house and the steaming hot cup of tea, I don’t dare stop for a second longer. I feel like the lies I have just uncovered have tainted this house – I can’t stay in it for a minute longer – I need to get out.
     
    *****
     
    “It’ll be OK,” says Elisa, stroking my hair as I sob uncontrollably. “I promise you will both be able to get past this.”
     
    “But how can I ever trust him again? How could he lie to me about something like this?”
     
    “You only have Selina’s side of the story,” soothes Elisa, “you don’t know right now what’s real. You need to talk to Richard.”
     
    I am consumed by racing thoughts, from how we will include Etienne in our lives and whether Richard will want children of our own, to what I tell my family.
     
    “I just feel, well, I feel ashamed. I know that sounds dreadful but everyone keeps saying how perfect Richard is… how lucky I am that I found