The Lost Empress (31 page)

Epilogue

‘That’s good coffee,’ Tayte said over the rim of his cup as he took the first sip. He knew it was useless small talk, meaningless words to fill the space between all the important things he wanted to say, but now that he was with Jean again, he simply didn’t know how to get to them.

Tayte had been waiting for her at the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport when she came through. He had flowers in his hand, and because of the cellophane wrapping they came in his palms were clammier than they usually were whenever he was nervous about something. He’d been glad to see that Jean was alone—no Nigel on her arm—and just seeing her again reminded him of what a fool he’d been. There had been smiles between them as they greeted one another and Tayte took her bag, but no kisses.

‘That call I told you about—the lead I’ve been waiting on,’ Tayte said as he set his coffee cup down again. ‘It came through about an hour ago.’

‘That’s great,’ Jean said. ‘I’m pleased things are working out for you.’

Reading between the lines, Tayte couldn’t help but think that she meant
even if things aren’t working out for us
. ‘It means I won’t be heading back to America just yet,’ he added, and his heart sank when he heard Jean sigh from behind her coffee. She looked far more serious than he wanted her to.

‘Look, JT,’ she said. ‘I told you I had some thinking to do—’

‘Just don’t say anything hasty,’ Tayte cut in, afraid she was about to deliver the punchline to their all too brief relationship.

‘I’ve been thinking about it all week, JT. I’d hardly call that hasty.’

‘No, of course not,’ Tayte said. He paused and took another sip of his coffee. ‘So, what do you think?’

‘I think you’re about to bury your head in your research again, and I know how important it is to you, but I don’t think there’s room in your life for both of us.’

Tayte felt his shoulders slump with his hopes. A part of him knew she was right.

‘It has to be all or nothing,’ Jean added. ‘It’s the only way I can see our relationship working, because if there is to be any future for us, I can’t be shut out of your life again like that.’

Tayte let go of the breath he was holding.

‘I’ve decided I want to help you find your family.’

‘You do? Are you sure?’

‘For better or for worse, but you have to let me into your life, absolutely, or you have to let me go. Do you think you can do that?’

‘Absolutely,’ Tayte said, and he couldn’t have held his smile back if he’d tried.

‘Good.’ The corners of Jean’s mouth began to lift at last. ‘Now come here and give me a kiss, you great lummox!’

As Tayte leaned across the table and kissed Jean full on the lips, he only hoped she hadn’t let herself in for more than she’d bargained for. Wherever his own family history was going to take them, his mother’s parting words forty years ago told him it was into a past she had wished to protect him from. Whether for better or for worse, he expected it was going to be a bumpy ride.

Acknowledgements

My thanks to Emilie Marneur and the Amazon Publishing team; to my editors, Katie Green and Jill Pellarin, and everyone else who has been involved in the publication of this book; and as always to my wife, Karen, for so much more than I can put into words.

About the Author

Photo © Karen Robinson

Steve Robinson drew upon his own family history for inspiration when he imagined the life and quest of his genealogist-hero, Jefferson Tayte. The talented London-based crime writer, who was first published at age 16, always wondered about his own
maternal grandfather—‘He was an American GI billeted in England during the Second World War,’ Robinson says.
‘A few years after the war ended he went back to America, leaving a young family behind and, to my knowledge, no further contact was made. I traced him to Los Angeles through his 1943 enlistment record and discovered that he was born in Arkansas . . .’

Robinson cites crime writing and genealogy as ardent
hobbies
—
a passion that is readily apparent in his work.

He can be contacted via his website
www.steve-robinson.me
or his blog at
www.ancestryauthor.blogspot.com
.