Read Betrothed for Free Online Page A

and handed it to me.
    ‘It might have been your parents they were searching for,’ Hilary said gently, giving my shoulder a pat over the back of the car seat. ‘Try not to worry.’
    But I only started to worry more because then I began to wonder what my birth parents might be involved in to make someone want to find them, and by association, me. That led to a whole new world full of speculation. Crime gangs, drug syndicates, murder and lifetime jail sentences all popped up in the conversation more than once. I clutched the vomit bag to me, shivering and shaking.
    I was a mess by the time we pulled up out the front of Ruby Dixon’s house, felt too nauseated to be in any way excited about what I might discover. The house was an old double-brick with a closed-in veranda and stained glass in the windows and doors. The sight of it calmed me as we walked down the path because it reminded me of the house my grandparents had built as newlyweds and lived in their whole married lives. I wondered if Ruby had a similar story.
    We only had to knock once and the door opened. Ruby had been waiting. She was old, in her late eighties at least, but her blue eyes were kind and bright in her wrinkled face and put me at ease immediately.
    ‘Oh my dear, it’s like seeing your mother again,’ she said, her hand fluttering to her chest. ‘But come in, I’ve made us a nice pot of tea.’
    ‘You know my mother?’ I asked as she led us through the kitchen and into a small dining room—dark from the drawn curtains. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust but when they had, I felt like I’d stepped back in time. There was a smoke-stained fireplace in one wall and instantly I could picture Christmas stockings strung along the top of it. On one side of the room was a dark timber sideboard and in the centre was the matching dining setting. It was topped with a tablecloth of white lace, upon which sat a delicate jewellery box and a bone china tea set. The table was set with sandwiches and tantalising little cupcakes decorated with soft pink frosting and tiny flowers. As usual my mouth began to water as I felt a stab of irritation that I wouldn’t be able to eat any of it.
    ‘I don’t know your mother but I have met her,’ Ruby said as she took her place at the table. She told us all to make ourselves comfortable before asking Jack if he would mind pouring the tea, adding that the teapot was so awfully heavy. Then she looked across to me and said, ‘How old are you, dear? I do lose track of time these days.’
    ‘Seventeen.’
    ‘Oh good, there’s still time.’
    I felt like I was in the middle of a riddle. ‘I’m confused—what do you know about me, Ruby? Why was I given your name and number?’
    ‘Of course you are, dear, and if you don’t mind that I speak in front of your friends, I’ll start from the beginning, and tell you everything I know.’
    There was something so calming about her that all things frightening eased from my mind. I let out a long sigh and for thefirst time that day, relaxed. I said, ‘That would be really great, Ruby.’
    She put down her cup and began. ‘You were just a few days old when your parents arrived at my door. Such a beautiful couple. Your mother was quite lovely and your father, dear me, such a handsome man.’ Ruby blushed, proving that age doesn’t extinguish the appreciation of a hot guy. ‘They were young—can’t have been much more than nineteen or twenty. I don’t know why they chose me.’ Ruby looked thoughtful for a moment, like she’d wondered this many times. ‘Maybe it was because I was alone or maybe they just liked the look of me. I really don’t know . . . Anyway, no matter. They were terribly desperate. Your mother was all wrapped up in a blanket. She was very distressed, poor dear—still recovering from your birth I suspect . . . Your father held her up with one arm. In his other he held you, sleeping soundly. Your mother was too upset to speak but your father