Olivia's Enchanted Summer Read Online Free PDF Page B

listening.
    â€œWell, that’s that,” said Alicia with a steely finality. “Either we go back to London, or you think again about my other suggestion. As far as I can see it’s our only other option, but if you won’t do it, Jack, I can’t force you.”
    â€œI can’t do it,” said Jack. “Not after all these years. I saw Alfie’s birth announced in a newspaper and that would have been the time to get in touch. He must be about ten now. I feel terrible that I’ve never even seen him, neversent word, never tried to heal the hurt, say I was sorry for what I did and admit I was responsible for such a huge betrayal.”
    â€œIt caused a lot of pain,” said Alicia, so quietly that Olivia could barely hear her.
    â€œI know that,” said Jack, sounding really upset. “It was the one thing that Toni and I never talked about, though we discussed everything else. We had no secrets from each other but that was the one thing that was out of bounds. It was too painful for both of us, and I felt too ashamed of what I’d done. And guilty.”
    â€œYou can’t change the past,” said Alicia. “So maybe you could take this opportunity to put things right–”
    Jack cut her off. “How could I possibly call up out of the blue and say: ‘Hi, I just happen to be in Edinburgh and I know I haven’t seen you for years and I did a terrible thing but I thought I might move in with you for the rest of month, and oh, I’m sure you won’t mind at all, but I’ll be bringing twenty children with me, including Toni’s and my daughters.’”
    â€œIf you can’t do it, I could,” said Alicia quietly.
    â€œHave you kept in touch all this time?”demanded Jack hotly. “Did Toni know?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Don’t meddle, Alicia. It was mine and Toni’s business, not yours. What happened happened . I don’t feel proud about how I behaved but I can’t change anything now. It’s too late.”
    â€œIt’s never too late with family. It wasn’t too late for us, remember,” said Alicia desperately.
    Olivia opened the door of the portaloo and crept away. She felt like a thief who had stolen something that didn’t belong to her. Secrets. But she could make neither head nor tail of it all. She was trembling slightly. What had her dad done that was so terrible, so awful that he hadn’t even been able to discuss it with her mum and that he referred to as a betrayal? Everybody always said that her dad and mum’s marriage had been a great love affair, just like in Romeo and Juliet . She remembered the Swan acting teacher, Sebastian Shaw, telling her about them during her first unhappy term at the school. He had said that it had been love at first sight but that their relationship had come at a cost. Olivia wasn’t sure what he’d meant by that beyond the fact that it had temporarily estranged Toni from her mum. But what could Jack have possibly donethat made him feel so ashamed, and who was this Alfie person?
    Olivia’s brain was all of a whirl. Whatever her father had done, he wasn’t prepared to risk it being found out even to save the Swan Circus. She suddenly felt a surge of anger towards him. It was his fault that they were in this mess. He had mucked up. Everyone knew that you had to take care on the Internet. Things weren’t always what they seemed. Even Eel knew that and she was only eight. Olivia had always felt so proud of her dad. People often called him a real-life latter-day hero for his amazing high-wire stunts such as walking across the Niagara Falls. To her he was just Jack, her dad, and he could do no wrong. But now he’d landed them in this mess and he had a dark secret, too. She felt the scratchy, itchy feeling in her throat that she knew meant tears. She swallowed hard and stomped back into the tent and sat down by