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‘Not at all, but she felt things deeply—too deeply, I often thought,’ Josephine said. ‘It was clear that whatever had passed between her and Donna had hurt her badly. It changed her—not necessarily for the better. It felt wrong to probe—unkind, even. All we could do was offer our silent support and let her know we were there for her. But I never expected their rift to last a lifetime.’

They were all silent for a moment.

‘Frannie paid a heavy price for her brief happiness with Richard…’ Eliza sighed. ‘They’d only been married for two years when his affairs with other women started. It was a torrid time. The fights!’

‘And then what we’d all feared came to light—Richard had only married Frannie for her money. And it cost her a pretty penny to extricate herself from the marriage.’

‘After that she changed. Became withdrawn. She moved out of her lovely Upper East Side apartment and buried herself in that apartment in Greenwich Village. Don’t get me wrong,’ Josephine said quickly. ‘It’s a lovely apartment…’

Betty nodded. ‘But nothing like the one she’d been living in.’

‘Fabulous location, though…’ Eliza sighed.

‘Not that she ever took advantage of it. She never left it.’

Here was the woman Owen had known.

‘She stopped seeing everyone—all her old friends.’

‘She tried to stop seeing us too, only we wouldn’t let her. We were very persistent.’

‘She eventually stopped being so bloody-minded and let us visit. And she interested herself in the residents of the apartment block. That helped too. But she never regained her zest for life, never recovered her spirits.’

‘She once told me she’d broken her own heart—that she’d been wilful and blind and deserved her loneliness and regrets.’

A tiny breath left Callie and snagged at Owen’s heart.

‘Poor Frances,’ she said. ‘I’m so glad she had the three of you.’

Owen watched as she rallied, and he sensed the effort it cost her.

‘Here’s something you might not know. She wrote to my mother—many, many times over the years. My mother returned the letters unopened, but I think it was clear Frances did attempt to reconcile with her.’

Josephine smiled. ‘I’m glad. I’m sorry Donna remained so unforgiving, but I’m very glad Frances tried. Thank you for telling us, Callie.’

Conversation turned to happier times, and although Owen waited for Callie to probe more deeply about her mother, she merely sat amid the splendour of the Russian Tea Room as if in a state of suspended animation.

‘Callie is looking for clues as to who her father might be. Would you ladies have any idea where she might start looking?’ he said eventually.

Callie started, and then sent him a smile. Beneath the table she briefly clasped his hand in silent thanks. It made his heart double in size.

Eliza’s eyes went round. ‘You mean Donna was pregnant before she left the States?’

‘I was born four months after she arrived in Australia,’ said Callie.

‘Well, I can’t say I recall her dating anyone regularly.’ Josephine tapped a finger to her lips. ‘Though she must’ve met a lot of boys at college.’

The three women conferred, but all came up blank.

‘Did Donna have any close girlfriends that you can recall?’ she asked.

Josephine’s face cleared. ‘The Ryder girl! She’s Hitchcock now. They were thick as thieves. I can text you her details—or, better yet, you could come visit me, Callie. I have albums full of photographs I’m sure you’d be interested in seeing.’

The party broke up with Callie promising to visit each of them.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked as they made their way outside.

She halted to stare at a display in a shop window, her reflection pensive and troubled, and it was all he could do not to reach out and pull her in close for a hug.

‘Frances feels real to me now in a way she didn’t before. Her story is so sad. I want to cry for her.’

No way was he taking her back to Frances’s gloomy apartment just yet. ‘Only the final third,’ he said. ‘The first two-thirds of her life sound pretty damn good if you ask me.’

She blinked.

‘And, while she might’ve become a recluse, her life wasn’t totally devoid of pleasure. She had good things even at the end. Don’t forget that.’

She reached out and touched his arm. ‘I’m really glad she had you and your mother and Lissy and Jack, Owen. Thank you for taking such good care of her.’

‘She took good care of us too.’

His throat thickened, but he didn’t know if it was grief for Frances rising through him again or the dark troubled depths of Callie’s eyes catching him in some unknown but vulnerable spot deep inside.

He forced himself to straighten and smile. ‘So, tell me… How much of New York have you seen since you arrived?’

‘Um…not a lot. I had an amble along Fifth Avenue, because the New York Public Library is, like, right there. And I went to Times Square because… I mean it’s Times Square, right? But I’m not here to sightsee.’

He feigned outrage. ‘You’re in one of the most vibrant cities in the world! I know you’re preparing for that TV job, but you shouldn’t squander the chance to experience New York while you’re here. What about the Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State…the Guggenheim, the High Line? There’s so much to see and experience. You should make time for some of that.’

‘I suppose you’re right. It’s just…’

‘You’ve had other things on your mind.’ He glanced at her feet. She wore a pair of comfortable-looking boots. ‘Are you busy for the rest of the afternoon?’

‘What did you have in mind?’

‘If those boots are as comfortable as they look, how about a walk through Central Park?’

CHAPTER SIX

‘THE PARK IS HUGE!’

Callie stared at Bethesda Fountain before moving down the grand sandstone staircase to the terrace below. She felt as if they’d left the city far behind, and some of her earlier sombreness fell away.

‘It’s so beautiful. I’m surrounded by shades of When Harry Met Sally and Home Alone 2 and Begin Again…’

‘You didn’t realise the