Episode 53 - Broken hearts

Back at the farm Ollie had parked his campervan in it’s now usual place behind the new holiday apartments. His mind was in such a turmoil when he left Gloria that he was tempted to keep on driving, far away from the farm and the village, far away from the grandmother who had just rejected him. But as he drove away from Los Vista his hurt had turned to anger and driving back up the hill he had decided that what ever Gloria said he would make sure that this was not the end. He had come too far and had spent too long searching for his dad’s birth mother to give up on her now.

Leaving the doors of the camper open to cool it off, Ollie made his way around to Liam’s office.

‘Liam can I ask you a big favour please? Can I borrow your computer again? I need to mail my Dad, there’s something I need to tell him.’

‘Sure no problem. I was finished for the day anyhow. Is everything all right Ollie. You look upset.’

‘No, I’m OK thanks, I just need to speak to my Dad.’

‘Listen, why don’t you give him a bell. We’ve the landline connected now. ‘

‘I’ll pay you for the call’ said Ollie searching in the pocket of his shorts for some euro notes

‘Yes sure, we’ll worry about that on payday. Here use the extension in the office. I’ll leave you to it. Just lock up when you’ve finished, you can pass the key in when you come up for supper.’

Right at that moment Ollie felt a huge rush of love for Liam and Cassy. He couldn’t understand how people who only a month ago had been strangers were now more like a family to him than his own grandmother.

As Liam walked across the courtyard Ollie picked up the phone and dialed his home number.

‘Hi Mum it’s only me.’

‘Ollie, is everything OK. Dad was frantic when he read your email. He’s on the computer now trying to get flights arranged so that we can come out to you.’

‘Oh Mum I didn’t want to upset him. That was never what all this was about.’

‘I know darling, don’t worry we're not angry with you, we just want to be there for you when you go to see her.’

‘I’ve been, oh Mum it was awful. She said that she didn’t want anything to do with me or Dad. Apparently her husband never knew that she’d had a baby and that’s the way she wants to keep it.’

‘’Don’t get upset darling, we’ll sort something out when we get there. That’s what families are for you know. Here’s Dad’

‘Hello son’

‘Dad I am so sorry.’

‘You should have told me what you where doing Ollie. Your Mum has been worried sick about you. We haven’t heard from you for weeks, we didn’t even know where you were. The last time we heard from you were France. You told us that you were travelling, working your way around Europe, having a Gap year for god’s sake’

‘I’m sorry Dad but I knew that if I told you I was what I was doing you would have stopped me.’

‘Yes Ollie I would have done. It wasn’t up to you to look for my birth mother it was up to me, me son, not you.’

Ollie cringed at the anger in his Dad’s words. He was right of course and Ollie knew it. It should have been the son who looks for his mother not the grandson going behind his father’s back.

‘I think I can understand why you felt you had to find her and I’ll admit that there were times when I was your age that I wondered about where I really came from. But son you must had given the poor woman the fright of her life turning up out of the blue like that. We should have done this properly, gone through the proper agencies, given her a chance to get used to the idea and the opportunity to say whether she wanted to see you or not.’

‘You’re right Dad, I was stupid but I truly didn’t want to hurt you and Mum. I just needed to meet her. To find out why I am the way I am and I did. She told me all about your father and how they had met. Dad they met at art class, how mad is that!’

‘So it wasn’t all bad, this meeting with your grandmother?’

‘No, it wasn’t. She’s a nice lady dad. She is just frightened of what her husband would say if he found out about you.’

‘I can’t pretend that I’m pleased about what you’ve done and especially about the way that you’ve done it but maybe some good will come out of all this. Mum and I have managed to reschedule our lists and if I can get the flights arranged we are planning to come out to see you this weekend. Do you think that you could find us somewhere to stay please? It will only be for a week but hopefully that will be enough time to salvage something from all this.’

‘Sure Dad I’ll find somewhere and thanks.’

‘What for’

‘For understanding why I had to find her.’ Said Ollie

‘Don’t worry son we’ll sort this all out. I promise’

Ollie was trembling as he put down the phone but relieve that it was all out in the open now. The hardest part of this whole journey had been keeping it a secret from his parents. And it was with a sense of relief that Ollie decided that he would speak to Liam and Cassy at supper time and ask whether his parents would be able to rent one of their nearly completed holiday apartments. He knew that the first one only needed decorating and furnishing. If he offered to spend the next couple of evenings painting the walls maybe they would agree that his Mum and Dad could stay for a while.

And maybe, just maybe if he could persuade Gloria to meet up with her long lost son.