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Demetrios took her hand. ‘Oh, Shauna, you were let down by the people who should have cared the most.’

‘Everyone except Roxy.’

She smiled at her dearest friend, who turned to Grace and said, ‘I offered to raise you myself.’

‘That could have been fun.’ Grace smiled. ‘You can be an almost-auntie to me now.’

‘I’d be honoured.’

‘But I still don’t understand how the postcard fits in.’

‘I wrote the postcard,’ Demetrios said. ‘But not for the reasons you think,’ he added, turning to Shauna.

‘What do you mean?’

‘I had written it to cheer you up. I knew you were sad that the summer would soon be coming to an end; about what would happen to us. I intended it to encourage you: Always have hope. We have our dreams. I meant every word.’ Shauna felt a little bit of her melt inside; how did he still do that to her?

‘Then why didn’t you finish it?’

‘Jeremy interrupted me. He told me my father was trying to hunt me down. I figured I’d finish it later. I wrote “Don’t wait for me” because I expected to be late returning; I knew my parents would give me hell.’

‘I see.’ Shauna’s brow was creased in thought. ‘So all of that was a misunderstanding?’

‘When my mother ordered Jeremy to pack up my things, he must have found the note and left it for you to find, knowing how it would look.’

‘Or by mistake. I guess we will never know.’

‘But how did I end up with it?’ Grace asked.

‘Ah, that. Mea culpa on my part,’ said Roxy. She explained how she came to rip it up, then went on: ‘Once Shauna was asleep, I fished it out of the wastepaper bin. I knew it wasn’t my place to destroy it, so I mended it with Sellotape and popped it in the envelope by the side of the bed.’

‘That must have been the envelope containing my letter; I posted it the following day. The agency had told me I could write something for them to keep on file to give to you when you turned eighteen. They’d explained that I wouldn’t be allowed to have contact, and you wouldn’t be able to apply for information about your birth mother until you were an adult. I wanted so much for you to have something from me, so that you would know the truth one day.’

‘The postcard and the birthday card were in the same envelope,’ Grace confirmed.

‘So that’s how you ended up with them,’ Demetrios said. ‘But Grace, how did you end up in Ithos if that was all you had to go on?’

‘I wasn’t actually trying to trace my birth mother.’ She looked at Shauna. ‘Don’t be offended, but I love my parents, and I’d never want them to think I’d rather things had been different – because I don’t.’

‘I admire your honesty, Grace, and it does both you and them a great deal of credit. They must be wonderful people.’

‘They are. But I couldn’t stop thinking about the postcard – it was so intriguing. I’ve always wondered about my origins; it’s pretty obvious I’m not typically English.’

‘No, you are a Greek beauty,’ Demetrios said with pride.

Grace laughed. ‘I was hoping I might find a few hints as to my background, but after I’d been here a while, I realized that my dream of finding answers was disappearing. I was on the verge of giving up, but then I met Roxy.’

‘So maybe I was right before: Ithos brought you here, and now you know everything,’ Demetrios said. He hesitated slightly before asking, ‘So, what are your plans now? There will always be a home for you on Ithos, if you want it.’

‘That’s very kind of you. Christian has asked me to stay on too, but I miss my parents. I really need to tell them what’s happened, and I want to do that in person.’

‘Of course,’ Shauna said.

Grace hesitated then looked at them both, but her voice was full of self-assurance and honesty. ‘I’m sorry I made you wait. I wasn’t intending to be rude or mysterious. It’s just, well, I know who I am you see; I wanted to be sure getting to know you both won’t change that.’

Shauna felt a flush of emotion, at her daughter, wise beyond her years. Please let me be good enough. ‘And how do you feel now?’ she asked.

Grace tilted her head to one side. ‘Now I think – I hope – that everything is going to be OK.’