Page 83 of The Secrets of the Tea Garden
To his utter disbelief he felt a sob rise up inside that he couldn’t control. It burst out of him. Once he started weeping, he couldn’t stop. Great wracking sobs shook and convulsed his body. His daughter – this half-stranger – held him and stroked his hair as if he were the child. He felt grateful and humiliated in equal measure.
It was then that he noticed the Eurasian girl. She looked familiar. Should he know her? She regarded him with pity and handed him a glass of soda. He couldn’t take it. Libby took it for him and tried to get him to sip. It slopped down his chin.
‘I’ll ring for DrAttar,’ said the woman whose name he couldn’t remember.
Who was DrAttar? The garden doctor was called Thomas. Did she mean him? And who needed him?
‘Dad, tell me what’s wrong.’
He stared at the young woman holding his hand. She looked like Tilly. Was it Tilly? James opened his mouth to speak but no words came out.
He felt utterly weary. He was glad he didn’t have to speak. A comforting numbness settled inside. Perhaps that’s why people cried, because it washed away pain like a river in spate washes away stones.
He clasped the hand of the young woman and closed his eyes. He welcomed the fog that enveloped his thoughts. He didn’t have to think about anything.
