was in a car accident when he was in college,’ said March at last.
‘Was he badly hurt?’
‘Severe concussion, broken jaw and a mangled leg. The driver got off with a few cuts and bruises, loss of licence and a charge of dangerous driving. He was lucky to get away with a heavy fine instead of a custodial sentence.’
Jo eyed him with compassion. ‘That must have been terrible for you.’
‘I don’t want another phone call like the one I received that night,’ he agreed fervently. ‘When my father and I got to the hospital my brother was delirious, muttering wildly about some friend through the metal clamp holding his jaw together. The driver had been sedated, so I couldn’t check with him, but the police assured me that no one else had been in the car. By the time he was better Rufus had no recall of the accident at all, so I didn’t bring the subject up again.’
‘What happened afterwards?’ asked Jo, her heart thumping.
‘Rufus had been doing a Fine Art course, so the neurologist encouraged him to paint as therapy. It worked. When he was well enough my sister took him off to Italy to convalesce, and Rufus decided to resume his studies there instead of returning to Oxford. He’s very talented. But for him that entire night, the events that led up to it, and most of his stay in hospital still remain a complete blank.’ March thrust a hand through his hair, frowning as he saw the look on her face. ‘I’m sorry, Joanna. I didn’t mean to put a damper on our evening.’
‘Did you search for this friend you mentioned? Do you think he was to blame?’
‘No. I simply thought if I could set Rufus’ mind at rest about the friend it would help him recover.’
She braced herself. ‘What was the name he kept repeating?’
‘Joe Logan.’
Although she’d known, deep down, what his answer would be, the words struck her like a blow to the heart.
March eyed her with concern. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘I’m afraid that’s me.’ She met his eyes bravely. ‘I’m Jo Logan.’
‘What?’ March stared blankly.
‘I’m Jo Logan,’ she repeated unhappily.
‘You said your name was Sutton!’
‘No, I didn’t. You saw that in my school book. Sutton was the name of my adoptive parents. When I was thirteen they died, and I came to live with Kate. When she married Jack Logan I took his name.’
March’s eyes suddenly hardened. ‘So you knew Charles Peel, the driver?’
Jo nodded miserably. ‘Oh, yes, I knew Charlie. He was my boyfriend at the time. I was supposed to be in the car that night, too, but I wouldn’t set foot in it because Charlie was well over the limit. As usual. I did everything I could to make him see sense, even fought him physically for the keys, but we had such a blazing row he pushed me away and roared off in a rage to pick up a friend. I knew his friend as Red…’ Jo halted, biting her lip.
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