Opening a Can of Worms

By Catherine Carson

Being born of mixed ethnic cultures Jasmine Mitchell had always known she had been abandoned by her biological parents.
At eighteen she discovered her birth mother had never revealed the name of her father but when she was twenty-two the loving couple who had adopted her advised it was time for her to find some answers to her many questions.
Travelling to the last known address of her birth mother Jasmine meets Fergus Donaldson and discovers she is not the only person seeking answers....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 22, 2016
• ISBN: 9781326604868

Book preview

Opening a Can of Worms

Opening a Can of Worms

By Catherine Carson

Standard Copyright © Catherine Carson 2016

ISBN 978-1-326-60481-3 Paperback

ISBN 978-1-326-60486-8 eBook

About the author

Born in Scotland I now live with my husband in the North West of England.  We have three children who, between them have given us six wonderful grandchildren.

I studied commercial subjects at school and college and spent most of my working life in the offices of various companies, starting as a junior in a local garage typing invoices for car repairs.   I left Scotland and crossed the border to England to marry the man I met whilst on a holiday with my extended family and eventually became a secretary with a beer bottling company leaving six years later when the first of our three children came on the scene. 

Returning to the workforce when our children were young adults I finally untied the apron strings to join the offices of a large wholesale book supplier and embraced the advancement in technology since I had first learned to type on a manual typewriter and take notes in shorthand.

During the years I became something of a letter writer as friends and family lived in many parts of the country and indeed the world.  Often friends and family would tell me…..‘You could write a book’ to which I always replied…..‘But would anyone read it’. 

When my granddaughter asked if I would write a book especially for her I confided in my good friend Lisa Schmidt and she told me to go for it.  That book became the first of many stories which had been lurking in my imagination for a good number of years.

Once started I found the stories simply kept coming and often an overheard conversation or a glimpse from the passenger seat of the car would trigger a likely scenario which my imagination would then elaborate and weave into a story.

My hope is that my writing brings a little pleasure into the life of my readers and allows them to leave the mundane world behind for a few hours as they meet the characters I adore creating.

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Dedication

To anyone who has at some time started a series of events without realising the consequences of their action.

All characters in this book have no existence outside the imagination of the author and have no relation whatsoever to anyone bearing the same names or names.  They are not even distantly inspired by any individual known or unknown to the author and all the incidents are pure invention.

Other Books by this Author

Stand Alone                                           Series

The Mouse in the LibraryTapestry of Love-Bk 1

Family TiesTwins Exchanged-Bk 2

Overall ConstructionHighland Feud-Bk 3

Wounded Wolf

Coffee and CakesSoil, Seed & Betrayal-Bk 1

Memories RekindledDesert Prince, Exiled Princess-Bk 2

Wholesale Love

Hope’s ConflictAn Open Book-Bk 1

Estates of the HeartAfraid to Love-Bk 2

Sibling Rivalry

Fighting for CustodyA Second Chance-Bk 1

White Knight Black KnightTaming the Playboy-Bk 2

Through the Garden Gate…

Love Lost and FoundEstranged Husband & Father-Bk 1

Alphabet BachelorsIdentical Mistake-Bk 2

A Dreamer’s Tale

A Precious JewelSigh of the Claymore-Bk 1

Footbridge of SolaceBeyond Claymore-Bk 2

Demolition of the Heart

When Life Gives You Lemons

Return to the Past

Pretence & Reality

Prologue

‘Hilda you must do as you think best but I think you should exercise some caution regarding giving out too much information about your daughter.’ 

Fergus Donaldson was the son of the owner and CEO of the Bellmire Woollen Mill.  The mill was the largest building in a small town set in a valley below the sheep grazing slopes of the Pennines and bore the name of the town and employed a good number of the people who lived there.

Hilda Carter was his parents’ housekeeper and her husband was the gardener who kept the grounds of their large Victorian country house in prime condition.   They came to the house as a newly married couple in the nineteen sixties and their daughter was born a few years later.

Amelia Carter had always been a wilful, hard to handle child and in her early teens had begun to resent her position in the Donaldson household. 

Hilda had always thought it was a mistake to let her daughter mingle with the many well-to-do houseguests the Donaldson’s entertained but never in her wildest dreams did she believe her daughter actually believed her own delusions regarding the lifestyle she thought her right.

On her sixteenth birthday Amelia left school and ran off to London to invent a whole new life for herself and now the consequences of that life had come back to cause her parents a great deal of stress and sorrow.

On receipt of a letter addressed to their daughter they opened it to discover an eighteen year old girl was now trying to trace her birth mother, one Amelia Carter; the girl had been given Amelia’s last known address by the Adoption Agency.  Unsure exactly how to handle the situation the Carters had sought the advice of Fergus Donaldson who had always been a great source of comfort to them over the years.

‘Joshua is a little worried the girl will think this house is ours and will have some sort of claim on it when we have gone.  Her letter says she was adopted when she was almost six years old by a loving couple who provided her with a warm and caring home life, but anyone can write anything in a letter as Joshua and I know to our cost.  Oh Fergus, I simply do not know what to do.’  Hilda was torn between meeting the girl, who may well turn out to be a loving and well-adjusted young person or be a bitter selfish human being, who simply wanted to take advantage of them.

‘I think we should forget all about the whole thing Hilda.  The letter was sent to Amelia not to us and if she did not want us to know about a baby she gave away eighteen years ago then it is best to let things be.’  Joshua Carter did not want to invite a young woman to their home who would open old wounds and cause more heartache for him and his wife.

‘It may be the best course of action.  If this girl ever turns up on the doorstep we can deal with it then.’ 

Fergus was loath to open a can of worms with regard to Amelia Carter the girl he had looked on as an elder sister but he had not seen since he was seven years old.

Chapter 1

Four years later

Jasmine Mitchell had known for four years her biological mother had been nineteen when she had given birth to an illegitimate daughter. Not wishing to hurt her adoptive parents by telling them she had made the search, she had not pursued the information.

Bob and Lilly Mitchell had fostered children when it became clear they were unable to have a child of their own and had been in their mid-forties when they no longer wanted to foster but adopt the child who come to them from the childrens home.

The young girl who came into their lives over sixteen years ago had been introduced as Wendy March but her dark brown eyes and coal black hair did not seem to sit right with her name.

It was obvious by the colour of her skin Wendy March’s mother had been in a relationship with a male whose ethnic origins were probably Indian or Pakistani and this was the reason for her abandonment and subsequent passing from foster home to foster home until she arrived on their doorstep.

Taking the bright young girl to their hearts they had applied to officially adopt her and after much consideration regarding her mixed ethnic needs were granted permission and become her loving parents.

When they told Wendy she threw her arms around them and cried, telling them she would no longer be a month in the year.  Asking her what she meant she explained she had been given her name because she had been born on a Wednesday during the month of March.  From that moment on she became Jasmine Mitchell and Bob and Lilly did everything in their power to give her a loving family life.

Now in their sixties it was them who urged Jasmine to try and contact her biological mother.

‘Darling you know how much we love you but we know there has always been a little bit of you which wanted to know who your parents were and why they gave you up. We think it is time for some of your questions to be answered.  You were twenty-two years old on your last birthday sweetheart and will be starting your teaching career in September, so why not take the summer to look for your biological mother at least.’ 

Lilly and Bob had been to their daughter’s graduation ceremony and had watched the parents of the other students as they took photographs of their children standing with their siblings.

They too had taken photographs but seeing so many family groups brought home to them the need for the girl they had loved for the past sixteen years to know if she had siblings who could have been there to share in her success.

‘Mum, I think we all know why my mother did not want me and I’m not sure I want to know the woman who thought her mixed race child was not worth knowing.  As far as my father is concerned he could have been someone she had a one-night stand with or perhaps his parents discovered he was consorting with a girl who was not of their culture – whatever, he obviously did not want to know about me.’

Coming to terms with never knowing if she had inherited her black hair, dark brown eyes and facial features from her mother or her father had taken up too much of her childhood thoughts and now she was unsure if she really wanted to meet the person who had taken the easy option without thinking of the long term consequences it would have on the child she had carried.

‘Jasmine stop prevaricating.  Your mum and I love you and will always be here for you but it is time for you to find some answers to your questions.’  Bob knew his daughter was hiding behind her mistaken belief he and his wife would be hurt if she followed up on the information they knew she had attained over four years ago. ‘Since you were eighteen years old you have been sitting on the information which you acquired from the Adoption Agency and your mum and I now think it is time for you to act on those papers and find your birth mother.’

‘You and mum knew I had written to the adoption people, yet you said nothing?’ 

‘We hoped you would tell us sweetheart and we waited patiently but now our patience has run out.’ Hilda stood and hauled Jasmine from her chair giving her a hug.  ‘Now, we have found a hotel close