Brother and Sister by Joanna Trollope

Nathalie and me—"
    Evie looked hard at him.
    "You never—"
    "No," Steve said. He made a wide gesture with both hands, as if utterly dismissing the notion that there could ever be anything
     wrong between Nathalie and himself.
    "I always said you should get married," Evie said. "It isn't fair on Polly. I've always thought that."
    "I know," Steve said. He shut his eyes for a moment. He had no energy for embarking, yet again, on his defense of Nathalie's
     strongly expressed desire to live with him, but not to be married to him.
    He said firmly, "It's not about that."
    Evie bent sideways to pick up the blanket and began to fold it.
    "What then?"
    Steve said carefully, "You know how Nat's always been about adoption and stuff, you know how she's always said she wasn't
     bothered by not knowing her real mother, by not having a natural family?"
    Evie patted the folded blanket on her knee, as if it were a cat.
    She said placidly, "She's always been good that way."
    Steve looked across at her.
    "Well, it's all changed."
    Evie stopped patting.
    "What has?"
    "Everything. How she feels, what she wants. Everything. Almost overnight she's gone from saying she's fine about it to saying
     she isn't fine at all and she wants to find her mother. Her—natural mother."
    Evie shook her head.
    "What's brought this on?" She looked across at Steve.
    "What've you done?"
    He shrugged. He felt the anger he'd always felt when his mother used that tone to him, when she'd cornered him by the door
     to the cellar, or coming out of the bathroom, or in his bedroom, and said, "What've you done to upset your father?"
    He muttered now, as he always used to, "Nothing."
    "Well, if it's nothing," Evie said, "what've you got to be upset about?"
    "I'm not upset—"
    "Then why are you here? Why haven't you brought Polly?"
    Steve looked down again at the carpet between his feet. It was beige, trellised in darker beige with a bunch of stylized pinkish
     flowers in every diamond shape. He tried to remember what Nathalie had said, how Nathalie had explained to him that his mother
     only used that sharp tone to him because she daren't ever use such a tone to his father.
    He said as patiently as he could, his gaze still on the carpet, "Mum, I don't know where I stand."
    "Well, you would," Evie said, "if you were her husband." Steve's head jerked up.
    He almost shouted, "I am her husband! In everything that matters!"
    Evie gave a little jump. She set the folded blanket beside her and got up from the sofa. Then she pulled the ottoman across
     the carpet until it was close to Steve's chair and sat down on it.
    "Sorry, dear."
    "This isn't about doing the respectable thing," Steve said. "This isn't about what the neighbors think."
    "No, dear."
    Steve looked miserably at his mother.
    "It's been a shock, Mum."
    Evie put out both hands and took Steve's nearest one between them. Her hands felt familiar, broad and warm and surprisingly
     soft after all those years of kitchen work.
    He said, "She even told—someone we know—how fine she was about being adopted only ten days ago. When Polly had her ear seen
     she said it shook her a bit but only for a moment. She talked to Dave and I thought that'd sorted it. But it hasn't. It's
     done the opposite. She's now absolutely set on finding her mother. She just came out with it. Out of the blue. I'd put Polly
     to bed, we'd had something to eat, we were just sitting there talking about nothing much and wham, bam, she says it. Tells
     me she's made up her mind, says it's the thing that's been missing all along, that nothing I can say will stop her so I might
     as well help all I can." He glanced at Evie. "She's getting the details of a search service."
    Evie squeezed Steve's hands. He could feel her rings, gold bands set with diamond chips, now worn to mere slivers, pressing
     into his own fingers.
    She said, "What's upset you then? What's upset you about this?"
    He looked down again.
    He said gruffly, "That she just tells me. Doesn't