Just a heart beating.
And then it stopped.
Yvonne Anderson, Caro’s mum, was gone with the words of her daughter echoing across the void…
Know I love you.
Nine Days Later – New Year’s Eve
Epilogue – Part 1
Caro and Cammy
‘How do I look?’ Todd asked, jutting his jaw forward and putting his hands on the hips of his sharp suit, in a superhero pose.
Caro descended into giggles. ‘Clark Kent right after he realised he was gay and got a great wardrobe,’ she replied.
‘My work here is done,’ Jared said, laughing.
She needed this. At first, she’d thought it was a terrible idea, returning to the city her dad lived in, so soon after her mum had passed. There was still perhaps a one per cent chance that her recent trauma would cause a psychological break that would set her off on a violent hunt for him, ending only when she’d tracked him down again, and removed his heart with her bare hands. Or perhaps that thought was only there because she, Todd and Jared had got through most of the last week and a half by binge-watching four seasons ofCriminal Minds. That could plant seriously twisted seeds in a person’s psyche. Now, though, she was glad she came.
Besides, coming here had killed two birds with one stone. No, that wasn’t anotherCriminal Mindsreference. It had given them a change of scenery and she’d been able to pick up the stuff that the Hilton had kept in storage for her.
‘So I’ll go on down to meet him. I’ll only be half an hour or so, then we can go for dinner.’
‘No problem. Just give us a shout when you’re ready. We’ll be here,’ Todd replied, hugging her.
‘You always are,’ she murmured, gratefully. He’d been incredible over the last week. Strong. Steady. Always ready to laugh or cry, whatever the moment required. She knew how lucky she was to have Todd and Jared in her life.
The lift down to the lobby seemed to take an age, or maybe it was just that she was keen to get there and thank the other guy who’d been great this week. Since he’d dropped her at the hospital, making sure Todd met them at the door, Cammy had called her every day, just checking in, asking how she was. She appreciated it. Lila was a crazy woman to have walked away from a guy like that.
As soon as the lift doors opened, she spotted him. Cammy stood up to greet her, arms outstretched and she realised she was ridiculously pleased to see him.
‘Hey, you made it,’ he said.
‘Hey, you have a top on,’ she retorted. Teasing him about all those topless photos Lila used to post had become one of the mainstays of their conversations.
‘Wow. Bitchy. Sarcastic. I love her already.’
Caro’s head swivelled to the two ladies sitting across the coffee table from where Cammy had been perched.
Now he was sighing, but Caro could see it came from a place of affection. ‘Caro, this is Josie…’ he gestured to a woman in perhaps her sixties, with a shock of grey, spiky hair, dressed in a black polo neck sweater, black tailored trousers and high leather boots with a steel-spiked heel. She looked ferocious. ‘And this is Val.’ Val was younger than Josie, her blonde hair piled high on her head in an elaborate beehive affair, her make-up perfect, her grin wide and welcoming. Cammy went on, ‘I’m sorry, they made me bring them. I had no choice. You’ve no idea what they’re like.’
For a moment Caro wondered if she should feel disappointed that they weren’t going to get a chance to speak on their own, but the two faces beaming at her from the chairs batted that thought right out of the park. As did the easy atmosphere and obvious love between them. In some ways it reminded her of Todd’s relationship with her mum. Funny. Cheeky. All about love. Caro immediately felt herself relax.
‘It’s good to meet you,’ she said, hugging each of them in turn. ‘Cammy told me all about you both.’
Josie cackled. ‘Did he say anything about getting a restraining order in the same sentence?’
Caro was chuckling now too. ‘He said he tried but it wouldn’t work, because you have no fear of the authorities.’
They were still laughing when a waiter came over to take a new drinks order. She asked for a gin and tonic. It wasn’t up there with, say, going on a search to find herself or taking a world cruise, but it was just one of the little things she’d found herself embracing. There had been major things too. She’d decided to sell her house. She was going to take a sabbatical from work, and do a bit of travelling. She’d come to this hotel. She’d bought some new clothes. Okay, it was a smart suit for her mum’s funeral, but in past days, she’d just have gone with the old trusty one she’d had for years. But no. Caro had decided that after years of looking after her mum, of living the same life, doing the same things every day, it was time to start living. Really living.
These women seemed like they knew a thing or two about that. For ten minutes or so, they chatted, their conversations easy, full of warmth and fun, invariably teasing Cammy in that way that made it obvious just how much they loved him.
Caro loved every moment of it.
‘Right, so I have to ask…’ Josie blurted.
