‘How did you really know her?’ she said. ‘This was taken a long time ago. You both look veryfriendly. I also found these…’ She took the green leather cufflink box from her pocket and opened the lid.
Anthony’s face glowered when he saw the gold bees. Liv thought steam might puff from his nose.
‘Are they yours?’ she said.
‘No. They are definitelynotmine,’ he said brusquely. ‘You’re as persistent as Georgia Rory.’
‘Thank you. But how would you know?’ Liv raised an eyebrow and pushed the cufflinks back in her pocket. ‘You said you’d only read one of Essie’s books. You didn’t seem to remember it very well.’
Anthony blinked up at the sky. Eventually he rattled a laugh. ‘You’re right,’ he said. ‘I did say that.’
‘You’re still not sure why Essie chose me, are you?’
‘I’m getting toseewhy. You have a very good eye for detail.’
‘Shark blood senses.’ She nodded. ‘When Essie left the task for me, I could tell you were suspicious. Perhaps I wanted to know why she trustedyou, too.’
‘I understand that now.’
‘So, how did you really know her?’
Anthony wiped his brow and took a few moments to gather his thoughts. ‘I can still remember the precise moment I first saw Elsbeth,’ he said, glancing at Liv. ‘We met at university. I hadn’t been studying law long when I walked past a group of girls. They sat on the grass eating sandwiches. Elsbeth’s hair was black, cut into a sharp bob. It was rather old-fashioned and somehow modern at the same time. She had bright orange lips, and there was just something very different about her. She… sparkled.
‘One of her friends caught me staring and tossed a slice of tomato at me. It skimmed my shirt and left pips on the shoulder.’ He rolled his eyes, not impressed. ‘Elsbeth ran over and apologized. She promised to buy me a drink, if we ever met again.Then, a couple of days later, I saw her in a student bar and we got talking. Her eyes were full of passion and determination. She had such a clear vision about what she wanted from life, to bring stories to people. When she said she was writing a book, I knew it would be a success.’
Liv detected longing in his words. ‘So… you did love her,’ she said.
Anthony nodded. ‘Very much so. I fell deeply,’ he said. ‘We were both eighteen. We sat on her bed together at night and played records until we fell asleep. She loved The Cure and New Order. I’d wake in the morning and find her scribbling beside me. She read everything she wrote aloud to me. I encouraged her submission letters and consoled her through many rejections. She said I was her rock, the most dependable person she knew.’
His description reminded Liv of the early days of her relationship with Jake, when they couldn’t get enough of each other.
‘I remember her shrieking with delight when her book offer came through and we danced together on the bed. By then, we were in our third year at uni. We were very much a couple… and then we weren’t.’
‘What do you mean?’ Liv said, finding it difficult to imagine Anthony acting with such enthusiasm. ‘What happened?’
He shrugged. ‘It’s all ancient history.’
‘I’d still like to know.’
He cast her a look. ‘I thought you were a cleaner, not an archaeologist.’
‘I’m a good multitasker.’
Anthony closed his eyes, thinking back in time again. ‘Things changed between me and Elsbeth over the last few months we were together. She became more furtive and distant, said she was changing her name to Essie Starling.She started to hang out with other writers. They wore biker jackets and drank too much, not my kind of people. I thought I saw her with someone else. They were standing close together under a tree, I’m not completely sure. I tried hard to saveus.
‘She invited me to her publication party forThe Moon on the Water, but I could tell it was out of habit, maybe even duty. I decided not to go.
‘I think she was in love with someone else by then, but wouldn’t tell me who it was. After university we went our separate ways for several years. We kept in touch sporadically, more due to my effort than hers. I followed her career from afar and was astonished when she married Ted Mason. How can you know someone so well, then feel like they’re a stranger? Ted was much older and more experienced than me. I wondered if he was the other guy…’
‘I’ve met Ted. I don’t think he’s the love of Essie’s life.’
He smiled, as if grateful. ‘Essie and I got back in touch after her divorce. We became friends again. I hoped in time we might, ah…’ He sighed to himself. ‘But she married Hank Milligan next. And I met Harriet.’
His voice slipped when he said his wife’s name.
‘I told you the truth, about working for Essie,’ he added. ‘She contacted me out of the blue, a few years ago. She asked me to be her solicitor and I agreed. We had a purely business relationship. I was one of the few people she trusted. It was disconcerting to see how much she’d changed. But there were still flashes of Elsbeth…’ He smiled to himself.
Something fluttered in Liv’s stomach. ‘You werestillin love with her?’
