‘You were young.’
‘So was she.’ Sabrina managed to control the wobble in her voice. ‘It was the shock of Simon’s accident that caused her downward spiral. She blamed herself, you see. Saying, that she was always depressed as far back as I can remember. No wonder dad threw himself into work. She called herself an appalling mother and a failed actress, despite the fact that she had some decent roles in the seventies.’ She stopped speaking suddenly. What was in this tea– a truth drug? She never usually gave away so much on a first meeting. In fact, she never usually gave this much away, period.
‘Simon?’
‘He was…is my brother… I’m waffling now, sorry.’
‘Was or is? I don’t understand.’
‘He has a brain injury. He thought cliff diving was a great idea as a teenager, showing off in front of some girls he had met on the beach. We used to always holiday down here, actually…’ Sabrina looked up to the cloud dotted turquoise blue sky. ‘But it was the one year my mother decided that we only go as far as Dorset…when it happened. Hence her ridiculously blaming herself for his own actions.’
‘Ah. So, he stillisvery much your brother.’ Isaac removed his hand. ‘Did you decide to come here to rekindle some of those pre-tragedy memories, do you think?’
‘That’s deep.’ Sabrina took a sip of her tea, then lifted her face to the sun.
‘Have you grieved for them both properly yet?’
‘Woah! So many questions. I don’t recall booking a therapy session here. And my brother’s not dead.’
Isaac visibly inhaled, shut his eyes for a second, coughed and was back in the moment.
‘I was in the paper, once. All sorts was printed. It affected me deeply. I didn’t care what people thought of me. It was the fact that somebody who I trusted, broke my trust in return.’
‘Oh, that’s terrible. Should I know who you are then, Isaac?’
‘Is anybody, really anybody…Jilly?’ He gave her another one of his penetrative looks. ‘But the press intruded on my privacy, both mentally and physically, hence this place being like Fort Knox.’
‘The incident?’ Sabrina confirmed.
‘The incident.’ He nodded.
Skilfully extricating his long legs from between the table and the bench, Isaac stretched his arms up to the sky with a loud noise of release. Then he tapped his foot three times on the ground sharply, and Beethoven ran to his side.
‘Good boy.’ He stroked the old dog’s head. ‘Right. I must go. Belle will be home from work soon, and I like to greet her at the gate.’
‘She’s very lucky.’
‘And so am I.’ Isaac shook the liquid from each cup, put his flask in his rucksack, then reached over to squeeze Sabrina’s arm exactly as his girlfriend had done that morning. ‘You know where we are,’ he said.
He’d gone a few metres down the hill towards his stunningKevrinekhome when he turned around to see Sabrina staring blankly towards the breath-taking seascape. Demonstrating his own kind of beautiful, the indomitable Isaac Benson called up to her,
‘Sometimes…Sabrina Swift…the quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.’
Chapter Four
‘So, he didn’t ask you any probing questions at all.’
‘No, nothing.’
‘Phoebe!’ Dee shouted at the top of her voice. ‘Get off that iPad now and start your Maths homework’.
Used to her friends’ unsubtle parenting skills, Sabrina held the mobile away from her ear and took a bite from a thick slice of toast dripping with butter and honey.
‘Sorry, chick, I’m back. What are you scoffing?’
‘White toast, real butter and honey.’
‘Shit, you must be feeling sad.’
