Brody nodded. Oh, those well-meaning souls… He knew the sort well. ‘And what do you think, Anna?’
‘That Spencer was my soul mate.’
‘How did you know?’ It wasn’t a question filled with judgement or scorn. He genuinely wanted to hear her answer.
‘I just did,’ she said wistfully, ‘right from the very first time I met him.’
‘You fell in love at first sight?’ Okay, now he was sceptical.
‘If that’s what you want to call it. Although, I didn’t think of it that way at the time. I wouldn’t let myself. I mean, it’s stupid, right? Fairy tale stuff.’
Brody gave her a grunt in lieu of a proper answer. It communicated his position just as effectively.
‘Seeing him for the first time was like running into a brick wall at full pelt. I mean, physically – I actually lost my balance – and then I started getting all breathless and the soles of my feet began to burn.I tried to act normally, to say hello, and I just couldn’t do it.’ She laughed softly. ‘But neither could he… That was when I knew that was it. This washim.’
Brody frowned. ‘Sounds to me like you’re talking about physical attraction.’
Anna let out a laugh. ‘I should have guessed that you’re a cynic.’
‘Yes, I am,’ he said. ‘And proud of it.’
She sighed.
‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Prove me wrong. What was it about him that convinced you he was…’ – he paused slightly, finding it harder than he would have expected to say the next words – ‘the One? What made you the perfect match?’
Anna went silent for a while. He could almost hear her thinking. ‘I suppose, on paper, it shouldn’t have worked. We’re very different. I’m shy, but he was a complete extrovert, full of beans and always coming up with crazy plans and schemes. Spencer was a dreamer, and that’s what I loved about him: his imagination, his passion. That, and the fact that while other people might have thought I was black-and-white compared to his technicolor, he didn’t. He believed in me in a way no one else ever had.’
‘I can see why you – or anyone – would be won over by that kind of support.’
‘It was more than just “support”,’ she replied. ‘It meant everything to me. When you’re shy, it’s easy for people not to see you. They think they do, but they don’t.’
‘And Spencer saw things other people missed?’
‘Exactly. Other people called him a high-flyer, but he said he could only fly so high because I grounded him, because I was his anchor.That’s what I mean when I say we were soul mates,’ she said, and Brody imagined her giving a tiny shrug. ‘We just fit together. It was easy… Effortless. And we made each other better. It wasn’t until I met Spencer that I really realized whoIwas.’
‘No one should need someone else to tell them who they are, Anna.’
‘It wasn’t that,’ she replied, a hint of defensiveness in her tone. ‘He just loved me for who I was, let me beme.’ She sighed. ‘And now he’s not here anymore. Losing him has changed me fundamentally. I won’t ever be the same.’
He nodded. ‘You’re right. You probably won’t.’
And then he regretted being so blunt. He’d spent too long in his own company, had forgotten that other human beings didn’t always appreciate such a straightforward approach.
But all Anna said, with a smile in her voice, was, ‘Gee, Brody! Thanks for the pep talk!’ He found himself laughing, and she joined in with him. When they both had fallen quiet again, she said, ‘I have another question…’
Brody braced himself. He wasn’t used to having deep, meaningful conversations late into the night, not unless you counted the odd philosophical debate with his furry companion.
‘Why did you call your dog Lewis?’
Brody smiled. It was as if she’d read his mind. ‘After C. S. Lewis, the author of the Narnia books.’
‘Oh… I loved those as a child. It took me years before I could stop checking the back of wardrobes just to see if there were fir trees and snow there.’
‘Me too.’ He liked that they had that in common. ‘Why do you ask? About Lewis?’
‘When he was younger, Spencer also had a dog called Lewis. I was curious to know if you’d named him for the same reason.’
‘And how did the other Lewis get his name?’
