I swallow. ‘Thank you for all of this – for letting me stay and finding me the paints and, well, everything. I feel I ought to do something for you, to make it up to you.’
‘You don’t have to,’ he replies. ‘I didn’t do it because I was expecting anything from you when I suggested to Simon you stay here.’
I stare at him. ‘It wasyouridea?’
He nods. ‘Simon said you needed to get away … It seemed like the obvious solution.’
I’m struck by both his generosity and the fact that I know he wasn’t expecting anything back from me because I’m usually such a bitch to him. And there was me thinking he had me here under sufferance because Simon had begged him. I realize simple thanks is not enough.
‘I also … I want to say I’m sorry.’
He frowns. ‘For what?’
Here goes. ‘For judging you too harshly in the past. I think … I think I might have been wrong about you.’
He stares back at me, dumbfounded. ‘Then you don’t need to do anything in return. That’s all the thanks I need.’
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
Present Day
I turn my pillow over, enjoying the momentary coolness beneath my cheek, but the rest of me is still sticky and hot, even though the French doors to my bedroom are wide open. There doesn’t even seem to be a breeze blowing in from the river.
I tap my fitness tracker to check the time and discover it’s the wrong side of two. I puff out a breath and roll onto my back. It’s no good. I’ve been tossing and turning for hours, dozing occasionally, but now I’m wide awake. And I’m thirsty.
I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, shove them into a pair of flip-flops, then grab my robe from the back of the bedroom door. I don’t bother turning on any lights. The night is clear and the moon is almost full. I cross the hallway into the main living space, pull a glass from one of the kitchen cupboards and fill it with water.
Sipping as I go, I wander over to the windows and stare out across the river. My gaze sweeps upwards. Wow. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen stars like this. I can hardly count them. It’s breathtaking. I get close to the glass, trying to look upwards to see if I can find Sirius, but the roof is in the way.
However, since it’s the middle of the night and I have nothing else to do, I decide to go up there to get a better view. The balcony door is unlocked, so I step outside, then climb the nearby stairs to the roof, keeping a firm grip on the railing as my eyes accustom themselves to the darkness.
When I reach the top step, I let out a scream. Someone is sitting on one of the chairs near the table. Although it was only a tiny screech, the sound seems to echo across the water. ‘Sorry …’ I whisper to Gil. ‘You scared me.’
‘No … I should have said something when I saw you coming up the stairs, but I didn’t want to make you jump and cause you to trip.’
‘Well, one head injury in a year is unfortunate. Two would be careless,’ I quip, and then, because I’m feeling as if I’ve intruded on him, I add, ‘I don’t want to disturb you, so I’ll just—’
‘No. It’s okay. Stay if you want to.’
My hand is on the railing, my foot hovering above the first step. ‘If you’re sure?’
‘I’m sure.’
I’m secretly relieved I don’t have to go back downstairs to my sweltering bedroom. Up here, it seems a couple of degrees cooler and I can even detect the faintest movement of air. I sit down in the other chair. ‘Couldn’t sleep either?’
Gil sighs. ‘Nope.’
‘It’s a beautiful night.’ I pull my robe across my knees, aware that the silky material keeps sliding off them and exposing more leg than I mean to. Gil is staring resolutely ahead, but I still feel a little awkward.
I spot something in the water, a lump with something long and straight pointing upwards from it. It looks like a boat, but I can’t be sure. ‘What’s that out there in the river?’
‘That’s the Anchor Stone. You can only see the pole sticking out the top when the tide’s at its highest, but when it’s almost out, like now, you can see the rock beneath it.’
I squint into the darkness. Now I know what I’m looking for, I realize I’ve noticed it before. ‘Do people actually anchor their boats there?’
‘Maybe once upon a time, given its name, but I’ve never seen it.’
The water breaks softly around it, the white frills of the waves barely visible in the gloom. ‘That’s a nice idea, isn’t it, to have somewhere that’s safe and steady in the middle of all that change – tides and currents and stuff?’
