‘Because now you’ll be able to see all the photos of Sam that are on it,’ she said, cradling the phone in her palm.
My smile felt stiff and awkward as I took the ruined mobile from her. ‘I’m not sure, hon. It might be too badly damaged to pull anything from it,’ I said, really hoping that was true.
‘But we have to send it away somewhere. We have to try,’ Amelia pleaded.
‘Of course we do,’ I said, my thoughts spinning like tyres on ice. ‘I tell you what, one of the guys I went to uni with started up his own mobile phone repair company. How about I send him the phone? If anyone can retrieve the photos from it, it’s him.’
*
‘Could it be the medication she’s on? Could that be why Amelia is so…befuddled?’ It was an old-fashioned word, but I could think of none that was a better fit for the collection of strange incidents in Amelia’s behaviour.
‘Veterinary pharmacology isn’t quite the same as the human type,’ Nick said patiently, ‘so I’m no expert. But it’s certainly possible. You should mention it to her doctors.’
‘I will,’ I said, speaking softly, the way I did every night on our phone calls. I fell silent and I loved how Nick knew I needed a moment before continuing. ‘It’s feeling so helpless that gets to me. I know it’s a terrible thing to say, but it was all so much easier when Amelia was still in hospital.’
Nick was far kinder to me than I was to myself. ‘Don’t beat yourself up,’ he said. ‘You’re doing a great job and statistically it’s well documented that patients get better quicker in their own home environment.’
‘You’re talking about dogs and cats again, aren’t you?’
‘Maybe,’ he said, drawing the word out.
I didn’t think I’d ever tire of making him laugh. It was like discovering you had a secret superpower. Our nightly phone conversations had quickly become the highlight of my day. Sometimes Nick made the call, sometimes I did. I liked the reciprocity of it. We talked about everything and absolutely nothing. It wasn’t unusual to hang up and realise we’d been speaking for over an hour and yet I couldn’t remember a single topic we’d covered. It wasn’t the same as seeing him in person; but in a way it was strangely better. The physical distance between us allowed us to talk – really talk – without the combustible sexual attraction getting in the way. And the more I got to know him… the deeper I began to fall.
23
I woke earlier than usual the next morning, driven from my bed by a feeling of nervous energy that only one thing could cure. Exercise. Even as I splashed cold water on my face and brushed my teeth, I could hear the call of the beach amid the cries of the swooping gulls. It felt good to be reaching for my running clothes once again, after neglecting them for nearly a week.
I paused to stick my head around Amelia’s door, surprised to discover that she too was awake and sitting up in bed, trawling through something on the replacement phone I’d bought her weeks ago.
‘I’m going for a run before breakfast, if you’re okay with that.’
Amelia set down her mobile and turned to me with an exaggerated expression of surprise.
‘Who are you, and what have you done with my sister?’
I laughed. At moments like this, it felt like I was worrying about nothing.
‘You’d be surprised; I’m all about the running now.’
‘Your lips are moving, but I don’t understand the words,’ she deadpanned.
‘Are you sure you don’t have a problem with me going?’ I asked.
Amelia lifted her eyes from her phone screen, which had once again claimed her attention.
‘The only problem I’d have was if you expected me to go with you. Now go.’ She shooed me away with a flap of her hand.
*
It was chilly and the sun was still low in the sky when I set off along the beach. I turned left out of the gate, towards the mudflats, my feet finding their rhythm as I ran to the beat of the music from my headphones. It was a route I’d scored in the sand many times before, but when I reached the point where I normally turned around, I decided to press on.
I was heading into the sun, which was now high enough in the sky to be dazzling without sunglasses. With them, I’d probably have spotted the figure at the water’s edge far sooner.
I slowed my jog to a stop, resting my hands on my thighs as I squinted into the glare, waiting for my eyes to adjust. Someone was sitting on the sand, at the point where it changed from wet to dry, but they were looking out to sea and not at the beach. It was obvious they hadn’t seen me, and I was still too far away to identify them. But then a volley of barks filled the air, sending seagulls soaring higher, as the waves split and Mabel bounded through them to retrieve her ball.
The memory of our first encounter on the beach was very much in my thoughts as I changed direction and headed towards Nick. It was impossible to shake off the feeling of serendipity as I closed the distance between us, made stronger because – as far as I could tell – he was sitting in the exact same spot where we’d first met.
Nick got in two more throws of the tennis ball before he became aware that someone was approaching. He swivelled from the waist, and I watched a huge grin replace the thoughtful expression on his face when he recognised it was me. I already knew I’d be playing that moment on repeat for the rest of the day.
