As if to illustrate his point, she moved between table and counter, transporting coffee mugs and a pot of hot coffee. Every move was no doubt carefully coordinated, but she made it seem effortless.
He rubbed his eyes, tired and sore from crying. He should be embarrassed about breaking down in front of her, but he wasn’t. It felt right, to grieve together. It was one of only a handful of times that anything had felt right since he got home. It wasn’t lost on him that Ally was the common denominator.
He dug his hand into his pocket, pulling out the small heart pendant on a thin gold chain. The memories lodged in his throat. Two of his greatest loves, tied up in one small trinket. He glanced up to find her staring at him, wide-eyed.
“I found it at the house,” he said, as if reading her thoughts. “It must’ve been in a drawer or something, but I found it on the floor in the hallway. What I don’t understand is how it got there.”
Her eyes flew to the pendant in his hand. “I didn’t know what else to do,” she said in a small voice.
Jack’s fist closed tight around the heart. So many memories. “You were wearing it that night.”
She leaned back against the kitchen counter. “I thought it was gone, lost forever, but Callum found it. It was in the car. He went to the scrap yard after it was towed, and there it was, hooked in the carpet. The chain was broken, but the heart was still there.”
The chain was broken.
Jack shuddered. It must’ve been ripped off her when the car rolled. Visions of that night came flooding back, sending a cold chill crawling up the back of his neck.
“When I realised that you weren’t coming home, I gave it back to Tom. I’m sorry – I just thought that he should have it. I couldn’t keep it – after you left, it didn’t feel right.”
The necklace was a symbol of the love he had abandoned. He understood, as much as it hurt.
“He would’ve been grateful.”
“I just felt like…” she sighed, “It was the right thing to do. It was your mother’s, after all.”
He opened his fist and stared at the necklace again, recalling vividly the night he had given it to Ally. It wasn’t big or expensive, but it was his mother’s, and it had sentimental value far beyond the resale.
“It was yours, after it was hers,” he said, looking over at her. “And I’d really like you to have it back.”
He walked towards her, holding the necklace gently, as if holding it too tightly would break it. His heart raced the same way it had when he had given it to her the first time, all those years ago.
“Are you sure?” she whispered, beautiful blue-green eyes shining.
“I’m sure.”
He unfastened the clasp and gently pushed her hair aside. His fingertips brushed against her skin as the pendant settled itself beneath the hollow of her neck.
“That’s better,” he said, as she slowly turned to face him.
She caressed the pendant gently, as if afraid it might disappear again. He reached up to do the same, capturing her fingers in his, the tiny gold heart safe behind both their hands.
Ally lay on the floor in her living room, a bundle of nerves. She checked her watch for the third time in five minutes, willing time to slow.
“You’re doing the right thing,” Callum said, rotating her right hip and leg slowly outward, then inward again.
She wasn’t so sure, now. Panic gripped her insides, twisting them as she stared at him, hoping he could see it so she wouldn’t have to say anything. He was so good at reading between the lines normally, why wasn’t it working now?
“I’m serious. You know you have to do this – you owe it to him and to yourself. Just try to relax.”
It wasn’t that easy, not with Jack making his way over to her house right at this minute. And here she was, lying on the floor while Callum bent and stretched her useless legs right in front of her, not that she could feel any of it.
Breathe!
“You invited him over, remember?” Callum reminded her, laying down her right leg and picking up her left.
In theory, it had seemed like the sensible thing. She couldn’t keep hiding the range-of-motion exercises from him forever. But in practice – actually inviting him over, so he could see – that was something else entirely.
“I don’t think I can do this.”
“Sure you can.”
He made it sound so easy. Trust was a two-way street. Jack had been honest with her, and yet still she found it difficult to repay the courtesy. It would be easier if… well, it would be easier if it wasn’t this. The pool was bad enough, with the water and the swimsuit and there not being anywhere to hide. But this was different. At least at the pool she had some semblance of control. Lying on the floor, she was totally vulnerable.
This was a stupid idea. It could’ve waited, it doesn’t have to be now –
The knock at the door stopped her heart momentarily.
Callum raised his eyebrows at her, laying her leg down gently on the floor again. “For whom the bell tolls.”
He flashed a wry smile and stood up. As he left the room, she couldn’t even bring herself to beg him not to open it. She tried to relax but her body had other ideas. Every muscle was taught, making her feel like she was balancing on a knife edge.