“It’s miles away,” Allie had said when he’d told her the address.
“Half an hour. With school slap-bang in the middle.”
They have reached a truce of sorts. It turned out Dominic had never been keen on the idea of Australia; Allie was the one pushing for the glistening water of the Sunshine Coast. Faced with a potentially expensive legal battle, Dominic became an unexpected ally, and he and Allie had decided to stay put. Harris now spends every Wednesday and every other weekend with Leo, his bedroom stuffed with so many clothes and toys that Leo wonders how they’ll get it all in the moving van.
Harris’s room isn’t the only part of the flat to have had a makeover. Leo’s no Yasmin Lloyd, but it’s amazing what a lick of paint and a few prints can do. Ffion would hardly recognize the place.
Leo leans against Harris’s bed and fishes his phone out of his back pocket to text her.How’s the sheep stealing?
The reply comes almost instantly.Fuck off, Brady.
Leo grins.That’s Detective SERGEANT Brady to you…
You got a promotion? You NEVER MENTIONED IT.This is followed by three eye-rolling emojis, a capital W, and a picture of an anchor. Leo frowns at the screen, then bursts out laughing when the penny drops.
“Let me see!” Harris jumps on him, expecting another of the funny animal videos Leo often finds online for him.
“Not this time, mate. Come on, into bed.” He tucks Harris in and finds the book they’re reading, ignoring the flashing screen that tells him Ffion has sent another text.
Clemmie and Glynis had entered guilty pleas at their first hearings.
“No trial, then,” Leo had said for something to say. He and Ffion had been standing outside court, Ffion having a cigarette before driving home. She gave a lopsided grin, the roll-up still in her mouth.
“I won’t need to look at your ugly mug for weeks on end, then.”
“Right back atcha.”
There’d been radio silence after that, and Leo ached with the absence of her. Ffion hadn’t called, and Leo had been glad he hadn’t humiliated himself by asking her out for a drink. He thought about messaging to say he’d be at the sentencing, but whichever way he put it, it sounded as though he was fishing to see if she’d be there. Which, of course, he would have been.
“Fancy seeing you here.” Ffion snuck up on him, standing on the concourse waiting for the ushers to open court, catching Leo’s broad smile before he had a chance to make himself look more chill about it. “You look great.”
“Thanks. You too.”
Once Harris is asleep, the Lego town moved carefully to one side to avoid either of them treading on it in the night, Leo sits with his feet up in front of the TV, scrolling mindlessly through his newsfeed. He catches sight of a name unusual enough for him to remember.Elijah Fox is the youngest person ever to secure a postdoctoral research fellowship at Liverpool University. Professor Benjamin Milne said, “I have rarely encountered someone with Dr. Fox’s level of knowledge and natural ability.”
Leo raises his beer in a toast. “Good on you, mate.” He remembered how sorry he’d felt for the hapless Elijah, stuck working with someone who gave Crouch a run for his money in the bad-boss stakes. And now look at them both: Elijah with his—what even was apostdoctoral research fellowship?—and Leo with his sergeant’s stripes. In fact, there was only one thing left for Leo to summon up the courage to do.
Ffion’s last message is still on the screen of his phone:Pretty boring here without you, tbh, Brady.
Leo taps a response.Remember that time you said we should forget the way we met?
Ffion’s response comes straightaway:Er…yes.
He takes a deep breath and a swig of his beer.
I can’t. Will you have dinner with me?
Sixty-Four
June
Ffion
Ffion takes a box of books from Huw’s van and carries them up the drive. There are another three boxes by the front door.
“That’s everything.” Ffion feels light-headed, impetuous. She has questioned her decision over and over, and she still doesn’t know if she’s doing the right thing. She laces her fingers through Huw’s and leans into him, feeling his strong arm pull her close. “I’m so sorry,” she says.
“Yeah. Me too.” It’s curt enough to make Ffion wince, but still kinder than she deserves. “See you around.”