Page 17 of Will You Stay Another Day?
He pointed to a pile of leaves on top of a chest of drawers, acorns and conkers lying on top.
‘Oh those… I always have a bowlful of autumn treasures in the house. They are so cosy, the colours so warming and perfect for Halloween. Love seed pods too. In the spring and summer I bring in flowers, weeds being a favourite – dandelions, daisies, buttercups. People just mow over them but I think they’re as beautiful as anything you’d get in a florist’s.’ She gave a sheepish look. ‘I always was a cheap date.’
Dylan burst out laughing. ‘What line of work are you in? And what did Em do?’
‘I run a charity shop in Mevagissey. Em helped manage a café that sells crystals, up the road from me.’ It was hard, going back to talking about Em in the past tense. ‘Tell me about Harry?’ she asked swiftly, hyper aware of Dylan’s proximity, the soft sound of his breathing, the way his throat caught just before he spoke.
‘Two years younger than me. Both of us born in Devon and stayed there ever since. Dad ran a house clearance business and met Mum on holiday in Italy. She married him and eventually got British citizenship. They retired five years ago and Dad passed Express House Clearances onto me and my brother. The last couple of years they’ve spent as many months as they’re allowed on the Amalfi Coast, where we have relatives, and have decided to start the process to see if they can move there permanently.’
‘Wow. And house clearance? That must be interesting. I love going through new stock that comes into Ware & Care.’
Dylan shrugged. ‘Not really. I’m there to do a job. I never cease to be amazed by the useless junk people hold on to. I try to be sensitive after a bereavement, but my job’s to help them get rid, so we’re in and out as quickly as possible.’
A practical attitude. So unlike Lili’s. He’d be baffled if he knew about her occasional Sunday afternoon freedom ceremonies, as she called them, that helped people move on. Lili wouldn’t talk about them with Dylan. Often people didn’t understand. It was best to keep them, and exactly what went on, secret.
‘You’re half Italian?’
‘Yep. Voted one of the sexiest nationalities in the world, don’t you know?’ He took another fang sweet, lodged it in his mouth and bared his teeth at her, pulling a gruesome face. ‘Easy to believe, right?’
‘More like one of the most misguided nationalities,’ she replied smoothly.
He grinned and chewed the sweet. ‘Mum’s favourite flower is a lily.’
‘My name’s actually Lydia. Em’s was Myrtle.’ She took another sip of martini. ‘We got bullied by a group of girls at school who called us Lydia Bacteria and Myrtle Turtle.’
‘Ouch.’
‘When I say bullied… we didn’t much care. Their unkind comments about our supposed old lady names said more about them than us.’
‘That’s why you put a turtle emoji on your message?’
He’d noticed; he’d remembered such a small thing. She glanced down at their legs. They were almost touching.
‘Yes. And Em used the green nauseated face emoji to represent bacteria when she messaged me. It looks like someone feeling sick with an infection. We started using the emojis after we left school and were travelling, and the habit stuck. So I thought…’
Dylan rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Ah. Of course. But I put that in the text after the word “travelling” because I get very travel sick. Harry knew that and it was meant as a clue that I was onto him.’
‘Oh. Right.’
‘I kind of get it – having a name that stands out, that is, not the bullying. Harry and me… I don’t tell everyone this…’
Lili raised an eyebrow, forgetting Em for a second.
‘His middle name is Luigi, mine is Mario.’
‘No!’ Her spirits lifted for the first time all night. She laughed, bumping against him. He bumped her back. ‘Honestly, what are parents thinking?’ She shook her head.
‘Mine swear they never saw the connection. Funnily enough though, the other kids were jealous when they found out – thank you, IT teacher, for announcing it in my class. Harry’s mates soon found out as well. Everyone loved those games so much. They’d sing the theme tunes whenever we went by. We used to walk with our knees and fists up every time they did it.’
‘Me and Em would hold hands cos those girls started saying we were lesbians. That used to shut them up.’
Lili became overwhelmed by the memory of them both in school uniform, planning out their futures, talking about how they’d end up in the same care home, causing havoc. She put her drink down on the bedside table, slid off the bed, walked over to the window and looked out across the town.
What had made her think Em would want to meet up in Bodmin? She’d always considered it grey and ugly, despite what tourist reviews said and the nice walk they’d had up Bodmin Moor’s highest hill, Brown Willy (they couldn’t stop laughing). And a guy Em had really liked came from there – the relationship before Sean-the-cheat. The boyfriend from Bodmin had been called Gus. Em had been really taken with him – whereas he was taken with her backpacking stories, took a year off work to travel and she never heard from him again.
Now Lili really was never going to hear from Em again.
A hand touched her shoulder. She turned around and looked up. Dylan had joined her.
