Page 132 of A Secret Cornish Wish
‘Why would he do it deliberately?’ Eddie asks. ‘He wasn’t depressed, was he?’
‘No, he wasn’t depressed,’ Claire says. ‘But he did have cancer.’
Eddie frowns. ‘I know he had cancer . . . oh . . . wait, was it back again?’
I nod. ‘It was terminal this time. I’m sorry, Eddie, he didn’t want anyone to know.’
‘Did you know, Claire?’ Eddie looks upset.
‘Yes, but I only found out a few weeks ago. Frankie was the only one he told when he first came back here.’
‘And Mack,’ I add.
‘I thought he was doing OK, though?’ Mack says. ‘I mean, I know it was terminal, but he seemed so well.’
My head drops.
‘What is it, Frankie?’ Mack asks. ‘Do you know something?’
‘He told me yesterday he didn’t have long.’ I look around at them all with wide, red-rimmed eyes. ‘He said that’s what the doctor told him on his last visit. But Rob wouldn’t . . . He just wouldn’t. Would he?’
‘Perhaps he thought it was easier this way,’ Claire says. ‘Perhaps he didn’t want to go through a long, slow death.’
‘So he jumped off a cliff?’ Dexter asks. ‘Why do you all keep looking at me like that? It’s what you’re all thinking. And so what if he did? If the man only had days or weeks to live and he wanted to end it himself with dignity, then good on him, I say.’
The rest of us all look at each other.
‘Whatever happens,’ Mack says. ‘Whatever they find, we must keep what we’ve just discussed within these four walls, OK? The press will be all over this. There will be a post-mortem and possibly an inquest too. If they find Rob’s death to be accidental, then that’s what we go with. And if they find any other cause . . . then we deal with that in the best way we can. But whatever happens, we must protect our friend’s memory at all costs. Agreed?’
‘Agreed.’ We all say this at the same time.
‘Rob may be gone from our lives,’ Mack says. ‘But his memory will live on for ever.
Thirty-Nine
Three weeks later . . .
August 2024
Today is the first time we’ve all met up for ten years, but it won’t be all of us this time. Sadly, there is one mermaid missing.
Rob’s post-mortem results came back, to the immense relief of us all, with the result of accidental death.
It said that he had a high level of drugs in his body the night he died, but because he was on so much medication for his cancer, it wasn’t clear whether the drugs or drowning had been the cause of his death.
The truth is no one will ever know why Rob died that night. He may have taken more pills than he needed, he may have slipped while taking a nighttime walk on the cliffs – he told me he often couldn’t sleep and went for a walk at night when it was quiet and calm, so he could have stumbled and fallen, I suppose. But I was pretty sure I knew the truth.
The way Rob talked to me earlier that day. He told me he didn’t have long; I think now he was trying to warn me. That last walk we took together; the things he said – I think he was trying to say goodbye. And the fact that he cleverly arranged for Mack to come back that night, so he would be here when we first heard . . .
There was a memorial service for Rob in LA.
Mack attended, but Claire and I didn’t. We stayed at home and watched as it was streamed over the internet for anyone who wanted to be a part of it but couldn’t be there in person. Claire and I watched amazed as tens of thousands of people tuned in with us. At the service, fellow actors and celebrities attended, and some stood up and spoke with both love and humour about working with him. Mack told us Rob’s manager and his agent were also in attendance, and they told Mack afterwards how much happier Rob seemed to them after retiring to Cornwall. Rob’s parents hadn’t been able to attend due to ill health, but his sisters had, and they had also taken the time to tell us that the happiest times of Rob’s life were definitely those he spent in St Felix, both before he became famous and during the last part of his life.
Claire and I organised our own memorial for Rob in St Felix. But instead of calling it a memorial, we chose instead to call it a celebration of his life.
Immediately following Rob’s death, Claire of course wanted to cancel the reunion. But after some thought, we both decided that since a lot of people that knew Rob would be there that weekend, it would be the perfect time to hold the celebration.
So that’s what we did. And today, along with our fellow mermaids, we attended the same church where we’ve stood together over the years for school carol concerts, Claire’s wedding and Mandy’s sister’s funeral. We wore bright clothing, sung songs of celebration, not mourning, and spoke with love and often passion about the Rob we knew. The church was packed out, not only with people that Rob knew in St Felix, but with our fellow schoolmates too, and it was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced. Mack even managed to reform his old rock band and they played a medley of rock tunes mainly from the eighties.
