Page 69 of A Cornish Love Story
His display told me that it was almost four a.m., and that he had a message from Sarah. I couldn’t help reading the snippet – it was right there on the screen – and my brain stuttered, the uncertainty over what had caused our predicament blooming bright again. I needed to see the whole conversation to make sense of it, but when I tried to unlock the phone, it said my face wasn’t recognised, then asked for a passcode. Gingerly, feeling guilty but determined because now I was sure he had been keeping things from me, I held the phone in front of Ethan’s face. He had always been a deep sleeper, and I hoped this wouldn’t wake him.
At first, nothing happened, so I held my breath and moved the phone closer. There was a quiet snicking sound as the screen unlocked.
Turning away from him, I opened WhatsApp and scrolled back through the message chain between him and his sister, to the one Sarah had sent him just after she left Sterenlenn, before the house had shut down:
18:45 Sarah:Take your time, boss man. It’s gone brilliantly, so just enjoy it now. Amazing that Georgie turned up, huh?
18:50 Ethan:Thanks for everything you’ve done. Safe trip back – I’ll call you when I’m on the train.
19:01 Sarah:(don’t think I didn’t notice you avoiding the whole Georgie thing)
There was a gap, then a message from him much later in the evening, after we’d been stuck here for several hours.
23:15 Ethan:If this gets through, can you tell me what’s happening? Sparks is having a meltdown, we’re trapped inside. Me and Georgie. Can you check it for me urgently?
I didn’t know when he’d written it, but I assumed 23:15 was the time it had got through to her, and I tried to remember what we’d been doing then: if we’d been too distracted to notice some kind of signal returning; if he’d written the message hours earlier, and it had been sitting, waiting for Wi-Fi or 5G to finally release it. Her reply came soon afterwards.
23:20 Sarah:Don’t sweat it, bro. Just a little something I’ve been trying in Beta. I hope I didn’t scare Georgie with the impromptu Sparks responses.
Impromptu Sparks responses?I felt a wave of something close to nausea as I remembered how polished and grown-up Sarah had been that afternoon; how I’d been stunned that she was there, and surprised by how different she’d seemed. I kept reading. Ethan’s reply was much later, and I realized he must havefound Sarah’s message after our shower. I thought he’d fallen asleep before me, but he must have woken up after I’d dropped off. Had he taken his phone out, had one last try to reconnect everything and get us out, or had this been something else altogether?
1:57 Ethan:What the fuck? What are you talking about? You did this?
1:58 Sarah:Where you been, E? I had a little fun, that’s all. It was this whole thing, but it’s for your own good, I promise. You’ll thank me later.
1:58 Ethan:Unlock the house now. Georgie was hurt! We needed to get out. You’ve been in control the whole time? I don’t believe this. Could you hear us?
1:59 Sarah:Chill big bro. You were never in danger. I left it in Beta, set the wake words to Sparks and Sterenlenn, so I could only hear those prompts. You know how strong the security protocol is. I wasn’t listening to you.
2:00 Ethan:Unlock it, set Sparks back to auto. I mean it.
2:01 Sarah:Spoilsport.
2:02 Ethan:Now.
2:15 Sarah:OK I’ve unlocked it. You can get out now.
2:16 Ethan:I can’t believe you did this.
2:20 Sarah:You and Georgie though. Did it work?
2:21 Ethan:She was scared. You might have ruined everything.
2:23 Sarah:I doubt it. And I had a lot to make up for.
2:25 Ethan:Don’t go there. This is beyond fucked up. I’m getting the first train back to Bristol in the morning and we’re going to sort this.
2:27 Sarah:Nothing to sort. Sparks is working fine.
2:35 Sarah:You there? You out now, or are you saying a proper goodbye? I’ll leave you and Georgie to it. My work here is done.
My skin prickled, my disbelief and horror rising with every message. It made a sickening sort of sense that Sarah was embroiled in our reunion, that things had come full circle. The house wasn’t turning intoThe Terminator, it had been manipulated by Ethan’s clever but disruptive little sister, and he was planning on leaving as soon as there was a train so he could deal with her, rather than stay and talk about our nighttogether. Had he really not known? He sounded furious in his messages, but what did he mean when he said:you might have ruined everything?Did he mean the house sale, his reputation, or something else?
I had never considered an alternative scenario – Ethan being trapped here with Sarah, or even on his own. But it looked like, if we hadn’t been in our orchestrated places – together in the house – then none of this would have happened at all.
I slid out of bed and picked up my bra, tiptoed through the silent corridors to the beautiful office Ethan had created for me, gathering my clothes and putting them back on. I thought my sandals were in the living room, and I flushed, embarrassed at how I’d left little bits of me all over the house, as if I owned it. I paused, looking out of the huge window, the silver-blue of the ocean just before dawn, the sky that seemed cracked because the stars were so bright, light spilling through it. In place of the storm there was an eerie calmness, the water as still as it ever got, the waves rippling instead of raging.
I realized I was trailing a finger over everything, the art deco lampshade and the fake quill award, the frame with the story Ethan had carefully picked out. How had he even got hold of copies of theStar?Had he seen the stories online, or set up a Google alert for my byline? I had so many questions, so many things I wanted to say to him now that I’d had a few minutes space, but I couldn’t ignore the messages. Sarah had been the driving force between us, just like before. Ithad only been one night, and I couldn’t do it again. I needed to walk away.
