Chapter 28

“I never, ever stopped loving you.”

It was still early when Will parked the car in the street outside Lizzie’s house. Amy used her key to let them in and they found Lizzie sitting on the sofa in a thick, white towelling robe, her legs curled up underneath her, hugging a steaming mug of coffee. She acknowledged them with a grunt.

“Rough night?” Will asked.

Lizzie grunted again. “That friend of yours can’t half put them away.”

Will laughed. “Side effect of his days in the rugby team when he was at Cambridge. You didn’t try to keep up with him, did you?”

She nodded slowly and then groaned. “It would have been easy ten years ago, but now...”

“I did warn you about going for a younger man,” said Amy with a grin. “So, it’s your own fault.”

Lizzie grunted again.

“Are you seeing him again?” Will asked. “I need to know so I can tease him on Monday.”

“I said I’d call him.”

“So that’s no then?”

“No, it’s not. I just need some time to recover. I swear though, if he fucks like he drinks, I’m not sure I could cope.”

Amy kissed Will on the cheek and told him she wouldn’t take long then ran up the stairs. He sat on the sofa next to Lizzie, nudged her arm and she gave him a stern look before nudging his arm back. He grinned and nudged her again. She cracked a grin and started to laugh.

“You may as well go and make yourself a coffee,” Lizzie said. “Amy’s definition of not long is at least three times longer than most people’s.” He nodded and got up to go to the kitchen. “And bring some chocolate biscuits back with you,” Lizzie called after him. “They’re in the cupboard on the right.”

Amy returned after twenty minutes, wearing a short yellow summer dress and carrying an overnight bag.

“So that I don’t have to come back and disturb her again tomorrow morning,” she explained as Will put the bag in the car.

After the storm the previous night, it was a fresh but sunny day. The forecaster on the radio said the temperature would rise quickly during the morning and stay hot for the afternoon. Amy wanted to go shopping in Westmouth. Will wasn’t a big fan of shopping trips in general, but he didn’t mind if it meant he got to spend time with Amy—he knew that times when they’d be able to spend the whole day together would be few and far between. She bought herself some clothes and bought him two shirts and a tie. He bought her some underwear which she promised to model for him later that night.

On the way back to the car just before lunchtime, they passed a jeweller’s shop. Something in the window caught Will’s eye and he stopped to look.

“What?” Amy asked.

He pointed to a necklace in the window display. “Do you like that?” It was a heart-shaped gold pendant, about the size of a twenty pence piece, edged by small diamonds with a single, larger diamond set in the centre. It hung from a delicate gold chain of tight links, which Will knew meant the chain would be strong despite appearances.