a torch,’ I whisper, snuggling under the duvet.
‘And some secrets,’ she whispers back. Turning her face, she looks at me, her eyes searching out mine in the darkness. ‘Want to hear one?’
I nod, as if to say, Go on.
‘That life can change in the blink of an eye. All you have is right now. So don’t ever put off telling someone how you feel about them, don’t assume that they know, because they might not and it might be too late.’
I can tell she’s talking about herself, about Jeff, but it resonates with me.
‘I love you, Kate.’
‘I love you too, Luce.’
She turns over and I spoon her, just like I used to, and as her breathing grows heavier and she falls asleep, I lie awake and think about her secret. I think about it for a long, long time.
Chapter Thirty-Five
‘You have to help me. I need to speak to Adam.’
It’s the next morning, and having dropped Kate off at the hospital to collect Jeff, I’ve rushed over to see Robyn at Tao Healing Arts, where she works.
‘What? Who’s Adam?’ she hisses, all flustered.
And well she might be. I’ve just burst into her therapy room, where she was in the middle of sticking needles into a half-naked man. I don’t know who was the most surprised, me, Robyn or the naked man, who suddenly got a needle somewhere he didn’t expect.
‘The guy from the gallery, the one who came to get me from the police station.’
Robyn stops indignantly waving around her braceleted arms, and two spots of colour appear on her cheeks. She’s still feeling guilty about nearly getting me arrested.
‘We went on a date and it went horribly wrong . . .Well, not the date. The date was perfect. Anyway, now there’s been an awful misunderstanding because of Nate—’
‘Nate?’ Her ears prick up.
‘Oh, I didn’t tell you, did I? He was in the Vineyard. We slept together—’
‘Slept together?’ She looks aghast.
‘Well, yes, strictly speaking, but not really, and Adam got the wrong idea, and we had this big row, and he won’t answer any of my calls or emails, and, well, I saw my sister at the hospital—’
‘Hospital?’
Robyn is uncharacteristically lost for words and has been reduced to an echo.
‘And she told me that I must never wait to tell someone how I really feel, because I might never get the chance, and I want to tell Adam how I really feel.’ I stop abruptly, gasping.
‘Wow,’ comes a voice from behind us. ‘That’s intense.’
We both glance over to see the man covered in needles. Lying flat out on the bed in his boxers, he’s staring at us agog.
‘Sorry, won’t be a moment.’ Apologising hastily, Robyn quickly pulls the door closed behind her, then turns to me. ‘Lucy, why didn’t you tell me any of this?’ Folding her arms, she gives me her sternest look.
‘Well, you’ve had a lot going on. We both have.’ I sigh and look at my feet.
Robyn’s face turns from impatience to guilt to sympathy and finally to determination. ‘Listen, I’ll do anything to help, you know I will, but what can I do? I mean, the last time I tried to help it didn’t turn out so well,’ she says in reference to the spell.
I look at her, my chest heaving, my mind whirring. ‘That’s just it – I don’t know. I don’t know what to do. He won’t speak to me. He won’t return my emails.’
We both look at each other for a moment completely at a loss.
‘If only I could see how to make this right . . .’ I murmur, trailing off.
‘I know,’ nods Robyn sympathetically. ‘It’s at times like these I always wish I had a crystal ball.’
‘That’s it!’ I exclaim, suddenly hit with an idea. ‘What about your psychic?’
Robyn looks doubtful. ‘You don’t believe in psychics.’
‘But you said she can communicate with spirit guides and that she has an amazing gift,’ I say pointedly. ‘In which case she can tell me what to do.’
OK, so I’m clutching at straws, but I’m desperate.
‘I’m just not sure it’s a good idea,’ says Robyn with a worried expression. ‘I know – what about some cupping?’
‘Cupping?’ I exclaim.
‘Or some tinctures?’ she continues brightly. ‘The effects can be amazing.’
‘You’re not going to fob me off with some old herbs,’ I say determinedly. ‘Remember I found Harold for you.’
‘But that’s blackmail,’ she gasps.
‘I know,’ I reply unapologetically.
Tucking a loose curl behind her ear, she studies me, as if thinking hard about a lot of stuff, then asks