Tess takes a truffle and pulls the twisted cellophane wrapping slowly between her fingers. She pops the chocolate globe into her mouth, feels the cold outer shell crack and lets the whole thing dissolve slowly on her tongue. She wonders briefly if Patrick has discovered that she has removed herself from their joint photo archive.

She had done it in the company of two big tubs of Ben & Jerry’s. Hundreds and hundreds of images of them smiling at the camera, standing in front of European cathedrals and monuments, sitting in restaurants or side by side on trains and planes, and opening Christmas presents. Trusting him. Everything they shared feels like a lifetime ago, and he doesn’t have the right to see her face again. Not after all the lies.

They have all been permanently deleted.

Every. Single. One.

Chapter 53

February 2011

‘Twenty-five.’

‘Hello, Miss Williams, it’s Alasdair McKay here, from M and P Legal.’

‘Good morning, Alasdair, I’ve been expecting your call. But you really must call me Georgia; after all, we have been communicating for at least thirty years now.’

‘If you insist.’

‘Shall I come and see you? Or would you like to come here?’

‘Thank you for the kind offer, Georgia.’ He says her name carefully as though he might break it. ‘Unfortunately, I’m rather pushed for time this week. I believe Ms Reid has been in touch?’

‘She has.’

‘In which case, you’ll be aware that I may have a young woman for you.’

Georgia doesn’t reply.

‘I know you haven’t had anyone since the difficulties with the last one, but I wouldn’t be fulfilling our firm’s agreement if I didn’t let you know about her.’

‘How young is young?’

‘She is a woman in her mid-thirties, who has found herself,’ he pauses, ‘shall we say, unexpectedly single and in need of a fresh start. She only moved to Edinburgh a few months ago so she is quite isolated; in fact the only person she really knows is Ms Reid. There is some urgency about the situation.’

‘Is she working?’

‘No, not any longer. She was living as a digital nomad.’

‘A digital what?’

‘Someone who can take their work with them wherever they go. They often have jobs like website design or software development which can be done from anywhere.’

‘Oh, I see what you mean, I think.’

‘She’s been living in various places over the last few years. Portugal, Greece, Germany, Sweden, and probably more. All in the European Union, of course. She travelled to find nice weather and new places to explore. It’s a bit of a thing among these types of people, apparently.’

‘So she was a website designer?’

‘No, a personal organiser, though I’m not entirely sure what that involves. All I know is that she isn’t going to be doing it any longer.’