He nods, and that last trace of uncertainty in my belly leaves me. “I got home, and I was so miserable without you, Mags. I didn’t know whether our relationship meant anything to you, but I had to try.” He takes a deep breath. “And I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to see the consultant. I’ve decided to have the operation.”

Relief weakens my knees. “Really?”

“Someone told me I should try, and not give up.”

“Was he very intelligent?”

He rolls his eyes. “Rather noisily keen on his own opinions.” I chuckle, and he hugs me, pushing his face into the space between my neck and chin. His breaths come hot and hurried. “It might not work, Mags. I could still go blind.”

His voice wavers, and my stomach hurts, but I’m honoured that this man has chosen me to confide in. “Then we will deal with it,” I say steadily, giving him a squeeze. “It’s us, yes? We are a team.”

He pulls back, looking up at me with those sun-washed pale eyes that echo the Danish sea of my childhood. “Us?”

I nod. “It will always be so.”

“Well, now you’ve said it, I’m sure it will come true.”

“It will.” I cup his sharp chin in my palm. “This is the way it will go. Are you listening, Laurie?” He nods, and I smile. “You will have the operation, and we will deal with whatever comes from it. I hope that you do not go blind, Laurie, but it makes no difference to my feelings. I am in love with you, and I know myself. I am a man who doesn’t feel lightly, and I tend to be loyal to the ones I love. You make me laugh, and you make me feel alive, and you will continue to do that regardless of whether you can see or not.”

His eyes are shiny. “I’m so lucky I found you.”

“I wasn’t lying around like an old chip wrapper.”

“No, just having a twink crisis on your doorstep.” He sighs. “God bless all the beribboned twinks of the world.”

I laugh and look around at the sunlit terrace. “I think I shall move in with you eventually, Laurie.”

His eyes widen. “Don’t you want to be back in London rather than living here?”

“Do we have to rule out one?”

“I suppose not. I can work anywhere. But what about your law career?”

“I shall continue to do that, but I’ve been thinking about scaling things down a bit. I would like to write a book. I’ve read your fiction challenges, and it appears to me that the world needs a very good legal thriller.”

He bites his lips, looking like he’s suppressing laughter. “And you’re the one who’s going to write it?”