‘Confused,’ I said. ‘And, if I’m completely honest, when Jon said it was him who had sent the presents, I felt disappointed, then I felt mean because, if it was him, the gifts were generous and thoughtful.’

‘You have to go with your gut,’ said Marcia, ‘and if something deep inside was disappointed that it might be Jon, that’s telling you something and you have to take note of that. I would say, rule Jon out.’

‘Not just yet,’ said Heather. ‘But I’d forget about flowers and presents. As I keep saying, OK, they show you have an admirer, but they don’t mean that whoever sent them was The One, the late Billy Jackson reborn in a new body.’

‘And there’s still Sam Gorman hovering in the background,’ said Marcia. ‘They could have been from him.’

‘A man who, according to his sister, is an addict who is in and out of prison – oh yes, let’s hope it’s him, not,’ I said.

‘So we’re still back at square one. How do you know who Billy is now?’ asked Marcia.

‘By how you feel, surely?’ said Heather.

When the waiter seated us, I made sure I had a seat with my back to Jon so I didn’t have to witness him charming his latest conquest. I didn’t want to think about why I’d found it disturbing to see him with her. I didn’t really care about him, did I? When we got up to leave later, he was gone.

52

When we got back from the restaurant, there was a note from Pete on the kitchen table.

Finally tracked down Saranya Ji. Result! She can talk to you this afternoon. 009175133000.

‘Timely,’ said Marcia.

‘Or maybe she’ll confuse things even more,’ I said.

I went up to my attic room so I could talk in private, dialled and got straight through.

‘Bea, of course I remember you – from Udaipur, yes?’ she said. ‘How can I help?’

‘You told me that I had to find a man I’d known in a previous life, my soulmate, known then as Billy Jackson. You said that just as I am back, so is he, and I must find him. At first I didn’t believe you, but so much has happened since then and now I do believe that I have the memories of a woman who was called Grace Harris. But I am lost as to what to do about it, how to recognize the man I knew as Billy.’

‘Ah. Remember I told you, first comes destiny then free will? He will come to you, then you decide what to do in response.’

‘That’s the problem. Three men have turned up.’

I heard Saranya Ji laugh. ‘Most excellent. So you can choose.’

‘That’s just it. I can’t. I like all of them, they like me. None of them remembers a past life.’