‘Only a day or so before I was meant to be coming back anyway. By then I knew you were home again.’

‘So you went to Cornwall?’

Tom nods.

‘Did you kill Jess because she knew the truth? Because she told me?’

Tom stands up. ‘I think we should go now.’

‘Tom, please. I want to know. I need to know. If we’re going to be together, we both have to be completely open and honest with each other.’

He looks at me, his eyes almost like a puppy’s. In that moment I see something vulnerable, lost.

‘Please, Tom. Let’s do this properly. You and me.’

He sits back down on the log, slowly. He’s silent for a while, before he starts to talk.

‘I’m not a bad person, Grace. I don’t do things to people just because they’ve upset me. It’s not about that. Jess ruined my life twice. I adored her. I lost her. I had to leave my home town. My friends. And then I found you.’

I put my hand on top of his, trying desperately to ensure I’m not shaking with nerves.

‘I’d let it go, you see. Jess. Time to start afresh. When I saw your profile, I couldn’t breathe. I knew I’d found you. And when I saw the picture of you in the butterfly dress, it suddenly all made sense. It was almost too good to be true. You were perfect. My butterfly. Delicate. Beautiful.’

‘Like Erin?’

Tom nods. ‘And then she tried to ruin that for me, too. That’s when I knew she was never going to back down. She was never going to give up. I knew she’d probably ended us, and if I ever found happiness again she’d end that too. She had to go. I had no choice.’

‘I understand,’ I say, fighting every cell of my body urging me to run. ‘But you haven’t lost me. I’m still here.’

‘You didn’t want to be here. I saw the look in your eyes.’

‘I was scared, Tom. This is all new to me. I didn’t know your reasons. All I knew is you hurt me, told me things that weren’t true and then killed Jess. And yes, I thought you were crazy. Insane. But I didn’t know the truth, did I? I didn’t know you were only doing it to protect me. To protect us.’

Tom looks at me, and I give him the most loving, understanding look I can muster in that moment.

‘Do you really mean it?’ he asks.

‘Yes,’ I say. ‘Yes, I do.’

He leans over and kisses me, gently at first, as if testing the water. I respond, closing my eyes and putting myself in different shoes, with a different person. A short while later, he puts his forehead against mine and looks into my eyes, before pulling me into a tight embrace.

‘I love you,’ he says.

‘I love you too.’

‘Do you?’ he asks.

‘Yes. Absolutely.’

Tom lets out a huge breath and his body seems to relax, losing all its pent-up tension. He puts his head in his hands and seems to cry.