Simon’s alert, interested expression—the crinkled eyes, the ready smile, suddenly shut down. It was odd, like watching a curtain come down, something being wiped completely clean. He took a bite of pasta, chewed and swallowed before answering carefully, “It’s just the two of us now. My younger brother died eighteen months ago.”

“Oh.” She’d really put her foot in it, that much was obvious. “I’m so sorry, Simon.” She hesitated, unsure whether to probe, yet it felt insensitive to simply change the subject. “I can’t even imagine how hard that must be.”

He nodded slowly. “Very hard. It’s why I moved to Wychwood, actually.”

“Is it...?” She gazed at him encouragingly, waiting for more. She’d never seen Simon look so bleak, his face drawn into stark, serious lines. It made her ache for him; she wanted to go around the table and put her arms around him, but their relationship wasn’t there yet and in any case he seemed a bit distant, retreating into himself before her very eyes.

“You know your friend who had heard rumours about me?”

Olivia swallowed and nodded. Was he going to tell her whatever the dark secret that had been lurking in the shadows was? Did she want to hear it? “Yes, I remember.”

“Of course you do.” He gave a twisted smile. “I suppose I should have told you before. I know things have been swirling about, whispers in the school playground and so forth.”

“Well, I’m never in the playground, but I know what you mean.” She took a quick, steadying breath. “But, Simon, you don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. I mean...we’re getting to know each other on our own terms, aren’t we? That’s enough for me.”

“I’m glad we’re getting to know each other, but this is part of it, isn’t it? To tell the truth of who we are, where we’ve been.” He propped his elbows on the table, giving her a direct, resolute look, the shadows still visible in his eyes. “It’s not easy to talk about, and I fully admit I made a pretty big mistake.” Now she was feeling really nervous. “But...after my brother died, I was in a bad place. He died in a rock climbing accident... We were climbing together, in Switzerland. Andrew was all about extreme sports, and he wanted to go climbing for his thirty-fifth birthday. I wasn’t as into it, but I agreed.” He paused, his gaze distant, and then released a long, low breath. “So we went, and we were rappelling...both of us on ropes with fixed anchors, right next to each other.”

Olivia nearly shivered at his flatly delivered description, knowing what had to come next.

“His anchor came loose,” Simon explained in that same, flat voice. “And for a few seconds he dangled there, knowing it was coming out and that he could fall hundreds of feet, most certainly to his death.” He swallowed hard. “I was close enough to grab on to him, and I did. But my anchor couldn’t hold both of us, and Andrew realised that. As I held him he let go. I watched him fall.”