‘OK, OK, I don’t want to fight with you anymore. I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing, what you’re giving up.’ With that, he walked away from her. Part of her wanted to run after him, but the stronger part said, Let him go.

Her phone rang. She picked it up without looking at the name on the screen.

‘Hey, it’s me.’

‘Hey, Ryan.’ She could hear the floorboards shift outside the door and she knew someone was listening. Well, they wouldn’t hear anything.

‘Just calling for an update,’ he said hopefully.

‘So far I have nothing that would indicate she’s anything other than happy. I think it would help bring you closure if you read what she’s written. They really were in love.’

‘I was kind of hoping for an explanation, a confession, something.’

‘Look, I haven’t finished. She writes just about everything that goes on in her life. Listen, I have to go.’ The footsteps moved away. She slowly hung up the phone and placed it back into her bag.

25

Vanessa was back at the river again. This time, she parked underneath the dappled light coming through the trees. She lay on top of the bonnet, feeling the sun – still warm in the shade – dancing on her bare arms, the almost hot bonnet underneath her. She pulled out Olivia’s third diary. There were two diaries left, so she hoped that Olivia would get to the point soon. She read about general school things for about an hour until she found something interesting buried within.

I don’t like Wren’s friends.

That’s all she wrote. One line about such a complex and obviously troubling issue. Why didn’t she like them? What had they done to warrant a mention in her diary? She didn’t say anything more, which in itself was odd since she was so detailed with everything else. It just didn’t fit. She didn’t like his friends. That meant Justin and Wade. The two boys she couldn’t face yet. The survivors of the crash that took her boy. Crushed skull. Closed coffin.

She kept reading. Twelve pages later, she was rewarded by another tiny piece of the puzzle.

I should talk to Wren about them, but I just can’t find the words.

What words? Why was she being so cagey? Why not just come out and say it? Vanessa kept reading, enthralled now. She read for another hour, looked at the time and thought she’d better get back. There were two cups sitting on the sink, so Vanessa surmised that her dad had made a surprise visit today, but she hadn’t been home. They’d been avoiding each other, neither one of them knowing what the fuck to say.