‘Well done you! Kea? Never heard of it.’ She picked up a pen and moved over to the calendar. ‘Go on then, give me the dates and I’ll mark them off.’ Shelly did. ‘Damn it, you’ll be away for your birthday! We’ll have to celebrate when you come back.’

*

At five thirty, Shelly let Eve out of the surgery’s front door. ‘Good job today, thanks, Eve. Sorry if I appeared a little distracted.’

‘Don’t worry about it, just get a good night’s sleep. See you tomorrow.’

Shelly locked the front of the shop, then went into the back, checked her two overnight patients in their cat pens, set the alarm and security camera, and left.

Two minutes later, she was back. She punched in numbers to disable the alarm, then pulled DJ’s letter out of her bag and reached for the phone. She could do this! She could . . .

She still didn’t know what to say. It had been such a long, long time.

Whatever you do, Shelly Summer, do not cry!

The ringtone stopped. The person you are calling . . . after the tone . . . and so on.

‘Oh!’ She hesitated, almost hung up, then decided to speak. ‘Hello, this is Shelly Summer. I received your letter saying you wanted to meet. I’m going away soon, so it would have to be this week, or in a few weeks’ time. Please call this number to confirm a place and time. Thank you.’ She pressed the hash to end the message, aware her voice had been cold and unemotional. Then, all the sentiment she’d held back, all the pain, still so raw, burst forth and tears trickled down her cheeks. Why had life been so cruel to her? The ginger tom in its overnight crate curled its tail around its feet and watched her.

‘You don’t understand,’ she said to the cat, a sob catching her by surprise. ‘It’s not what you think. I don’t want him back, not after all this time. It’s too complicated. Yet, I do . . . oh, how I do!’

Just as she reached for a paper towel, her mobile rang. Sods law, an emergency at the worst possible moment. She dried her face and picked up. ‘Summer Veterinary, emergency service, state your name and phone number, please.’

‘It’s DJ. I was put through to this number.’

Shelly gasped. ‘DJ? Look, DJ—’ Then a sob escaped. She hoped he hadn’t heard. ‘I don’t know what you want from me exactly.’

‘Sorry, I realise this must be difficult after all this time. I just want to understand why you walked away. I don’t have any ill will, but I need to know your reason for leaving.’