‘I found it in the cottage.’

‘Where?’

‘Behind the fireplace,’ Nicole said, and Charlie narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

‘What the hell are you talking about?’

‘I found it not long after I moved in.’

She opened the lid, revealing its contents, the stories that had kept her company these past months.

‘What are they?’ His voice was low.

‘Letters. From Ivy to Thomas. She didn’t want them found by her mother, or anyone else, I guess,’ Nicole said.

‘Then why have you got them now?’

‘Well, I started reading them. They’re beautiful. They deserve to be shared. They detail her life from the time Tom died to when she did.’

Charlie became very still. ‘What’s in them exactly?’

‘All sorts of things. Stories about Joan Wetherby, Lucy, the picnics, meeting you,’ Nicole said the last words slowly.

‘What right have you to go through someone’s private memories? You nosy girl. Give them to me.’ He held out his hand. ‘Let me burn them.’

Nicole took Charlie’s hand gently and squeezed it.

‘There is no way I’m letting you burn them,’ she said calmly. ‘I love these letters and I love Ivy. But I did bring them here for you to read, if you can promise not to destroy them.’

‘Don’t want to read them. Rubbish letters.’ He shook his head.

‘Charlie.’ Nicole looked him in his fright-filled eyes. ‘Whatever is in your past, she didn’t reveal it here. She was truly your friend and I thought you might like to know that.’

Charlie stared at her.

‘The Charlie I care about is here, now. Not in the past.’

‘If you knew my past, you wouldn’t care.’ He cast his eyes downward.

‘Ivy did.’ Nicole shrugged.

‘She was an angel on Earth.’

‘You saved her life.’

He looked up sharply. ‘She saved mine.’

‘And you both helped me find mine again. I think you should read them.’ Nicole held the box out to him.

He hesitated, then took it, running his fingers over the carved shells, and Nicole noticed the despair in his eyes. He turned his head and took a few deep breaths.

‘Shall we play today?’ Nicole asked, changing the subject. ‘Just a quick game. Or should I let you rest?’

‘Play.’ He took Ivy’s box inside and returned with the Scrabble board.

‘… And e, e, m.’ Charlie laid down his tiles. ‘Redeem, on a double word score, means … means I win.’

He smiled a smile Nicole hadn’t seen before. Nervous? Worried?

‘So, fifteen to six,’ Nicole said. ‘Tomorrow is my comeback.’

‘Tomorrow you will taste the bitterness of defeat once more.’ Charlie shrugged.

‘Your cockiness will be your downfall, you know?’ Nicole packed away the board and carried it to the boatshed door, leaving it with him there.