‘How long is she staying?’ Brody asked.

‘I don’t know.’

‘Are you okay with that?’ Brody had never been big on having houseguests for an extended period, even back in the days when he’d had friends who’d wanted to stay with him.

‘More than okay,’ Anna said firmly. ‘Gabi was there for me when Spencer died. She can stay as long as she likes, move in permanently if she really wants to.’

Brody brightened at that idea. It’d make it more difficult for Jeremy to get a similar notion.

‘She’s a total mess,’ Anna said. ‘She called in sick for work, which isn’t great because she’s a freelancer and she had to cancel a job, but she just couldn’t face it, so what can you do? I even took Tuesday off as well, but I can’t do that every day. So I’m just doing the things she did for me when I was a total mess: snuggling up with her on the sofa to watch comfort movies, buying her a bar of chocolate on the way home, or a copy of her favourite magazine, making her soup and—’

A sneeze caught him by surprise. ‘Sorry,’ he said when he’d wiped his nose. ‘I hope I didn’t deafen you with that one.’ He’d never been the sort to produce a discreet little snuffle if in public. His sneezes only came out at one volume: loud enough for most of Devon to hear them.

Instead of laughing at his joke, Anna said, ‘Sounds like you need someone to look after you too.’

Would you like the job? The words almost came out of his mouth as fast and loud as the sneeze, but he managed to hold them back. What a stupid thing to ask.

Oh, but if only he could… The thought of Anna pottering around in his kitchen making soup or curling up beside him on the sofa while they watched a film together stole his breath away.

Not going to happen, mate. Stop dreaming. Cook your own soup.

‘I’m okay,’ he finally said in answer to her question. ‘I’m old enough and ugly enough to take care of myself.’

Anna made a thoughtful noise. ‘I think that’s Gabi’s problem,’ she mused. ‘She’s in a mess because she misjudged her ex, but then she’s beating herself up about being a mess, which makes her even more of a mess… It’s a vicious cycle. What she really needs is to be kind to herself. But we both know how difficult that can be.’

Brody grunted in acknowledgement.

‘So, in the meantime, I’m going to step in and do it for her. We all need that, I’ve realized, to be kind to ourselves…’ She drifted off for a moment. ‘For a long time, I wasn’t at all. I think I actually hated myself. Although I’m not sure what for… Being alive when Spencer was dead, maybe? Who knows?’

Brody grunted again. He knew all about this too, the self-hatred, the guilt.

‘Uh-oh,’ Anna suddenly said. He could hear her moving again, and she lowered her voice. ‘Gabi’s come back out of the bathroom. Oh, God. I can hear her crying,’ Anna said, no longer bothering to whisper. ‘I’d better go.’