Anna closed her eyes. ‘Oh, Gabs… What have you done now?’

‘I… um… I phoned Lee’s number a few nights ago.’

Anna’s eyelids snapped open. ‘Oh, Gabi! You didn’t! That is a really, really bad—’

‘No, Anna. Wait! I didn’t call Lee – I called his number. It was late at night and I felt lonely and so I… I did what you did.’

‘You did what I did?’

‘Yes. I called the number, even though I guessed it might have been given to someone new. I thought about what you did and thought that maybe… somehow… the magic would work for me too. So I waited until midnight and I dialled.’

Until midnight? Anna slapped her palm to her forehead. Oh, dear. Gabi really had got sucked in by this idea, hadn’t she? ‘And…? What happened?’

Gabi exhaled. ‘Someone answered.’

‘They did?’

‘Yes. And we talked. He gets insomnia too. Like me, he’s lonely… His wife died. And can you believe he lives in Sevenoaks? That’s only ten miles away!’

This is why she needed to start work at BlockTime as soon as possible and develop that app, Anna thought, to find a safe way for people to meet. Suddenly, she saw very clearly why Gabi had been so wary of Brody in the beginning.

‘Are you going to keep talking to him?’

‘Um… I already did…’ Anna could imagine Gabi wincing as she told her this. ‘He’s calling this evening because I promised to do some shopping for him.’

‘Oh, Gabs… Don’t spend any money on this guy! You hardly know him.’

Instead of being affronted, Gabi started to laugh.

‘What’s funny?’ Anna asked, not sure if she was irritated or confused or a little bit of both.

‘He’s not going to scam me!’ Gabi replied. ‘I’m sending him a book of crossword puzzles. He had a hip operation and needs something to do.’

A likely story, Anna thought.

Gabi giggled again. ‘He’s eighty-three, Anna… and very sweet.’

‘Eighty-three,’ Anna echoed, and then she began to laugh too. Well, there wasn’t much else she could do, could she? She was definitely in no place to judge.

‘We’re helping each other,’ Gabi added. ‘Even if he’s not what I expected.’

‘That’s wonderful,’ Anna said, and the more she thought about it, the more she realized how true that was. Gabi was living proof her app idea could work, even if Gabi had gone about it in her own unique way.

‘Also,’ Gabi added more seriously, ‘he keeps talking about his “rather nice” grandson, and I—’

Suddenly, everything went quiet. ‘Gabi? Gabs?’ Anna said, her volume rising. ‘What’s going on?’

‘Turn the TV on! Turn it on right now! BBC One.’

‘But… what’s this got to do with—?’

‘Just do it, Anna!’

Anna picked up the remote and jabbed a button to turn it on to the right channel. All she saw was the regular presenters of one of those early evening entertainment shows with features and news snippets, guests and occasionally a live band. A reporter was doing one of those interviews when an actor or singer had something to promote, the kind filmed not in the studio but in a stylish yet anonymous hotel room.