He settled into his chair, staring at the windows of his study, the night so dark it seemed as if someone had painted them black from the outside. ‘Fire away.’

‘Do you believe in soul mates? You know, one person for life… forever?’

He pondered her question for a moment. ‘Not really.’

‘Thank you,’ she said. ‘I needed to hear you say that before I could be really sure about what I thought. Everyone has given me tips on how to wrap my head around grief, told me how I should be feeling, but it’s made it difficult to pin down what I really think about things. Important things.’

Brody nodded. Oh, those well-meaning souls… He knew the sort well. ‘And what do you think, Anna?’

‘That Spencer was my soul mate.’

‘How did you know?’ It wasn’t a question filled with judgement or scorn. He genuinely wanted to hear her answer.

‘I just did,’ she said wistfully, ‘right from the very first time I met him.’

‘You fell in love at first sight?’ Okay, now he was sceptical.

‘If that’s what you want to call it. Although, I didn’t think of it that way at the time. I wouldn’t let myself. I mean, it’s stupid, right? Fairy tale stuff.’

Brody gave her a grunt in lieu of a proper answer. It communicated his position just as effectively.

‘Seeing him for the first time was like running into a brick wall at full pelt. I mean, physically – I actually lost my balance – and then I started getting all breathless and the soles of my feet began to burn. I tried to act normally, to say hello, and I just couldn’t do it.’ She laughed softly. ‘But neither could he… That was when I knew that was it. This was him.’

Brody frowned. ‘Sounds to me like you’re talking about physical attraction.’

Anna let out a laugh. ‘I should have guessed that you’re a cynic.’

‘Yes, I am,’ he said. ‘And proud of it.’

She sighed.

‘Okay,’ he said. ‘Prove me wrong. What was it about him that convinced you he was…’ – he paused slightly, finding it harder than he would have expected to say the next words – ‘the One? What made you the perfect match?’

Anna went silent for a while. He could almost hear her thinking. ‘I suppose, on paper, it shouldn’t have worked. We’re very different. I’m shy, but he was a complete extrovert, full of beans and always coming up with crazy plans and schemes. Spencer was a dreamer, and that’s what I loved about him: his imagination, his passion. That, and the fact that while other people might have thought I was black-and-white compared to his technicolor, he didn’t. He believed in me in a way no one else ever had.’

‘I can see why you – or anyone – would be won over by that kind of support.’

‘It was more than just “support”,’ she replied. ‘It meant everything to me. When you’re shy, it’s easy for people not to see you. They think they do, but they don’t.’