‘And Spencer saw things other people missed?’

‘Exactly. Other people called him a high-flyer, but he said he could only fly so high because I grounded him, because I was his anchor. That’s what I mean when I say we were soul mates,’ she said, and Brody imagined her giving a tiny shrug. ‘We just fit together. It was easy… Effortless. And we made each other better. It wasn’t until I met Spencer that I really realized who I was.’

‘No one should need someone else to tell them who they are, Anna.’

‘It wasn’t that,’ she replied, a hint of defensiveness in her tone. ‘He just loved me for who I was, let me be me.’ She sighed. ‘And now he’s not here anymore. Losing him has changed me fundamentally. I won’t ever be the same.’

He nodded. ‘You’re right. You probably won’t.’

And then he regretted being so blunt. He’d spent too long in his own company, had forgotten that other human beings didn’t always appreciate such a straightforward approach.

But all Anna said, with a smile in her voice, was, ‘Gee, Brody! Thanks for the pep talk!’ He found himself laughing, and she joined in with him. When they both had fallen quiet again, she said, ‘I have another question…’

Brody braced himself. He wasn’t used to having deep, meaningful conversations late into the night, not unless you counted the odd philosophical debate with his furry companion.

‘Why did you call your dog Lewis?’

Brody smiled. It was as if she’d read his mind. ‘After C. S. Lewis, the author of the Narnia books.’

‘Oh… I loved those as a child. It took me years before I could stop checking the back of wardrobes just to see if there were fir trees and snow there.’

‘Me too.’ He liked that they had that in common. ‘Why do you ask? About Lewis?’

‘When he was younger, Spencer also had a dog called Lewis. I was curious to know if you’d named him for the same reason.’

‘And how did the other Lewis get his name?’

Anna chuckled again. ‘After Lewis Hamilton. Spencer worshipped that man – followed his career right from his karting days.’

Brody shrugged to himself. Not a bad choice. ‘I suppose he’s very good at Formula One, but worship might be taking it a bit too far.’

‘That’s what I thought,’ she said cheerfully, then sobered slightly. ‘The year Spencer died, I’d planned a surprise for his birthday. I’d booked for him to drive a high-performance car at Brands Hatch, but he never got to do it. The company was wonderful about it, though. They gave me a voucher to use another time, no expiry date or anything.’

‘Did you use it?’

She sighed again. ‘I’ve been meaning to give it to my brotherin-law, but I keep forgetting. I think it’s sitting in a drawer somewhere… That’s the funny thing about the future, isn’t it? We have all these plans, some small, some grand, but things don’t always work out the way we expect them to.’