‘A man died,’ Ben replied. ‘I set that in motion, and no matter what I tried, I couldn’t fix it. Even if I didn’t push him, what I started caused his death. I needed to pay a price for his life. For my own peace of mind.’

He was an honourable man. A good man.

‘I still don’t understand how can you forgive me,’ she said anxiously.

‘Harri,’ he paused and looked at her with all the love and longing she’d seen in his eyes the first time they met, ‘you’ve been there for me ever since I was a child. You came to help me. To find out what happened to my parents. They live in here.’ He touched his chest. ‘That’s where my mum and dad are. They’re always with me, watching over everything I do. That’s what you told me. You tried to make me feel better, because you’re good and decent and full of love. Everything you did, you did with the best of intentions. Any wrong you did me was because I didn’t tell you the whole truth. I couldn’t. You’re decent, smart and beautiful, and you have a kind heart. Fate put us together, Harri, and I don’t know what I would have done if it hadn’t. You remember that day you came to Longhaven? “Where do I put all the love I have for them?” That’s what I asked you. I know now. I’ve known for a long time. You fill the space in my heart. You make me whole.’

Harri couldn’t stop the tears from coming, but she was beaming so brightly she felt as though her entire face was a smile.

‘I love you,’ he went on. ‘I’ve loved you since the moment we met in the cafe. You were everything I’d hoped for. Everything I’d ever dreamed of. My life is fractured, distorted, broken, the pieces of my existence scattered across centuries, but one moment has kept me sane. This moment. The prospect of standing here with you in my arms. I love you, Harri. I always will.’

She cried with a sense of contentment that had eluded her for years.

‘I love you too,’ she said, but the words didn’t seem big enough to contain her feelings for him, so she leaned forward and kissed him, and he held her in his arms and for the first time in forever, everything felt right.

She wished the moment would never end, but time wound on and eventually she took a breath and wiped her eyes.

‘So what happens now?’ Harri asked.

Ben put his arms around her waist.

‘I don’t know. My younger self never sees what happens once he leaves the cave and goes back in time. This is the first time I haven’t known what’s going to happen since I was twenty-one. I’m blind to the future. I suppose we figure it out together.’

He gestured at the cliff and the wide open sea and big sky. ‘This is ours.’ He turned to the Elsewhere House. ‘And if you like it, this is our home. Where we can really get to know each other.’