“Blank canvas,” they said at the same time. A beat passed before they burst out laughing, both of them babbling how exciting it was he’d remembered something new, something so recent, because the paint-meets-naked-back incident had been only a few months ago. I stared at him. His anger at me from the night before had long melted away, his happiness fully restored. By her.

“I’d love your help.” Ash was beaming now. “We can get the supplies and—”

“You shouldn’t trouble yourself with that stuff, Lily,” I said, needing to remind them of my existence.

“Oh, no, it’s no trouble,” she said, smiling. “I’d be happy to help, make sure he doesn’t do too much, too soon. He told me about the concussion. I know he has to be careful.”

“Great, I’ll show you the plans.” Ash turned to her, the bubble of intimacy enveloping them again. I had to get out of there before I threw something. As I muttered about seeing them later and left the kitchen, the air behind me shifted. The relief they felt over my departure was palpable and so thick, I could have served them a slice of it for breakfast. They didn’t want me here. My heart pinched as I pretended to go upstairs before tiptoeing back, getting close enough to hear.

“See? There was nothing to worry about,” Ash said. “She’s overprotective, that’s all. I’m sure once you get to know her, you’ll really like her. Anyway, about the garage...”

As their conversation changed to the project and I crept away, I heard a soft ding coming from Lily’s bag in the hallway. I leaned toward the kitchen, but she and Ash were talking about framing and plasterboard, and she hadn’t heard her phone. I bent over and retrieved it, read the message twinkling on the screen from someone called Sam.

How are things? How’s Jack?

I slid my finger across the phone, tut-tutting at Lily’s lack of proper security as the screen lit up with apps. It quickly became clear she and Sam were nothing more than friends, which was a shame because if she’d been seeing someone else, it would’ve helped me. I scrolled up, reading through more of her messages, did a double take when I found one from her boss. He apologized for having to let her go, and in another, told her he’d have to delay paying her two weeks’ severance. A third text was from her landlord, saying she could have an extra week to pay this month’s rent. Lily had replied she’d get the money as quickly as possible, but when the landlord had inquired the day before if a payment was looking likely, Lily had left the message unanswered.