Page 79 of The Love Hack

And if I’d been too thick to notice those clues, Ross’s presence here should have filled in the final gap. But it hadn’t.

‘Oh,’ I said. ‘Oh. It’s the eleventh of September.’

He nodded.

‘And you had to come here – you had to be here today because…’

‘Shall we go and get a coffee?’ he asked. ‘Somewhere not here?’

‘Of course. Let’s go.’

We threaded our way through the knots of people towards the exit and left the park. Beyond the shelter of the trees, the sun was fierce and I could feel the warmth of the sidewalk coming up through the soles of my shoes.

‘You know what New Yorkers say?’ Ross was smiling slightly. ‘It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.’

‘It certainly is,’ I agreed, relieved that he didn’t appear to be actually furious with me.

For the first time since I’d arrived in the city, I didn’t need to worry about finding my own way around – I just walked where Ross walked, our shoulders almost but not quite touching, turning corners and crossing streets together in silence amid the lunchtime bustle.

He led us down a side street – a quiet, unassuming road that seemed miles from the tourist trail even though it was still the centre of town. The pavements were lined with a mix of small stores selling vintage clothing, Asian food ingredients and secondhand furniture. Right at the end, we came to a diner, and Ross opened the door for me and led us to a Formica-topped table with two metal-topped chairs on either side, a steel napkin dispenser and bottles of ketchup and mustard on its top.

‘This do?’ he said. ‘It’s not much, but it’s where I always come.’

‘Sure. It looks great.’

I was hungry, I realised, and thirsty and footsore from all the miles I’d walked. I was also tired – the confrontation with Amelie and now this encounter with Ross had left me feeling bewildered and wrung out, as if my brain had taken in all the surprises it could hold.

But I knew there was another surprise in store for me – or not really a surprise any more, given what his presence and his silence had already told me.

We sat down and a waitress brought us glasses of iced water. I took a grateful gulp and Ross did the same.

‘You hungry?’ he asked. ‘The grilled cheese is great.’

I nodded and he ordered for us both.

‘Do you always come here?’ I guessed.

‘Yeah. Sorry, I didn’t include in my tour guide recommendations. It’s not exactly the Top of the Rock.’

‘Or Katz’s Deli.’

He smiled. ‘Right? But it’s where I always used to come with my dad.’

‘Do you want to talk about him?’ I asked.

He nodded. ‘I guess I should explain. It’s not a long story, really. He was a firefighter.’

I felt a coldness settle in my stomach that had nothing to do with the iced water. ‘And he was… there?’

‘On 9/11. Yeah, he was. He was one of the lucky ones, in theory. He wasn’t on shift when the planes hit the towers, so he wasn’t involved in the initial response. But they were all called in, of course. He spent hours and hours there, afterwards. But he survived.’

I thought of the scenes I’d seen on television – the planes hitting, the clouds of smoke, the chaos. I remembered Mum and Dad trying to explain to me and Amelie what was happening, but the memory was vague – it was a long time ago, we’d both been small girls, and they’d tried to make what they told us age-appropriate, not the stuff of nightmares it was.

Ross hadn’t had the luxury of that emotional shelter.

‘I was eight,’ he went on. ‘I mean, I knew Dad’s job was dangerous. But it was also kind of cool, having a father in the fire service. I never thought anything bad would happen to him. And like I say, it didn’t. Not right away. He was lucky and I was too. But afterwards – I mean, it wasn’t just one day, you know.’

I nodded. ‘It must have taken a long time. The rescue mission, I mean.’

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