Page 36 of The Path to the Last House Before the Sea

‘I’ve started seeing someone too,’ Jack blurted out.

Miri’s eyes opened wide. ‘You’re going out with someone?’

‘Yeah, that’s right. I was going to tell you today.’

She didn’t believe him. He could see it in her eyes. And she pitied him for coming up with such a ridiculous falsehood.

‘It’s true,’ he blustered, heaping lie on top of lie. ‘So you don’t need to worry about me.’

You don’t need to pity me.

‘What’s her name?’ asked Miri, folding her arms.

‘What?’

‘What’s the name of the woman you’ve started seeing?’

Jack looked around him, at the sea and the sky and the wheeling seagulls circling overhead like vultures. Every woman’s name he’d ever known had vanished from his head. Every single one, except for Penny. But he couldn’t tell Miri he was seeing someone who happened to have the same name as his late mother. She’d see through that immediately.

Then he spotted her, standing at the quayside, chatting to Claude. A rainbow of colour against the pale stone.

‘Alyssa,’ he said quickly. ‘Her name’s Alyssa and she’s recently moved to Heaven’s Cove.’

‘Alyssa?’ Miri raised an eyebrow. ‘And what does this Alyssa do?’

‘She works in the tourism industry.’

‘Right. So tell me about her.’

‘Well, she’s a bit younger than me.’ Jack tried to concentrate on the lie he was spinning but, out of the corner of his eye, he had noticed that Alyssa had stopped chatting with Claude and was walking in their direction.

He blinked in alarm. There was no reason for Alyssa to come over. She didn’t even like him that much.

But when he blinked again, she was definitely making a beeline straight for them.

EIGHTEEN

JACK

‘Hello there,’ Alyssa said when she reached them. She brushed her dark hair from her eyes before reaching into her canvas bag and pulling out Jack’s jumper.

‘I was going to drop this into the shop. I’ve had it since our walk and keep forgetting to give it back to you.’

‘Thank you.’

Jack grabbed the jumper and dropped it across his knees. He gave Alyssa a tight smile, all the while his eyes urging: Go away! Go away, please!

But it was too late. Miri had leaned forward and was staring intently at her.

‘Hello,’ she said, holding out her hand. ‘I’m Miri, and you are—?’

‘I’m Alyssa. It’s good to meet you.’

‘Alyssa?’ Miri’s mouth twitched into a peculiar smile as they shook hands, her lips all twisted. ‘Not the Alyssa, surely?’

‘I guess so,’ said Alyssa, confusion flitting across her face. ‘The one and only.’

Jack slumped down in his chair, wishing he was anywhere but here.

---