Page 109 of The Boathouse By the Loch

She smiled at David. ‘I want to know who I am.’

‘But I know who you are,’ he whispered. ‘You’re the one I love.’

Robyn squeezed his hand. ‘Come on. Let’s put a name to the one you love, eh?’

‘Funny.’ He smiled. ‘All right.’

Chapter 39

She opened the door, and her moral support trooped in. When she closed the door and turned around, she found Marnie sitting in her usual seat, in the home office in her garden, ready for the session, but looking slightly perplexed. She looked around the room. ‘Now, I realise I always recommend a chaperone for moral support, but just how much moral support do you need?’

Sean said, ‘Do you have some extra chairs?’

She smiled at Sean, thankful that he’d agreed to her wishes and let everyone follow in their cars to Marnie’s house. She hadn’t forewarned her. She didn’t want Marnie to refuse to let them all attend. But it was what she wanted. She hadn’t deceived her friends on purpose, but she still felt she owed it to them to be honest. And how much more honest could she be, other than to let her best friends in the world sit in on her hypnotherapy session and finally hear the truth? She had to have them there. It was non-negotiable.

Marnie said, ‘There are my dining room chairs, and some folding garden chairs inside the garden shed.’

Sean nodded. ‘We’ll all go and fetch a seat.’

She looked at her friends, trooping out to fetch a chair each, and said to Marnie, ‘I know this is quite unusual …’

‘It’s not just quite unusual, it’s a first.’

She looked at the paperwork in Marnie’s hands. She’d been given the police report of the car accident. Marnie said, ‘I appreciate your circumstances are unusual too, though.’

She nodded in agreement. ‘I want my friends here. I need them here. They are the loveliest people, who let me, a perfect stranger, into their lives. They’ve got a right to know everything. And if, by chance, I remember today, I want them to hear it firsthand.’

Marnie smiled. ‘It’s fine.’

Once everyone had returned, and sat down, Marnie said, ‘Shall we begin?’

Robyn took a seat on the sofa opposite Marnie, just as she had done before in their sessions. She was feeling anxious; both anxious that it might not work, but also bizarrely anxious that it would. It had only just occurred to her that she might not like her real self. She cast a glance at her friends. They might not like her either.

Marnie caught her attention. ‘Don’t look at your friends. Just focus on me, okay?’

She nodded, putting her hands in her lap, trying to relax.

‘Good.’

‘Now, I want you to repeat these words.’

‘Wait.’ David’s voice cut in.

Marnie rolled her eyes. ‘I’m afraid you will have to leave if you are going to interrupt the session.’

‘Sorry. It’s just …’

Marnie said, ‘What is it?’

David hesitated. ‘This is probably a stupid question, but there’s no risk involved with this, is there?’

‘Well, hypnotherapy is relatively safe, but it doesn’t work for everyone. And there are instances where it does work, perhaps a little too well, and triggers suppressed memories.’

‘But that would be a good thing,’ said David, ‘in the case of Ro … I mean my fiancée.’

‘Perhaps. But some of those memories might be suppressed for a reason. They may be traumatic memories that she’s protecting herself from.’ Marnie paused. ‘Does that answer your question?’

David nodded. ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ he asked Robyn.

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