Page 89 of The Boathouse By the Loch

‘My bike.’

‘You named your bike?’

‘Of course. Haven’t you named yours?’

He’d laughed at that. ‘No. But I did name my sports car.’

‘Sorry about that.’

He’d taken her in his arms and said, ‘Don’t ever apologise for the accident that totalled my car. If it wasn’t for that, I would never have met you.’

Robyn frowned when she recalled that conversation.

‘What is it?’ David asked, taking her hand and following her gaze up to the balcony.

‘I was thinking of last night.’

‘You don’t regret what you said, do you, about this being home now?’

‘Of course not. It’s just … I’m scared about my memories coming back,’ she confided. She wondered if she’d done the right thing, seeing the hypnotherapist. She’d been afraid it wouldn’t work. Now she was afraid it would. ‘What if you don’t like the real me?’

‘The real you?’ David scoffed. ‘I know the real you. Whatever happened in your past, whoever you were before you came here, I know you, Robyn Parker, and I will always love you.’

Robyn bit her lower lip.

‘Robyn?’ He gently lifted her chin.

‘I wish the week hadn’t flown by.’

David grinned. ‘Well, so do I.’

What Robyn also wished was that her mum wasn’t on her way to see her.

Judith had left a message on the answerphone to say she was on her way and would be with them on Friday, giving the time her plane would land for them to collect her. Robyn had written in her letter that they would be at the airport to collect her. All they’d need to know was when.

Robyn didn’t think it was ideal, her mum arriving on the day of the party. She wanted to spend some time with her, just the two of them, but for some reason David had insisted the party was that week – on Friday night, preferably, when he was sure everyone could make it. Besides, he’d said she would have plenty of time to spend with Judith in the days following the party.

Robyn was thinking about that phone message. It was the first time she’d heard her mum’s voice since … well, she couldn’t remember. They’d been out when she’d called. Robyn had been strangely nervous about talking to her, so she had been relieved that she’d left a message. What would she say? How would she explain her memory loss? Gayle had suggested that seeing her mum might trigger her memories. But it did not bode well that, despite playing that message over and over, there was no inkling of recognition; all she heard was a stranger’s voice.

Chapter 31

Robyn stood in the airport, feeling anxious. The plane had landed some fifteen minutes earlier, but they were still waiting for Judith in the arrivals hall. David stood beside her, holding her hand reassuringly. ‘She’s still got to collect her luggage and go through passport control, so we’ll just have to wait. I’m sure she won’t be long.’

Robyn took a deep breath when she saw passengers start to trickle into the arrivals hall. She watched as some ran into the arms of their waiting relatives and friends, reuniting with their loved ones. She smiled. That would be her and her mum at any moment.

‘Is that her?’ David asked.

A tall, slim, middle-aged lady, looking tanned and wearing blue chinos, a white blouse, strappy sandals, and sunglasses on her head, had walked into the arrivals hall carrying on old suitcase covered in stickers. Robyn thought it looked familiar. ‘That suitcase looks just like yours, Robyn. It’s her – isn’t it?’

Robyn watched as the lady stopped in the middle of the arrivals hall and put down the heavy old brown leather case. She had a small handbag over one shoulder and stood holding a large, bright pink sun hat.

Then David was no longer by Robyn’s side but striding up to the lady with the sun hat, a welcoming smile on his face.

No, wait!Robyn wanted to say. She had the sudden impulse to bolt right out of the airport. She watched from afar as David greeted her stepmother. Robyn hadn’t filled David in on the fact that Judith was her stepmum. She’d only discovered this in the past few days, and was just digesting the fact herself. She had planned to tell him, but stupidly she’d left it, and then hadn’t felt at all talkative on the way to the airport. Robyn hadn’t just spent the past week having a holiday and preparing for the party that evening. Seeing her therapist had encouraged her to search through all her belongings, and find her old diary, the one kept in an old shoe box, thinking that after all these months, since she’d looked at it last, something might jog her memory.

The last time she’d looked at it was when she’d left the hospital with Gayle months earlier to go and live at Lark Lodge. When she’d gone through her things and found the diary, it hadn’t been quite what she’d expected. It was just full of sketches of things she’d done, places she’d been, and in some cases her feelings. She’d taken a cursory glance through it until she came across a pencil sketch that stood out – it was a sketch of Wilbur’s Bookstore, with two women sitting in the window.

Gayle had taken her to visit the bookshop, which had been closed over Christmas, but it wasn’t until she’d revisited the bookshop when it had reopened after Christmas that a memory had resurfaced. At least, she’d presumed it was a memory. She’d sat in the window of the bookstore the previous Christmas with a woman – she was sure of it. Beyond that, she had no clue. But she had avoided the place after that, avoiding her memories.

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