Page 154 of The Last Love Song
‘No less than you deserved.’
‘I don’t know about that. Nothing ever happened between me and Lulu, you know.’
‘If you say so.’
‘I’m sorry, Sorcha.’
‘So am I.’ She was feeling better and wanted to leave. She swung her legs off the sofa.
‘Do you have to go?’
‘I...oh, Con.’ Tears filled her eyes.
‘Don’t cry, Sorcha, please. I can’t bear it when you cry and I know it’s me who’s responsible.’
He sat down next to her and rested a hand on hers.
‘I...I’ve written a song. For you. I’ve been down here messing around with it before it’s recorded properly next week. Would you listen to it for me?’
Sorcha sniffed. ‘If you really want me to.’
‘I do.’
‘Okay. Let me go to the ladies’ to tidy myself up a bit.’
‘Sure.’
Con gave her a weak smile as she left the room. He shivered, then grabbed Derek’s cardigan and put it on. He sat down in front of the console to rewind the tape.
Sorcha splashed her face with cold water and replenished her lipstick. Seeing him again was so painful. She’d listen to his song, then find Helen and leave.
‘It’s called “Losing You”. Ready?’
‘Sure.’
She went to sit down on the sofa as he pressed the play button, his back towards her on the stool in front of the recording console. She heard the strains of a soft guitar through the speakers.
‘Losing you, after all these years of loving you,
Is the hardest thing I’ve ever been through.
And it’s true, after all the things I’ve said to you,
And the way that I’ve been cruel to you,
What else could I expect you to do?
Losing you, losing you.’
Sorcha’s eyes began to fill with tears as Con started to sing along to his own voice.
‘So I’ll try, for as long as it might take me,
And if you don’t return, it’ll break me.
I love you.
Please come home, for the home is where the heart is.
