That’s the kind of question my dreams are made of. ‘I think I’ll wait.’
‘Good choice,’ she says, and then blurts, ‘But just so you know the ballpark, it’s a substantial six figures.’
I go still. I manage to hold it together long enough for us to have a collective gasp and make plans to speak again on Monday afternoon, and then I end the call and stare out across the bay, my heart racing like a runaway train. My book is selling at auction and there’s a bidding war. Have I even understood this turn of events correctly? I have, I know I have. I slide down off the rock and plant my feet shoulder-width apart, hands on my hips. If ever there was a time for the superhero pose, this is it. I feel bloody magnificent.
Later, I stand on the porch with my usual last-call whiskey, a midnight toast to the stars and my own good fortune. I can barely believe I’ve been here for almost six months now.
I’m officially an island woman, someone who knows the tide times and takes pleasure in watching the seasons unfurl. Do I miss my London life? Every now and then, for about five minutes. The internet here is shit and my Mac eyeliner has run out, but those things aside, Salvation wins hands down. Abbie, my agent, thinks my moving here is the craziest, coolest thing she’s ever heard, especially since I’ve written a book about a girl who runs away to a remote island to self-couple and never goes home again. I heard her sharp intake of breath when I told her what inspired it; I could practically hear her pitch letter writing itself.
It’s been a fairly clear day, but there’s snow in the overnight forecast, so I’ve stocked up in preparation of hunkering down for a few days. I’m childishly hoping to wake to my first island snowfall.
‘Goodnight, Salvation,’ I raise my glass. ‘See you in the morning.’ I drain the last of my whiskey and head inside.
Something wakes me just before dawn – a noise. Driftwood blowing around on the beach, I think. Feeling for my phone in the semi-darkness, I see it’s just turned six, and I’m caught in that delicious space between falling back to sleep and getting up to peep out of the window to see if it’s started to snow yet. I can’t fight the urge to let my eyelids drift down; I’m warm and blissfully comfortable, and then I open my eyes abruptly again and lie perfectly still because someone is knocking at the door. It isn’t an emergency kind of knock. More of a light, ‘are you awake?’ sort of tap. I sit up and push my feet inside my fur boots, wrapping the patchwork blanket around my shoulders as I cross to the door and pull the bolt back.
‘Hang on,’ I say. ‘I’m coming.’
My money’s on Barney, at Delta’s behest, come to insist I wait out the snowstorm at the pub, or Cameron bringing extra supplies at Brianne’s insistence. I’m just about to drag the door back, and then I stop and hold my breath, because I can hear music. My fingers pause on the catch. Bruce Springsteen is playing the harmonica. I squeeze my eyes closed for a second and listen, my forehead resting on the door, shaky fingers pressed against the beginnings of my smile. And then I swing the door slowly open, knowing it isn’t going to be Barney or Cameron standing on the porch.
‘Mack.’
‘You didn’t come to the exhibition.’ He pulls a large black photograph album from inside his coat and places it in my hands. ‘So I brought the exhibition to you.’
‘You came three thousand miles to give me this?’
He smiles, those beautiful odd eyes of his, gentle. ‘I’ve been having trouble sleeping.’
I’m overwhelmed by the unexpectedness of him, by the wash of pure relief that slides through my veins at being in his orbit again. Narnia snowflakes fall steadily around the lodge, melting on the shoulders of his stupid red coat. ‘How … when …？’ I can’t formulate the questions queuing up behind my soaring, absolute joy. I want to hurl myself into his arms, pull him inside into the warmth of the bed, but I don’t do any of those things because I don’t know what’s going on here yet. I put the album down and gather the patchwork blanket closer as I lean my shoulder against the door frame. ‘What’s been keeping you awake?’
‘Ah,’ he says, running his hand over his snow-damp hair. ‘Well, my watch isn’t right. I keep it set to Salvation time so I know what time it is where you are.’
I tuck my foot behind my ankle and look down. God, Mack Sullivan, you sure know how to deliver a line.
‘Cleo, my life’s complicated and messy, but I’m a different man because of our time together. Susie kissed me on Christmas Eve and I couldn’t kiss her back because I wanted it to be you.’