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I’d like to talk to Henry, but I don’t want to interrupt him while he’s with James, so I just send him a text, telling him I’m sorry and that I’m thinking of them.
He calls me around six. Seeing his name on the screen, I go outside again, not wanting Cam’s parents to hear the call.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” he says. “It’s me.” He sounds tired.
“Hey, sweetheart. How are you?”
“Shattered. What a fucking awful day.”
“God, I’m so sorry.” I sit on the edge of the deck, looking down the garden. “How’s James?”
“Upset. Angry. Devastated. Pretty much what you’d think. He had to go and identify her body.”
“I’m guessing it was her?”
“Yeah. I can’t even think how awful that must have been.”
“What about Leia? Did you pick her up?”
“Yeah. She’s fine. We took her back to his house, and Aroha’s with her now, thank God. She’s got it all in hand. I’m so relieved she was there.”
“She’s got her head screwed on right—she’ll be good for him.”
“Yeah.”
“Are you okay?” I ask softly.
“Yeah. I feel gutted. I can’t believe Maddie’s gone. Twenty-eight is no age.”
“Do you think she took her own life?”
“James thinks it’s possible because of her postnatal depression. I don’t know. I don’t think she would have left Leia alone on the top of that cliff if she was going to jump. But who knows? Either way, it fucking sucks.”
“It does. I’m so sorry.”
He sighs. “We’re going around to see him tonight—me, Alex, and Tyson. We’ll commiserate and get him drunk.”
“And yourselves, no doubt,” I tease.
“Probably.” He doesn’t laugh. “I miss you,” he says. “So fucking much.”
I press my fingers to my mouth. “I miss you too.”
“How’s it going over there?”
“It’s awful. Kathy’s hysterical most of the day. Roy just yells at her to calm down, and that makes her worse.”
“How’s Alan?”
“I think he’s improved a fraction.”
“When’s Cam back?”
“Saturday. I might try to talk to him then. God, what an awful start to the year.”
“Yeah. All right, I’m going to have a shower, then head over to James’s.”
