Page 108 of The Clifftop Cottage

Her face had come to him in that suspended second before the window blew.

The thought landed like a weight in his chest:

If the blast had come sooner. That would have been it.

And she would never have known.

Maybe she was married. Maybe she didn’t want him.

But he couldn’t keep living with the silence between them.

He couldn’t leave things unsaid.

Gabriel reached the end of the road, where the car park met the start of the hill path. Behind him, the town glowed softly in the distance, lights hazy in the mist. Ahead was nothing but dark.

He clicked on his torch. He always carried one in winter as the sheep wandered, and the hill didn’t forgive missteps.

His hands were still shaking. Whether from cold or the comedown, he couldn’t tell.

But he knew where he was going.

The cottage was glowing in the dark – a single warm light in the window, smoke puffing steadily from the chimney. It should have brought comfort. But something else caught his eye.

His torch swept the edge of the hill, across the gorse and heather. Then stopped.

A figure stood still and alone.

His heart leapt.

Her.

Outlined against the horizon, Erica stood at the edge, the sea far below, black and churning. The moon hung low, painting everything in silver-blue.

For a moment, Gabriel froze. He wanted to run. Every instinct screamed for him to get to her. But something in her posture, something still and calm held him back.

He stepped forward slowly, cautiously.

Of all the things Sorcha had ever said – stories, warnings, whispered judgements – none of it mattered now.

No one can tell you how to feel. No one can measure what passes silently between two people.

His voice caught in the wind.

“Come away from the edge!”

She turned slightly. “Gabriel?”

“Yes.”

“You came back?”

He took another step. Slow and careful. “Come away from the edge.”

“I’m not going to jump,” she said quietly.

He didn’t answer that, but watched her turn back to the sea.

“I see it now,” she said. “I’ve been trying to force answers out of silence. I thought, if I dug hard enough something would give.”