The Little Island Secret by Emma Davies

Author:Emma Davies [Davies, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781800194298
Published: 2021-07-20T22:00:00+00:00

15

I stare at the man in front of me. A man who shouldn’t be here. A man who shouldn’t be anywhere. My heart is a traitor, leaping wildly in hope when I know it should not, taking me somewhere I don’t want to go. Dredging up feelings I’ve fought so hard to move on from. Cam is dead, I remind myself. Cam is… standing in front of me.

I meet his panicked eyes. Watch as he rakes a hand through his dark hair.

‘I can explain…’

But he can’t. There’s nothing he could say that will possibly make this any better. He lied to me.

And then I stop, eyes widening even further as I force my brain to make sense of it all. A sliver of fear curls around the back of my neck. There is something terribly wrong about all of this, and I have a sudden urge to get both Beth and me away from here.

‘Mum, wait!’ Beth is standing in the middle of the car park, staring with horror at Cam, then back at me.

But I don’t give her the chance to say any more. Instead, I grab hold of her arm to pull her along behind me. She drags at my jacket, trying to turn around to see Cam, and I can’t begin to imagine what her head is making of this. The holiday that I’d planned for us both as a retreat from the real world and all its problems has just become a nightmare.

‘Abby, please!’ Cam’s voice is a plaintive cry from behind me. ‘Let me talk to you… Abby!’ There’s a loud expletive which makes me wince. ‘Look, I’m not Cam, okay? I’m…’ He trails off as I continue to put distance between us. ‘Abby, it’s Alfie. I’m Alfie. We spoke before… his friend.’ His voice is resigned. Flat. Beaten.

I whirl around, scarcely understanding what I’m hearing. ‘Alfie? But how can you be Alfie? You’re Cam, you’re… dead,’ I finish lamely.

He stands there: jeans, a checked shirt, sleeves rolled up with arms dangling by his sides as if he no longer has any use for them. But his face is stricken. He takes two steps towards me, but I instinctively wrap my arms around Beth. That he isn’t Cam doesn’t make this better, it… And the full import of what he’s said hits me. Did Cam even exist at all?

It’s all been lies, all of it. The emails, the jokes, the laughter. The confidences, the endearments, the friendship, the love. All of it. And I’ve been played all along. Played like a fool.

He’s still looking at me, an imploring expression on his face, but he makes no move to close the distance between us. He’s struggling to speak, he knows he has to say something, but he’s not quick enough to come up with anything on the fly. And I see the realisation hit home. He turns on his heel and climbs back inside the van, starting it up and gunning the engine as he pulls away with a roar.

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