‘The name isn’t that important. Your grandma says you’ll just know he’s The One. I’m going to…’
I sat upright and paused the CD. ‘Did you hear that?’ Before Elise had a chance to answer, I backtracked it and listened again.
‘… know it’s him? Steven’s a common name.’
‘The name isn’t that important. Your grandma says you’ll just know he’s The One. I’m…’
I stopped it again. ‘The name isn’t that important. The name isn’t that important,’ I repeated. ‘I’ve never noticed that bit before. Have you?’
‘I can’t remember. Possibly. I think I was more excited about the Steven thing and wasn’t concentrating.’
‘What do you think it means? Do you think Madame Louisa was trying to tell me that the man of my dreams might not be called Steven after all? Surely not. I can’t have gone through with the search for Steven for nothing.’ Thoughts of my various encounters raced through my mind. I could have avoided all that.
‘You could certainly take it that way,’ Elise said. ‘But your search wasn’t a waste. It helped you realise that Nick was The One. It helped you finally get Andy out of your system. Plus, you wouldn’t have met Stevie. Now that I’vefinallybeen introduced to him, I can see why you two became such good friends. He’s a lovely guy.’
‘True.’ I smiled. ‘Stevie does cancel out the other rubbish stuff. I wonder if we’ve missed anything else.’ I pressed play again.
‘… I’m going to give you this CD and I suggest you put it somewhere safe and listen to it on your own in a week or so when you can really think about what I’ve said. Or perhaps when you hit your crossroads and it finds its way back into your life.’
Madame Louisa talked about the bracelet then the message from Uncle Alan. There were the familiar sounds of movement as I headed towards the door, the point at which I usually pressed stop. ‘I’ll let it play a bit longer.’
We both cocked our ears towards the speakers, listening out for anything other than static, and both jumped when Madame Louisa spoke again.
‘Oh, Sarah, I can tell you something else about Steven.’
My heart thumped faster.New information!
‘You’ve already met him.’
‘I have? When?’
‘A long time ago. Bye Sarah.’
More static. I cocked my head to listen harder, just in case, but the CD then stopped automatically.
‘That’s definitely it,’ I said. ‘What do you make of that, then?’
‘You’ve met him already? Not that we needed any confirmation but that just proves that Andy wasn’t the real Steven. You hadn’t met him when the CD was made.’
‘True.’
‘Didn’t you say Nick’s grandma lived next door? Could you have met him when you were little?’
I shrugged. ‘It’s possible. Nick says he spent loads of time there as a kid, but neither of us remember meeting each other. I’ll have to ask Auntie Kay about it when she gets home on Thursday.’ I glanced at my watch. ‘Are you okay for time?’
‘I’m yours as long as you need me. How about I continue in the dining room and you tackle your bedroom?’
‘Thanks for this.’ I gave her a hug. ‘This is twice in less than a year that you’ve helped me pack and move. If you and Gary ever move house, I promise to return the favour big time. In the meantime, can I shout you to pizza tonight?’
‘Don’t you and Nick want to enjoy your first evening as official roomies on your own?’
‘We’ll have plenty of other evenings for that. Tonight, I want to say thanks to you. Pizza?’ Elise’s stomach grumbled loudly. ‘I’ll take that as a yes.’
Elise smiled. ‘I’ll text Gary and let him know I’ll be late.’
‘You’re back! I’ve missed you.’ Nick gave me a gentle kiss. ‘Hi Elise. Looks like you could have a little side-line in removals if you ever pack in teaching.’
‘I’m not sure I have the biceps for it,’ she said. ‘But it’s alwaysgood to have a back-up plan. Sarah’s promised to return the favour if I ever move. And she’s invited me for pizza but I can leave if you’d rather be alone.’
