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‘Love can be mysterious,’ she says quietly. ‘It’s certainly powerful – enough to transcend death? Who are we to say? Maybe, if they were soulmates, he stayed while she was ill, so that they could leave this life together.’
‘You think?’ I frown at her.
‘There’s more to this life than most of us will ever guess at, Jack. You of all people should know that.’ She places a large brown envelope on the table.
I sit down, frowning as I see my name on it.
‘It’s for you,’ Gertie says unnecessarily. ‘And before you open it, firstly, I am not losing my marbles, as my daughter likes to put it. Nor am I acting on impulse. I’ve been thinking about this – for months.’
Picking it up, I stare at the envelope.
‘Open it, for goodness’ sake.’ Gertie sounds impatient.
I pull out the bundle of papers that are inside. As I start reading what appears to be her will, my heart misses a beat. It states Gertie’s leaving me not just my house, but hers, too.
I turn to her. ‘Gertie, this is incredibly generous of you, but you can’t do this.’
‘I can do what I like,’ she says firmly. ‘All my daughter will do is sell them to some developer, who will completely gut them and make a killing. She doesn’t need the money – and I have another sum in trust for my granddaughter. As far as the cottages go, I’d rather you had them – which reminds me, I really need to talk to Elizabeth’s father-in-law. Poor old Ernest. Elizabeth can be very persuasive. He needs to stand up to her.’ She shakes her head.
I’m flummoxed. ‘What if you need care later on?’
‘Oh, don’t worry about that. Firstly, I’m perfectly well – and I’m tough as old boots, as you know. Second, I have no intention of a long-drawn-out career in a care home. If it does come to that, there’s a considerable sum in the bank. More than enough to keep my daughter happy. She’s just going to have to wait to get her hands on it.’ She hesitates. ‘There’s just one thing. If he’s still around, you might have to look after that cat.’
For the first time, I start to see how interconnected we all are, far more so when sometime later, I see Freya driving a flashy blue Jag. When she sees me, she pulls over.
She looks brighter than when I last saw her. ‘How are you, Jack?’
‘Good.’ I frown slightly. ‘Nice car.’
The look on her face is comical. ‘A friend left it to me. His idea of a joke. It’ssonot my kind of car. Forrest would have known that.’
‘Forrest?’It’s an unusual name – but surely she can’t mean Marnie’s Forrest?
She looks wistful for a moment. ‘We used to work together in his father’s law firm. But there was a terrible accident…’
I make a mental note to ask Rae what she knew about Forrest. ‘You look very at home in it.’
‘It would have amused him to see me in it.’ She rolls her eyes. ‘I’ll drive it for a while, but I’m going to sell it and give the money to the animal sanctuary.’
I smile at her. ‘I guess if it’s yours, you can do what you like with it.’ I pause. ‘But he’d probably have wanted you to keep some of it for yourself.’
To my surprise, Marnie leaves me a letter.
I know you’ll forgive me for being blunt, Jack, but this life is so frigging short. Don’t let any more of yours pass you by.
There are two tickets… My last attempt to meddle from beyond the grave. Rae needs to do this, but not alone.
I pick up the piece of paper she’d enclosed within the letter. It’s booking confirmation of two flights to Crete, next spring.
39
BIRDY
Though I only knew her for a year, I will miss her forever. But as I said to Marnie, death is simply a door closing, or a veil drawn. It isn’t the end.
A few days after she leaves this world, I go for a run. Sitting at the bottom of my favourite tree, I think as I always do of her and Forrest, convinced that they’re together. It’s the only way any of this makes sense.
I reach into my pocket for her letter, reading it slowly.
