Page 45 of And Then There Was You

Thirty-Nine Merryn

Ten days after the appeal went live – just as I was beginning to think it wasn’t going to work – things start to happen.

Calls and emails begin to trickle into the Cornwall Daily News office – sightings of Grant, claims from supposed exes, stories from former employers. As the days pass, the trickle becomes a steady stream, Zanna and her colleagues following up each potential new lead.

Zanna reports back as often as she can, occasionally coming to the café for in-person briefings.

She’s buoyed by the response so far and her editor is delighted.

Updates of the Cornwall Daily News campaign receive record numbers of hits for their website, easily smashing their previous top stories for engagement.

With every positive sign, my hope becomes a little stronger. And with every late-night meeting with Zach, my feelings for him increase. We’re closer since our surfing lesson, the experience binding us to each other. Watching him reclaim his greatest love is beautiful.

He plays Merlin tonight as I sit beside him; stealing kisses between tunes. I still can’t touch the keys: it’s become a point of principle now the search is officially underway. Until I know for certain – or the search fails to find Grant – I won’t say goodbye.

After a while, Zach starts to play a slow, gentle song his mum used to sing to him and his sister. He’s forgotten the title and the words, but the shy, gentle way he hums the melody close to me is much better than anything he could perform.

‘I love that,’ I murmur, leaning my head against his arm as he plays.

‘Elowen and I would catch her singing it to herself when she thought nobody was watching. It was her song and singing it made her feel better. Even at the end, when she couldn’t dance around her kitchen as she used to, she still hummed it to herself every day.’

‘She sounds wonderful.’

‘She was. She would have loved you.’ He dips his head as I look up, our kiss lingering, unhurried.

‘Side gate was open so I just . . .’

We spring apart, to see Seth standing at the edge of the courtyard.

‘What are you doing here?’ I ask, nerves shivering through my question. Seth knows about us but this is the first time he’s seen us together.

‘I heard the music from the flat and I thought—’ he runs a hand through his hair ‘—I thought it was you.’

‘Zach’s the one playing,’ I reply.

‘Figures.’

‘What’s that supposed to mean?’ Zach asks – and I feel a spark of uncomfortable energy ignite between them.

‘Okay, easy tiger! I’m not here to spoil your fun.’

They eyeball each other as the courtyard falls silent.

‘Was there something you wanted?’ I rush, on edge now.

‘Yeah, actually, while Zach’s here. I don’t think this search for Grant Henderson is wise. I’ve tried to ignore my reservations, but I can’t. You’re goin’ to get hurt, Mer, and I wouldn’t be your friend if I didn’t warn you.’

‘How do you know she’ll get hurt?’ Zach counters.

‘Because the guy clearly doesn’t want to be found.’

‘And you’ve deduced that how, exactly?’

‘Zach,’ I warn, my hand resting on his shoulder.

‘No, he’s out of line. There have been sightings, Seth. Several. Zanna and the Cornwall Daily News team are investigating them now. I’d say we’re on exactly the right path.’

‘You would.’

‘Sorry?’

‘Seth – Zach’s right. The search is gaining momentum now. Zanna thinks they’re onto something.’

‘Zanna just wants a juicy story.’ He jabs a finger towards Zach. ‘And he wants to bask in the glory of it.’

Zach’s on his feet now. ‘You’re talking bollocks, mate.’

‘I’m not your mate .’

‘It’s what I want, Seth,’ I return, aware I’m now on a precipice between two colliding storms.

‘Yeah, Seth , this is none of your business.’

‘It is when my best friend is being played.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘I said played , you failed surfer.’

‘Come here and say that again.’

‘Oh, I would, if I didn’t think you’d run away like a snivellin’ little kid . . .’

‘Seth, stop it!’

‘You jealous, Hartley?’

‘Of you?’ He snorts. ‘Do me a favour.’

‘That’s exactly what this is.’ Zach squares up to him, leaning a little closer. ‘You don’t want Merryn to rely on anyone except you. It’s pathetic.’

‘She’s relied on me for years before you blew into town.’

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Are they seriously squabbling over me like I’m a trophy?

‘Stop it!’ I yell.

‘Tell him, not me.’ Seth is inches from Zach now. ‘I’m not the one usin’ a memory of a random guy to get you into bed.’

‘And I’m not the one who failed to help her find him for years.’

‘Enough, both of you!’ I hate this. I’m not even sure it’s about me now, the two of them posturing like complete idiots.

‘You’ve got a bleddy nerve, Trevelyan. You appear out of nowhere, disrupt Mer’s event, see an opportunity in her, then slither back like the snake you are.

Foolin’ her. Gettin’ her to agree to this public humiliation in the Daily News , like some desperate maid too thick to work out that the bloke didn’t care about her . . .’

‘Get out, Seth,’ I growl, shocked by what he really thinks of the appeal to find Grant.

‘I ain’t leavin’, Mer. Not until he admits it.’

‘Admit what? That I care for her? That I want her to find this guy? That I want to be by her side when it happens?’ Zach throws up his hands in mock surrender. ‘Guilty as charged!’

‘What’s it for, Zachy? One more shot at glory? So you can pretend you still matter?’

‘Oh, I matter. Unlike you.’

‘I said, enough!’ I push between them. ‘Seth, go home. Zach, I think you should, too.’

‘He’s being a dick.’

‘You both are!’ I’m stung by the way they’ve casually commandeered me and my search for Grant to use as cheap ammunition against each other. The words they’ve said can’t be taken back. ‘I will not be collateral damage in your stupid little row. Get out, both of you.’

Zach’s scowl fades for a moment. ‘Mer, I’m sorry. I’m just trying to defend you.’

‘I don’t want to be defended like that.’

Minutes ago I wanted to be as close as I could to Zach. Now, I just want to be alone. How has so much changed in so little time?

‘Okay. I’ll give you some space. See you tomorrow.’

He tries to kiss me, but I look away. I feel his wounded stare seeking my attention, but he’s hurt me and I don’t have the will to deal with it now. The calmness of the evening has been shattered, the promise of time with Zach stolen by a stupid, unnecessary fight.

He’s almost at the door when my so-called best friend calls after him. ‘Run away, Trevelyan, like the washed-up little coward you are.’

I don’t even see it start, the speed with which Zach charges at Seth shocking. He slams his fist into Seth’s stomach, knocking air from him as he tumbles back, crashing into a table and sending the chairs propped up on its surface scattering across the floor.

I yell at them to stop, but they’re not listening.

Seth scrambles to his feet and lunges at Zach, his punch aimed at Zach’s eye. He yelps and covers it with one hand, the other raised to defend himself from the blows Seth rains down on his torso.

They crash through the courtyard, displacing tables and upending chairs. Seth snatches one up and swings it like a hammer. There’s a sudden explosion, a splintering of wood and an agonising metallic clang.

Shocked, Seth steps back – and my heart splinters like the gaping hole in the right side of the piano. The wave and stars I painted there smashed away.

It breaks something within me.

‘Get out,’ I say.

‘Mer, I didn’t mean to . . .’

I don’t look at Seth. Or Zach. My beautiful, hopeful piano, that found its way back to me, sits broken and scarred, shards of wood and smashed keys strewn like shrapnel around its feet. Grant’s piano – the only link to him I have.

‘Get . . . out . . .’ I bite the syllables like bitter bullets as they leave me.

‘He owes you an apology,’ Zach begins. ‘You should . . .’

‘You smashed the one thing of his I still have,’ I fire back. ‘I don’t want anything from you now. Either of you.’

‘You don’t mean that . . .’

‘Get out! And don’t come back!’

They say nothing as they shuffle towards the café door. Zach opens it and looks back, but I stare through him.

‘I’m sorry.’ He frowns, walking out.

As he leaves, Seth turns, holding his arms out to me. ‘He went for me. You saw it, clear as day. The bloke’s a liability, bird. You should steer clear.’

‘You too.’

‘What?’

Shaking with rage so strong it scares me, I walk towards him, Seth tripping as he scrambles out of my reach. ‘Go. Leave me alone. We are done, Seth. You can’t come back from this.’

‘But if I just . . .’

‘GET OUT!’

I slam the door after him, locking the bolts and stumbling back through to the courtyard as hot tears flood my face. Merlin’s broken body is where they left it, an unfair casualty of their stupid war.

Carefully, I lean down and pick up every piece of wood and every broken key from the sawdust-covered slate, cradling each one like a treasured former promise.

Flecks of paint fall across my palm, fragments of what can never again be part of the piano.

Splashes of saltwater drop between them, joining in rivulets that follow the contours of my skin.

It feels like a death.

Like losing Grant all over again.

Only this time, Zach and Seth are gone, too. Sent packing from my life because their petty squabble destroyed my faith in them. I can’t count on them any longer.

And I don’t know where to go from here.