Page 53 of The Beach Holiday

NOW

Bruno. Why was he here? Did he think that I would have forgotten what he did, that he could just creep back into my life and use my amnesia to hoodwink me into thinking that things hadn’t been as bad as they had been between us?

‘I don’t think Sadie is ready to hear all of this right now, Bruno,’ Jane says with concern in her voice. ‘I think she has heard so much already and what with seeing you and all those memories, she must be exhausted.’ She looks at me. ‘Are you exhausted, Sadie?’

I look at Jane but I am through with words.

Bruno is now up and pacing the room.

I am tired of everyone looking at me like I am a delicate little flower that would break if handled too much. The initial memory loss of my family was hard, but as I have begun to come back to myself, I’m now mostly terrified to tell them anything about the island or Bruno.

‘I am sure things will start to come back to you soon, my love, and when they do we can put all this behind us and move on with our lives. We can plan our wedding.’ He takes a chance and leans in and kisses me lightly on my cheek.

‘Sorry, I’ve been wanting to do that for so long, I’ve missed you, Sadie, so much. ’

‘Bruno,’ I say suddenly, clearly and loud enough that everyone can hear.

Bruno looks at me, a mixture of bewilderment and something else. Recognition. He can see what he saw in me before. When I decided I wasn’t going to take any more.

‘I would appreciate it very much if you would leave and never come back.’

I stand and listen to the commotion around me, cries of disbelief from Bruno and apologies from my mum.

Jane reads the signs and is already ushering Bruno out of the room. He says his goodbyes and then Jane takes me to my bedroom. It is not actually my bedroom anymore, but the room I’d had before I moved out a few years ago.

Once Jane has left me, closing the door behind her, I fall onto the bed and cry a mixture of tears of relief and anger.

I had forgotten the strength I had within me.

Avril had used my vulnerabilities to dupe me to go to Totini.

It had all been a trap from the outset. But it was I who was instrumental in everything that happened in the end.