Page 65 of The Thief

She appeared moments later, standing by the table, waiting in anticipation for what it could be.

“Did you buy me a present?”

“I brought you a present. But I didn’tbuyit. It was given to me a long time ago, by someone very special.”

He reached into his pocket, and when I saw what he pulled out, all the air left my lungs, and my heart skipped a beat as I realised what it was.

My purse.

The one I’d thrown at him all those years ago when we’d argued in the street.

A pink silk purse with flowers embroidered on the front and a zip on top that I used to use for my school dinner money.

“That’s so pretty,” Ava remarked, as she reached to take it from him, stroking her little fingers over the flower design.

I couldn’t speak. My mouth had gone dry.

What on earth was happening?

I felt like I was being transported back in time, but everything was changing, morphing into a different history to the one I knew. A better history.

“I thought you could put the key in it. The one you keep under your pillow. A special purse for a special key.” Tyler watched Ava closely as she opened the purse, but I could feel the emotions circling in the air. The words he wanted to say, waiting to spill out when I was ready to hear them. Words meant only for us.

“There’s some money in it too.” Ava reached inside and took out the coins, tipping them onto the table to look at them.

“That must be treasure,” Tyler exclaimed. “I was given that purse years and years ago, you see, and I never opened it. Those coins might be rare now. You should keep them in there with the key.”

I couldn’t stop myself from gasping.

I couldn’t believe he’d kept it all these years.

He’d never opened it.

I was lost for words.

“I will keep them,” Ava replied, placing each coin back into the purse like they were made of solid gold. “Thank you, Tyler.” She beamed at him, and he smiled back.

“I think that purse was always meant for you. I was just holding onto it until I met you.”

Damn, he knew how to play on my heart strings.

Ava tilted her head, not really understanding what he meant. Then growing impatient to take it to her room, she launched herself on him, giving him and hug, then said another, “Thank you,” and raced out of the kitchen, her little legs stomping on each step of the stairs as she ran up.

Slowly, Tyler’s eyes found mine, and we just stared at each other.

Fourteen years ago, I threw that purse at him and stormedoff, shouting something about him keeping it as a reminder of what a thief I thought he was.

And he’d held onto it. Keeping it just the way it was on that day all those years ago.

“You kept it,” I said quietly, my voice cracking with emotion.

“Of course I did,” he replied. “It was my reminder.”

My eyes dipped to the floor. “I didn’t mean what I said back then.”

“Yes, you did. But you were right. That’s not why I kept it, though.”

I lifted my gaze to look at him. “Why did you keep it?”