Page 86 of Memories of the Lost

“I dropped them off with my aunt.” He picked up the phone and ordered tea for two, then sat down with her. “She wants me to bring you back for dinner.”

It seemed such a normalcy in the middle of the strangeness of everything that had been happening. She felt a little awkward sitting with him there. She couldn’t quite figure out what to do with her hands, or her eyes. It seemed that a lot had happened, and all of it was strange, and suddenly, she was glad to have something to do that was so verynormal—go to dinner at her boyfriend’s family’s house. Family, period. “I didn’t bring many clothes, but that sounds great.”

“Good.” The tea arrived, and Tillie let in the woman from the front desk. She settled the tray on the coffee table, shooting a glance toward Liam. “Aren’t you that meditation guy?”

“Guilty,” he said, and held out a hand. “Liam Redfern. You are?”

“Tammy O’Malley,” she said, her cheeks going pink. “Nice to meet you. I really like your app. I listen to it every day.”

“I’m glad you like it,” he said, and Tillie loved the way he turned his entire focus on the young woman, his hands loosely laced between his knees.

“Well. Anyway. Enjoy your tea.”

“Thank you,” Tillie said.

“Tammy,” Liam called, pulling a pad of paper off the table to scribble an email. “Take this, and send me a note, and I’ll see that you get a copy of one of the books, yeah?”

“Oh, wow. Thank you, Mr. Redfern.”

She slipped out, alight with pleasure. Liam said, as if apologizing, “It’s not always girls, I promise.”

“Even if it was, I wouldn’t mind. They’re allowed to be a little dazzled by a famous, beautiful teacher.”

“Beautiful?” he echoed.

“You know you are,” she returned, and poured tea. “I bet this will actually be decent.”

“No doubt.”

When they both held a cup in their hands, Tillie said, “Can we talk about how weird this is? It’s kind of freaking me out. Like, we just met by accident at that gallery, and then we have this wild connection. Then we split up but we justhappento land in the same tiny little town on the Devon coast?” She shook her head. “It’s really creepy in a way.”

“Well, but let’s think about it.” He raised a finger. “The gallery thing was timing, right? You were there to see Jon’s work, and I was in the hotel across the street. That happens.” He paused. “Actually, I sawyou from my window. You helped an old woman who fell. Do you remember?”

“Yeah.” She half smiled. “I gave her my umbrella.”

He curled his palm around her knee. “People are not often kind, especially in bad weather. When I saw you run into the gallery, I decided to come meet you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Really? So you were stalking me.”

“I was intrigued.”

“She gave me a crystal, the old woman.” Tillie hopped up and scrambled in her purse and brought it back to the bed, dropping it in his hand. “Maybe it was a magical talisman.”

It was red and pink, with black weaving through it, and it had weight. Warmth. He closed his fingers around it and looked at her. “Maybe it is. Maybe it brought me to you. Maybe it brought you here to find out what happened to you.”

“Maybe. I don’t really believe in magic.”

“You’ve said that before. But your paintings are all about magic, about looking through the current illusion to the reality that lies beyond.”

“That’s true.” She frowned. “But why bother with a pair of lovers when there is so much wrong in the world? I mean, if magic is that powerful, why not fix the really big stuff, like making sure all children are in safe, loving homes, and wives don’t get murdered by their husbands?”

A lock of her dark hair trailed around her long neck, and he reached for it to buy space to feel where this was going. “So as long as there is bad in the world, there can be no good?” he asked gently.

“No.” Her eyes looked very bright. “No, that’s not what I meant. Just ... if magic is aligning things, or the Big Spirit in the Sky is answering somebody’s prayer, why wouldn’t it be something important?”

He took her hand. “What if we met so that we can heal each other and make each other better, and then we go on together to make the world better all around us? Maybe not the whole world, not every child fed or stopping all the evil that exists, but what if we make life bettersometimes for some people because we are together?” He kissed her fingertips. “What about that?”

She stared at him, tears running down her face. “Where did you come from?” she whispered.