I’m afraid he’s not available, dear girl. So don’t go getting any ideas.
Chapter 12
A Year Ago
Amelia
Amelia glanced again at Finn who threw her another smile – a nice smile. Despite taking no pride in his appearance, there was something she found cute about him, in a dishevelled kind of way.
‘Finn!’ Ruth was staring at Amelia, something dark in her expression as she turned to her son. ‘The dishwasher needs filling.’
‘Fine.’ He shoved his phone in his pocket. ‘I’ll maybe see you guys at the ghost tour later,’ he said, leaving the dining room.
*
It was almost 9 p.m. and Amelia sat alone on the crumbling wall surrounding the Drummondale House ruins, almost swallowed by darkness. It was cooler than earlier, and she was huddled into her duffel coat, her phone torch barely lighting the area.
She shuddered as the moon peeped out from behind a cloud, picking out the jagged shapes of decaying walls and broken statues. The thought of exploring the woods searching for phantoms wasn’t her idea of fun. She was sceptical, and not at all interested in anything supernatural, but also acknowledged the whole subject gave her the heebie-jeebies.
Her mum had been a member of the Berwick-upon-Tweed Paranormal Society before she’d moved to Tweedmouth to live with Jackson. She had always been a fan of TV shows that saw celebrities creeping round allegedly haunted locations in the dark, jumping at noises and shadows. Once, some years ago, her mum came to London to visit Amelia, and they’d taken a ghost tour around Hampton Court after dark. It had frightened Amelia, and she vowed she would never do anything like it again. Yet here she was, doing it for her mum. But then she had to really. Thomas couldn’t – Finn had told him his wheelchair wouldn’t be suitable for the route, and Maddie had insisted she should stay with him, and was now probably curled by the fire, updating her video log.
Maddie started her vlog on YouTube with her older sister – a TV presenter, and wannabe actress at the time. It was long before Maddie began caring for Thomas. In the early posts the sisters talked about the grief of losing their mother. Later, Maddie put on a few posts explaining that her sister was suffering with depression, so she was manning the vlog for now. Now the vlog was mainly about Thomas’s day-to-day life. Amelia hated Maddie sharing her brother’s life online, and stopped watching when Maddie added her mum’s fight with cancer to her daily spiel. But while her mum and brother didn’t seem to mind, even said it might help others in similar situations, Amelia mostly kept her opinions to herself.
A chilly breeze, as if from nowhere, made her shiver once more. She pulled up the hood of her coat, and hunched over her phone, and while she had a full signal, fired off a message to William:
Hey, You! I’ve arrived safely. I’m not going to lie, it’s not easy here, but I’ve got to get over myself and do it for Mum. Don’t forget to feed my fluffy ball of love. Hope work is OK. Love you. A X
She pressed Send.
Watched her phone, willing William to reply.
‘Amelia?’
She startled, jolted her head upwards, and grabbed her chest. ‘Christ!’
‘Sorry.’ It was Finn coming through the darkness with his torch on full beam, wearing a top hat and black cloak. ‘I was going to ask if you’re ready to be spooked, but I’m guessing you already are.’ He lowered the beam. ‘You scare easily.’ His Scottish accent was smooth, and held a hint of humour.
With her hand glued to her chest, her heart thrumming under her fingers, she continued to look up at him. ‘I challenge anyone not to jump when a man looking like the ghost of Jack the Ripper creeps up on them.’
‘Fair enough.’
‘I’m a total sceptic, by the way,’ she said. ‘Don’t expect to convince me.’
‘I wouldn’t dream of it.’ He removed the hat, and laid it on the wall.
‘Basically, I’m only here because my mum made me come.’ She smiled. ‘OK, I realise that makes me sound as though I’m about eight.’
He laughed, and sat down beside her, far enough away not to invade her space, for which she was grateful.
A silence fell between them, and she spent the quiet moments staring at her phone, willing William to return her message. Wishing he was there supporting her.
She’d arrived far too early for the ghost tour, wanting to get out of the cottage – tired of Thomas and Maddie messing about, of Maddie’s shrill laughter. The young fun-loving American couldn’t help being silly and yet oddly responsible – Amelia understood that – and it was good to see Thomas happy, but if she’d stayed in the cottage any longer she would have said something she regretted, or possibly throttled Maddie.
‘So do you live in Scotland?’ Finn asked, as he flicked his torch on and off.
She shook her head. ‘I grew up in Berwick-upon-Tweed.’
‘And now?’
‘Sorry?’
‘Do you still live—’
‘Oh, no.’ She shook her head, and curled a wave of her hair around her finger. ‘I live in London with my cat.’ She had no idea what stopped her mentioning William. She loved him, didn’t she? They’d even talked about having a baby one day. Though she’d done most of the talking.
‘I’ve never been to London, would you believe?’ Finn said with a sigh. He looked about him, and as though caught on an invisible line, his eyes met hers. ‘Spent my life here with Mum mostly.’
‘Mostly?’
‘A brief marriage that didn’t work out.’
‘Sorry.’
He shrugged. ‘It wasn’t to be. My mum never liked her – didn’t trust her, said she was the type to cheat, and then she went and proved Mum right. Anyway, my mother needs me here.’ A beat. ‘Christ, ’ark at me sharing my life story.’
‘It’s fine. I don’t mind.’
He smiled. ‘So you’re here because of your mum? She’s ill?’
Amelia turned from his gaze, keeping her eyes forward. She didn’t want
