‘Lovely. Me and the wife went there last year. Then we did a road trip to New York.’ He laughed. ‘I know! I spend all day in the cab and then I do three weeks driving across America for my holidays. But I loved it. Every day felt like an adventure.’
Frankie smiled. ‘This is a bit of an adventure for me too. My friend moved out there a few weeks ago and out of the blue he called up and invited me to stay.’
‘Already? He’s keen!’
‘Oh, it’s nothing like that. We’re just friends.’
‘Course you are.’
Looking up, she could see the cabbie grinning in the rear-view mirror.
‘Just so you know, I’m going to shoot right at the traffic lights. I wouldn’t normally, but there’s roadworks on Woodley Road.’
She nodded. ‘Okay.’ Frowning, she pulled out her phone. ‘Or you can try Mercer Street and then Warwick Park—’
Her voice stalled in her throat. The phone in her hand felt suddenly leaden. Or maybe that was her limbs.
Heart thumping, she stared down at the screen. She had been planning to check the route, but instead she was looking at the last journey she’d searched.
To Northumberland.
She’d thought she couldn’t cry any more. But now tears started to roll down her cheeks.
Turning her head towards the window, she took a breath. The rows of terraced houses had given way to shops and banks and cafés. Already the streets were starting to buzz with life.
LA would be bigger, brighter, busier.
But it would still seem empty to her.
Everywhere would always be empty if Arlo wasn’t there.
‘No, no, no... Now, don’t you go getting upset.’
Glancing into the mirror, Frankie saw that the cabbie was looking at her in horror.
‘You don’t need to worry,’ he said. ‘I kn
ow a detour that’ll get you to the airport in plenty of time. You’ll have your adventure, I promise.’
She felt her heartbeat accelerate.
Not if she went to the airport, she wouldn’t.
Wiping her eyes, she leaned forward. ‘Actually, we’re going to have to take a slightly bigger detour...’
* * *
Arlo woke late on Saturday morning. He had been awake for most of the night, willing the morning to come so that he could get the day over and done.
He’d expected it to be grey and dull, but the weather forecasters had got it spectacularly wrong and after days of rain the skies had cleared and the sun was beaming above the horizon.
But it wasn’t the sudden upturn in the weather that had got him out of bed.
It was Frankie.
His mouth twisted.
Only not quite Frankie.