I wake to a dim pre-dawn light and an empty place next to me. There is no sign that Charlotte ever returned to bed.
“James….” I shake him awake and he blinks vacantly for a moment. “.… she"s not here.”
His head snaps sideways to the gap between us and he reaches to touch the sheets. “They"re cold. Did you see her come back to bed?”
“No.”
He sits up, reaching for a pair of pants.
“She seemed alright last night. She was talking to us. not much, but she was talking.”
…. In denial…?
“You reckon? She"d not had a chance to dwell on it then. I"d say she was in shock. When that wore off and she had the time to think it through...”
I grab some joggers then look out of the window to where she was sitting the previous night. In the grey morning light, mist swirls over the sea, glowing golden
