On Thursday, I went to Callum's room after work and left my jacket on.
He opened the door holding a towel. His hair was wet, and one side of his T-shirt had caught in his waistband.
“I thought you'd be later.”
“I finished.”
He stepped aside. I went in, but I didn't sit on the bed.
“You said the tin,” he said.
“Have you got it?”
He hung the towel over the back of the chair.
“What has she told you?”
“There was a watch in it. She says it was her father's.”
He looked at me, then at the floor between us.
“Have you got the tin?” I asked again.
“Yes.”
I had been ready to argue. The answer left me standing with my bag still on my shoulder.
“You went into her room.”
“She'd taken something out of mine.”
“She says it was hers.”
“She left it with me. Then she walked in and helped herself to it when I wasn't there.”
“You told her she could collect her things.”
“Not go through my drawer.”
I put my bag on the chair, beside the damp towel.
“Did you take her money too?”
He pulled the T-shirt free of his waistband.
“I took the tin. I didn't stop and count what was in it.”
“But you know now.”
“Yes.”
“And you've still got it.”
“It's in there. All of it.”
I looked towards his bedside drawer. He stood a little in front of it, as if I might come and open it myself.
“Why?” I asked.
“Because every time I give her something, she finds another reason to come round.”
“You went to her this time.”
He turned away and picked up his mug from the windowsill. It had a skin of tea across the top. He carried it to the little basin, tipped it out and ran the tap.
I waited until he'd turned it off.
“Tell me what happened.”
“I came through the back. I knew which room she had. Her door wasn't locked.”
He kept his back to me.
“The tin was on the shelf. I took it.”
“And then asked me to say you were on the beach.”
“I panicked.”
He turned. His face was pale around the mouth.
“I was angry with her. I did something stupid. Then Mara rang while I was on my way to you, and I thought if I said I'd been there, she'd—”
“You had time to say something else.”
“I know.”
“You had time when you got to me.”
“I know, Lena.”
He sat on the bed. I stayed by the chair, holding its wooden back.
“Give it back,” I said.
He shook his head.
“She'll just come here again.”
“Then don't bring her here.”
“You've heard how she talks to me.”
“I've heard you talk to each other. I don't want another argument in the hotel yard.”
“Neither do I.”
“So let me do it.”
He looked up.
“I'll collect the tin,” I said. “I'll give it to Ruby. Her money, the watch, everything. You won't have to meet her.”
“I can give you the money. I'll sort the watch with her.”
“No. That's another reason for you to see her. I said everything.”
Callum sat still for a moment.
“You want to carry it up to her room?”
“Or give it to her somewhere else. I don't care. I want it finished.”
“You'll be doing her a favour.”
“I'm doing both of you one.”
His eyes moved towards the drawer.
“You'd have to know she wasn't going to come straight back.”
“I can ask her.”
“Let me talk to her first.”
I let go of the chair.
“Don't ask her to change what she's told me.”
“I'm asking if she'll agree.”
He got up and took his phone from the bed.
“About you bringing it. That's all.”
“Doesn't she just want her things?”
“I'd like to hear her say it.”
He called her while standing by the window. I saw her name on the screen before he put the phone to his ear.
“Ruby? Can you talk?”
He looked at me, then walked out onto the landing and pulled the door almost shut.
I could hear his voice but not words. I took my bag from the chair and sat down, leaving the towel on the other side of the back. There was a pair of my socks under it. I picked them up and put them in my bag.
The call lasted long enough for the voices outside the shop below to change. I heard a shutter rattle, then somebody dragging a crate over the pavement.
I could go home. He could come to the hotel and give Mara the tin himself. I thought about going to tell her what he'd admitted, but I wanted to put Ruby's money back in her hands first.
The door opened.
“She'll take it,” he said.
“Good.”
He slid his phone into his pocket.
“I can give you the tin tomorrow morning.”
“Why not now?”
“She wants it tomorrow. Before she goes.”
“Goes where?”
“A friend's, apparently. Away for a few days.”
I hadn't known she was leaving. The thought of working my last shifts without her in the next room was a relief I didn't want him to see.
“I'll ask her when,” I said.
He nodded.
“You need to tell Mara you went in,” I said. “I won't change what I told her.”
“I'm not asking you to.”
“And I want to see the money when I collect it.”
“You can count it yourself.”
He sat beside me, carefully leaving a little space.
“I shouldn't have put you in that position.”
I looked down at my hands.
“No.”
He waited. Outside, the crate scraped once more and then stopped.
“I hate this,” he said.
I looked at him. His hair was drying in uneven little points. I wanted to smooth it down. I wanted to ask whether we'd ever get through a whole evening again without saying her name.
“Then let me finish it,” I said.
He nodded, and this time I believed he was giving something up.