Mara parked in the service bay beside the kiosk. I could see Callum through the windscreen, standing behind the outdoor counter.
He watched us get out.
Between the counter and the promenade was a little forecourt where he put the hire boards. A low wooden gate opened onto the promenade. I went through it; Tess stayed just outside, close enough for me to turn and speak to her. Mara stood by the car in the bay at the side. Neither of them was hidden from him.
The counter was only a few paces from the gate.
Callum had brushed his hair back. He wasn't wearing the blue jacket. It hung inside the kiosk, behind a row of paddles.
“Hi,” he said.
“Hi.”
He picked up my charger from under the counter and set it in front of me.
“There. It works. I tried it.”
I put it in my tote.
“Thanks.”
He looked past me at Tess.
“Can we have a minute?”
“She's staying there.”
“I meant you and me.”
“We can talk here.”
He leaned his forearms on the counter. I knew the small scar near his elbow, the one he'd got long before I knew him. I used to trace it while he slept.
“You look tired,” he said.
“I am.”
“I didn't sleep much either.”
I waited.
“The tin,” I said.
He straightened and took it from a shelf behind him. The boat on the lid came into view, then the scratched corners. He set it in front of himself, close to the customer edge of the counter, but kept his hand against its side.
“It's all there.”
“Show me.”
His eyes moved to mine.
“Before we talk about anything else, I want to see it.”
He worked the catching corner loose and opened the lid.
The cloth and banknotes were inside. He lifted the watch from the grey cloth, leaving the banknotes in the tin.
It was the same watch. The pale face, the links, the small dent. He turned it over without being asked, and I saw the writing on the back.
Then he laid it on the folded cloth above the money. The lid stayed beside the tin.
“Now you've seen it,” he said.
I held the tote strap against my shoulder. Yesterday I'd been able to hope that someone else had brought the watch into our story. I couldn't do that with him standing in front of me after what he'd admitted.
“Are you giving it back?”
“I brought it here for you.”
“You brought it here because you want something.”
He drew his hand along the tin's side.
“I want us to go tomorrow.”
“I've heard that.”
“I want you not to describe me as someone who set out to hurt you.”
“I described what you did.”
He looked at the watch.
“You can tell her I've returned it. That I was trying to do the right thing.”
“When you've returned it, I can say you've returned it.”
He didn't move his hand away.
A customer came to the gate carrying a child's buoyancy vest. Tess stepped aside to let them in. Callum took the vest and put it in a box below the counter, asking whether they'd had a good time on the water.
The child said they'd seen a jellyfish. Callum smiled and asked how big.
I watched him listening to the excited answer. That easy attention was his too. He hadn't borrowed it from someone else for the time he knew me.
When they left, he turned back.
“I love you,” he said. “I don't know how many ways I can say it.”
My eyes stung. I looked towards Tess. She was watching the sea, giving us as much privacy as she could without leaving.
“You can give the watch back,” I said.
“And then what?”
“I take it to Mara.”
“And us?”
I hadn't come with an answer I could hand over before he let go of the tin. The room was still ready. His hand was inches from mine. I could move it off the side, put my fingers between his and pretend that letting me take the watch was enough.
I kept my hand on the tote strap.
“I'm not making that decision while you're holding this.”
He lowered his voice.
“I can't just watch you take everything and go.”
“It's Oliver's watch. It's Ruby's money. My charger. You haven't bought any of them with a promise that I'll stay.”
He looked hurt. I wanted to make that look leave his face, and the wanting made me angry enough to stop speaking for a moment.
Then he put his fingers on the lid.
“Let's close it. We can talk without looking at it.”
“Leave it open.”
He stopped.
I heard someone at the gate behind me. Tess turned, and I turned with her.
Ruby stood on the promenade, her overnight bag still across her body.