I picked the tin up from the bench.
“I'm taking it to Mara.”
Ruby stepped towards me.
“My cash is in there.”
“You'll get your cash.”
“You don't get to keep it from me.”
“I don't get to give you the watch either.”
Callum stood.
“We can return it,” he said. “We don't need to turn this into something else.”
I looked at him.
“It already is something else.”
“Let me take it back.”
“No.”
He took his jacket from the bench and shoved one arm into it. The other sleeve hung down.
“I was going to leave with you on Sunday,” I said.
“You still can.”
“With that in your drawer?”
He glanced at the tin.
“That's why I wanted it gone.”
“By getting Ruby to sell it.”
“I said we can return it now.”
Ruby looked from him to me.
“So you get to decide again.”
“Ruby, stop.”
“No. You kept it. You let me come back here with nothing while you kept it.”
They were looking at each other. The tin's edge was digging into my fingers. I bent to put it back into my tote at my feet, then straightened and took my phone from my jacket pocket. The tote stayed upright beside the bench, its top open.
I pressed Mara's name.
Callum looked at the phone.
“Don't.”
“She asked me to bring it to her.”
“Talk to me first.”
“I've been talking to you.”
I lifted the phone to my ear. Ruby bent towards the tote. Callum got there first and lifted the tin out by its sides.
“Put it back,” I said.
“I'll take it to Mara. Let me do this.”
Ruby caught at his arm. “You're not taking the whole thing again.”
He pulled free and tucked it under his jacket. I stepped towards the nearest end of the shelter.
Callum moved in front of me.
“Lena, wait.”
Ruby stood behind him, one hand still reaching for his jacket.
“Move.”
“I need you to hear me.”
I tried to step past his left side. He shifted the same way. My phone was still at my ear, ringing, and I lowered it.
The other end of the shelter was open. I could get round the bench, but he would still have the tin.
“Let me past.”
He put his hands out, not touching me.
“Please. Just hear me.”
I didn't lower my voice.
“Get out of my way.”
A woman beside the timetable turned. A man waiting with a wheeled bag stopped looking down the road and looked at us instead.
Callum saw them.
He moved aside.
“Then give me the tin,” I said.
He shook his head and went round the outside of the shelter towards the town. Ruby followed him, calling his name.
I took three quick steps after them. At the corner she caught his sleeve again. He pulled it away. The blue edge of the tin showed beneath his jacket before they went out of sight behind the shops.
I could follow them into the next street. I looked back at the shelter, where my open tote was still beside the bench.
Mara hadn't answered. The call had ended in my hand.
I went back for the bag.
The woman by the timetable was still watching me.
“Are you all right?”
“I don't know.”
She nodded towards the end they'd left by.
“You know them?”
“Yes.”
I picked up the tote. Without the tin, it hung empty against my legs.
“Would you like me to stay?” she asked.
I shook my head, then stopped.
“Just a minute.”
She stood near the bench while I tried Mara again. I could hear an approaching coach farther along the promenade, but it passed our stop and continued towards the harbour.
This time Mara answered.
“Lena. Where are you?”
I sat on the edge of the bench, my free hand wound around the tote handle.
“At the coach shelter. I'm coming back.”
“Have you got the watch?”
I looked towards the corner. There was no sign of either of them.
“Not any more.”
“What happened?”
“Callum took it back. I need to tell you everything.”
“Come back here. Are you able to get back safely?”
“Yes. They're gone.”
“All right. I'll be in the office.”
I ended the call. The woman waited while I put my phone away.
“Someone's expecting you?” she asked.
“At the hotel.”
“Good.”
I thanked her. I couldn't make it sound like enough, but she smiled a little and turned back to the road.
As I walked away, the shelter glass showed me a brief reflection: my jacket, my bad shoes, the empty bag. I had brought what both of them wanted and set it between my feet while I tried to decide what to do.
At the corner, I looked towards the street they had taken. I wanted the tin back before either of them could sell the watch. I wanted Callum to have been somebody else when he stood in front of me.
I turned towards Harbour House.