Pictures of Lily

screws up our empty fish and chip paper into a bundle. A cool breeze blows across us and I shiver. Ben takes off his light-blue long-sleeved shirt and hands it to me. He’s wearing a grey T-shirt underneath.
    ‘Thanks,’ I reply, accepting it gratefully. I slip it on, breathing in the scent of his musky deodorant. He doesn’t wear aftershave. I glance down at his tanned, toned arms and absentmindedly edge closer to him.
    ‘I hope you’re not cold now.’ I resist the urge to run my hand over his bicep.
    ‘I’m alright.’ He stares ahead at the ocean.
    ‘Hey, you haven’t seen any of my photos for a while.’
    ‘Do you have any on you?’ He looks at me with interest.
    ‘As a matter of fact, I do.’ I packed them all into my bag earlier. I’ve been meaning to show them to him for ages.
    He slowly makes his way through the pack, commenting just like he did the first time. We come to the photo he took of me by the lily pond, way back in the beginning, before I fell for him.
    He chuckles. ‘I like this one.’
    ‘It’s okay,’ I concede. My hair has fallen across my shoulders quite nicely and there’s a slight smile on my face as I reluctantly pose for the camera.
    ‘These are so good, Lily,’ he says seriously. ‘I really think you have a talent.’ I wriggle with embarrassment. ‘I do,’ he says fervently. ‘I hope you do something with it.’
    ‘Maybe I will,’ I reply.
    ‘Promise me you’ll keep up with the photography. And don’t forget your passion for animals, either. It’s not too late to train to be a vet, or even a keeper, if that’s what you want to do.’
    I smile, warmth filling me up. ‘Maybe I’ll be a wildlife photographer.’ I flash him a cheeky grin.
    He laughs. ‘That’d work!’
    ‘So which is your favourite?’ I nod down at the pack.
    He shuffles through it. ‘I do like this.’ He shows me one of the giant gum with its grated tree bark. ‘But this is my favourite.’ It’s the photo of me by the lily pond.
    ‘ You took that one!’ I exclaim with mock outrage.
    ‘Does that mean it’s mine to keep?’ he asks cheekily.
    ‘You can have it if you want it.’ I shrug, feigning nonchalance. He wants a photo of me!
    He peers closely at it. ‘Your eyes . . .’ He shakes his head.
    ‘What?’
    ‘They look almost – I don’t know. Caramel-coloured.’
    ‘Caramel?’ I’ve never heard my boring eyes described like that before. He turns and looks at me, really looks at me, and the smile slips from my face.
    ‘They are,’ he says.
    There’s a strange intensity to his expression and my heart starts to hammer in my ears. ‘Yours are the same colour as the water,’ I say, not caring how clichéd it sounds because it’s true.
    The connection between us magnifies and then suddenly he starts and rises to his feet. ‘We should be moving.’
    ‘We don’t have to.’ I look up at him with disappointment.
    ‘No, I’d better get home,’ he states, turning away and pushing the photo of me into his back pocket. I follow in his footsteps as we cross the sand to the steps.
    Later, I pull up outside Michael’s house. ‘Thanks for the lesson,’ I say.
    ‘Sure, no worries,’ Ben replies, seemingly in a slight daze.
    ‘See you at work?’
    He nods. ‘I’m going to be a bit late in. I’ve got a doctor’s appointment.’
    ‘Are you okay?’ I ask with concern.
    ‘Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. A last-minute check-up before I leave.’
    ‘Alright then.’
    I climb out onto the pavement and meet him in front of his car.
    ‘See you tomorrow,’ I repeat, pulling his shirt closed across my chest and folding my arms to keep warm.
    ‘Sure thing.’ He stares at my arms and moves to pass me. I step to one side.
    ‘Take care,’ he says softly.
    ‘You too.’
    I stay rooted to the spot as I watch him climb into his car and start up the ignition, and he doesn’t glance back as he pulls away from the kerb.
    That night in bed, I hug his shirt to me tightly. He didn’t ask for it back, and I’m not going to surrender it willingly.

Chapter 11
     
    The next morning passes by painfully slowly as I wait for Ben to get in. When he still hasn’t turned up at lunchtime, I’m nearly pulling my hair out.
    ‘Where’s Ben?’ I ask eventually when Janine appears in the hospital room to check on Olivia. I’ve been stalking the place in the hope I’ll bump into him.
    ‘He called in sick,’ she tells me.
    ‘Did he?’ Did the doctor find something wrong with