Chapter 26

MANDY

The front door to the modest detached house that Richard had once called home opened as soon as Mandy set foot on the driveway.

Chloe stood in the porch, a beaming smile across her face. This was a very different version of the suspicious woman Mandy had crossed paths with at the memorial service.

‘Come in, come in,’ Chloe ushered, and Mandy nervously followed her through the hallway and into an open-plan kitchen. A woman she recognised from the church was perched on a stool by the breakfast bar. There wasn’t a lot of resemblance between the siblings, or mother and son for that matter, but there was something about the way they looked at each other that somehow told Mandy she was supposed to have been a part of this family. She could feel the pull of her Match even here.

Behind the frames of the woman’s glasses were the eyes of a grieving mother who was still coming to terms with the loss of her child. Mandy held her hand out to shake hers, but instead, the woman grabbed her by the shoulders and held her in a tight embrace. ‘Thank you so much for agreeing to come,’ she whispered in her ear.

‘OK, Mum, you can let go of her now. Mandy, this is our mum, Patricia,’ Chloe said.

‘It’s lovely to meet you,’ said Mandy.

‘And you, and call me Pat,’ she replied, looking her son’s Match up and down. ‘Richard would have just adored you!’

Mandy felt herself blush.

‘Look at her, Chloe. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?’

Chloe nodded from the other side of the breakfast bar where she was preparing their cups of tea. Mandy glanced around the kitchen and dining room, looking at the family photographs which covered

the top of a sideboard. Pinned to a cork noticeboard was an order of service she recognised from Richard’s memorial next to his medal for completing the London Marathon. She could feel Pat’s eyes absorbing her, but it didn’t make her uncomfortable.

‘Richard wondered what you’d look like,’ Pat said eventually.

‘When he did the test, he wondered who’d been chosen for him and where you’d live. I don’t know if Chloe told you, but he loved to travel and I think he’d have gone to the ends of the earth to be with the one he was Matched with.’

‘I’m only about two hours away, just outside Essex.’ Mandy smiled.

‘So he wouldn’t have needed to travel far. Do you know why he did the test?’

‘For the same reason everybody else does, I think. I know at twenty-five he was young, but all he ever wanted to do was settle down and have a family of his own. The test wasn’t around when Richard’s dad and I met, of course, but we were together for twenty years before he passed away and I don’t think we argued once.

Richard wanted the same kind of relationship; he didn’t want to leave it to chance.’

‘What did you think when you found out what had happened?

About the accident …’ Chloe asked and passed a mug of tea to Mandy.

‘It sounds silly when I’ve never even met him, but I was devastated,’ Mandy admitted. ‘I guess it’s like when people find out they can’t have children … the choice has been taken out of their hands and they mourn the loss of something they never had. I felt like that. Sounds ridiculous, doesn’t it?’ The thought of children sent a pang through her. Despite what had happened in the past, she had taken many tests and found that she was indeed able to conceive.

She’d always thought herself lucky that she wasn’t one of those poor women she spoke of. But now she’d lost everything – Richard, the chance of ever having kids, a future …

‘Don’t be silly,’ Pat said to her and placed her hand over Mandy’s.

‘You have lost exactly the same thing as us, it’s just that we were fortunate to have him with us for his whole life. What you’ve lost, well, it’s just so unfair.’

Pat’s words gave her the reassurance she needed that she wasn’t letting her emotions get the better of her. ‘I didn’t think anyone else would understand,’ she said quietly, and swallowed hard.

‘Would you like to see his bedroom?’

‘Mum,’ interrupted Chloe. ‘Give her some time, she’s only just got here. It might be a bit much to take in.’

‘No, it’s all right, I’d love to.’ Mandy nodded and followed Pat towards the stairs.

‘Richard moved out to go to college, then came home, and left again when he went travelling,’ Pat explained. ‘Chloe used to joke that we should have had a revolving door installed for him because he was always coming and going. Then when his personal-training business took off he saved up for a deposit on a flat.’ Pat opened the door ahead of her. ‘Go on in and have a look around if you like. I’ll give you some privacy.’

Richard’s bedroom was tidy and spacious. Mandy made her way towards a wall decorated with hundreds of photographs of his travels around the globe: Australia, Asia, South America, Eastern Europe and even Alaska. Next to his bed was a wardrobe which housed his shirts and trousers, all neatly pressed, she found. Mandy ran her fingers over a chunky-knit jumper and drew it up to her face to smell

– but all she could detect was fabric conditioner.

She moved towards an armchair in the corner of the room, which had a scarf draped over the back. She picked it up and inhaled deeply, desperately wanting to feel a connection with him. Suddenly, Mandy’s legs felt like they were about to give way as the scent of Richard’s aftershave and him hit her. She couldn’t fully describe the sensation, but she later likened it to sinking into a warm, soapy bath or falling into a strong, reassuring pair of arms.

Then suddenly, to her surprise, Mandy found herself beginning to cry. Looking at photos of Richard and meeting his family was one thing, but actually breathing in his scent was something completely different altogether. It knocked her for six, and she had to steady herself against a chest of drawers before leaving the room. Closing the door behind her, she had to wipe the tears from her red-rimmed eyes.

There and then she knew that she was more deeply in love with a dead man than she could have ever thought possible.