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“That’ll be fun. Ready to go?” I collect my handbag.

“Yup.” He shoulders his backpack, and the two of us head out of the door, locking it behind us.

“It’s a shame we’ve all gone our separate ways,” I say as we pass the museum and walk up Harpoon Street. “That year after I got married was such fun.”

“Yeah,” he says.

I glance at him. “You never did explain why you left Evermore. I thought you were enjoying working at the primary school.”

“I was.”

“So why did you go?” At the time, all of us were shocked at his departure. He announced it in the New Year, just after Millie was born, and two weeks later he was gone.

“Needed a change,” he says.

It doesn’t ring true to me. He’s not the type of guy who’s hooked on adventure. He and Jayden went travelling with a couple of other guys before some of them went to university, and Jayden always joked that Mitch was the dullest travel companion. The other guys went bungee jumping and white-water rafting and skydiving, while Mitch visited art galleries and museums and tried to talk to the locals in their language.

“I could never quite work out why you and Jayden were best friends,” I comment. “He was always more… earthy than you.” It’s a polite way of saying that Mitch is a lot smarter.

“Rugby and World of Warcraft,” he says.

I chuckle. “Of course. I forgot.”

Jayden told me once that in Year Five, they’d been put in the same class. He’d known Mitch, who was “a nerd who wore glasses and read books all the time,” and hadn’t paid him any attention, but one day Mitch had walked into school wearing a World of Warcraft Paladin T-shirt, and Jayden—whose love for the game was second only to rugby—went straight up to him and asked what class he played, and that was the start of their friendship.

In return, Mitch agreed to start playing rugby. They were both in the high school rugby team and the local Evermore team. At that point, Mitch chose to go to university to become a teacher, but Jayden was picked for The Northland Taniwha, and there was even talk about him joining the Auckland Blues.

“Do you still play rugby?” I ask.

“Yeah, for the University Hunters.” It’s a team that has close links to the Victoria University of Wellington, which he attended. “Keeps me fit.” He smiles.

“How’s work going? Are you still enjoying it?”

“The kids are great. Sometimes my principal is… a challenge.”

“That’s a polite way of putting it.”

He just chuckles.

We turn onto Founders Terrace and pass Evermore Primary School. From here the road slopes slowly up toward the Harbour Master’s Cottage at the top. This is the oldest part of town, and across from the cottage, St. Brendan’s Anglican Church watches over Port Evermore, its stained-glass windows glinting in the afternoon sunshine.

“I am sorry about Frieda,” I say softly. “Do you miss her terribly?”

He hitches the backpack higher on his shoulder. “Sometimes.”

“I can’t imagine why it didn’t work out,” I say honestly. “You seem like such an easy guy to live with.” I’m comparing him to Jayden, of course. Being with him was like living in a minefield, especially toward the end. I had to tiptoe my way around subjects that I knew were going to set him off. And when I did accidentally tread on one, I knew it would mean days of yelling or sulking on his part.

“She said I didn’t love her,” he states. “That I held too much of myself back. And she was probably right. She deserved better.”

I stare at him in astonishment. “You didn’t love her?”

“I thought I did.”

“You were with her for… what? Two years?”

He looks at me then, and his blue eyes are bright, intense. But he just says, “It’s complicated.”

I’d like to question him more, but we’ve arrived at the house. Mitch opens the gate and gestures for me to precede him. I walk through, brushing against him as I pass. Once again, I smell his attractive cologne… or maybe it’s just the smell of the fresh ocean breeze.