To her surprise, the person who stepped out of the van was Lewis.
‘Lewis,’ Rachel said. ‘Where’s your Volvo?’
‘I swapped it back. The guy really ripped me off but I don’t care.’
Rachel was so surprised that she didn’t notice his appearance at first. Then she did a double take and saw the old Lewis was back, partially. The yellow contact lenses were gone and his hair drooped lazily around his cheek bones. He looked like a member of a boy band. This wasn’t really to Rachel’s taste but she didn’t care. His clothes were still the same and he wore a dark blue shirt over a white T-shirt with black jeans. However, the shirt was untucked and unbuttoned, flapping around in the cold breeze. Instead of smart leather boots he wore a pair of beaten-up Vans. The pale face that had made him look like a statue had been replaced with a tan.
Rachel wanted to leap into the air and congratulate him on dumping his fictional persona, but she knew she had to underplay this one.
‘Have you had a spray tan?’ she asked.
‘Me? A spray tan? Are you serious?’ Lewis didn’t hide his surprise at Rachel’s comment.
‘So where did you get that?’ she said, pointing to his face.
‘It’s a surf tan, see?’ said Lewis. He pulled down his T-shirt and Rachel saw the coffee colour on his face stopped in a ring around his neck, where his wetsuit had been.
‘Can you get a tan at this time of year?’ Rachel asked.
‘Oh yeah, the salt water increases the effects of the sun, and the wind helps a bit too.’ A shadow of worry crossed his face. ‘Why? Don’t you like it?’
‘I love it.’ Rachel replied. She reached up and let her lips stick to his like they wouldn’t come apart.
‘Wow, I should go surfing more,’ said Lewis.
‘You taste of salt,’ Rachel said, licking her lips. ‘Have you showered?’
‘No, because I couldn’t wait to get here and see you,’ Lewis said, a generous grin spreading across his face.
The effect made Rachel helpless. ‘I’ll let you off,’ she said.
‘Come on, let’s go in, otherwise we’ll miss the trailers.’
‘Is that important?’ Rachel asked. She wasn’t worried about trailers, she wanted to see the film not a load of ads for movies that wouldn’t be out for ages.
‘Yeah, I love the trailers,’ Lewis said, getting more excited. ‘It’s like the garlic bread before the pizza.’
‘We should get a pizza afterwards.’
‘Rachel,’ Lewis said, his voice suddenly serious.
Rachel wondered what was coming next. ‘Yeah?’ she replied.
‘You were right about the Edward thing. It was stupid; it caused a lot of trouble.’
‘It wasn’t your fault,’ Rachel said. Even though it was his fault, but she didn’t see the point in laying a guilt trip on him.
‘No. It was my fault. I took it too far and it made me do stupid things and I’m very sorry.’
‘Let’s forget about it. We’re together now and that’s the most important thing.’
‘Definitely. That’s the only thing I care about.’
Rachel hooked her arm around his and they walked up the steps to the cinema. They passed under the sign which read: Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.
‘I was going to ask you something,’ said Rachel.
‘What’s that?’ Lewis replied.
‘Do you like dogs?’
‘I love dogs. Oh that reminds me, I forgot something. Wait here a minute.’ Lewis ran out to his van and got something from the glove compartment. He was back within a few seconds and handed Rachel a small package wrapped in brown paper.
‘What’s this?’
‘Open it and find out.’
Rachel examined the postmark stamped on the outside. It had come from the United States. Beneath the crinkly brown paper was a book covered in layers of bubble wrap. Through the protective spheres of trapped air Rachel could see the familiar face of Bella Swan peering out, just like she had all those years ago in the bookshop. That precious first edition of Twilight, the same as the one she’d lost to Cindy’s gnashing jaws, was back in her hands. Rachel stared up at Lewis.
‘I don’t believe it,’ Rachel said, her heart beating faster as she held the book in front of her. ‘This is amazing.’
‘It’s signed too,’ said Lewis.
‘Signed?’ Rachel’s mouth opened as wide as a tunnel.
‘Open it,’ said Lewis.
Rachel turned over the stiff cover to be greeted by the familiar swoops of Stephenie Meyer’s signature.
A small tear streaked down Rachel’s face, followed by another and then another.
‘Rachel, don’t cry.’ Lewis enfolded her in his arms. ‘What’s the matter? Don’t you like it?’
‘Of course I like it. I love it,’ Rachel said as she tried to stifle her sobs. ‘It’s just, nobody’s ever done anything like this for me before.’
‘Really? Well they should have. You’re a very special person. From now on things are going to be different, I promise. I’m going to make you the happiest girl on the planet.’ Lewis kissed her. ‘Hey, now you’re the one that tastes of salt.’
Rachel smiled. ‘Makes two of us, then. But how did you even get this?’
‘Well, it wasn’t easy. It took a while. But once I set my mind on something, I never give up.’
‘Yeah, I’ve noticed.’
Rachel and Lewis wrapped themselves in each others arms. Rachel knew that he wasn’t Edward. No-one could ever be Edward, she realised that now.
But could he be her Edward?
Definitely.
* * *
Becoming Edward Page 24