While the ladies were preparing the salad Kit walked into the lounge room and retrieved the photo of David and his father Terry. He showed Betty and then dropped another bombshell.
‘Mrs Sullivan, do you still have the photo of David and his Dad fishing?’
Betty kept cutting the carrots. ‘No love, it went missing some time ago,’ she said. Betty then stopped in her tracks. ‘Kit, how did you know about that photo, you’ve never been here before?’
‘Mrs Sullivan I have something to tell you that you’ll find hard to believe.’
‘What is it?’
‘First, let me show you something.’
Kit closed his right hand and used his index finger to point at his chest. He opened his hand over his heart and then pointed at Betty. Her eyes opened in disbelief and shock.
‘Do you know what those hand movements mean Kit?’
‘Yes. David taught me. He said you two used to do it together often.’
Leah moved closer to Betty to support her if needed. Betty looked at Kit and then at Leah and started to cry. Kit walked closer to her and put his arm around her. Leah organised some tissues.
‘When I had the accident in the pool I sort of died on the operating table and the doctors brought me back.’
‘Yes,’ Betty said. ‘I’m sorry. I haven’t had someone give me the I love you motions like you did since David died.’
‘That’s okay. Well, one of the things I can do now is sometimes see spirits.’
‘Do you mean ghosts?’ Betty asked.
‘Yeah.’
‘Don’t be silly Kit. There’s no such thing as ghosts or spirits.’
‘If I told you David has come to see me would you believe me?’
‘What? My David? He’s been dead for a long time Kit.’
‘I know. It was him that showed me the love message that only you two did.’
‘This is unbelievable … it is truly unbelievable.’
‘I now have two things to tell you from David if you’re up to it.’
‘Leah, what’s he going on about?’ Betty asked as she turned away from Kit.
‘Betty, I know this is hard, please hear Kit out.’
Betty turned from looking at Leah and looked directly at Kit and began to shake.
‘I have seen David a couple of times in my bedroom. I don’t know why he chose me, but we’ve had some long talks about things.’
‘Kit, this is preposterous.’
‘Mrs Sullivan, remember earlier we were talking about the missing photo of David?’
‘Yes.’
‘If you look behind your dressing table you should find it,’ Kit said slowly and with a very sincere voice. ‘Mr Sullivan threw it there not long after David died.’
‘Oh come on Kit, how on earth would you know that? This is silly. You have never been in this house before. This can’t be true. We’ve looked everywhere for that photo including under the dresser. What else do you need to tell me?’
Kit looked at Leah and then Betty.
‘David is here tonight and wants you to know he really loves you. He wants you to know he’s okay and to stop worrying … that’s why he showed me the hand gestures so you would believe me.’
Betty started crying and Leah put her arm around her friend.
‘Betty, a number of things have happened to Kit since his operation. Daniel and I believe him,’ Leah said.
‘How can you talk with David, he’s gone, he’s no longer here?’ Betty sobbed. ‘And the photo, you’ve got no idea what you’re talking about.’
Terry Sullivan walked into the kitchen to get some more beers and saw his wife upset.
‘What’s up honey? Is everything alright?’ Sullivan said as he scanned the faces of Kit and Leah.
‘Terry, what happened to the photo of you and David fishing?’ Betty asked as she wiped her eyes.
‘Darling it went missing some time after he died. Why? What’s going on?’
Kit took the initiative and told Sullivan of David visiting him and the dead teenager’s wish for Kit to speak with his mother. He then detailed what he knew of the missing photo.
‘Mr Sullivan, did you take the photo upstairs to your bedroom when you were upset over David’s death?’ Kit asked.
‘I’ve got no idea Kit. What has this got to do with anything?’
‘You know I have never been to your home before so I know this is a shock to you. Could you please just have look behind your dressing table for the photo?’
Terry put the three beers down and walked upstairs to his bedroom. He looked underneath it and saw nothing there. He pulled the dressing table away from the wall and a metal ‘clunk’ could be heard. Slowly he bent down and looked under the table for what fell. He pushed his hand into a crevice and felt a metal object. When he withdrew his hand the object he saw was the dusty photo that had been lost for years. It was his favourite photo of him and David fishing on a wharf. The photo was taken shortly before David died in the car accident and was the one he liked most. Sullivan wiped away the dust from the photo and started to cry.
A familiar hand rubbed his shoulders and he knew it was Betty. He showed her the photo and buried his head in her lap. Betty too shed a tear when she saw her husband so overcome with emotion. Kit entered the room with Leah and put his hand on Terry’s shoulder.
‘Thank you Kit,’ Sullivan said as he slowly stood up. ‘This was my favourite photo of David and I together. How did you know it was there?’
‘David told me. He said I had to prove something to you before you would listen to me about other things. This was his way of showing you his love.’