Liam’s life could be better. He’s recovering from a divorce and a bitter custody battle, which he loses. He dearly loves his six-year-old son, Lucas, but seeing him every second weekend is never enough. His one salvation is the sea. When he’s sitting on the sand, watching the waves rolling in, he feels at peace, calmed and restored.<br><br>One day, the waves are particularly high, and the sea particularly rough. He’s surprised to see someone swimming in such choppy seas. When Liam calls out to the man, asking if he needs help, the man simply waves back. Liam thinks he must be an idiot. Little does he know the person he sees is no man, which he discovers two days later.<br><br>When they meet, Liam is both horrified and fascinated. His curiosity produces a strange attraction that changes their lives irreversibly forever.

The Sound of the Sea

After arriving home, he had a warm shower and got into his pyjamas. He made himself some sausages, eggs, and toast for dinner, then did the dishes. In the hours before he went to bed, he went through all the photos of Ezra and found his favourite two. He printed them off on glossy paper, trimmed them, and after removing his wedding photo from a beautiful silver frame, and a shot of Helen and him on holiday in Bali from another frame, he refilled each with a photo of Ezra.


The nicest photo, a selfie of them with Ezra’s arm draped around his shoulder, went in the living room amongst photos of Lucas and of Liam’s parents. The other photo, a picture of Ezra “beached” on the sand and flexing his muscles, was too personal for a public space, and went on the table beside his bed. It would be the last thing he saw each night before turning out the light and the first thing he saw each morning.


Chapter 25