He stared at the words. His heart ached for Brooke, but he loved Debbie, he’d always loved Debbie. He began to type out a reply, then stopped. He had no idea how he felt. He placed the phone down and stared out of the window, at the stars.
He thought back to earlier that day. Max had complained that Isobel was noisy and had asked how long she was going to keep visiting for. Heidi didn’t seem as annoyed by her presence and quite enjoyed playing peekaboo with her, but then the questions about Mummy came up. He’d tried to explain what he could, but Heidi wasn’t stupid. He couldn’t gloss over things the same way as he could with Max. She’d gone very quiet, and he’d found her crying into her little jewellery box, which had once belonged to her mother.
When Debbie had been pregnant with Heidi, he’d cursed himself many a time for thinking that the arrival of their daughter would ruin what they had together. He thought he’d always be second when it came to affection. But his little girl had stolen his heart. She was the most precious thing in the universe. Then Max came along and made their life complete. It broke his heart to see their children so confused and upset. He thought it had been hard when they were little, but any hardship back then was nothing compared to what they were all going through now.
It hadn’t always been easy, especially in the early days when Debbie was on maternity leave. Babies were expensive and the property market was up and down. One month they’d be celebrating with a bottle of bubbly, the next they’d be eating mostly beans on toast in the run up to payday. They would both laugh through the uncertainty and make light of it. It was part of what he loved so much about Debbie – she was an eternal optimist. She’d originally not wanted to leave the children in day care, but needs must, and Cathy had helped out a lot. The children actually loved it and thrived being around other children.
Luke smiled as he reminisced about the good times. He would eat nothing but beans on toast for the rest of his life if it meant he could have his Debbie home. He wiped a tear from his cheek as he stared into the darkness of his bedroom. He wondered if Debbie still held on in some small way to her optimism, or if she’d changed beyond repair. Would they be reunited? And if they were, would she reject him? Would the trauma she’d gone through mean the end of what they’d had?
If she came home, he would make it work. He’d be there in his entirety throughout her recovery. He wasn’t naive to the prospect of what he might have to face, but he loved Debbie more than anything and he wanted her back with him and their children. They would make it work. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. How could he be this exhausted and not be able to nod off?
Did he just hear a trickle? He held his breath and listened. The letter box clattered and a few seconds later a whooshing sound followed. He jumped out of bed in his pyjama bottoms and T-shirt and ran for the bedroom door.
‘Max! Heidi!’ he yelled as he threw their doors open. He ran towards the top of the stairs and watched as the orange flames flickered in front of the main door. The fire spread along the hallway and began licking the wooden bannister of the stairs. The sound of the smoke alarm filled the house.
‘What’s happening, Daddy?’ Heidi asked, looking confused, with one eye open. She coughed as she inhaled a lungful of smoke.
‘Go to my bedroom and wait by the window.’ He ran into Max’s room and snatched the quilt off his sleeping son’s body.
‘Dad?’ Max rubbed his eyes. ‘What’s that noise?’
‘We have to go.’ Luke grabbed the little boy’s arm and dragged him to his own bedroom. Debbie and he had carefully planned their escape in the event of a fire. There was a small ledge below his bedroom window, where the kitchen had been slightly extended by the previous owner. He needed to feed Heidi and Max onto the ledge and follow them. From there, they could jump down. As he passed the landing, he saw that the flames were making their way up the stairs.
He helped Heidi through the window first. Max obediently followed. ‘It’s cold, Daddy, and I haven’t got my shoes or coat,’ Max cried, tears falling down his cheeks.
‘Come on Max. We have to get down,’ Heidi said in a calm manner. If he’d had time to stop and talk, he’d have told her how proud he was of her for being such a help amongst the chaos.
He grabbed his phone from the bedside table and stepped out of the window. ‘Right, kids, I need you to be strong and brave. Can you be that for me?’ he shouted. Heidi nodded; Max was still crying. She grabbed his hand and hugged her brother.
‘I’m going to hold you by the arms and lower you on to the grass. Can you be ready to jump when I say?’ Heidi nodded. ‘You’re going first because you’re the tallest and then I can pass your brother down,’ he said to her. Max let go of his sister and starting bawling. Tears filled the little boy’s eyes as he stared out at the garden, confused as to how he’d got there and what was happening.
Luke grabbed Heidi’s hands and lay on his stomach as she wiggled over the edge. He lowered her as far as he could. ‘I’m going to have to let you go. Can you land okay?’
‘I think so, Daddy?’ she said as she looked up at him with teary eyes.
‘Get ready on three,’ he shouted. ‘One, two, three.’ He let go of his daughter and heard her yelp as she landed on the grass below. He looked down. She waved back at him.
‘I’m okay, Daddy. My foot just hurts a bit but I’m okay.’
Luke grabbed Max. ‘Right, I need you to be a big man for me now, son. Can you do that?’
The boy sobbed into his father’s chest. ‘I’m scared, Daddy. I don’t want to jump.’
‘I need you to be a brave boy. Remember, we spoke about what would happen if we had a fire. We have a fire in there and we need to do this.’ Luke heard the roaring of the flames coming ever closer. He grabbed Max’s arm and lowered him over the ledge. ‘Daddy, no. I can’t jump. I’m too short.’
‘You can do this. Heidi will be there to lower you down.’
He lowered the boy as far as his arms would reach. ‘I have your foot, Max. I’m here,’ Heidi shouted.
‘After three. One—’
‘No, I don’t want to do it. Please, Daddy.’
‘Two, three.’ He dropped Max and hoped that Heidi had managed to assist his fall. In the distance, he heard a fire engine approaching. Someone must have called the fire brigade. He looked down and saw Max and Heidi sitting on the grass. Heidi was comforting him as he cried into her neck, but they both looked fine. Smoke began to billow out of the bedroom window. He had to get down, away from the building.
Within seconds a firefighter had run around the back. Another followed with a portable ladder. ‘We’re coming to get you, just hold tight.’ She placed the ladder against the wall. ‘Is there anyone else in the house?’
‘No, it’s just us,’ Luke shouted as he climbed down and ran towards his children, relieved that Isobel was still only with them for short visits ‘I’m so proud of you both, so proud,’ he said as he hugged them closely. They were gently ushered out to the front, where a crowd had gathered. A large hose was pumping water into their hallway. The door had been bashed in. Smoke filled the air as they extinguished the last of the flames.
‘You’re very lucky. With your quick thinking and your good fire-resistant carpet, your family is safe and the damage is minimal,’ the firefighter said.
Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Luke selected Cathy’s number. The children needed somewhere to go for the rest of the night, somewhere safe.