Again, the girl scanned his eyes, a new fear in her own.
‘It will be all right, Grace.’ Mark tried to reassure her, his heart sinking as he realised it was utter bullshit. Things wouldn’t be all right for this child ever again. How could they be? ‘I’ll check up on you as soon as I can, okay?’
‘Promise?’ she asked uncertainly.
It meant he would get back home later than he wanted to, but… ‘Promise.’
She seemed to accept that, giving him a small nod. ‘I’m frightened,’ she said tremulously, causing Mark’s heart to constrict afresh.
‘Don’t be,’ he said, making sure to hold her gaze now. ‘You can always contact me if you need to, Grace. I’ll always be there if you need someone to talk to or to protect you. That’s an absolute promise.’
One
MELISSA
PRESENT
‘Mark!’ Hoisting their six-week-old baby girl higher in the crook of her arm whilst simultaneously hanging onto their wriggling seven-year-old, Melissa called frantically after her husband, who’d set off at a run towards the burned-out cottage diagonally opposite their own. The fire was doused now, fire officers wearily reeling in hoses, but it couldn’t be safe to go near the property yet.
‘Mark, come back!’ she shouted, and he hesitated for a split second, obviously debating his options before deciding on access to the back of the cottage via the garden gate. And then he was off, the distressed mewl of a cat driving him to instinctively react, as he tended to.
Oh God, what was he doing? Melissa held her breath as he scaled the back gate and disappeared over it, then her heart lurched violently in her chest as their daughter tore her hand from her own and made a determined dash to go after him. ‘Poppy!’ she screamed.
‘It’s all right. I’ve got her.’ Moving faster than Melissa, their neighbour, the owner of the property that had caught fire in the night, went after her, sweeping Poppy up into her arms.
The fire officers had cordoned off the lane, and Melissa would have caught her before she’d gone far, but even so… Her world had gone off kilter for a nauseating few seconds. ‘Thank you.’ Her heart rate returning to somewhere near normal, Melissa smiled gratefully at the woman as she walked back towards her. She’d moved in just before Evie had been born. Melissa had meant to pop over and see her, but then, with a new baby to care for and her business beginning to take off, providing she could fulfil her orders, she hadn’t managed to make time. She should have. She was clearly the kind of person you would hope to have as a neighbour.
* * *
‘I want to go with Daddy,’ Poppy whimpered, kneading her eyes tiredly with her knuckles. ‘I’m frightened.’
‘He’ll be back in a minute, sweetheart,’ the woman assured her, gently coaxing her hand from her face. ‘I think he knows how terribly frightened my cat is, too, so he’s gone to try and rescue her. He’s a very brave man, isn’t he?’
Poppy surveyed the woman uncertainly for a second, then she sniffled and nodded over the thumb she’d plugged into her mouth. ‘He’s a policeman,’ she said shyly.
‘Is he?’ The woman widened her eyes, looking impressed for Poppy’s sake. ‘Well, he’s a very brave policeman indeed. I think he should have a medal, don’t you?’
Poppy nodded happily at that. ‘Yes,’ she said, settling more easily into the woman’s arms.
‘I’ll hold onto her, shall I?’ The woman smiled and nodded towards Melissa’s bundle. ‘You seem to have your hands full.’
Melissa followed her gaze, down to the content little miracle in her arms, who, amazingly, had slept through the cacophony of noise around them. ‘Thank you,’ she said again, looking back to the woman, who was actually not much more than a girl in her early twenties at most. ‘Are you all right?’ she asked her worriedly. Just a few short hours ago, Mark, having noticed the ominous orange glow through their bedroom window, had raced outside to find Monk’s Cottage thoroughly on fire and her sobbing in the lane.
‘Well, you know.’ Managing a tremulous smile, she shrugged. ‘I suppose there’s always a bright side. At least I’m alive.’
‘Mummy, when’s Daddy coming back?’ Poppy asked, as Melissa pondered the stupidity of her question. Of course she wouldn’t be all right, what with all her earthly possessions gone up in flames.
‘Soon, sweetie,’ Melissa promised, glancing from her daughter’s huge chocolate-brown eyes, which were so like her father’s, every emotion dancing therein, and then back towards the smoke-blackened cottage, praying that Mark hadn’t gone into the building. No, surely not. Distressed cat or not, he would be well aware of the dangers. Nevertheless, Melissa’s apprehension grew as she watched one of the fire officers heading that way after him.
‘I don’t know your name,’ the woman said, chatting to Poppy, trying to distract her. Melissa was grateful.
‘Poppy… What’s your name?’
‘I’m Jade. And I think your Daddy will be out very soon. Do you know how I know?’
Poppy furrowed her brow over the thumb she still had wedged in her mouth. ‘How?’
‘Listen.’ Jade cocked an ear. ‘What do you hear?’
Poppy tilted her head to one side, the little furrow in her brow deepening as she concentrated. Then, ‘The cat’s stopped meowing,’ she said delightedly.
‘That’s right. Which probably means your daddy’s found her, which means your daddy’s a hero.’
‘He is.’ Poppy nodded importantly. ‘He catches all the baddies and puts them in prison so we can all be safe.’
‘I bet he does.’ Jade exchanged a knowing glance with Melissa. ‘I bet he rescues all sorts of animals and people from all sorts of dangers, too.’
‘He does. And he shoos the scary bug monster from under my bed,’ Poppy informed her, her little face earnest. ‘I’m going to be a policeman when I grow up, aren’t I, Mummy?’
‘That’s right, sweetie.’ Melissa smiled distractedly, her gaze still fixed on the gate.
‘Daddy’s going to teach me, isn’t—’
‘Oh, thank God.’ Melissa blew out a sigh of relief as her husband finally reappeared, nursing the cat, which appeared to be subdued, miraculously. No doubt Mark had worked a little bit of his magic on it. The man was as soft as a brush when it came to animals and children. Melissa had no idea how he did the job he did, witnessing such despicable acts of cruelty sometimes, things that really could make a grown man cry. Mind you, she arranged her face into a suitably annoyed expression as he neared her.