‘But she doesn’t remember anything?’ Sherry checked.
‘I doubt it,’ he said, sighing tiredly. ‘I haven’t spoken to her yet, she’s still sleeping, but she generally has no recollection whatsoever.’
‘She gets confused,’ she explained. ‘I suspect the sedatives are largely to blame.’
‘Benzodiazepines,’ he confirmed.
‘She’s taken them for years, out of necessity.’ Sherry sighed expansively. ‘They can have side effects, as you may know: confusion, memory problems. Events in her past are skewed, I’m afraid. She imagines certain things happened that didn’t.’
‘I see,’ he said at length.
She doubted he did. ‘We fell out years ago, sadly, Laura having convinced herself that Grant and I were to blame for the tragedy that traumatised us all. She went completely off the rails after that,’ she revealed, wanting to reinforce how muddled Laura was. ‘Drinking, taking drugs. She wouldn’t see me. She even changed her name rather than have anything to do with us. That broke my heart. It was as if she were trying to erase me from her life.’ She paused, needing him to realise what kind of impact that had had on her. ‘It breaks my heart now that she still tortures herself, that she refuses to have any kind of a mother-and-daughter relationship …’ She stopped, her throat catching. ‘I won’t give up, though, Steven,’ she went on resolutely, using his name so that he would know she’d taken him into her confidence. ‘I intend to try and keep in contact with her, even if she’s not that thrilled at the prospect.’
He didn’t reply immediately, plainly processing what she’d told him. Then, ‘What was it, Mrs Caldwell? This tragedy that’s clearly had such a profound effect on all your lives?’
Sherry was silent for a long moment, letting him know how painful this was for her. How selfish it was of her daughter to make her keep reliving it over and over. ‘She’d taken sedatives,’ she said tearfully. ‘On the night it happened. She’d taken more than one, I suspect. She didn’t have anything to do with it, though,’ she added defensively. ‘I’m absolutely sure of it. A mother knows her own daughter, after all. And I suppose it’s natural that she looks for someone to blame. It’s just …’
‘What happened, Sherry?’ he urged her, clearly impatient to know.
‘Her dear little brother,’ she said eventually, her voice cracking. ‘He went missing.’
‘Her …? Yourson?’ He sounded astounded. As Sherry had guessed he would be.
Twenty
Sarah
‘Here we go. Home sweet home. You can snuggle into your nice comfy bed now. Much better than my bumpy old car, hey?’ Joe talked softly to Ollie as he carried him from the car to the house.
He’d fallen asleep on the way back from the pub. As he was stuffed full of toad-in-the-hole and fresh strawberry sundae, Sarah wasn’t surprised. She’d only been surprised that Laura hadn’t whipped up some culinary masterpiece for lunch, making sure he was too full to enjoy his evening meal. She’d immediately felt guilty for having thought it. Laura had been nothing but smiles when they’d arrived to pick him up, and full of concern said that he’d had a bad dream early that morning. She’d been worried it might have had something to do with his trip to the zoo – he’d been frightened by one of the bird exhibitions apparently. Sarah had reassured her. He did have bad dreams occasionally, she’d said, possibly because of his overactive imagination. She’d had to work at not sounding pointed.
Going into the hall before Joe, she stepped aside, allowing him to negotiate Ollie carefully through the front door. ‘Straight up?’ he asked, indicating the stairs.
Sarah nodded. He hadn’t brushed his teeth, so she would have to persuade him to the bathroom, but she guessed he was worn out enough to go straight back to sleep. With trips to the zoo and pub meals, his weekend had definitely been a full one. Carrying the overnight bag, she followed Joe up, marvelling at how he pressed his hand protectively over the back of Ollie’s head as he carried him. He might not have children of his own, but his parenting instincts were intuitive. He’d wanted children, he’d confided that much, but would he want to be a father to another man’s child? She was jumping the gun a bit, but assuming they were over the current hiccup and continued to see each other, it was something she had to consider. As would Joe. It would be a huge decision for him, making such a commitment. She’d been concerned about the disruption to Ollie’s life when Steve had announced he was moving in with Laura. She was worrying now whether Joe’s presence might be far more destabilising if he suddenly disappeared from it.
Watching him lower Ollie gently onto his bed, she couldn’t deny the contented glow she felt inside her. Working on the premise that it was better for her child to have one loving parent than two warring ones, she’d told herself she would rather be a single parent, but right now she was so glad Joe was around sharing some of the responsibility. Seeing how he’d been with Ollie today had reminded her how much he really did care about her little boy, making her realise that, as men go, she could do worse. Far worse. She would take her worry head off for tonight, she decided, looking forward to snuggling up in bed with Joe, who’d turned out to be an excellent foot-warmer as well as lover. He was extremely intuitive in that department too.
‘Thanks,’ she said, looking him over as he straightened up. Broad-shouldered and dark-haired, and with that broody look about him he sometimes had, he was definitely attractive – she felt an undeniable little flip of excitement in the pit of her tummy – in and out of his uniform.
‘No problem,’ he whispered, a smile curving his mouth as he caught her gaze gliding over him. ‘I’ll go and make us a coffee. Unless you prefer something stronger?’
‘A liqueur coffee might be nice,’ she suggested, thinking that would be just what was needed to ensure they relaxed before bed.
‘One coffee with Cointreau coming up,’ Joe said.
Knowing it was her tipple of choice, he’d brought some with him last time he was here. They hadn’t had a chance to open it yet. He was thoughtful too. Yes, she could do alotworse than Joe. She caught his hand as he walked to the door, tugging him back towards her and leaning to plant a kiss on his cheek.
He arched his eyebrows amusedly. ‘What was that for?’
She shrugged. ‘Just because.’
‘Fair enough. As long as it’s a promise of more,’ he said, giving her a mischievous wink.
Definitely, Sarah thought as he headed on out. He really was lovely. Quite irresistible. She could see what Ollie saw in him.
Sighing happily, she went across to the little boy, who was wriggling onto his side. ‘We have to brush your teeth, sweetheart,’ she reminded him, easing his thumb away from his mouth. She was almost tempted to leave him, but she really should get him into his jim-jams. ‘Come on.’ She helped him to sitting. ‘Arms up, and let’s get this dirty T-shirt off, shall we?’ It was spattered with strawberry sundae, not something she would be happy to let him sleep in.
After hitching the shirt over his head, she helped him with his jeans and trainers. Once he was in his pyjamas, she led him to the bathroom, where his teeth-brushing consisted of a lick and a spit – ah well, it would have to do for tonight – and then helped him back to bed and tucked him in. Reminding herself not to be too miffed that his fringe was lopsided, she smoothed it away from his forehead, then leaned to kiss his cheek and breathe in the special smell of him. ‘Night, night, little man,’ she said, hugging him close.
