Before him, the lights turned green, but he didn’t move. He was caught up in a conversation with her—with Jennifer. Remembering her words, her compassion.
‘Don’t let this get in the way of what time you have left.’
The strange warmth from that morning spread like wildfire. How had she done it? Gone through the death of her father and ploughed it into something so wonderful—a successful business, a stable future for her family.
She didn’t run from the darkness or live in fear of the what if.
Not like him. Fear and darkness had been his driving force since for ever.
A horn honked behind him and he flashed his lights apologetically, setting the car in motion.
Could he change? And what did change even mean? Would it make him happy? Was happiness even possible for him?
Contentment, yes...
But happiness...?
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
JENNIFER RACED BACK through the grounds, her breath sending puffs of white into the crisp morning air.
She loved it here. The fields, the open spaces, the wildlife. Even in autumn, with the leaves disappearing from the trees and the flowers dying back, there was still a serenity to it all, especially when the sky was as blue as it was today.
It was the perfect day for a run, the perfect opportunity to forget everything for a while and just enjoy the peace and fresh air. Only her thoughts had been far from peaceful, wrapped up as they were in a certain male and his far too appealing proposition.
Not even the fear of falling too deep could stop her thinking on it.
It had kept her up until the early hours and sent her out running at the crack of dawn. Anything to kill the restlessness it instilled.
But the run hadn’t worked. She was back, slightly less agitated but no less distracted. Frustrated, she yanked at the laces of her trainers and slipped them off. Picking them up to pad through the old tradesman’s entrance and into the kitchen, she felt the cold stone floor biting through her socks, the sensation soothing her with its familiarity.
She entered the kitchen and set a fresh pot of coffee going before grabbing some cold water from the fridge. She had drunk most of it when Kate walked in.
‘I hope you’ve put enough on for me.’
Jennifer glanced at her watch. It wasn’t even eight yet—her sister never saw this part of the day unless she was at school.
‘Are you feeling all right?’ she teased her, replacing the water bottle with a mug and pouring herself a coffee.
She frowned. ‘Yeah—why?’
‘You do know it’s still your beauty sleep time?’
‘Ha-ha, very funny, sis. You going to carry on taking the Mickey or be kind and pour me one of those?’
Jennifer laughed and poured her sister a coffee. ‘Well, it’s not like it’s a school day.’ She leant back against the counter-top and considered her over the cup. ‘What has you up so early?’
Her sister looked away swiftly, her attention fixed on the fridge as she took out the milk. ‘Want some?’
She offered it to her without meeting her eye and Jennifer shook her head, dread creeping up her spine. ‘Kate...answer me.’
‘Look, don’t get mad, okay?’
She frowned, the dread becoming a full-blown chill. ‘Tell me.’
‘Mum has been caught wandering recently,’ she said, slopping some milk into her mug, her nonchalance clearly forced.
‘Wandering?’ A lump wedged in her throat and she forced it down. ‘How long has this been happening?’