His tenderness nearly undid me. If only someone like him had been the father of this baby and not Harvey. But Jensen wasn’t the father; I was on my own. Until today I hadn’t given much thought to how my first pregnancy would pan out, but I was pretty sure that being single with a violent ex, a temporary job (one which involved a lot of alcohol) and a temporary home wouldn’t have figured in my master plan. And what was worse, what tugged at my heart the most, was that poor Evie and Darren, who would have made wonderful parents, weren’t able to do what I’d done accidentally. Why was life so unfair?

My eyes pricked with tears. ‘Life has a funny way of throwing curve balls in our faces, doesn’t it?’

‘Oh yes,’ he said with meaning. A shadow crossed his face, which made me wonder.

‘Do you want children?’ I blurted out.

He blinked. ‘Um. Yes, eventually. I … well, I’ve never said this out loud before, but I planned on focusing on my career until I was thirty-four and then marrying and starting a family from thirty-five.’

‘That’s very organized. How old are you?’

‘Thirty-six.’ He smiled ruefully and shrugged. ‘Best-laid plans and all that.’

Out in the main reception area, the drunken man we’d seen earlier was still flanked by two police officers. But the fight had gone out of him and he looked like he was asleep. Actually, now the blood had been cleaned from his face and he was no longer flailing about, he looked very familiar.

As we drew level with him, I slowed down.

‘Darren?’ I gasped.

My brother-in-law opened his eyes and rubbed them. ‘Nope. It’s not me. Don’t tell your sister, because it’s not me.’

‘It’s not the normal you, admittedly.’ I don’t think I’d ever known him drink enough to get drunk. This was a first. I caught the eye of one of the officers. ‘I am family, I promise. What’s he done?’

‘Cut his head in a fight outside the Royal Oak,’ said the officer, looking distinctly fed up.

Darren struggled to sit up. ‘That shit-fer-brains Tommy Dawson asked me if I’d mind if he had a crack at Evie now we’ve split up,’ he grunted angrily.

Jensen pressed my arm discreetly. ‘Are you going to introduce us?’

‘Yes of course, how rude of me.’ I felt my face flush.

This was just perfect. My family and I were making one hell of an impression today; first an unwanted pregnancy and now a drunk and disorderly … ‘Darren, this is Jensen Butterworth, my boss’s grandson.’

‘Pleased to meet you,’ said Jensen, he extended a hand automatically before realizing that Darren was handcuffed to two officers. He patted his shoulder instead and looked at me. There was a strange expression on his face: somewhere between intrigued, horrified and amused.