He was worried about the court case. He wasn’t sure how it was going to go. He’d never been to court before in his life. It was daunting. He wasn’t even sure if his wife wanted her family there, but they all planned to go – the Hayeses in court en masse. Oh God. He hadn’t mentioned the fact that he’d signed up for a water bill. He didn’t see the point in aggravating his wife further, but now, with the case only one day away, he was afraid that it would come up in court. It would be a shock for her to be told her husband had betrayed everything she fought for while she was on the stand defending herself; it definitely wouldn’t end well. She might even kill him.

The doorbell rang after eleven. Molly was out and Jack had been snoozing in the chair. He woke with a start and composed himself, calling out to the insistent man or woman with their thumb jammed against the bell, ‘I’ll be right there.’

He opened the door to a delivery man holding a large cardboard box.

‘Jack Hayes?’

‘Yes.’

‘Sign here,’ he said, and he pointed. Jack signed. He handed him the box. It was heavy. He dropped it as soon as he closed the door. It didn’t occur to him what it could be. He grabbed a knife from the kitchen and sliced through the thick tape holding the box together. He opened it and found tissue paper and pulled it away and his heart threatened to stop – it was Rabbit’s book, maybe thirty of them piled up on top of one another. He pulled one out and held it in his hands. Never Let Go by Rabbit Hayes. The cover was white with a sketch of Rabbit on the front. It was beautiful. He hugged it and cried.

He’d pulled himself together by the time his wife came home. She walked in weighed down by shopping and he took it from her and placed it on the kitchen table.

‘I have something for you, and you’re not going to like it,’ he said. Then he handed her the book and it took her breath away. She sat.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘But it’s what she wanted.’

Molly turned it over and saw a small postage-stamp photo of Rabbit on the back. She held it close to her heart and closed her eyes and smiled. It seemed to be going well, so Jack took the opportunity to inform her he’d signed them up for a water bill. She then took careful aim and threw the book at him.

Chapter Sixty-Five: Molly

Chapter Sixty-Five

Molly