‘Don’t, Ma,’ Grace warned, but Davey knew she was right. Juliet belonged in Ireland with Molly and her granda or Grace, Lenny and their four boys. They all wanted Juliet. Davey knew that if Molly hadn’t just suffered a cardiac event she would have pushed harder for Juliet. And yes, Grace and Lenny were tight on space but with some financial assistance they could have built an extension, and in the meantime Stephen and Grace had bought a beat-up old caravan for Stephen to sleep in. It was parked outside their house, for God’s sake. But Davey made a life-changing decision in haste and Rabbit rewarded him by handing him her twelve-year-old child! She could not have been in her right mind.

I’m in my forties. I live on a bus and date women half my age. My only long-term commitment is a twenty-five-year-subscription to Rolling Stone magazine. Oh Rabbit, they’re right about me. I’m a useless bastard. What now?

Calm down, Davey, you can do this, he heard Rabbit say.

I don’t know, Rabbit.

I know.

Davey was a grown man, shaking and on the verge of tears.

Molly registered Davey’s pain. She regulated her breath.

‘Sorry, son, I didn’t mean that. I’m out of my mind.’ She walked over to him and hugged him.

He hugged her back. ‘I miss her too, Ma.’

‘I can feel your heart beating in your chest,’ she said. ‘You’re alive. I’m alive. Let’s be kind to one another, Davey.’

‘OK, Ma.’

‘You see you were always kind, and Juliet Hayes needs kind,’ she said, and he knew deep down that Molly Hayes believed that her granddaughter needed a lot more than kind. ‘And ripped jeans suit you, son,’ she added by way of an apology.

He chuckled to himself. ‘Thanks, Ma.’

His smile quickly faded when he walked out into the hall and found Juliet with her head stuck between two bars of the staircase, wide-eyed and vacant.

‘Ma!’ he shouted. Molly appeared, knife in hand.

‘God Almighty, boys, if you can’t keep her with you put a bloody lead on her,’ she shouted to Bernard and Ryan in the sitting room.

I can’t do this, he thought. I promised Rabbit I’d take care of Juliet, and within two days the child is a fucking zombie.

Molly moved towards the staircase and spoke slowly and carefully to her granddaughter’s face. ‘You’re a little lost in your head and probably better off, love.’ She leaned down between the bars and gave Juliet a kiss on the forehead. ‘I’m here,’ she whispered. ‘I’m always here, do you hear me? I’ve got ya, love,’ she said, before shouting, ‘Ryan, get me the butter.’

Juliet blinked. Stoned or not, it seemed to be the only form of communication she could commit to. Davey just stared on, feeling like a failure.

Chapter Nine: Grace

Chapter Nine