He threw the stub of his cigarette into the small fire and scrubbed his face with his hands. ‘Three years is a long time, Danny. Your mum is doing the right thing by trying to start again.’ He saw the boy’s fists and the stubborn set to his mouth. ‘Don’t you like this Ben Freeman? Is he a bad man, do you think?’

Danny continued to look surly. ‘He’s all right,’ he said grudgingly. ‘He’s the fire chief, and he lives up there in that cabin he built.’ He relaxed his fists. ‘I’ve been up to the top of the tower and looked right over the trees through his binoculars. He lets me wear his fire helmet and drive his ute sometimes too,’ he finished.

‘So he’s not all bad then?’

Danny pulled a face and shrugged. ‘Mum wouldn’t like him if he was a complete drongo, I suppose. But he’ll never be my dad.’

‘I doubt very much if he’s ever considered trying to take your father’s place,’ he replied, ‘but he sounds like a good man, and if your mother likes him enough to kiss him now and again, then I reckon you should accept that.’

‘I don’t want her kissing anybody,’ he hissed. ‘She’s my mum, and dad wouldn’t like it.’

‘But your dad isn’t here,’ he said evenly. ‘He’s been dead for three years and your mother shouldn’t have to spend the rest of her life mourning him just because you refuse to accept the truth.’ He looked across the small fire at the bowed head. ‘Do you want her to spend the rest of her life being sad and alone, Danny?’

Danny’s eyes were swimming with tears as he looked back at him. ‘I don’t want her to be sad,’ he whispered. ‘But if she likes Ben, I’m afraid she’ll forget all about Dad. She’s already put the memory box away, so I can’t go through it.’

He reached for Danny’s hand. ‘Perhaps that’s because she finds it too painful to always have it around,’ he said softly. ‘Grown-ups hurt too when someone they love dies. We find it almost impossible to believe we will never see them again, or hear their voice – but it’s what we must accept. They’ve left us, and there is absolutely nothing we can do about it. But they live on in our memories, Danny – and in your mother’s heart there will always be a place for your dad, whatever the future might hold.’

‘But it’s so hard,’ Danny sobbed as he threw himself against him.