Howard stretched out and took hold of his wife’s hand, the cuff of his tweed jacket rising to reveal a smart white shirt and cufflinks; he’d dressed with care this morning. ‘I’d dropped a letter.’

‘One you hadn’t finished reading,’ prompted Mabel.

‘It fluttered under the bed and I scrambled after it.’ Not thinking about his injuries, anaesthetised to the pain because of Vivian’s words. Her command. Come home.

‘You lost your balance,’ giggled Mabel.

Howard nodded, his eyes wide and foolish, as if to say, silly me. Gawky me with my bullet wound and my burns, fancy losing my balance! ‘I rolled under the bed.’

He’d been under the bed when the bomb dropped, the roof collapsed. He’d been rendered unconscious, but he was alive. When they fished him out and moved him to another hospital, he was still unconscious and unidentifiable. For some reason – and it happened more often than anyone wanted to consider – in the ensuing chaos Howard Henderson had been reported missing, presumed dead. Enid had received the shattering B104-82.

‘But you weren’t dead, Daddy,’ declared Mabel seriously.

‘No, Mabel. I most certainly was not. I didn’t dare be.’

Mabel cocked her head to the left, her shell-like ear anticipating her favourite part of the story. ‘You had to do as you were told.’

‘Yes. I had to come home.’

Vivian let out a small mew of relief. After all, Enid had been wrong. Aubrey had been wrong. Howard had been wrong. Vivian had been right. He had returned. She squeezed his fingers, needing to feel the reality of him. The beauty of him. For so long bodies had been abused, exposed as fragile and helpless. She needed to recall, on a daily basis, that they were beautiful and whole. She felt the throb of him. The pulse of him.

Home.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Dear Jane Morpeth, what a treat you are. I’m so lucky that you are my editor and friend. Thank you for letting me take risks and letting me follow my heart (and my crazily busy head too). You are a joy.

Thank you, Kate Byrne, for your sensitive, insightful and careful editing. It’s such a pleasure working with you.

Thank you, Georgina Moore and Vicky Palmer, the fabulous PR and Marketing dynamic duo. I adore it that you both combine astonishing fun and enthusiasm with incredible professionalism and results.

Thank you, Barbara Ronan, Frances Doyle and the entire sales team, who work so ferociously on my behalf. I’m very grateful.

Thank you, Yeti Lambregts, for your beautiful cover designs, they are so important. You make my books look breathtaking.

Thank you to the marvellous Jamie Hodder-Williams, who is simply an all-round lovely chap.

Thank you, Jonny Geller. Can you believe it, fifteen novels? What an exciting journey; I’m glad you’re with me every step of the way. Thanks to Kate Cooper, Eva Papastratis, Kirsten Foster and all the team at Curtis Brown for your wonderful support of my work, home and abroad.