She reached out her free hand to shake his. ‘You have yourself a deal.’ She gave him a smile and he briefly touched Ty’s soft cheek as he said goodbye.

She had a job!

As soon as she got home and put Ty down for a nap, she rang her mom. ‘Hey Mom, it’s me. Can you come over? I’ve just put Ty down and I have news.’ she said excitedly. She was dying to tell her mom what had happened with… everything.

Within ten minutes her mom was sitting across from her, drinking a cup of tea. ‘So,’ she said. ‘You look like you’re going to burst. What has made you so happy?’

‘Actually, I have two things to tell you. One good, one not so good.’

‘I prefer good news first.’

‘OK, remember Toby from school?’

‘Little Toby Phillips?’

‘Yeah, except he’s all grown up now.’

‘Is that the good news? That you ran into an old friend?’

‘No, but something good did happen. He offered me a job running the café next to the gas station in town.’

‘Oh, Ness! That’s wonderful. I’m so proud of you. You’ll do an awesome job.’

‘Do you think you could watch the kids when I’m at work?’ She held her breath; her taking the job depended on her mom helping her out.

‘Of course I will, I’d love to have more time with my grandchildren.’

Vanessa breathed a sigh of relief, then touched her mom’s hand, covering it with her own. She could feel the bones in her hand, thinner than she remembered, delicate, bird-like. ‘Thanks, Mom.’

‘Now,’ she said, ‘what else did you want to tell me? What is the bad news? Do I even want to know?’

‘Probably not.’ Vanessa toyed with the cup of tea in front of her, turning it round and round.

‘Ness. What happened? You’re beginning to worry me.’

‘Mark was here last night. He was outside, and I had to call Billy. I thought I heard something in the house, I thought it was Mark, but there was no sign of him inside. Then his car took off down the street. It scared me, and Wren was awake as well. I just want this all to be over, for Wren to have a normal life. He’s just starting to laugh again, to loosen up, I want that to keep going, not have him regress because of fucking Mark.’

‘I agree. He can’t be afraid all the time. He’s scarred by his father; it’s not right.’ Her mother paused before continuing. ‘I have to ask. You and Billy, is there anything going on there? I mean, seriously, no one would blame you. He’s a good guy and you deserve so much more than Mark.’ She almost spat his name in disgust. ‘Billy’s a keeper you know.’

Vanessa blushed. ‘There’s nothing going on.’