‘Ness! I told you not to come,’ Toby said as Vanessa rushed in to the hospital ward.

‘I had to come. Your dad and I have become close – he’s a friend as well as my boss and the kids love him.’ She slid her arms around Toby and felt him shudder. Then he stepped back.

‘When I got the call, I was terrified that they were going to tell me that my dad was dead. I couldn’t have dealt with that. But this is bad enough – he’s covered in bruises and scratches, a broken arm, broken wrist. Whoever did this is an animal.’

She looked at Toby’s drawn face. ‘Look, he’s a tough old man, he’s going to be fine.’ She tried to reassure him.

Toby nodded. ‘He’ll be in hospital for a while, then recovery. He’s already told me to find someone to hire to work in the garage, “And be smart about it, boy,”’ he said in a fair imitation of his dad.

The cleanup of the café took longer than expected, nearly two weeks. Whoever had broken in – their identity was still yet to be revealed – had done a real number on the place. Every corner had been trashed, food and appliances destroyed. Old man Phillips didn’t seem to be recovering as fast as Toby had hoped he would. The bruises faded, the cuts healed, the broken bones began to knit back together, but he just wasn’t the same. Vanessa went up to visit him every day, sometimes taking the boys with her. Finally, he was released and cleared to go home. Toby hired a nurse to help him out and a cleaner to do the housework so that he was well looked after.

One day when she went to visit old man Phillips, he confided in her. ‘I don’t think I want to do this anymore,’ he said it in a voice that sounded devoid of hope. The voice of a man who had lost everything.

‘You want to die?’ She was shocked.

‘What? No, woman, I don’t think I want to work in the garage anymore. I’m not sure I can go back.’

Vanessa breathed a deep sigh of relief. He wasn’t talking about dying, just retiring. She reached out and grasped his hand. ‘It’s nothing to be ashamed of. Something traumatic happened to you there – it’s natural to be nervous or frightened to go back to work. You don’t have to – the guy that Toby hired is working out all right so I’m sure he’d be happy to stay on full time. Do you want me to talk to Toby for you?’