When the sex finished, Michael and I lay in each other’s arms. He stroked my hair and watched me for a long time, then fell asleep and snored. I looked at the walnut dash ceiling, thinking how crazy life was.

Not so long ago, I’d been in a hospital bed, looking at white Styrofoam tiles and thinking they might be the last thing I would ever see.

Now I was in the arms of Michael Reyji Ray. This was my rebirth. A new beginning.

I’d spent my life running with a heavy backpack. Now finally, I could take it off.

Michael and I would get married and live happily ever after, just like a fairy tale.

I was sure of it.

Lorna

Nick and I lay together in bed, my head on his chest.

‘Are you still awake?’ I ask the ceiling.

‘Yes,’ says Nick.

‘What’s the difference between protective and suffocating?’ I ask.

Nick snorts. ‘Probably only a few inches of padding.’

I laugh too. ‘I locked Liberty’s phone in the safe.’

‘Lorna.’ I feel Nick shake his head. ‘Why’d you do that?’

‘She was using it to find out about her father,’ I said.

‘And you think taking her phone is going to stop her? Come on. Let her get out there and make her own mistakes.’

We both listen for a moment, hearing Darcy’s gentle murmurs. But then they fall silent.

‘Phew,’ says Nick.

Darcy used to scream the place down at bedtime. But we’ve got a routine going now, same thing every night. I take her around the house, showing her how I lock everything up, door locks, chains, deadbolts. Then we do a bath (exactly 37 degrees) and count her yellow soft toys, all thirty of them. Now she goes to bed like a dream and sleeps until morning.

Nick and I lie in silence for a moment. Then I blurt it out: ‘Liberty knows who her father is.’

‘How?’ Nick asks. ‘You won’t tell me or Liberty the first thing about the guy. Not even his name. How could she have found out?’

‘She found some stuff on the internet about him. And me.’ I shiver against Nick’s warm body.

Nick’s arms stiffen. ‘What stuff on the internet?’

‘Photos of me and her father. When we were younger. I don’t know if it’s enough, but … I’m so scared, Nick.’

‘Scared of what?’

‘She might try to find her father.’ I take a shaky breath. Breathe, breathe.

‘I think you have to get a bit real with this,’ says Nick. ‘How long are you going to be able to keep Liberty away from this guy? If she wants to see him, she will. No matter what you do.’

I ignore him. ‘I’ve just got to keep hammering it home. How dangerous he is. Until she gets the message.’

‘How dangerous are we talking, exactly?’