Frost crunched under Verity’s boots, the cool air nipping her cheeks. Her little Tiger propped on her hip, cooing, and gurgling, blue eyes absorbing nature, tiny hands grasping Verity’s hair. ‘We’re going to see your daddy,’ she said, kissing the baby’s feathery dark hair, breathing in the sweet smell of the infant as she walked through the wood towards the cottage. ‘I’ve never been this happy,’ she whispered close to the child’s ear.

This life – her life with this child – was almost perfect.

‘We’re nearly there, sweetie,’ she said, pushing through brambles, the winter sun’s rays slanting through tall trees, brightening their way.

Finally the cottage came into view.

A few paces on, she opened the squeaky gate. The garden was over-run with nettles and weeds – poison hemlock rife. Verity smiled at the thought of Pippa looking from beyond the grave, seeing the state of her precious garden. ‘This is where your daddy lives, Tiger,’ she said as she walked up the path.

She knocked three times and waited.

When Hugh finally opened up, she gasped at his scrawny body, the wild beard covering his chin. How had he let this happen? How had she let this happen? His creased, grubby T-shirt, hung over baggy jeans. His feet were bare. It seemed, despite her leaving a box of groceries on the step of the cottage once a week for the last six months, he hadn’t been eating properly and looked so much older than his twenty-two years.

‘So this must be Tiger.’ His dull eyes lit up briefly as the child threw him the brightest of smiles. Verity couldn’t help but hope they were on the verge of getting through this. That Hugh was about to emerge strong for the baby’s sake. And maybe, just maybe, they would become a family. A funny kind of family some might say – not the kind Hugh and Pippa dreamed of – but a family all the same.

She stepped into the cottage, straight into the lounge. The floral curtains were pulled closed, half hanging from the rail, no light coming in from outside. The room was lit by a standard lamp in the corner, the pale green shade lopsided. Dirty cups and glasses were strewn over every surface; dust, as thick as insulation, covered the sideboard under the window, and the bookshelves.

‘Such a beautiful child,’ Hugh said, closing the front door behind them; a heavy sadness in his voice that Verity had feared for so long he may never lose. Will his grief always be so raw? ‘Come here, Tiger,’ he said reaching out his arms to the child. ‘Come to your daddy.’

As he hugged the baby close to his chest, tears filled her eyes.

‘To new beginnings,’ Verity whispered.

But Hugh was silent, and within moments, he handed Tiger back to Verity. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘I just can’t do this.’

Chapter 28

Halloween Weekend 2019

Alice