A couple of weeks ago, I found a photo of the four of us, taken in a bar in Soho two days before we left for Kathmandu. We all look so fresh-faced and hopeful in the photo, and we were. It was supposed to be the holiday of a lifetime. I was escaping from a job I hated, Al was escaping from a failed relationship, Daisy was tagging along for the adventure, and Leanne … well, she was looking for somewhere to call home. I often wonder what would have happened if Daisy had won the argument back in Leanne’s tiny studio flat in East London about where to take Al on holiday. Daisy would still be alive if we’d gone to Ibiza instead of Nepal, I’m sure of that. I’m not sure our friendship would have survived, though. Our relationship was too cracked and splintered, worn thin from years of petty arguments and hidden resentments. Would I have had the strength of character to call time on it? I’ll never know. I was a very different person back then.

“Jane!” Chloe skips into the kitchen with Jack padding along beside her and Will trailing behind. He locks eyes with me, and smiles warmly. “Can we take Jack for a walk? Please! He’s ever so keen to go out.”

“Jack? Or you?” I look from Chloe’s hopeful expression to the open-mouthed smile on the face of the happy, sweet-natured, loyal dog at her feet. There are people who believe that a fighting dog should be put down, that it’s too physically and psychologically damaged to ever live a normal life, but I know differently. Jack’s strong, stronger than the things that happened to him, and he’s surrounded by people that love and care for him. Your past doesn’t have to define your future, not if you won’t let it.

“Jane?” Chloe says again. “Can we, please?”

I stand up and reach for the lead, hanging from a hook on the Welsh dresser. “Of course we can, sweetheart.”

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Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements