Easy words, Jodie thought, hanging up. So damn easy to say, “don’t worry”, a hell of a lot harder to do.

With another mug of coffee to hand, she fired up her computer and started the job search. When she’d returned from Dubai she rented in the city while she worked in Guy’s. It was her decision to move into the care of the elderly that had made her decide to look further afield. She’d chosen Gravesend for several reasons, the proximity to good transport and reasonable house prices being the biggest two. But also for the number of nursing homes in the area. BestLife Care had been the first she’d contacted. They’d responded within days and offered her a position immediately following her interview. And she’d not regretted that till now.

It had been convenient to where she lived, but there were others. Three to be exact. All within half an hour’s walk of her home. She looked them up, one after the other, wrote down the details and checked their vacancies, pleased to see that they all had nursing positions available. There was nothing to choose between the three homes. One was slightly nearer maybe. But she knew she couldn’t afford to be that fussy.

It was no harm to send an updated CV to each and see what happened. She put her finishing date with BestLife Care as the previous day but no further information. If they wanted to know why she’d left, they’d have to ask her.

A few minutes later, she pressed send, then shut her laptop.

Weariness was a heavy weight pushing her down. She put the laptop on the empty chair, crossed her arms on the table and lay her head down. But sleep wouldn’t come.

Frustrated, she got to her feet. It was only eleven. A whole day to fill. Flynn wouldn’t be home till five or six, maybe she should cook him a dinner here rather than having to eat out again. And shopping for food and cooking, it would help pass the time. Decision made, she pushed to her feet and trudged up the stairs for her coat and purse, stopping to peer out the bedroom window to assess the weather. Blue skies and sunshine. Something was working in her favour.

She was considering what to cook when she opened her front door and, lost in thought as she was, it took a few seconds before she realised there was something tied to her doorknob. A small box, wrapped in blue paper and tied with a matching wide ribbon, the bow of which was hooked over the knob. She stood staring at it, a frown creasing her forehead. She hadn’t ordered anything recently from anywhere and even if she had done, crazy as the delivery companies could be at times, this was surely beyond them.