It was a precious memory. He’d thought she’d loved him but she’d given him up, had turned on him without a thought, cast away their dreams, their future. He knew her mother had been partially responsible, but Jodie had known him, had known how much he loved her. He’d told them all, the police, solicitors, the judge, that they were wrong, that those other girls had meant nothing to him, that Jodie was the one he loved, the one he’d wanted. He remembered their scornful, hateful looks, their quick use of the word ‘rapist’ to describe him, a word that had shocked him to the core. That wasn’t who he was at all.

21

Back home, following her meeting with Rivka, weariness settled over Jodie and she plodded up the stairs, kicked off her shoes and lay fully clothed on the bed. She shut her eyes and begged sleep to come. It didn’t, of course. After almost an hour trying, she groaned, sat up and swung her feet to the floor.

Anyway, she had the pressing matter of finding herself another job. She switched on her laptop in the hope that one of the three homes she’d emailed had replied. Two had, and a flicker of excitement washed away a little of the tiredness. But opening the first, she saw that their only current vacancy was for a night nurse. Nights, she hated them.

The second was more hopeful. They were looking for a part-time day nurse. Twenty-four hours a week with the possibility of more to cover holidays and sick leave. Twenty-four hours. Almost half the hours she’d wanted. But she didn’t have a mortgage on the house, her needs were low and she could lower them. It was something she’d have to consider.

There was no reply from the third nursing home but, more interestingly, there was one from one of the recruitment agencies. They’d love to have a chat with her, gave her a contact name and asked her to ring.

Jodie sat staring at the screen for a few seconds. Maybe this was fate taking a hand and this was going to turn out to be the silver lining to that darkly brooding cloud that was hanging over her. She reached for her phone, dialled the number on the screen and asked to speak to Nate Bisby.

‘Nate here, how can I help?’

‘Hi,’ Jodie said nervously. ‘It’s Jodie Armstrong. I had an email asking me to ring.’

‘Jodie! Yes, hello. Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. I read your CV and was impressed with it. Especially–’ Jodie heard the faint tap of keys ‘–your experience in operating theatres. I have an exciting position with a pharmaceutical company, one specialising in anaesthetic drugs. Would that be something that would interest you?’