Flynn took his wet shoes and coat into the small utility room off the kitchen, hanging the coat on one of the pegs and looking around for somewhere to put his shoes before leaving them on the back doormat. He stood in the doorway staring at her, looking ridiculously vulnerable in his socked feet.

‘Sit down, for goodness’ sake.’ Jodie was angry with him for his lie, irritated with herself for her weakness and completely exasperated at the situation they were in. ‘I should never have let you in.’

‘I’m glad you did,’ Flynn said, taking the seat opposite. ‘You should have told me about the packages… what you were going through. I thought it was that nursing-home mess that had you stressed and sad.’

Jodie shrugged. ‘It was both. The packages started arriving shortly after I met you so…’

‘You told the police I was sending them?’

Had she? Hadn’t it been the police who’d come to that conclusion? She was so weary. ‘The first two weren’t distressing, just a silly gift.’ It wasn’t quite a lie, not exactly the truth. ‘But the one yesterday was a dead mouse and it upset me so I rang the police.’ She held her hands up. ‘They asked me about anyone or anything new in my life, and I told them about you and your lie. It was funny but until then, until they pointed out that the packages had started after I met you, I hadn’t thought there was any connec–’

‘There isn’t,’ he interrupted her. ‘I swear, they had nothing to do with me.’

Jodie gave a half-smile. ‘I believe you. But you did lie about your job.’ She saw a mix of emotions chase across his face: shame and sorrow mixed with defiance. ‘I went for a job interview with London Medical,’ she said and watched the defiance fade away.

‘Fine. Yes, I lied, okay?’ He got to his feet abruptly, took a few steps across the room and turned to look at her. ‘I’m a support worker. In Guy’s Hospital.’

‘A support worker?’

He pressed his lips together. ‘An orderly, a porter, whatever you want to call it.’

‘I know what a support worker is,’ she snapped. ‘But I don’t understand why you lied and said you were a sales rep.’

Flynn returned to his seat and sat heavily. ‘I’m working on the wards these days but last year I was working in the operating theatres and I used to chat to the sales reps who came in to talk to the anaesthetists. Their jobs sounded so exciting with their conferences and sales meetings in foreign countries. Plus, they always looked smart.’ He raised both shoulders, dropping them with a sigh. ‘I like talking to people and thought it would be something I could do so I applied for a couple of positions.’

‘But you weren’t offered a job,’ Jodie said when silence stretched too long.