Now Molly knew what Jack’s problem was, she could help him. Gambling… it was a disease; she’d help him recover and they’d get back their lives and be more solid than ever. They weren’t like Amelia and Tristan; they’d always been enough for each other.

She was debating which part of the country they should move to when she heard a knock on the door. Jack! As fast as she was able, she got to the door, slid back the safety chain and turned the key in the lock. Everything would be all right now.

The clunk of the lock turning was loud, the sound barely faded before the door was pushed open, almost knocking her off her feet. Staggering backwards, she stared at the bedraggled man who came through the door. ‘Jack, where have you been?’

He pushed past her. Shutting and locking the door, she followed him; he was home, safe, suddenly that was all that mattered. He was standing in the middle of the living room when she followed him in, his clothes wrinkled, coat ripped. Had he been mugged?

She went to him, put her arms around his neck and pressed up against him, ignoring the dampness, the smell of cigarette smoke and alcohol that came off him in waves. ‘Oh Jack,’ she said, burying her face in his neck. ‘It’s been so awful, and I’ve needed you so desperately.’

‘Awful?’ he said, pushing her away and taking a few steps back. ‘What in your cushy overindulged life, could be classified as awful?’

Shock kept her silent for a few seconds. ‘Of course, you don’t know it all,’ she said slowly, ‘but you do know someone tried to push me under a car.’

Ignoring her, he pulled off his coat, flung it onto the sofa and went to the kitchen to switch on the kettle.

‘It was Charlie,’ she said, waiting for Jack’s shocked reaction, for him to come to her and take her in his arms, for the reassurance, the comfort she needed. Instead, he continued to ignore her, standing and staring at the damn kettle. ‘Did you hear me?’ she said, a note of desperation creeping into her voice. ‘Jack… it was Charlie who tried to kill me by pushing me under a car, then last night, he came here and tried again. He tried to kill me again, Jack… for the insurance money. He wanted to kill me so you could get the damn insurance money to pay back the money you owed him.’ She was almost panting by the time she finished. ‘The police arrested him,’ she added quietly.

Finally, Jack turned to stare at her. ‘I wondered what had happened to him,’ he said before spooning coffee into a mug and adding water.