The downside to their beautiful London home, the only one, was that there was no parking. Today the gods were smiling down on her, perhaps in sympathy, and she found a space a minute’s walk away. She picked up her bags and headed for home. Home, she thought, pushing open the door and feeling instantly relaxed.

A sudden piercing beep beep beep told her the alarm was set. She dropped her bags and hurried to key in the code to switch it off. Maybe her plan to surprise Jack hadn’t been such a good idea after all. He’d probably woken early, gone out for the newspaper and taken it somewhere to read over breakfast.

Heading upstairs, she pushed open the door to their bedroom, planning to drop her bags and ring him, her eyes widening when she saw the bed. Jack was being unusually tidy. Normally, if he did anything, it would be to pull the duvet up but today the pillows were plumped, the bedspread in place and tucked under them, the way she liked it.

Leaving the bags on the floor, she walked over and ran a hand over the bed, her forehead creasing in a frown. So neat; just the way she’d left it before she went away on Saturday. If she didn’t know better, she’d have sworn he hadn’t slept in it at all.

But that was ridiculous.

Wasn’t it?

9

Molly had unpacked, thrown a wash on, and was sitting with a mug of tea before she heard the front door open and Jack’s irritating off-tune whistle.

Her eyes were glued to the kitchen door. She hadn’t bothered to ring him, so he wasn’t expecting to see her. He wouldn’t notice that the alarm was already off, he’d assume he’d forgotten to set it, as he often did. She was shocked when the door opened and he stood staring at her with his mouth slightly open… he looked terrible. She’d not noticed before but absence, no matter how short, highlights change; she’d thought he’d lost weight recently but now she could see it, his face was full of angles and planes that were new. There was a greyish tinge to his skin, and dark circles rimmed his eyes

‘Molly,’ he said, faltering in the doorway.

She attempted a laugh that fell flat. ‘Don’t sound so surprised, I’m only a couple of hours early.’

‘It’s great… great… just unexpected, you should have phoned to let me know,’ he said, stumbling over his words. ‘That’s great,’ he said again, his smile looking as false as the heartiness in his voice. He dropped the holdall he carried and closed the distance in two swift steps, dragging her into a hug, burying his nose in her hair.