Everyone knew where the women gathered, the desperate and needy with their short skirts and tight smiles and the promises of heaven. Marie leaned nonchalantly against a wall and tried to act as though she fit in.

She did not.

She was chased away by a tall, thin woman and a short, round girl with frizzy blonde hair who didn’t look old enough to be there.

Marie slowed to a brisk walk when she reached the main road; a stitch in her side throbbing, her ankles burning as her feet wobbled in shoes that were too high. Her mind scrambled for possibilities. She’d steeled herself to do the unimaginable, and now she didn’t want to go home empty-handed.

A trail of laughter led her to a pub, where three men gathered outside, their breath billowing with cold and smoke. Marie watched as they ground cigarette butts under their boots and stalked back inside. The heavy wooden door swung shut behind them. Marie crossed her arms over her chest to keep the shattered pieces of herself together, tucked her freezing hands into her armpits. Just as she was resigned to giving up – she didn’t know who she was but she knew she wasn’t this – the door swung open again and a familiar figure stepped outside.

George.

Her brother-in-law had always had a soft spot for her. Marie observed him for a few moments until – as though sensing he was being watched – he turned. His eyes met hers.

And she knew from his expression that he would be the one to save her.

Chapter Forty-Five

George

Now

George doesn’t know how much longer he can keep up the pretence. Every single time he got home and washed her off his skin he promised himself he would be a better husband. A better father. A better version of himself but, no matter how steely his resolve, she is like a furnace, bending his good intentions out of shape until they are something entirely different. Until he is something entirely different.

The shopping is defrosting in the boot. He should be getting home to Leah. It isn’t fair to leave her with a puppy she never wanted. At the time he thought it was a good idea. As soon as he saw the advert for the dog on Facebook he had called Francesca and asked her opinion. She had warned him that Leah wasn’t mentally strong enough for exposure therapy. He foolishly thought he knew better. He’d watched a documentary on Sky about phobias, a man with a fear of spiders held a tarantula and realized they weren’t so scary after all. He thought it might be like that – in his own way he thought he might be helping, but the second he’d seen her stricken face pale he realized he’d made a horrible mistake.

Another one.

And he has no idea how to sort it out either.

Archie was in raptures. He’d fallen in love with that puppy the second he had seen him. George could still hear Archie’s excited screams ringing in his ears. To take him away now would be cruel, particularly… George swallowed hard – particularly if George was no longer living at home full-time. If he was honest, that was part of the dog’s appeal. Something that could protect his family if… when he was no longer around.