LITMIR.BIZ

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toilet.’

      ‘Can you manage by yourself?’

      ‘Of course I can.’ The indignation was automatic. ‘I’m five!’

      ‘Cool. Come straight back.’

      Emmy got to the door but then turned to watch for a moment longer. She saw the way Haylee’s fingers relaxed their grip on the cellphone. Her new nanny didn’t even notice when it slipped out of her grasp and bounced onto the floor.

      Emmy stopped chewing her bottom lip. With her lips set in a rather determined smile, she went out of the door in search of magic.

      

      Forty-year-old Roger was about to walk out of the door of the emergency department.

      ‘Wait!’ Andrew took another glance at the slip of paper in his hand and stepped in front of his patient.

      ‘What for?’

      But Roger took a step back towards the bed he’d recently vacated, having rested for a couple of hours after the successful management of his cardiac arrhythmia.

      ‘I’ve just received the results of the last blood tests we took.’

      ‘You said there was nothing wrong with my blood.’

      ‘There wasn’t. The first results came back with completely normal cardiac enzymes.’ Andrew tweaked the curtain shut behind him and showed Roger the paper he held. ‘This one, however, shows a raised TNT.’

      ‘What does that mean?’

      ‘It means that there’s been some damage to heart tissue.’

      Roger sat down on the bed. ‘You mean, like a heart attack?’

      ‘Yes. The level is low enough to suggest it’s minor but we’re going to need to admit you and run some more tests.’

      ‘But…I want to go home.’

      ‘I know,’ he said sympathetically. ‘I’m sorry.’

      Roger wasn’t the only one who wanted to go home. Andrew’s shift had officially finished, but he took the time to explain things to Roger again and then he paged Cardiology and waited for the registrar to arrive so he could transfer care of this patient. Finally, he unhooked his stethoscope from around his neck, put on the pinstriped jacket of his suit and headed for the car park.

      Minutes later and he could put his foot down. Just a little, because that was all it needed for a surge of power from his gorgeous new car. The powerful engine purred softly and the miles between work and home evaporated. Andrew sped past the rolling paddocks without seeing the autumn colours of the trees. He barely noticed the goat on the side of the road.

      It seemed a very long time since he’d kissed Emmy goodbye this morning and he needed to get back to her. To their new home. To remind himself why they’d journeyed here from the far side of the world. To convince himself it was worth the disturbing prospect of having to work with someone who was such a tangible link to his old life.

      He’d won the first round, though, hadn’t he? Made it very clear that if they were to work together it would be on his terms. So why wasn’t it making him feel any better about the future? Why had he been left with this kind of unpleasant aftertaste as though he was being forced not only to recognise, but to bring out a side of himself that he didn’t particularly like?

      Andrew slowed just a little as the car bounced over the undulations in the driveway formed by ancient tree roots. He glanced to his left at the fork and caught a metallic glimmer that begged a second look. A horse float was parked under the shelter of some trees. Good. The tenant had returned. Amanda someone, the solicitor had informed him.

      Andrew needed to talk to this Amanda. To let her know that, unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to let her renew the lease on the cottage that was due to expire at the end of this month. He needed the cottage as accommodation. The agency had assured him they would be able to find a married couple who would jump at the opportunity of living here and working for him. A housekeeper-nanny and a farm manager. Free accommodation should ensure he got the best available and nothing but the best would do. If the couple had children, it would be a bonus. While he was making arrangements for Emmy to start school in the city, it was too far away to make out-of-school play dates easy. How much better would it be if she had company closer to home?

      The sound of the television made Andrew frown as he let himself in through the front door of the magnificent old house. Why on earth was Emmy watching rubbish when she could be outside in the fresh air and enjoying the kind of exercise and surroundings that had been impossible in central London?

      Finding the temporary nanny sound asleep on a couch in the small sitting room that had once been a library was a shock. Andrew snatched up the remote and killed the noise, staring at the young woman in disbelief and then automatically scouring the room for evidence of something worse than being simply asleep. Empty bottles? Syringes? Not that it made any difference. History was still repeating itself. He had apparently left his daughter in the care of someone who wasn’t competent enough to keep her safe, let alone care for her the way she deserved.

      The sudden silence had been enough to wake Haylee.

      ‘Where’s Emmy?’ Andrew demanded.

      ‘She went to the loo.’

      ‘Oh?’ Andrew strode to the door, trying to calm down. ‘Emmy?’

      He called again but he could feel the emptiness of the house as he stood in the vast hallway. His pace increased as he checked the cloakroom under the sweeping stairway. He took the stairs two at a time to reach the gallery that overlooked the foyer. He checked Emmy’s bedroom. His own room. He threw open door after door of rooms that didn’t even contain any furniture yet.

       ‘Emmy!’

      Downstairs, he found Haylee standing near the kitchen, looking frightened.

      ‘How long were you asleep for?’

      ‘I…I’m not sure. Not long.’

      Andrew brushed past her into the kitchen. Empty. Not even any sign of the pantry being raided for snacks. The old laundry was also empty. The back door was open.

      ‘She’s gone outside?’ Andrew tried to quell a spark of panic. ‘By herself?’

      ‘She won’t have gone far.’

      ‘How on earth would you know that? You don’t even have any idea how long you were asleep.’ Anger surfaced with a vengeance. ‘And how far do you think she would need to go to get into trouble? There’s a river out there, for God’s sake!’

      ‘I—I’ll help you look.’ Haylee looked ready to burst into tears.

      ‘No.’ Andrew didn’t spare the time to look back at the girl. She wasn’t to know that he was as angry with himself as he was with her but fear overrode any habit of kindness. ‘Get your things and go home, Haylee. I don’t want you looking after my daughter. You’re fired!’

      He scanned the kitchen yard, with its clothes line and pattern of herb gardens surrounded by tall thick hedges that hadn’t been trimmed in years. The gateway set under an arch of greenery was overgrown. Almost invisible and only just ajar. Quite enough of a gap for a small girl to have squeezed through, however.

      Andrew wrenched the gate open further.

       ‘Emmy!’

      Good grief!

      There was a small girl standing in Ben’s paddock. A very pretty little girl with a mop of blonde curly hair and big blue eyes that were gazing up at her in open admiration. Awe, even.

      ‘Jake!’

      The warning was unnecessary. Her large dog had dropped to his haunches well away from the child. He put his nose on his front paws and prepared to wait patiently. Ben also seemed to realise that caution was advisable.

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