LITMIR.BIZ

      PROLOGUE

      IT WAS HOT in the park—people lay basking on the grass under the shade of the trees and children splashed in the paddling pool, their happy squeals carrying over to Francesca holding Abby by the hand.

      ‘Can I go in there?’ asked the little girl imploringly, tugging Francesca towards the pool. ‘Please!’

      Francesca laughed. ‘You can if Daddy says so—but you’re due at a party soon and he may not want you to get wet.’

      ‘He doesn’t mind me getting wet—really!’ the child assured her, then she started bouncing excitedly up and down. ‘Look—he’s coming now. Let’s ask him, shall we?’

      A tall man with thick russet-coloured hair and rimless glasses that gave him a rather studious look ran up to them. ‘Sorry to keep you, Francesca—the clinic was running late as usual and I couldn’t get away. Thanks a ton for minding Abby.’

      ‘No trouble, Jack. I love looking after her, as you know.’ Francesca grinned at him. ‘And I’m not surprised you’re late—I’ve never known a Saturday clinic end early.’

      Abby pushed in between them and wound her arms round her father’s legs. ‘Please, Daddy, let me paddle in the little pool. I won’t get very wet you know…’

      Both adults laughed and the man lifted Abby up in his arms and kissed her cheek. ‘Difficult not to get very wet in water,’ he teased. ‘Go on, then—just for a minute, sweetheart. Better take off that dress, though. You’ll soon dry out in this heat before we go to Sam’s party.’

      Francesca helped Abby take off her dress and the little girl scampered joyfully towards the pool, her russet curly hair springing up and down.

      ‘She’s such a dear little girl,’ said Francesca, her eyes following Abby. ‘So bright and bubbly. You must be very proud of her Jack.’

      Jack sighed. ‘Of course I am. I just wish Sue was here to see her, that’s all. It seems so hard that she’ll never watch Abby growing up.’

      Francesca looked at him sympathetically. He and his late wife had made such a great couple, devoted to each other and absolutely besotted with their little daughter when she had been born. When Sue had died he had been devastated, and Francesca felt he had never recovered from her loss.

      She and Jack started to stroll towards the paddling pool after Abby, and Francesca squeezed his arm.

      ‘You must be lost without Sue,’ she said gently. ‘But you’ve done so well on your own with Abby.’

      ‘Thanks in large part to you.’ Jack smiled at her. ‘I’ve really appreciated you helping out when I’ve been stuck, you know—like you did today, picking her up from the childminder and looking after her when you’d already done a long stint in A and E.’

      ‘If I can’t help look after my fiancé’s niece from time to time, it’s a poor lookout. It works both ways anyway. You’re Damian’s brother-in-law and it’s been good to be able to unload some of my worries on you while he’s in South America.’

      ‘No regrets about me introducing you to someone who’s away more than he’s here?’ asked Jack.

      ‘Don’t be silly. Love doesn’t dilute with distance, you know! I’ll always be grateful to you.’ She sighed. ‘I wish I could go out and see him, but he’s adamant that I shouldn’t because of the unrest in the area at the moment.’

      A vivid picture of her first meeting with Damian sprang into Frankie’s mind—a lovely summer’s evening by the river in the garden of a country pub. Jack had persuaded her to come and

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