Saved by the Single Dad (14 page)

A piece of something hit the back of her helmet and Jack glanced upwards. ‘Okay?'

‘Yep. Keep going.' Annabel was injured and defenceless. And she'd already shown such bravery. Cass would keep shielding her with her own body for as long as it took.

Jack gave her the briefest of smiles and then turned his attention back to his patient.

‘Sweetheart. Annabel... I'm giving you pain relief. It'll kick in pretty quickly.' He murmured the words and Cass saw Annabel nod.

‘The children...' She opened her eyes, trying to focus on Jack. ‘You're Ellie's dad...'

‘Yes, that's right. The children are all safe, thanks to you. And Shaun is okay as well—the firefighters are taking him out of the building.'

‘I picked him up and the ground just... My leg...'

‘You did just great, Annabel. You protected them all.' Jack's sideways glance at Cass told her that he'd come to the same conclusion she had. Annabel and Shaun must have fallen together and she must have landed awkwardly, trying to protect him.

‘So cold. Don't want to...die.' A tear dribbled from the corner of Annabel's eye and Cass shifted her position so that she could take her hand.

‘You're not going to die.' Jack brushed the side of her face with his fingers to keep her attention. ‘Hey... Annabel.'

‘Yeah... Too much paperwork...' Annabel grimaced.

‘Far too much. I know you're hurting, but you're going to mend. Just hold on to Cass and we'll be getting you out of here as soon as we can. Got it?' Cass knew exactly what the warmth in Jack's eyes could do. He could make her believe anything, and she hoped that Annabel would believe him now.

‘Yes...'

News was passed through that the firefighters, working to get through at ground floor level, were almost there. Jack worked on Annabel quickly and carefully, preparing her to be moved. A neck brace and temporary splints for her legs. A thermal blanket, to try and warm her a little, and an oxygen mask.

Annabel's eyes followed him. Somehow, Jack had managed to become not just someone who could give her medical help but her lifeline. It was almost as if he was keeping her going, just by the sheer force of his personality, that warmth in his eyes. Staving off the shock which made Annabel's hand ice-cold in hers.

The noise of boots clambering over the rubble heralded the arrival of the stretcher. Jack slid a lifting board under her body and Cass helped him transfer her to the stretcher, quickly securing the straps and tucking the thermal blanket around her.

‘Okay, sweetheart.' Jack smiled down at Annabel. ‘We're on our way.'

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

J
ACK
WAITED
UNTIL
the ambulance had drawn away, carrying Annabel to the hospital. Cass came to stand beside him, watching the vehicle negotiate its way past the fire engines and down the lane.

‘Brave woman,' she murmured.

‘Yeah. Josie's going to find out how she is when she goes off shift, and call me.'

‘Do you think...?' She shrugged. ‘How did she seem, to you?'

‘Shock. One leg broken, and the other is probably fractured. Cuts, bruises, and she's got a cracked rib and what looks like a broken wrist. I couldn't find anything else, but they'll be checking her over further at the hospital to make sure.'

Cass nodded. ‘I hope she's all right. Are you going off shift now?'

‘Yes, I want to take Ellie straight home.'

‘Okay.' Cass turned towards the fire engine. ‘See you later.'

He caught her arm. ‘Cass. Thank you.' There was nothing more he could say. When he'd seen Ellie in Cass's arms his heart had almost burst with relief.

‘Yeah. Any time.' She grinned up at him and he knew that she understood.

By the time Jack got Ellie home she was starting to ask questions, and to realise that her experience hadn't been just another game. Was her teacher hurt? Why did her school fall down—was their house going to fall down too? He tried to answer everything as honestly as he could without feeding his daughter's fears.

She wanted to hold on to him, and he settled down in front of the TV to watch her favourite film with her. Even that didn't seem to get her singing and dancing around the room, as it usually did.

Cass was a little later than usual and, when he heard the front door close, Ellie didn't get up and run to greet her. When she walked into the sitting room, she was smiling.

‘Hey, Ellie.' She squatted down in front of her. ‘How are you doing?'

‘All right.' Ellie turned her solemn eyes on to Cass without letting go of Jack's shirt.

‘I've got something for you.' Cass was holding one hand behind her back.

Ellie craned around, trying to see what it was. ‘Sometimes we meet kids who are really, really brave. And we give them a special certificate.'

‘Really?' Ellie's eyes widened, and Jack grinned. So that was what she'd been up to.

‘Yes.' Cass produced a roll of paper from behind her back, tied with a red ribbon. ‘So this is for you.'

Ellie took the paper and Jack pulled open the bow with his free hand and unrolled it on Ellie's lap. Her name was on it in large letters framed with curlicues. He ran his finger under the words.

‘Junior Firefighter...'
he read out loud. ‘That's you, Ellie. And, look, everyone from the fire station has signed it.' He pointed to the group of signatures, strewn with kisses and hearts. Cass's name was there too, the writing careful and rounded.

He stopped to wonder for a moment how handwriting could possibly be sexy, and then turned his mind to the image at the bottom.

‘And there's the fire engine.' The artwork was clearly downloaded from the Internet, but that wasn't the point. Cass had taken the time to print it off on thick paper, and to get it signed by everyone. And Ellie was proud of herself now, not fretful and worrying.

‘Say thank you to Cass.' He turned his face up to her, mouthing the words for himself, wondering if she knew just how heartfelt they were. She smiled at him.

‘What's for supper?'

Everything was clearly okay in Cass's world if she was hungry. Jack had come to recognise the signs. ‘Pasta. Fifteen minutes. Why don't you take Ellie upstairs and you can find a place on her bedroom wall for the certificate. I'll get a frame for it, eh, Ellie?'

The bumps and bangs from upstairs, along with the sound of Ellie's chatter, indicated that there was rather more going on than just the choosing of a place on the wall. Jack laid the table in the kitchen and took the pasta bake from the oven, leaving it to cool. Curious to see what they were doing, he walked upstairs to fetch them instead of calling them down.

The curtains were drawn in Ellie's bedroom, and Jack's hand hovered over the light switch as he popped his head around the door. Then he saw the makeshift arrangement of sheets, held up with a couple of chairs and some twine, forming a tent at the end of Ellie's bed. The glow of torchlight and the mutter of voices came from inside.

For a moment he was transfixed. So this was what it was like. A family. He remembered playing in a tent in the garden with his dad before everything had been shattered and their home had become just a house where grief had pushed the laughter away.

Suddenly it hurt. That swell of pain, all the regret for things he'd never done with his father. For the first time, Jack wondered whether his father had really wanted to leave them like that. Whether, in those last moments, when death must have seemed inevitable, he had thought of his wife and children.

For a moment the feelings choked him. It had been so much easier to blame his father, to be angry at the choices he'd made. But perhaps he'd just been a dad, after all.

Quietly, he walked into the room. The sudden clatter of wind chimes startled him and Ellie came cannoning out of the makeshift tent, almost knocking it down. Jack hadn't noticed the trip wire at his feet.

‘We got you, Daddy...' Ellie wrapped her arms around his leg, clinging on tight.

‘Yeah, you got me.' He bent down to tickle her and she wriggled with laughter. Then he put one finger over his lips, assuming a stage whisper. ‘Where's Cass?'

‘In the tent,' Ellie whispered back, her hand shielding her mouth.

Jack dropped to his knees and followed Ellie. Inside the tent, a line of dolls greeted him, their faces impassive. And Cass, sitting cross-legged and a little nervous, as if she'd just been caught doing something she wasn't strictly meant to.

‘Can I come in?' Jack grinned at her.

‘Yes. Of course.' She shifted a bit to give him room to get inside the tent and Ellie clambered past him to her own spot, next to the dolls. ‘Is dinner getting cold...? Ellie, we should go downstairs...'

‘We could eat up here.'

‘Yes!' Ellie gave him an imploring look and Cass reddened.

‘Won't we make a mess?'

‘Probably. That's what they make kitchen towel for.' He met her gaze. Today had changed things. When he'd seen Cass and Ellie together in the classroom window, he'd realised that trying to protect Ellie from Cass's love was not only useless; it was counterproductive. When they'd worked together with Annabel, Jack had wondered just how much else they could achieve together, given the chance.

And Cass had changed too. She'd created a comforting world for Ellie, and it was one that all three of them could share. They hadn't been together like this since he and Cass had slept with Ellie, on his bed, weeks ago.

‘I used to have a tent, when I was little.' He smiled at Ellie. ‘Grandma used to make burgers and chips, and she'd bring them out to the tent for Grandad and Auntie Sarah and me.'

Two pairs of round eyes gazed at him, Ellie's filled with interest and Cass's with astonishment.

‘Auntie Sarah says that my grandad is the same as Ethan's grandad.' Jack realised that Sarah must have talked to Ellie about their father but that he never had, and she was struggling with the concept. It was an omission that he should have rectified by now.

‘Yes, that's right. Do you want to see a picture of him? With me and Auntie Sarah when we were little.'

Ellie nodded vigorously.

‘Okay. We'll have supper first, though.'

‘I'll come and give you a hand.' Cass moved in the cramped space, trying not to knock any of the dolls over.

‘It's okay. Stay here.' They didn't need to talk about this. Tonight might be as terrifying in its own way as today had been, but it was long overdue.

* * *

They were having fun. The tent that Cass had intended as something to cheer Ellie up with, and would fit only two people and a line of dolls, had turned into a tent for three. Just like a proper family.

Jack had gone to fetch the photograph, disappearing for some time, and Cass supposed it was hidden away somewhere and he'd had to look for it. Ellie had drawn her own version, and Jack had watched thoughtfully.

‘He looks like you, Daddy.'

‘Yeah. He does, doesn't he?' There was no trace of the anger that surfaced whenever Jack talked about his father. He ran his fingers lightly over the photograph, as if he too were re-drawing it.

‘Okay?' Ellie was busy with another picture and Cass ventured the question.

‘Yeah. I think so.' Jack still seemed unsure about this, but he'd hidden the tremor in his hands from Ellie. ‘You?'

It was nothing to do with her. It was Jack's father, his child, and his conflict...

But when she'd passed Ellie out of the window and seen Jack waiting at the bottom of the ladder, it had felt for a moment as if Ellie was her own child. As if all the pressure and fear were gone, swamped by their shared instincts to keep the little girl safe. Maybe...just maybe...there was some way forward for her and Jack.

‘You?' He repeated the question, more pointedly this time.

‘Yes. Fine.' Cass turned to the picture that Ellie was drawing, trying to avoid his gaze. ‘That's beautiful...'

She'd spoken before she had even looked at the picture. And when she did look, it
was
beautiful. A house. A red crayoned figure who she'd come to recognise as herself, along with a tall figure who could only be Jack. Between them stood four small figures.

‘That's me.' Ellie planted her finger on one of the smaller images. ‘And Daddy and Cassandra, and my brothers. And that's my sister.'

‘Sweetheart...' Jack's voice was strained and Cass couldn't look at him. Didn't dare let him see the tears as her own picture of her perfect family suddenly imploded, smashing itself into pieces.

‘That's very nice, Ellie.' She cleared her throat. ‘I'm...'

What? Living next door? Coming to rescue Jack and his family? For a moment she couldn't think of any other reason for her to be in the picture than the one that Ellie so obviously intended.

‘Okay...' When Jack pulled the picture out from in front of her, she almost cried out with loss. His other arm curled around Ellie and he took her on to his lap for a hug. ‘I think it's nearly bedtime, don't you, Ellie?'

‘No.' Ellie's voice was indignant.

‘I think it is...'

Suddenly Cass couldn't take it. The nightly debate, which Jack always managed to win one way or another. The kiss, before Ellie ran to her father to go up to bed. She squeezed past Jack, almost knocking the tent down in her haste to get out.

‘Cass...?'

‘I'm going to stack the dishwasher.' She didn't wait for Jack's reply but ran downstairs, turning on the kitchen tap to splash cool water on her face. She'd done the one thing that she'd promised herself she'd never do again. She'd fallen for Jack, and dared to dream about a happy ending. One that could never come true.

* * *

Jack tried to get Ellie into bed as fast as he could, but hurrying always seemed to have the same effect. The more he tried to rush, the slower Ellie went. He read Ellie's favourite story, hoping she wouldn't mind that he'd missed a few bits out, listening for any sign of movement downstairs. When he finally kissed Ellie goodnight, the house had been silent for a while.

She was sitting at the kitchen table, nursing a cup of tea. Cass didn't need to look at him for Jack to know she'd been crying.

‘I'm so sorry. She didn't mean it...' The words tumbled out. It was all his fault. If he hadn't talked about his own father, then Ellie would probably never have drawn the picture. Jack had broken his own rule, dared to include Cass in his and Ellie's tiny family unit. And he'd hurt her.

She shrugged. ‘I know.'

‘She draws whatever happens to be going on in her head at the time. It doesn't mean anything.' He was protesting far too much. Trying to deny the truth. It hadn't just been going on in Ellie's head; it had been going on in his. And, from the look in her eyes, it had been going on in Cass's too.

She shook her head. ‘It's what she wants.'

Jack almost choked. ‘Ellie has what she needs; this isn't about her.' On that level it wasn't. On another, deeper level, the thought of hurting her the way he'd been hurt, deliberately putting her at risk of losing a parent again, still terrified him.

‘No? Then make it about you and me then. How would you feel, knowing that there was no possibility of having any more children?' The intensity in her quiet words made it very clear that they would have been shouted if there wasn't a sleeping child in the house.

‘Honestly...?'

She looked up at him suddenly. Such pain in her eyes. ‘That would be good. Honesty always is.'

‘Honestly, I think it's you that needs to face that, not me.'

‘My problem, you mean?' she flared angrily.

‘No, I didn't mean that at all. I meant that you're the one who thinks it's a problem in our relationship, not me.'

‘We weren't going to have this conversation, Jack. You said you'd keep me safe.'

The words stung because they were true. And wanting to change didn't mean that it was easy.

‘It's been a hell of a day. Perhaps we should sleep on it.'

She nodded, her face impassive. ‘Yes. I need to be up early tomorrow. I'm seeing the electrician at my house in the morning.'

Jack nodded. ‘Are you coming to bed, then?'

He'd never had to ask before. Always known that Cass would go to her own room, to get ready for bed, and then come to his. The moments of waiting, which had seemed like hours in his impatience to hold her, were almost the best part of his day. Second only to when he actually did hold her.