Obviously sensing he might be in the doghouse, Mark did his usual trick, disarming her with that sheepish and far too winning smile of his, the look in his soulful brown eyes somewhere between contrite and teasing. DI Mark Cain obviously knew her too well, confident she would forgive him his sins – because she loved him, irrevocably. He was her rock, there for her when she’d been lost, gently helping her find the will to go on when depression had been a dark, cloying blanket threatening to suffocate her. She hadn’t wanted to go on after losing Jacob. Wouldn’t have, if not for Mark, whose heart had been quietly breaking too. Mark had loved their little baby boy, who’d been so outwardly perfect, but whose tiny lungs couldn’t function independently. It had been there in his all-telling eyes. He’d so wanted the family she couldn’t give him. The normal functional family that, with his awful, abusive childhood, he’d never had. He’d never made her feel inadequate, not with a look, not with a gesture, but she had felt inadequate. Especially after the miscarriages.
Mark had his flaws, a tendency to withdraw when he was immersed in some horrendous case, seemingly moody to those who didn’t know the caring man underneath, but from the first time she’d met him, forcing herself to report her previous boyfriend, a manipulative excuse of a man who’d eventually shown his true colours and hit her, she’d known Mark was one of the good guys. He’d handled the case sensitively, checked up on her afterwards, become her white knight. He’d been a catch. This much Melissa knew, because, having told him that much once, Mark had never missed an opportunity to remind her he was. He didn’t do a bad back massage either, she reminded herself, unable to stop her mouth curving into a reciprocal smile as he stopped in front of them.
‘He’s got her! He’s got her!’ Poppy exclaimed, bouncing excitedly in Jade’s arms. ‘Daddy! You’re a hero!’ She extended her own small arms, obviously wanting to latch herself onto him, inconsiderate of the poor cat.
‘Definitely a hero,’ Jade agreed emotionally, her eyes filling up as she stepped towards him. Blue eyes, Melissa noticed – striking ice-blue. The sort of eyes you couldn’t fail to be mesmerised by.
‘Er…’ His arms full of her cat, Jade’s full of his child, Mark looked nonplussed at how to make the swap. ‘Jump down a sec, Poppet,’ he asked Poppy, giving her a reassuring smile. ‘I’ll pick you right back up as soon as Jade has her cat back.’
‘Is she your baby?’ Poppy asked, dutifully allowing herself to be lowered to the ground while Mark passed Jade his furry charge.
‘Yes.’ Jade nodded, reaching to take the cat gently from Mark’s arms, and then leaning in to plant a soft kiss on his cheek. ‘She’s my whole world. Thank you, Mark.’
‘My pleasure,’ Mark said, looking ever-so-slightly embarrassed as he bent to swoop Poppy up into his arms. And then he almost choked when Poppy locked her arms around his neck and announced, ‘Daddy’s good at making babies, too. He made one with Mummy, didn’t you, Daddy? He could make you a proper one if you asked him nicely, couldn’t you, Daddy?’
‘Um, I, er… Ahem.’ Mark clearly didn’t know where to look as Melissa and Jade swapped amused glances.
‘I think Daddy’s a bit too busy, Poppy,’ said Melissa, deciding now might be a good time to rescue him.
‘Busy causing chaos,’ the chief fire officer added, a despairing look on his face as he approached. ‘Don’t do a solo again, hey, mate? You, above all people, should know it’s not on. No one near the property until it’s been cleared by the fire safety officer. I ought to report it. You’ll land me in hot water up to my neck if you end up suffering from smoke inhalation.’
‘Yes, sorry.’ Mark looked contrite. ‘I didn’t—’
‘She wasn’t inside. She was in the tree. She got scared and ran before I could catch hold of her,’ Jade interrupted, clearly seeing that Mark might need rescuing here too. ‘When will it be? The fire safety officer’s visit, I mean,’ she added, neatly changing the subject.
The fire officer turned to her, and did a double take, literally. Melissa wasn’t surprised. Wearing a nightie under the jacket one of the firemen had supplied her, albeit a modest winceyette affair, and with her long blonde hair tousled and just-got-out-of-bed gorgeous, Jade was undeniably attractive. ‘I’m not quite sure,’ he said, clearly taken with her. ‘Do you want to come over to the engine while I make a call?’
Melissa watched them go, Jade cuddling her cat, looking fragile and vulnerable, despite her well-developed curves, the fire officer unable to resist looking sideways at her. ‘Do you think he’s trying to impress her?’ she asked Mark.
‘Undoubtedly,’ Mark concurred. ‘I doubt he’ll get very far though.’
‘Oh? Because she’s beautiful, you mean?’ She idly wondered if the girl had had Botox. Her lips and eyebrows were perfect. But then, she supposed, at her age they probably would be.
‘Yes.’ Mark nodded, keeping his gaze fixed forwards. ‘And young,’ he added, his mouth curving into a mischievous smile as Melissa glared at him.
‘Uh-oh,’ Mark said, winking at Poppy. ‘I think I might be in the doghouse, after all.’
‘Don’t be silly.’ Poppy sighed expansively, giving him a despairing roll of her eyes. ‘Hercules doesn’t have a house. He sleeps on my bed.’
‘I think he might need to move over to make room for me.’ Mark laughed, reading the now very peeved expression on Mel’s face. ‘I meant that he’s twice her age,’ he clarified, obviously realising he was on thin ice. ‘And, yes, Jade is pretty, as you’ve just pointed out, but not half as gorgeous as you, Mrs Cain, is she, Poppet?’
‘No’s the right answer,’ he whispered, as Poppy looked doubtful, making Melissa laugh. She couldn’t help it. The two of them together were mischief in the making. ‘Especially wearing my shirt,’ Mark added, rescuing himself this time. ‘Though I prefer it without the leggings under.’
‘Hmm?’ Melissa wasn’t ready to let him off the hook yet.
‘You don’t wear leggings,’ Poppy piped up, her huge eyes saucered in astonishment as she squirmed in Mark’s arms to stare at him, which caused them both to burst out laughing.
‘Only on Sundays.’ Mark assured her, hoisting Poppy onto one arm to reach in his pocket for his beeping mobile.
‘You’ve met her then?’ Melissa asked, easing the shawl to one side to check on Evie, who was still sleeping soundly.
‘What?’ Mark looked up distractedly from his phone.
Work texting him, Melissa guessed. ‘Jade.’ She nodded towards where Jade was gathering quite a uniformed fan club. ‘I noticed you knew her name, so I assumed you’d met.’
‘Out jogging. She runs around the same time I do,’ Mark confirmed, his mind clearly more on the text he’d received than their new neighbour.
‘She is very young, isn’t she? To own her own home, I mean?’
‘That’s what I thought,’ Mark said, his brow furrowed in concentration as he thumbed in a reply. ‘Her parents passed away recently, apparently. Left her a tidy sum.’
‘Oh no.’ Melissa immediately felt for her. Losing her own mum before she’d hit thirty was bad enough, but to lose both parents at Jade’s young age would be terrible.
‘You have to admire her pluckiness, buying a property, especially one in need of renovation.’ Mark glanced at Melissa and then back to Poppy, who’d clearly figured out that Daddy’s mobile beeping early in the morning meant he would soon be leaving, and who was now fastening herself more firmly around his neck.
‘Especially now,’ Melissa said, looking across to what had been reduced to an uninhabitable property and then towards Jade, who was walking back towards them, looking like a lost soul.
Noticing the fresh tears brimming in the girl’s eyes as she reached them, Melissa’s heart went out to her. ‘I take it it’s going to take a while?’ she said sympathetically.
Nodding, Jade dropped her gaze and nuzzled her cat. ‘It looks like it was probably an electrical fault, but they can’t be sure until they’ve done all the checks.’
‘So, what will you do?’ Mel asked, trying to make eye contact with Mark, whose phone was now ringing.
‘Start the renovation over, I suppose.’ Jade sighed, and then, clearly seeing that Mark needed to take his call and Melissa was struggling to manoeuvre Evie into the crook of her arm, moved to coax Poppy down with promises of chocolate.
Again, Melissa was grateful, if not overjoyed at the chocolate temptation. ‘She’s allergic to dairy,’ she said, smiling nevertheless. ‘But she can have a vegan chocolate bar, since she’s being such a good girl, hey, Poppy?’
Amazingly, Poppy allowed Jade to unlatch her from her father, who was incapable of being strict with her.
‘Allergic?’ Jade looked utterly stricken as she lowered Poppy gently to the ground and took hold of her hand, as Mark stepped away to take his call. ‘God, how stupid of me,’ she said, closing her eyes.