“Actually, I was going for a walk. Just want to do a final check on everything. Want to come?” Where had that come from? She wanted to open her mouth and press rewind.

“I’d love to, thanks.”

He smiled again, his eyes lighting up. She wished he wouldn’t. It made concentrating on anything more difficult. What could they talk about? The silence between them while not uncomfortable, couldn’t last forever.

“So tell me about your family,” she said. Oh that was really cool, not! She sounded like her mother talking to someone she had met for the first time.

“I know you don’t have any kids but given how cool you are with them, I’m guessing you have nieces or nephews?”

“No, none. The only child around is Skye, the little girl I told you about. The Malone men have been rather tardy about settling down. Drives Mam mad. She wants to be a grandmother yesterday.”

“Your mom sounds like a nice lady. Do you get on well?”

“We did until I messed things up.”

She wanted to ask was that because of the drugs but she didn’t want to ruin the atmosphere either. So she stayed silent.

“I suppose as families go we get along very well. With six children, there were a lot of fights growing up but my parents let us get on with it. They only interfered if Caitlin was involved. Her being a girl and everything. Although she can defend herself better than any of the rest of us.”

* * *

“I would love a sister or brother. Being the only one left sucks.”

The raw pain in her face cut him to the core. He reached out to push the hair out of her eyes, wanting to give her a hug but he wasn’t sure she would like that.

“Sorry, I guess I sound selfish. I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose one of my siblings. Even Caitlin and she drives me nuts.”

“What age is she?”

“Sixteen going on thirty. Honestly, she is the worst of the lot of us. She has my ma going grey.”

“Girls are harder than guys I suppose. More to worry about.” She didn’t look at him.

“Yeah maybe. My parents are very protective. Even more so now.”

“Now?”

“Ashley, there is something I need to tell you. I need you to know that everything you think you know about me isn’t true. It wasn’t me who smuggled the drugs in. But I cannot tell you anything else about it.”

“Why are you here then?” she asked wanting to believe him. The fact that he wasn’t involved fitted with the man she had come to know. But still he was here and had been dropped off by the police.

“That’s the part I can’t explain. All I can tell you is that I am innocent but you have to keep that to yourself. I can’t tell anyone else. Not even my family.”

“So that’s why they are annoyed with you? They believe you to be guilty.”

They hadn’t even considered the possibility he was innocent. That was the bit that hurt most. Here he was trying to persuade a stranger to accept his word. Only she wasn’t a stranger. He was closer to her than anyone else he knew, although that seemed weird. He looked at her. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something.

“Yes they do. In fairness it helps the whole case if they act that way so I cannot persuade them otherwise. Anyway, since I messed up. Caitlin hates me. She’s a really talented drummer, wanted to take my place in the band but our parents wouldn’t let her. I messed that up as well.”

“Sixteen’s a bit young for touring and stuff. You probably did her a favor in the long term. She’s too young to know that now. It’s tough enough being a teenager without having to cope with the pressures fame would bring.”

He moved closer to her, taking her hand. She didn’t withdraw but smiled up at him. He wanted to kiss her but maybe he should go slowly.

“Yeah being a teenager was the pits. All those raging hormones. I don’t know how my parents coped with five lads going through those years.”

“You sound like you guys had fun. I always thought a big family would be cool.”

“It has its drawbacks. Queuing for the bathroom is one of them.”

“Yeah right. As if.” She nudged him in the shoulder, her eyes dancing as she teased him.

“I’m serious. We lived in a one-bathroom house. There were three bedrooms. Caitlin shared with my parents until she was about three or four. Then Da converted the attic so we could have another room. Still only one bathroom though.”

“I assumed you grew up in a huge house. Given your success.”

Thinking of the house in Darndale being luxurious made him laugh.

“Nope. We grew up on what you call a housing estate. There were about two hundred houses, all exactly the same size but in a choice of four colors. They were built around a store, a pub, and a church. Then the council came along and built more houses and some schools. Few of the men had jobs, so they hung around the street corners until the pubs opened. The women did the grafting, finding ways of earning money to keep the kids fed. We were lucky. Da never was a big drinker and he held down a steady job. Still, it wasn’t easy for them. They had to raise six kids on a small wage. We didn’t go hungry. I guess we made our own fun. We used to build tents and forts out the back garden. You know, the sort of things you can do which don’t cost a lot of money.” Adam hesitated. Camilla would have been teasing him at this point about being the poor little rich boy. She was always sneering at him for something or other. Being Irish or coming from a poor background or whatever.

“I’m probably boring you. I tend to go on about my family too much.”

“It sounds great. Not exactly what I pictured.”

“So you were thinking about me?” He watched her face closely as a wave of pretty pink colored her cheeks.