‘She’s fast asleep,’ Jade said, coming into the workshop. ‘Do you need a hand with anything here?’

Mel glanced up from where she was mopping the last of the blood from the floor. It seemed to have been smeared everywhere. Mark had been saturated in it. Some of it, Mel had realised when he got back from the vets, was his own. She’d fetched him a bandage and tried to help him wrap his hand, but he was rushing. Late. Keen to be gone. Mel couldn’t blame him.

He hadn’t said much about her sculpture, which had been smashed to smithereens. But then, that was understandable. He’d hardly have been taking stock of the damage while desperately trying to stem the flow of blood from the dog. The sculpture didn’t matter. It was important, to her, and it being irretrievably broken before she’d had time to make a cast was obviously upsetting. It was the statue the Garden & Homes store were considering stocking nationwide. But it was insignificant in the great scheme of things. Poor Hercules.

More upsetting, though, was that Mark had been so obviously annoyed about her forgetting to put the key back. She’d felt like crying when he dashed off, giving her no more than a peck on the cheek after all that they’d done together the first time he’d showered.

It was the shock, she supposed, catching up with her. Plus, she was still so damn tired. The fuzziness, like damp cotton wool in her head, just wouldn’t clear. She needed to go for a brisk walk or something, get a grip. Mark was bound to have been frantic, and she was being oversensitive, her hormones playing havoc, more than likely. Thank God Jade had been there. Things could have been so much worse if not for her presence of mind.

‘Mel,’ Jade prompted. ‘Do you need a hand?’

‘No. Thanks, Jade.’ Mustering up a smile, Mel attempted to pull herself together. ‘You’ve been an absolute rock, I honestly don’t know what I’d have done without you, but it’s all pretty much cleaned up here now.’

‘I’m so sorry about your lovely sculpture.’ Sighing sadly, Jade walked across to where the remnants lay on the bench. ‘It’s such a terrible shame.’

Mel raked her hair from her face, which was a bedraggled mess. ‘It’s not the end of the world.’ She shrugged. ‘But it could have been, if not for you. I’ll just have to start over.’

‘Well, you just shout when you need some space to work,’ Jade suggested. ‘I feel so awful about it all. I’ll obviously be more than happy to look after Poppy and Angel for as long as you need me to.’

‘Angel?’ Mel looked at her curiously.

‘Sorry – Evie.’ Jade shook her head apologetically. ‘I minded a baby about the same age until her parents moved away.’

‘Ah.’ Mel nodded. ‘Pretty name.’

‘Yes.’ Jade smiled. ‘She was a beautiful little girl. A lot like Evie.’

Mel smiled at that. Evie was beautiful. The prettiest baby in the hospital ward, Mel had thought. But then, she had been the teeniest bit biased, she supposed. ‘Look, Jade, there’s no need for you to feel bad about any of this,’ she assured her, leaning over to the bench and retrieving the key, which she would make sure to hang in its proper place. ‘It’s hardly your fault.’

‘It is a bit. Felix was the cause of it,’ Jade reminded her, following Mel to help her out with the dustbin full of debris. ‘Hercules would hardly have hurled herself through the window if she hadn’t been chasing the cat.’

‘True, I suppose.’ Mel took some small comfort from that. Glancing around, she satisfied herself that all that could be done was done for now, and pulled the door to.

‘It’s no wonder Mark was so snappy,’ Jade said, with another heartfelt sigh.

Mel glanced at her, as she helped carry the bin towards the designated rubbish and recycling area. ‘You noticed then?’ she asked, her heart sinking.

‘A bit,’ Jade admitted reluctantly. ‘But then, with everything that was going on and that woman constantly texting him…’

‘Woman?’ Mel arched an eyebrow as Jade trailed off.

‘Lisa, I think I heard him call her from the bedroom when he went to get changed, before he left for work. I was passing, and I couldn’t help overhearing,’ she clarified quickly, as Mel shot her a questioning glance.

Realising who she meant, Mel smiled amusedly. ‘She’s a work colleague,’ she explained. God forbid Jade should think Mark was in the habit of ringing women from the bedroom. She’d be wondering what kind of household she’d agreed to work for at this rate.

‘Ah, I gathered it must be something like that.’ Jade nodded. ‘She’s a bit keen though, isn’t she?’

Is she? Mel hadn’t noticed. Then again, she didn’t really give his many texts and calls much thought, other than that they were work-related and therefore necessary.

‘I’d better get back to Evie,’ Jade said, stepping back to leave Mel to manoeuvre the bin into place. ‘Unless you’d rather…?’ She nodded towards the house.

Mel followed her gaze. She’d like nothing more than to retreat to the nursery, truth be told, to breathe in the reassuring smell of her little one and close her eyes for five minutes. Unfortunately, there was still the matter of the gaping hole where once was a rotting window.

‘No.’ Smiling wearily, Mel ran a hand over her aching neck. ‘That would be great, Jade, if you wouldn’t mind. I’ve still got to ring the glazier and I suppose I should tape something over the window until he can get here.’

‘No problem.’ Jade beamed her a smile back and turned to hurry back towards the house. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about covering the window,’ she called back. ‘I’ve got rid of the cat.’

Got… What? Mel stared after her. ‘Got rid of it how?’ she shouted, but Jade was already disappearing through the back door.