Chapter Twenty-One

‘Oh, dear, are you sure it’s me who should be seeing the doctor? You look dreadful.’ Eva looked David over with concern as she came into his office.

Gesturing her to a chair, David managed a half-hearted smile. ‘That bad, huh?’

‘Definitely,’ Eva assured him, peering at him from under her gardening hat as she seated herself. ‘You look as if you haven’t slept for a week.’

‘I’m fine, Eva,’ David lied, rolling his aching shoulders in an attempt to ease the crick in his neck. He hadn’t slept, not a wink. It was no more than he deserved, but after trying to get Jake off to school without alerting him to the fact that he’d messed up again, monumentally, followed by a hectic morning of patients presenting flu symptoms, two urinary tract infections and, more seriously, a toddler with pneumonia who needed hospitalising, he really did feel all out. Good thing Eva was his last patient.

Eva didn’t look convinced. ‘Doctor Adams,’ she said, lacing her fingers on his desk and eyeing him steadily, ‘you haven’t shaved, you have dark circles under your eyes, your tie’s askew and, quite frankly, you don’t look at all the ticket. Have you been drinking?’

‘What? No!’ David sat up and straightened his tie. Rumours flying around that he was an alcoholic, as well as a womaniser and a complete bastard, was the last thing he needed. ‘One,’ he admitted, when Eva’s dubious gaze didn’t waver. ‘A nightcap, that’s all.’

‘Hmm? Well, it obviously didn’t help.’ Eva dutifully pulled up her sleeve as he reached for his blood pressure meter.

‘Eva, I don’t have a drinking problem,’ David assured her as he rolled the cuff around her arm. ‘Scout’s honour.’

‘Yes, well, you obviously have a problem of some sort.’ Eva waited while he placed his stethoscope over her brachial artery and measured her systolic and diastolic blood pressures, then asked, ‘Would you like to share?’

‘Slightly elevated,’ David informed her, and noted the readings. ‘I’d like to measure the other arm, if you don’t mind?’

‘Ho, ho.’ Eva rolled up her other sleeve. ‘I meant share your problem, Doctor Adams, as you very well know.’

David took the second reading.

‘You obviously have one,’ Eva continued to badger him.

‘And some.’ He exhaled heavily and jotted the latest measurements down.

‘Well?’ Eva, it seemed, wasn’t going to give up.

‘I’d like to take a measurement with you standing, Eva, if that’s okay. Nothing to worry about. I just want to rule out orthostatic hypotension, since you’ve experienced light-headedness.’

‘I’m more worried about you, young man,’ Eva assured him, studying him intently as she got to her feet.

‘You’ll need to make another appointment,’ David steered the conversation back to the business at hand, rather than his own. ‘Can you make an appointment at reception for a follow up in, say, a—’

‘However, if you feel you can’t trust me …’ Eva went on, looking wounded.

David smiled, despite her insistence on giving him the third degree. ‘I trust you, Eva,’ he said, finishing up the blood pressure measurements.

‘So?’ Eva asked, finding her chair.

‘So …’ David sat wearily in his. ‘As I say, I’m not sure you have anything to worry about, but I’d like to keep an eye on you, just the same. Meanwhile, make sure you drink plenty of fluids, Eva, and—’

‘A problem shared, Doctor Adams, is a problem halved,’ Eva interrupted, again. ‘Obviously, you don’t feel you can confide, though, so I’ll get back to my garden and leave you to your surgery. For the record, however, I can’t abide gossip, either, so if ever you do need an ear, you know where to find me.’

So saying, she reached to collect her bag from the floor, now looking a bit crestfallen, David noted. And most definitely a bit giddy as she stood up.

‘Eva,’ David was on his feet supporting her in a flash, ‘come on, sit.’ Making sure she was comfortable, he fetched her some water, keeping an eye on her over his shoulder as he did.

He did trust her, he realised. The way she’d covered for Eden, David had no doubt that was for Andrea’s sake, because she also suspected Eden of some wrongdoing. She obviously didn’t revel in spreading unsubstantiated rumour, though. As far as David knew she hadn’t mentioned her suspicions to Andrea or anyone else. Should he confide in her? he wondered. He wasn’t sure he was ready to share his not-so-good news about Sally, but it might help solve the mystery of the floating policy document if he could get Eva to give him the go ahead to make some enquiries. And he needed to, more so now he had established that Eden’s story about being hospitalised the night of the fire was absolute bullshit. The guy was piling lie on top of lie and, for Andrea’s sake, David needed to know why.

‘Eva, can I ask you something,’ he said, turning to hand her the water, ‘about your fall?’

‘Oh, I’m as strong as an ox, Doctor Adams,’ Eva insisted, taking the glass. ‘There’s no need for undue worry about me.’

‘Yes, well, we’ll see about that.’ As stubborn as a mule, more like. David shook his head and waited until she’d taken a sip of water, then, ‘Actually, I was talking about the events around the fall, Eva,’ he clarified, ‘about why Jonathan was poking about in your house uninvited?’

Eva studied the contents of her glass for a second, and then looked curiously up at him. ‘You gathered he was there, then?’

‘I did,’ David nodded, ‘searching for the missing policy document.’

Scanning his face, Eva seemed to debate, then, nodding decisively, she planted her glass on the table. ‘I had no idea he was there, Doctor Adams. I certainly have no idea why he would be searching my house for a document he was already in possession of, which I’d also repeatedly asked him to return, and which he then purported was missing.’

David nodded slowly and sat back down in his chair. ‘It isn’t missing,’ he said, after a moment. He really didn’t want to say or do anything that might upset her, but his nagging doubt about Eden just wouldn’t go away. Something serious was going on, David knew it; something that might possibly put people in danger – and very probably already had. David tightened his jaw and steeled his resolve.

‘Dee had it,’ he said, retrieving his copy of the document from his desk drawer and sliding it across the desk.

Eva knitted her brow, puzzled. ‘Dee?’

‘She heard you “repeatedly” asking Eden for it, apparently,’ David supplied, watching Eva over steepled hands as she studied the document. ‘She was concerned for you, it seems.’

Eva blinked at him and then raised her eyebrows so high they almost disappeared under her hat. ‘Deirdre?’ she asked, flabbergasted. ‘Concerned for me?’

A long phone call later, Eva having given him authority to discuss her investments, David had all he needed to know. The police wouldn’t be called in until the investment company’s investigations were complete and then, dependent on their findings, it might only go as far as the ombudsman. David hoped it would go further. It was as clear as daylight to him what Eden had been up to.

Gutted for the old lady, he looked over to Eva, who, though she’d obviously suspected something was amiss, was still shocked to the core. She managed a smile for the medical secretary, who’d brought her some tea, but was badly shaken and as white as a sheet.

Prison was too good for scum like Eden, David decided, fighting an urge to go and drag the little shit from wherever he was hiding and part him from his assets. Preying on a vulnerable old woman? The guy ought to have his legs broken, as far as David was concerned. As for what else Eden might have done to try to save his snivelling backside, he ought to have his neck broken, and, doctor or not, David just might be the man to do it.

The question was what, and when, to tell Andrea, who he’d left this morning on the phone to the bastard. She’d been calm, bar the look of disdain in her eyes aimed at him, rightly so. Given her contempt for him on a scale of one to ten was probably about eleven, David doubted she’d believe anything he had to say, not without absolute evidence. Why would she? He was the one she wanted out of her life. This thing with Eva aside, however badly Eden had treated Andrea, he was still Chloe’s father, ergo would probably always play a part in her life.

Quashing his anger, for now, David turned his attention back to Eva. ‘What will you do?’ he asked her gently.

‘I thought I’d fertilise my garden,’ Eva said, clearly stoically trying to pull herself together. ‘Bone meal’s quite good, you know?’

David’s mouth twitched into a smile. ‘We’d make a great team, Eva. I was just contemplating breaking a few bones myself.’

‘Oh?’ Eva met his gaze, the look in her eye telling David she’d very probably help hold Eden down while he did. ‘Painfully, I hope.’

‘Very,’ David assured her.

‘Poor Andrea,’ Eva said, shaking her head sadly. ‘As if she hasn’t got enough on her plate. This will break her heart.’

David heaved out a sigh. He looked Eva over, then, on the basis she’d find out anyway, decided to put his pride in his pocket. Right now, Andrea’s feelings were his priority. Eva obviously cared about her, and thanks to him adding spectacularly to her problems, Andrea might well need a shoulder.

‘Unfortunately, I think I’ve already managed that, Eva,’ he said quietly.

Eva looked back at him over her cup, a wary look now in her eyes.

‘Sally and I, we, er …’

‘You’re seeing Sally?’ Astonished, Eva clanged her cup noisily into her saucer.

‘Saw. It was just … one night,’ David clarified despondently.

Eva fixed him with a look which definitely wasn’t too impressed. ‘A one-night stand, you mean?’ she said cuttingly.

David nodded, now feeling acutely embarrassed. ‘I, er … The thing is, she’s … Sally, she’s—’ he fumbled for a way to announce it outright.

‘Pregnant?’ Eva’s jaw dropped. ‘Oh, David, David … What tangled webs we weave.’

David laughed wryly. ‘Don’t I just.’

‘You know I’d hoped Andrea and you might—’ Eva stopped, dropping her gaze as if she’d divulged too much.

‘Not half as much as I did, Eva.’ David drew in a breath. ‘She’s moving out,’ he said, and then glanced quickly down feeling faintly ridiculous that he, a grown man, felt suddenly very close to tears. ‘For obvious reasons.’

‘But where will she go? The only property available to rent in the vicinity isn’t fit to house little Dougal,’ Eva pondered out loud, her brow crinkling worriedly. ‘She could have rented the accommodation above the shop, of course, but Jonathan has probably put a stop to that, too, the horrible little worm.’

‘How so?’ David eyed her concerned, realising she was talking about the shop Andrea had set her heart on for her designer clothing idea.

Eva’s shoulders sagged. ‘I shall have to sell the property I think. I’d hoped to keep it for rental for income purposes, but now … I think capital from the sale might be best, though invested rather more wisely, of course.’

Shit! Which meant Andrea really will have lost everything. Abruptly, David stood, dragged his hand through his hair, and paced to the door and back – then back again to the door, the small office not leaving him much space to work off his agitation.

‘Maintenance costs on older buildings are so high, you see?’ Eva went on as David tried to think on his feet. ‘The living accommodation and the shop are almost up to spec, now the rewiring and plumbing works are completed, but the roof will soon need work and some of the brickwork will need repointing.’

‘I’ll buy it,’ David said.

‘Rental for income is fine if you have some money in the pot,’ Eva sighed pensively. ‘I do have other investments, so I shall hardly starve, but as the coffers are depleted somewhat, I … Pardon?’

‘I’ll buy it. A cash transaction, all legal and above board. I have funds, Eva, and it will save you putting it on the market.’

‘Yes, but what would you want with a three storey Victorian building on the High Street, Doctor Adams? It’s hardly an investment in the current property climate, is it?’

‘Rental for income,’ David said, heading back to the door, to pluck his jacket from the coat-stand.

‘Ye-es.’ Eva gave him a wily look as he yanked the door open, unhooked his stethoscope, came back again, deposited the stethoscope on his desk then headed, once again, for the door. ‘But you won’t get much income if you’re not charging rental, will you?’

‘Nope.’ David turned to give her a wink. ‘And I’m relying on you to secure me a reliable tenant I won’t be charging rental from – and to keep it under your gardening hat.’

Eva notched her chin up and her hat down. ‘As I said, I can’t abide tittle-tattle either, Doctor …’ Eva trailed off as he headed off down the corridor. ‘Um, Doctor Adams …?’

‘Heck.’ David about-turned back to his office. ‘Sorry,’ he said, offering his arm to assist his abandoned patient from her chair.

David was barely through his front door before Chloe had him in a leg-lock. ‘Davie!’ she cried delightedly, her arms wrapped around his shins. Narrowly avoiding falling over her, David hoisted her up into his arms.

‘Hey, little one.’ He smiled. ‘How’s Igglepiggle?’

‘Gone,’ Chloe said, splaying her hands and shrugging her little shoulders.

‘Uh, oh.’ David arranged his face into a frown. ‘We’d better call the missing Igglepiggle squad. We’ll put Detective Dougal on the case and crawl around and assist. What d’y’think?’

‘Yeth!’ Chloe clapped her hands gleefully, then transferred her leg-lock to a neck-hold and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Andrea watched the interchange from the lounge doorway, her heart wrenching inside her as she fast-forwarded to where this scenario would be played over, another delighted child in his arms, a child that might not have been planned, but would most definitely be loved. Andrea had no doubt of that. She should hate him. Yet, she couldn’t. Anger and grief seemed to be vying for attention inside her but not hate.

‘I take it madam approves?’ Chuckling at Chloe, David turned to the lounge, and then straightened his face fast as he met Andrea’s eyes. In his eyes similar conflicting emotion to that she’d seen yesterday: sorrow, confusion, regret, all of those things – and also a quiet longing. The same longing that was burning inside her? she wondered. That somehow, in another world, another time, things could have been different?

‘Hi,’ he said uncertainly, a question in his eyes now as he noticed the packed holdall at her feet. ‘You’re going, then?’ He looked back to her face, his expression one of tired resignation.

Andrea nodded. ‘To a hotel.’

David nodded in turn, swallowed and dropped his gaze, then looked up sharply as Jonathan came down the stairs.

‘All done,’ Jonathan said, dropping a second bag on the hall floor containing most of their meagre belongings.

He glanced at David, a gloating look on his face, Andrea noticed. She had no idea why. One thing she did have to thank Sally for, she supposed, was opening her eyes to the fact that she, too, would rather live without a man than live a lie with one. Andrea wasn’t sure she wanted to settle for less than a perfect love again either. She wasn’t sure it even existed.

‘I’ll take her,’ Jonathan addressed David shortly and reached to extract Chloe from his arms.

‘Want Davie,’ Chloe whimpered, holding on so tight David had to physically unhook her from his neck, which didn’t endear him any further to Jonathan, judging by the peeved expression he now wore. Not that Andrea was too worried about Jonathan’s feelings. Her only concern henceforth was to protect herself and her family from further emotional battering.

‘I’ll strap her in your car. Don’t be long, darling,’ Jonathan instructed as he walked past David to the front door, giving him a disdainful glance, which David reciprocated in his wake.

Andrea felt mildly amused. She should be flattered that two grown men looked daggers at each other over her, she supposed, were it not for the fact that the man she was supposed to be with couldn’t be bothered to make an effort to keep her, and the man she wanted to be with … Well, David had made his bed elsewhere, hadn’t he? Many places elsewhere, for all Andrea knew. He was obviously very accident-prone. He might well have mistakenly fallen into bed with women the length and breadth of the country.

‘Come on, baby. Daddy will get you some sweeties on the way,’ Jonathan’s voice trailed after him as he headed for the car. ‘How does that sound?’

‘Thweeties,’ Chloe repeated, sounding reasonably placated, which was at least one blessing.

Andrea looked back to David, who looked utterly exhausted.

David plunged his hands in his overcoat pockets and glanced at the ceiling. ‘Are you …? Is he …?’ Tugging in a breath, he blew it out and looked back to her.

‘I’m not sure. I obviously need to rent somewhere as soon as possible. That’s why I rang Jonathan,’ she didn’t elaborate. The man owed her that much, she’d decided, helping her provide a roof over his child’s head if nothing else. ‘I’m living pretty much day-to-day at the moment, so …’ Andrea shrugged, and managed a smile. ‘I’ll see what tomorrow brings.’

‘The kids?’ David asked. ‘Are they …?’

‘They’re fine,’ Andrea assured him. ‘Ryan collected Jake from school, as promised. He had a good day, apparently. Ryan’s up with him now.’

David nodded again, obviously immensely relieved, obviously apprehensive, too. As he would be. Jake had come on leaps and bounds with Ryan and Dougal around. However Andrea felt about David’s … liaisons, she wouldn’t wish Jake’s relationship with his father to go backwards. The children’s welfare was her overriding consideration, Jake’s very much included, which is why Ryan had selflessly offered to stay ‘mates’ with him, taking him to and from school, bless his understanding socks. If there was one good thing to have emerged from the ashes, it was that her monstrous teenagers seemed to have matured into caring young adults.

‘Jonathan will be waiting,’ Andrea said, filling the sudden uneasy silence. ‘I’d better go.’

She moved past David, the nearness of him reminding her painfully of how close they’d been just a short while ago. She could still taste him. Smell him. She swallowed, feeling his gaze on her, seeming to burn right through her clothes to her skin.

Closing her eyes, Andrea found her voice and called up the stairs. ‘Sophie.’

‘On our way,’ Sophie called back from the landing. ‘No, Gran, that’s David’s,’ she said over her shoulder. ‘Put it back.’

‘But he’ll never miss it,’ Dee’s voice carried from the bedroom.

‘Gran …’ Sophie’s footsteps could be heard stomping back. ‘… it’s his bloody alarm clock! He might miss it when he doesn’t wake up in the morning, don’t y’think?’

Oh no, her mum had turned into a kleptomaniac. Andrea had already extracted his tennis sweater and four pairs of his socks from Dee’s carrier bag. ‘Sorry.’ She glanced back at David, shrugging helplessly as she did.

David smiled. ‘Don’t worry about it. It’s useless anyway. I usually set the alarm on my mobile,’ he said, dragging his hand over his neck in that way he did. He really did look bone-tired. Andrea wished she could go to him, pull his hand away, pull him into her arms and make it all go away.

She couldn’t, of course. He’d probably never wanted more than one passionate bout of hot sex anyway, she reminded herself, stepping back to allow Sophie and Dee to pass, Sophie shooting David a disparaging glance as she did.

‘I knew you were too nice to be true,’ she said, causing David to lose the smile once again.

‘Is it yours?’ Dee asked, stopping smack bang in front of him.

‘I, er …’ David looked at Andrea uncomfortably. ‘Yes, I believe so.’

‘Could have sworn it was mine.’ Dee tottered on, leaving David gazing perplexedly after her.

‘The clock,’ Andrea clarified. ‘They do know, though,’ she thought she ought to warn him, ‘Sophie and Ryan, about the, um … You and Sally.’

‘Right.’ David now looked gutted and Andrea reminded herself again that whatever mess he was in, he’d brought it on himself. In any case, it might not be quite such a mess as it seemed. Sally and he might get it together and be very happy … together.

That thought slicing like a knife through her chest, Andrea quickly picked up her bag. ‘They heard, by the way,’ she informed him, should he be making wrong assumptions, ‘you and me … talking … last night, just in case you think I’ve been fuelling neighbourhood gossip.’

‘I think I’ve managed that pretty much by myself.’ David smiled wryly. ‘Stay safe, Andrea,’ he said, holding her gaze, ‘that’s all I ask.’

Andrea nodded. What did she do now? Shake his hand? ‘Could you let Ryan know we’re outside when he’s ready,’ she said calmly instead, then left before she was tempted to shake him.

Chatting animatedly, Ryan and Jake were coming along the landing as David reached it. Ryan had obviously taken Jake under his wing, again, after realising his idiot father seemed to be going all out to screw up his life. That was why he’d volunteered to take Jake to school, David realised now, knowing it was one way of injecting some enthusiasm into Jake and actually getting him there. Knowing, too, that school was probably the best place Jake could be while Andrea worked out what to do with the remnants of her life, which David must also appear to have been hell-bent on screwing up.

Holding his breath as the boys approached, David hardly dared imagine what might be going through Jake’s mind. Did he know?

Ryan cast him a look as he slowed in front of him, respect therein nil, which was pretty much what he deserved.

Jake appeared not to have even noticed him, his attention distracted by Ryan and Dougal, who, well-positioned in Jake’s arms, was intent on washing his face.

‘So, we’ll go every evening?’ he asked Ryan enthusiastically.

‘Yep,’ Ryan answered, ‘if you’re up for it. And now your dad’s getting you that dog you wanted …’

He was? Noting the meaningful glance Ryan slid in his direction, David guessed he probably was.

‘… we’ll probably have to go a couple of times at weekends to train it and stuff,’ Ryan went on obviously satisfied David had got the gist. ‘Dougal can show him the ropes.’

‘Cool,’ Jake said. ‘I bet my Labrador will be a lot faster than Dougal, though.’

Labrador? David blanched, thoughts of chewed carpets, table legs, puddles on the floor and general pandemonium in mind.

‘Not a chance, mate. Dougal’ll run rings round him.’

‘Yeah, right.’ Jake laughed. ‘He’s only got two-inch legs.’

‘Yeah, but size doesn’t count, does it?’ Ryan replied smartly, causing David to wonder what mind-boggling conversation they’d had around that. ‘Do you want to go and say goodbye to Mum and Sophie?’ Ryan prompted Jake on as they neared the stairs. ‘You can make sure Dougal’s safe in the car, while you’re at it.’

‘No problem,’ Jake said, heading happily down. ‘Come on, Dougal,’ he said in the dog’s ear as he went, ‘you need to save your two-inch legs for when you race Homer.’

Ryan waited until Jake had disappeared out of the front door, then, ‘A black one,’ he informed David shortly, fixing him now with a look of pure ice cool contempt.

‘Right.’ David nodded, assuming they were talking about the dog.

‘He’s got his heart set on it. Don’t want to let him down, do you … again?’

David got that pointed message, loud and clear. ‘I’ll sort it,’ he assured him.

‘Good,’ Ryan said and headed onwards.

‘Ryan …’ David fumbled for a way to ask. ‘Jake, does he know?’

Ryan looked back at him. ‘What? That you’re a prat?’ he said, point blank.

‘And some.’ David glanced down under Ryan’s unflinching gaze.

‘As far as I know, no,’ Ryan put him out of his misery. ‘Sophie heard you and mum talking. She texted me, so … Don’t worry, we won’t rubbish you in Jake’s eyes. You seem to be doing a great job of that all by yourself. The kid can’t help it if his dad’s a dipstick, can he?’

‘Thanks,’ David said, relief flooding through him. Obviously Jake would have to know, but not right now, and not second-hand. David wasn’t sure he ought to be thanking Ryan for the insults, but then, he’d called himself pretty much all of that and more since last night.

‘We’ll go along with what you tell him. Mum likes Jake. She knows he needs all the help he can get.’ With that, Ryan dragged his unimpressed gaze away and turned back to the stairs.

David sighed and plunged his hands in his pockets. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said uselessly behind him, not knowing what else he could say.

Ryan glanced back. ‘Yeah, right. Doesn’t help anyone very much though, does it?’

What the hell? Jolted from a fitful sleep, David blinked a bead of sweat from his brow and tried to focus on the pale figure standing at the side of his bed.

‘Can I come in with you?’ Jake asked, dragging a hand under his nose and shivering from head to toe, David noticed.

‘What’s up, small-fry?’ he asked, throwing back the duvet.

‘I keep hearing things in my dreams,’ Jake said, immediately scrambling under it.

‘It’s just the pipes rattling, Jake. Nothing ominous,’ David assured him, trying hard to still a recollection of the haunting things he’d heard in his dreams, the urgent cry of a baby, the soft tears of a woman. He hadn’t been able to make out her face. Her form had been ethereal and surreal. The dream had been telling, prophetic and all too real.

Making room for him in the crook of his arm, he tucked the duvet up to Jake’s chin, and then lay awake, waiting until he was safely off to sleep. Hearing the steady rhythm of his breathing after a while, feeling the rise and fall of his chest as Jake drifted into settled slumber, David swallowed and eased his son a fraction closer. He wouldn’t know what to do without him. Jake had been his reason for living when the nightmares had been too many and the nights were too dark. He loved him. Simply wouldn’t know how to be without him.

And now there was another child. A child who would need him to be there, as he should have been for his unborn baby girl, and for Jake, consistent, caring, helping to show him … or her … the way in a world that seemed too big and overwhelming sometimes.

David had no idea what Sally might want, what kind of compromise they might come up with to provide a stable environment for that child.

He liked her, of course he did, but he didn’t love her, not in the way a person should love someone: enough to embark on parenting a child together as a couple. And, heartless though it might seem, he doubted he’d ever learn to love her. He would love his child though. He wouldn’t need to learn how to do that.

He wouldn’t use the word ‘mistake’ again either. No child should ever start life as that. It was a mess. There was no escaping that fact. A baby by a woman he didn’t have the right feelings for wasn’t something he’d planned on. But then, nor was losing the woman he’d loved, twice.

It had happened, though. He squeezed his eyes tight as images of Andrea, her lips soft on his, her body entwined with his, once again tormented his thoughts. He couldn’t change it, although he wished he could. And whatever Sally needed of him, whatever their child needed of him, he’d just have to make damn sure to provide it. Because one thing he was certain of: he wouldn’t neglect his responsibilities as a father ever again.

He’d get that dog, too, he decided, as his mind slowed, enticing him back to much-needed sleep, tomorrow, after morning surgery. A great lolloping black Labrador, chewed furniture, puddles on floors and all, because, right now, that’s what Jake needed to make his world safe.