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Later that night, when everybody is full and the girls are playing on the swing in the back garden of Eva’s local, Davey catches my attention.
“I thought you should know, I double-checked Luke Chambers’s PC, but he’s not your leak,” he says.
“Oh? Are you sure?”
“I am.” My eyebrows jump up, waiting for the punch line.
Davey pulls out his phone and taps in a PIN, then turns it to me.
“This guy,” he says, flicking the screen, “is Chris Stockton. He’s—”
“The guy using E:Vents for a launch. And the trapper we talked about. I know.” I raise my bottle to my lips, unconcerned.
“He was recruited and trained into a company owned, at least partly, by Jacob Stone.”
“Huh. I suspected he was back in the game.” Davey nods. “Who is his partner?”
“This guy.” He pulls up another image. I grab the phone from his hand and enlarge the photo.
“That’s the married trapper from the restaurant! Who is he?”
“Penny Worth’s widower.”
“He...?” My eyes fly back to the image, studying it. “But Jacob...” My hand goes to my hair and tugs. “So, they’re in business? Together?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand. What does that have to do with my leak?”
Davey’s mouth twists to the side, his eyes full of...what the hell is that? He pulls up another image. Of the same guy and...I enlarge it again...
“Mary?” Davey nods slowly as I try to process this. “I...what? What the fuck?”
“She is his mother-in-law.” Davey is watching my eyes, waiting for the pieces to click together.
“She is Penny’s mother, Will.” I can feel my mouth hanging open. I snap it shut, my attention glued to the screen. “I thought you knew. When I asked who she was, you said she was Mae’s nanny. It took me a while to figure out you meant the hired kind. Not her actual grandmother.”
“I...” I swallow hard. “I don’t even know what to say.” My voice is quiet. Almost a whisper.
“Will. You are their target. But what we don’t know yet is...”
I hold up my hand, begging him to stop. I can’t take any more right now.
Davey puts a huge hand on my shoulder and squeezes.
“I’m sorry, man.”
“Yeah,” I choke.
“Tomorrow, you, Gary and I will hole up and figure this out. You’re one of the family now.” I glance at him and he flashes a smile. “We’ve got your back.”
“Thank you.” When Mae bounds my way, Davey intercepts her and spins her around.
“Hiya, chick!”
“Hew-ow.” Mae giggles. “Can yow hewp me find Summer? She’s hiding.”
“Easy. In a tree. Let’s go!”
***
“Hey.” Eva smiles as she walks towards me and we both watch Davey play with the girls, my head spinning. Mary?
“Hey, baby.” Her face contorts in concern as she takes in my defeated body language.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, and I sigh heavily.
“I just found out someone has been lying to me.” Her eyebrows arc and she lets out a blast of laughter.
“I know the feeling,” she says dryly. My own eyebrows pull together, knowing she’s right on one level, but...
“But this is different.”
“How?”
“It’s someone I trusted...someone who had access to my home and my daughter...someone who...” Eva’s expression is growing more and more incredulous.
“And that’s different how?”
“I feel betrayed,” I admit, dropping my eyes.
“Will.” She sighs and wraps her arms around my waist. “My advice, for what it’s worth, is to find out why before you pull the trigger.” She kisses my lips lightly and I take her waist, frowning. “Maybe there was a reason.” She shrugs one shoulder and waves an arm through the air. “Maybe they thought there was no other option. Maybe it was a means to an end. Or maybe it was a beginning but not the whole story. Get the facts before you make the call.” The load lifts a little, allowing me to think clearly. She’s right. Of course she is. And I’m the world’s biggest hypocrite.
“I bloody love you.” I haul her against my chest and kiss the living daylights out of her. How did I get so lucky?
***
The next day, I kiss Eva goodbye as she runs out of The Nook, waving to Gary and Davey as she heads off to Escape to make final preparations for the launch. The girls are playing in the garden, giggling and laughing, but come running inside when they hear the other guys.
“Baby Blue!” Davey beams and throws Summer up in the air and catches her, then physically tosses her to Gary before he scoops up Mae. “Hey, chick.” He throws Mae high into the air too, and she giggles herself silly.
“Again!” She splutters and he obliges her three more times.
Summer is perched on Gary’s hip, squealing wildly, her arms flung around his neck as he blows raspberries on hers.
“Okay, girls. Let’s see who can make the best mud pie,” Davey says and they both struggle to be set free and hurry off to the garden. “With worms!” he calls after them.
“So...” Davey directs his attention back to me. “Nanny Mary. Discuss.”
“I need to talk to her,” I tell him with a shrug.
“Agreed,” Gary says, nodding before he sits on a sofa, obviously very comfortable in The Nook.
“You want to tell her that we know?”
“Yes. I want to hear her reasoning. I’m taking Eva’s advice.”
Davey regards me, rubbing his chin. “And if her reasoning is revenge of some kind?”
“Well, she’s been with us for four years. She’s had every opportunity to take Mae with her to Ireland and never come back. I don’t know what other kind of revenge there could be. I’ve been thinking about it all night.”
“Let’s bring her in.” Davey grins at my alarmed expression. “You know what I mean.” He waves a dismissive hand and says, “Tea?”
––––––––
When Davey comes back with three mugs, I clear my throat and everyone looks at me.
“So...I want to ask you both something.”
They raise their mugs in unison, watching me over the brims. I drop my voice. “I’ve done some research and I need to know if De Luca is named on Summer’s birth certificate.”
“Why?” Davey says, placing his mug on the coffee table.
“You want to adopt her?” Gary guesses. Davey’s eyes shoot from Gary to me, and I nod.
Gary looks at me hard for several seconds. “No. He’s not.”
“Okay.” I breathe out in a rush of relief. “So, what would you say if I asked you to arrange the paperwork? For Summer and Mae?”
Gary draws a big breath. “I’d say...you would be the luckiest man in the world to have either of them. But if that’s what Eva wants...”
“I haven’t asked her yet.” He nods slowly.
“It would be easier if you were married...” I grin and raise my mug to my lips.
“Hmm.”
“And you’d have to live together for six months before you can submit the papers to the court...”
“I know. I’m thinking it will be more of a gesture at this stage. An intended commitment.”
“A family,” Davey says softly and I nod. I know that’s what she wants. And now, it’s what I want too.
***
When Mary knocks on the front door of The Nook a few hours later, a bag of Mae’s things clutched in her grasp, I have to try really hard to control the tremor in my hands.
“Hi.” I greet her and sidestep. “Come in.”
Mary’s smile falters as she comes inside and sees Davey and Gary perched on the sofas. Her eyes linger on Gary.
I take the bag from her hand and offer her a seat.
“Where’s Mae?” she asks, peering around.
“She’s in the garden with Summer. We’ll go say hi in a sec. We need to talk.”
I stay standing whilst Mary sits right on the very edge of the sofa, looking uncomfortable. “I’ve missed her,” she says quietly, wringing her hands. “How is Eva?”
“Eva’s good, and Mae has missed you too, but she’s had a great time with Joyce, Eva’s mum.” Mary swallows hard and nods, her gaze on the carpet. “There’s nothing like a grandmother’s love, eh?”
Her eyes fly to mine. I raise my eyebrows, waiting, and she dissolves in a storm of tears.
“Oh! Will,” she sobs and throws herself at me in a fierce hug. “I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry... I...” She breaks down again, sobbing and shaking when the girls’ laughter filters through the doorway, coming from the kitchen. Mary turns away, frantically wiping her eyes.
I watch as my daughter lights up when her eyes land on Mary, and I know I could never separate them. We’re going to have to get it all out in the open—I know that—but I can’t ever tell Mae that she won’t see Mary ever again. I won’t do it to her.
“Maw-eee!” Mae squeals and runs into Mary’s outstretched arms.
“Hello, pet.” Mary sniffles and smiles.
“Why are yow cwying?” Mae’s eyes begin to well up in empathy and Mary chuckles.
“I’m just being silly. I missed you!” Mary squeezes her tight, her eyes closed against the tears. “I don’t want to lose you,” she whispers, and a solid lump forms in my throat. She’s already lost a daughter. Mae is all she has left of her.
“Silly Maw-ee. I was at Nanny Joyce’s.” Mary nods, wiping her eyes, and flicks me a look, her brow furrowed.
“And you’ll both be staying with Nanny Mary tonight at Escape.”
Mary gasps and Summer claps her hands. “Oooh! I luf Nanny Mary!”
Mae beams proudly. “Me twoo!”
The girls take Mary out to the garden to judge the mud pie competition and Davey says, “Good call. Listen, we’re gonna leave you two to chat, but we’ll see you later?”
“I think so too.” I nod firmly. “And one more thing. How do I get to the house?”
Davey smiles and pulls out his mobile, chuckling as though he knows my plan. A minute later, my phone beeps with a postcode and an entry code.
“Thanks.”
––––––––
I see Gary and Davey out and make my way to the garden. “Girls. Grab your jackets. We’re going shopping and then to the woods.”
“Oooh!” Summer squeals and they both run inside, Mary watching them go.
“You coming? I could do with some help with these two monkeys.” Mary’s eyes fill with tears again.
“Yes, please.” She takes my hand. “Will... I didn’t know... I’ve told him I won’t do it again. Never again.” Her earnest eyes search mine and I nod.
“I need to be able to trust you, Mary.”
“You can! I swear you can.”
“Good. Because I’m going to ask Eva to marry me. And I hope you’ll be getting another granddaughter.” Mary’s face transforms and she throws herself at me again.
“You’re going to propose in the woods?” she says, stepping back only after a full twenty seconds of squeezing me tight.
“Yes. We’d better make it good. She wasn’t very keen on the idea the first time around. I’m going to need all the help I can get. You ladies are my ‘yes’ team.”
She chuckles, wiping her eyes.
“We’ll be a family. I want you to be... you are part of the family.”
“It’s all I’ve ever wanted, Will. And that’s why... I need to give you this.” She reaches into her handbag and pulls out a USB stick.
“What is that?”
“It’s from him. He said if I really cared about you and Mae, I’d give it to you.” I reach out my hand slowly, and she drops the plastic flash drive into my palm. “But you should open it before you decide on marrying her.”
“Mary, there’s nothing in this world that could change my mind.”
Eva will be my wife. No matter what. But I slip the USB into my pocket, just to put Mary’s mind at rest, and tell her, “I will.”