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made a sound.
    When she’d recovered, she faced him and said, ‘What if we look back on this one day and wish we’d done something differently? Rung the police, or gone after the van, or … or sold the house.’
    ‘You want to sell the house?’
    ‘No … I don’t know. That’s just it. I haven’t got a clue.’
    ‘There’s no real answer, other than what you said earlier. Try to put it behind us. We go on with our lives and hope that, in time, the memories of it will fade.’

    S he knew Harry was right . Probably. Possibly. So Alice assured him that she was fine now, and it really was worth trying to get some rest.
    Then she lay very still, and waited, and only when Harry was sound asleep did she ease Evie into her arms, kissing her cheek and delighting in the little squirm she got in response. She set her daughter down in the Moses basket and tucked her in, making slow shushing noises until she was satisfied that Evie was going to stay asleep.
    Then she climbed back into bed and stared up at the ceiling and knew she would be counting the minutes till dawn. Plenty of time to re-live the terrors of the night, over and over again.
    Plenty of time to wonder why she hadn’t been entirely honest with her husband.
    Plenty of time to wonder if she’d just made the worst mistake of her life.

Six
    D aylight . Too much of it for six thirty, even in mid-November.
    Harry struggled awake as the memories came crashing back. He might have dismissed it as a morbid nightmare if his hand hadn’t shifted on the mattress and struck solid metal. The claw hammer.
    But they were all right. They were safe. Thank God.
    He rolled over. Alice was sitting up in bed, feeding Evie. Her eyes were shut, and she was frowning so intently it was almost a snarl; far from her usual expression when breastfeeding.
    He always found it a humbling experience to watch mother and baby locked together like this, though right now it just emphasised how superfluous he was. For nine months Alice had nurtured this baby inside her; now she was nourishing her child with a diet that only nature could provide, while Harry’s own contribution to this miracle had begun and ended, nearly a year ago, with a tiny spurt of fluid.
    He groaned quietly. ‘What time is it?’
    ‘Nearly half-seven.’
    ‘ What? ’ He’d overslept by an hour, which meant he would miss out on the best part of the day. It was after her morning feed that Evie was at her most receptive to the faces he pulled, and had lately begun to reward him with a smile or a phlegmy giggle.
    Then again, shouldn’t he be counting his blessings that they were here at all?
    ‘She slept later than normal. And you were out cold.’
    ‘Was I? Sorry.’ He sat up and put his arm round Alice. When he kissed her cheek he thought she flinched slightly. ‘Did you manage to sleep?’
    ‘Not really, though I can’t say I feel any more exhausted than usual.’
    ‘Do you want me to stay home today?’
    ‘You, throw a sickie?’ She snorted. ‘It’s tempting. But it won’t really help.’
    ‘I can have Evie while you sleep. And there’s the patio doors to sort out.’
    ‘I’ve already texted Steve.’ This was Alice’s uncle, a self-employed joiner. ‘He’s coming round this morning.’
    Talk about superfluous , Harry thought. ‘What did you tell him?’
    ‘Just that someone tried to break in, and because nothing was stolen we didn’t bother to report it.’ Her voice had taken on a chilly tone, as if she stood by the decision but disliked herself for doing so.
    ‘Once we’ve had the doors repaired, we can’t change our minds about the police,’ he pointed out.
    Alice nodded. If anything, she looked heartened by the thought. As if a new lock might be all they needed to make the whole thing go away.

    H arry showered , then dressed in jeans and a thick winter shirt. It had been a day or two since he’d shaved, but his was an industry where the dress code wasn’t so much smart casual as casual