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sold last week.’
    ‘So you’re stuck with the pets.’
    ‘Hardly stuck.’ Charlotte smiled. ‘They’re all mine—it’s hardly fair to expect Mum to miss out on the man of her dreams because of my pets.’
    ‘I guess,’ Hamish answered, only he wasn’t quite convinced. Selling up the family home and leaving her daughter to not only find work but homes for the pets as well, seemed more than just a touch selfish, irresponsible even. Not that Charlotte seemed to think so—she seemed genuinely delighted for her mother.
    ‘What about your father?’ Hamish asked, growing more curious by the minute.
    ‘I don’t really see him that much since he walked out.’ Charlotte answered factually, while adding another generous dash of gravy to her lamb. ‘He had an affair. Well, two, actually, but the second one he kept!’
    Maybe irresponsibility ran in the family!
    Staring over at her, Hamish tried to fathom her age. Twenty-four or -five perhaps, he thought, glancing at her pretty snub nose, but from the way she’d spoken to young Andy that morning and from what Helen had said about her she certainly wasn’t wet behind the ears, yet she’d lived at home for ever and hadn’t saved a cent—had been living at the local youth hostel and, from what he’d seen in the driveway, drove an absolute bomb of a car.
    Was she really the type of person he wanted looking after Bailey?
    Yes!
    The answer was there before he’d even finished asking himself the question, his mind flicking back to Andy that morning and the tenderness he’d witnessed when she’d spoken with the troubled little boy. And it wasn’t just Andy who adored her, Hamish recalled the sheer incredulous delight on his son’s face when he’d greeted her for the second time—and it had nothing to do with Bailey being used to strangers. Despite a seemingly never-ending stream of carers—despite endless people flitting in and out his life—true to the saying that familiarity bred contempt, Bailey was sure that every new face meant a kiss goodbye from his father.
    Only not when he’d met Charlotte.
    He’d never seen his son so confident with a stranger,had never seen him so completely at ease with someone he barely knew.
    ‘So there’s only you?’ Hamish asked, a tiny frown forming as he watched her hand still around the glass of water she was holding. ‘No brothers or sisters to help you out?’
    ‘No!’ The addition to his sentence allowed her to answer his question honestly, well, sort of…
    Even thirteen years on, she still didn’t know when was right time to tell someone about Cassie.
    Even thirteen years on she still couldn’t manage to casually slot into the conversation the most vital piece of her life without breaking down.
    How exactly was she supposed to say it?
    ‘Oh, I had a twin, identical actually…’ or maybe a more casual ‘My sister died when she was fifteen…’ or…What did one say? For Charlotte it was an endless conundrum—there was no easy way of doing it, no way of tossing that little gem into an already awkward conversation. There never had been, or ever would be, a right way to reveal her very core. It was easier to just let the moment pass.
    And pass it did.
    With agonising slowness as Hamish stared over the table at her, trying hard to find a reason not to like her and failing dismally.
    ‘We’d have to set a few house rules,’ Hamish said sternly as Charlotte chewed on a piece of lamb that had turned to dust. ‘A lot of house rules, actually.’
    ‘Absolutely.’ Taking a huge swig of water, she tried not to appear too keen as he thankfully changed thesubject and an unexpected glimmer of hope appeared on the horizon.
    ‘I mean, for this to work it would mean a lot of give and take on both sides.’
    ‘Of course.’
    ‘And rule number one is—you use the four-wheel-drive.’
    ‘Sorry?’
    ‘A lot of the roads around here aren’t sealed—it would be far safer for you in the Jeep.’
    ‘I’m quite