CHAPTER ONE

      IT HAD SEEMED like a good idea at the time. If only Lara had remembered her brother Sean’s sage advice to ‘expect the unexpected’, then she might have thought twice about agreeing to stay at their parents’ home while they took a much needed restorative break in the south of France.

      But then Sean wasn’t there any more to remind her of that particular little pearl....

      And, in truth, she would never have dreamt of refusing her mum and dad’s request to house-sit for them when they were still reeling from the tragedy that had hit them all six months ago. Their son, Sean, Lara’s brother, was dead. He had contracted malaria whilst undertaking the charity work that he loved in Africa and had not recovered from it. It hardly seemed real that such a thing was possible in the twenty-first century, but sadly it was.

      Having already been back in the family home for a week now, Lara still expected him to walk through the door with a cheery, ‘Put the kettle on, sis, I could murder a cup of tea!’ just like he had done when they were teenagers.

      Time seemed intent on playing tricks on her these days. One minute it passed like a slow and choking mudslide, threatening to cut off her ability to breathe, and the next... The next it seemed to vanish completely, leaving her feeling that she was stuck in a desolate and unhappy dream that she couldn’t wake up from.

      Whilst she loved her work, she was glad that the college term had come to an end. Her duties and responsibilities in the library had been particularly arduous this past month, what with so many students wanting help with research to take home with them. But now that that frenetic time was over she had no choice but to fully embrace her grief and process the soul-deep pain that she felt at losing Sean.

      But, truthfully, she didn’t relish the prospect of the endless summer days stretching ahead of her as she normally would have done. With nothing to lighten her mood but the daily walks she would go on with Barney, her parents’ devoted Border Terrier, Lara had been dreading the time to be spent alone at her parents’ house.

      She could have arranged to go on holiday herself when they returned from France, but she hadn’t had the heart for it. A couple of friends had asked her to join them on a trip to Italy but she’d declined. How could she possibly be good company when she was still grieving so badly for Sean?

      Now, in the middle of her second week’s stay at the family home, Lara was sitting at the sturdy oak kitchen table, making a half-hearted attempt at eating a bowl of unappetising breakfast cereal, when the doorbell rang. Such a lyrical bell-like sound shouldn’t pierce her to the very core, but it did. In fact it made her flinch. She seemed to be afraid of everything these days. But Sean being taken from them so suddenly like that had made her fear that nothing good would ever happen to her or her family again.

      Rousing himself from the relaxed position he’d assumed, lying across her feet, Barney shot up and started barking and wagging his tail—just as though he was anticipating a welcome friend or visitor. Lara’s nerves were jangled even more. It was eight-thirty in the morning.... Who on earth would be calling at this time?

      ‘For goodness’ sake,’ she muttered beneath her breath, ‘it’s probably just the postman.’

      Forcing herself to relax, she moved down the hardwood hallway in her bare feet, Barney eagerly following her. The day was already promising to be particularly warm, and the sun that shone through the door’s decorated Victorian glass panes lit up the interior with the glare of a powerful spotlight.

      Lifting her hand to shield her gaze, she squinted at the tall shadow behind the glass. Even though she didn’t have a clue who it was she knew it wasn’t the postman. Whoever it was, his straight, ominous stance suggested someone official.