CHAPTER ONE

      ‘LOOK how many strawberries I picked,’ seven-year-old Sarah announced, coming into the kitchen. She placed a wicker basket on the table, filled to the brim with fruit. ‘There’s loads,’ she said, her blue eyes bright with excitement. ‘Can we have some for breakfast?’

      Alex looked at the lush fruit. ‘Yes,’ she murmured, ‘of course…and as there’s such a lot, perhaps we ought to take some round to Mrs Marchant next door? I’ve noticed she’s usually up and about at this time of the morning.’

      Sarah nodded. ‘I’ll go, if you like.’ She smiled. ‘I like Mrs Marchant. She’s kind…but I think she must be quite old, you know, or poorly? She always looks a bit tired and sometimes she says she has to go and sit down for a while…but she’s always nice. She gave me some toffees when I took the magazine round there yesterday.’

      ‘I want to take the strawberries,’ five-year-old James chimed in, his eyes lighting up at the mention of toffees. ‘You went last time.’ He glared at his sister and began to tug at the basket.

      Sensing impending disaster, Alex intervened. ‘We’ll all go,’ she said, taking hold of the basket and moving it from harm’s way. ‘Now, finish your breakfast, both of you. We don’t have much time before we have to leave for school. And you need to go back upstairs to your bedroom and find your PE kit, James.’

      ‘I don’t like that bedroom,’ James complained, scowling at Alex across the kitchen table, a lock of brown hair falling across his forehead. ‘It’s too small. Why can’t I have the room with the window seat?’

      ‘Because we talked about this…’ Alex murmured. ‘And you chose the one that looked out over the orchard.’ She inspected the contents of his lunch box and then clipped the lid in place.

      ‘So?’ He hunched his shoulders. ‘That doesn’t matter, does it? I changed my mind. I can swap with Sarah.’

      ‘No, you can’t.’ His sister batted that one away before the idea could take root, her fair hair quivering with indignation. ‘I want the one where I can see the garden…I chose it…and I picked the colours and Auntie Alex has already started painting the walls for me. So it’s mine.’

      ‘Perhaps we can rearrange the furniture in your room to make it better for you,’ Alex said, glancing at James. She pushed his lunch box into his school bag and closed the zipper. ‘I made you egg mayonnaise sandwiches, and there are cracker biscuits with ham and cheese. And don’t forget to screw the lid tight on your drink bottle when you use it, or we’ll have another mess in your bag like the one we had last week.’

      ‘I don’t like egg maynaze.’ James’s chin jutted and his grey eyes took on a mutinous glint.

      Alex held back the sigh that had started to build up in her chest. She raised dark brows. ‘You told me it was your favourite.’

      He gave her a disdainful glance. ‘That was yesterday. Today I like peanut butter.’

      ‘Well, I’m sorry about that, James, but I really don’t have time to start over.’ Alex flicked back her long chestnut hair so that it settled in a gentle flurry across her shoulders, and handed him the bag. ‘We have to get you and Sarah to school, and I have to go to work.’ She checked her watch. ‘Do you remember what I told you? This is my first day in the new job, and I need to be at the hospital on time.’

      ‘Will you be in trouble if you’re late?’ Sarah’s anxiety sounded in her voice. ‘Mummy said she always got an ear bending from the boss if she wasn’t at work for nine o’clock.’ She frowned. ‘I think that must hurt a lot. I wouldn’t like it if it anyone pulled my ears.’

      ‘How could that happen to Auntie Alex?’ James said in a scornful tone. ‘She’s the boss. She can do what she likes.’

      Alex smiled. ‘Not exactly, James. There are several bosses in my department…but