racked his brains but couldn’t remember mentioning which school he was doing his placement at. So what was she doing here?
Six
Cassandra
Seeing that an envelope had been pushed through her letter box, Cassie bent to scoop it up as she came through the front door. No stamp, she noted, turning it over. It hadn’t been there when she’d left at five for her doctor’s appointment. Which meant it must have been delivered while she’d been at the surgery.
Curious, she fumbled the envelope open and drew the letter out, and her heart fluttered with nervous apprehension as she glimpsed the signature at the bottom. Quickly, she read it:
Dear Mrs Colby,
Please accept my apologies for leaving so abruptly. I heard you and Mr Colby arguing and I gathered you didn’t trust me. I just wanted you to know I understand. It must have been difficult for you to believe Josh had fallen in love with someone who’s so obviously not of his social background.
Please accept my deepest condolences on your loss. Josh spoke kindly about you. He was right. You seem really nice. I wish we could have got along better for Samuel’s sake.
I thought you should know that I’ve made my decision about his future, so you won’t hear from me again.
I wish you both well.
Yours truly,
Kim
God, no. Cassie’s blood froze. She couldn’t let her do this. The girl didn’t want to go down this route, clearly. Why else would she have come to see them? Digging in her handbag, she pulled out her mobile. Kim had included her telephone number in her letter, thank God. She’d mentioned which street she lived on, but not the house number. Cassie had already made up her mind to drive over there, knock on every door until she found her. She felt like going straight there now, but she couldn’t do that without speaking to her first. Hopefully Kim would be amenable to meeting up this evening. She had to talk to her, apologise to her and convince her she had other options.
Keying in the number, she waited, fearing the call might go to voicemail. Relief flooded through her when it was answered.
‘Hello?’ Kim said warily.
‘Kim, hi. It’s Cassandra. Cassie Colby. I hope you don’t mind me calling. I got your letter and I had to talk to you.’
Cassie’s heart skipped a beat. Please God she wouldn’t say she wanted nothing to do with her.
‘It’s not easy to talk,’ Kim went on, lowering her voice. ‘My dad…’
Cassie felt a rush of relief. She didn’t want to talk because he was there. A violent man. The sort of man you wouldn’t want anywhere near a baby. She remembered every word Kim had said before she’d left. ‘Could you come to me?’ she suggested. ‘Or perhaps we could meet somewhere.’
‘I can’t. I have to look after my little brother while Mum’s at work,’ Kim whispered hurriedly.
‘Could your father not look after him for a while?’ Cassie knew it was a long shot, but she desperately needed to talk to her.
Kim said nothing, which gave her the answer. Clearly her father wasn’t the sort of man you would trust with an older child either. What kind of existence did she have? What kind of existence would that tiny baby have? This had been Kim’s thinking, why she’d come to them in the first place. She was trying to find a way out of her appalling situation, looking at renting somewhere, a place of safety for her and her baby. She’d struggled through the birth and the first months of his life on her own. She’d needed sympathy and understanding, financial help – obviously she would need that – which they could afford. And instead, all she’d met with was suspicion.
Adam pushed his key into the lock and came through the door as she tried to think what to do. Cassie acknowledged him with a small smile and continued her conversation. ‘I could come over there,’ she suggested hopefully. ‘We could perhaps go for a coffee or something.’
‘Maybe.’ Still Kim was hesitant. Then, ‘You’d have to give me an hour,’ she said. ‘I have to change Samuel and get Jack into bed. Don’t knock on the door when you arrive, though. I’ll keep an eye out for you.’
Cassie released a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. ‘I’ll be outside in an hour,’ she promised, ending the call and turning back to Adam.