she said hesitantly. ‘As soon as we’d made a decision.’
Adam nodded slowly, his expression reflective.
‘He wanted to get married straight away,’ Kim hurried on, ‘but I thought we should take our time, get a house lined up first. And to be quite honest, I wasn’t too keen on walking down the aisle pregnant.’
Adam smiled understandingly. ‘So where were you thinking of living?’
God, what was this, the third degree? ‘Birmingham,’ Kim replied. ‘We looked at a lovely ground-floor apartment on the waterfront.’
Adam arched an eyebrow. ‘Birmingham?’
‘Possibly,’ Kim amended, seeing a flicker of incredulity cross his face. ‘He thought it might be a good idea if he was closer to his school.’
‘Ah, I see,’ Adam said.
Kim noted the dubious edge to his voice. ‘You seem surprised.’
‘I am a bit,’ Adam admitted, his brow furrowed. ‘He was coming up to the end of his placement, wasn’t he?’
‘Yes.’ Kim smiled uncertainly, wondering at all the sudden questions. ‘But they said there was a chance of a job there, so he thought, under the circumstances…’
‘Right. Of course.’ Adam nodded. ‘He was always an outdoor sort, that’s all. He’d said he was hoping to teach more locally, but… Clearly his circumstances had changed. Sorry, I…’ Dragging a hand over his neck, he took a breath. ‘How did he seem, Kim?’ he asked, his voice tight. ‘Before he… Had he been depressed at all?’
Not sure what to say, Kim glanced away.
‘I’m just trying to put the pieces together. Pointless, probably…’ Trailing off, Adam sighed heavily.
Kim noted the look in his eyes, and realised he was torturing himself. He would undoubtedly have a thousand unanswered questions in his mind, some of which he was hoping she might supply the answers to. ‘His mood was generally okay, but…’ she faltered, studying him carefully, ‘I thought he might have been a bit down the previous evening.’
Adam eyed her questioningly.
‘We were at his house and I heard him on the phone in the kitchen. I thought he was finally talking to Cassie. He looked upset when he came back into the lounge. I asked him about it, but he said it was just stuff, and that it would sort itself out.’
Adam looked winded at that, as if she’d punched him.
Kim pressed a hand to his arm, looking concerned. ‘I was obviously mistaken, though, as Cassie and you didn’t know anything about me.’
‘What made you think it was—’ Adam started, and then stopped when Cassie called from the landing.
‘Are you two coming? We’re getting lonely up here.’
Wanting time to put her thoughts in some sort of order, Kim left Adam to go up and went outside to the car for Samuel’s baby bag. As she was coming up the stairs, she heard Adam talking to Cassie about the phone call, and paused apprehensively.
‘So you didn’t speak to him at all?’ Adam was asking.
‘No. God knows I wish I had.’ Cassie sounded tearful. ‘I left him a message a few days before, but… I’ll regret not trying harder to get hold of him for the rest of my life. I should have rung the school. Driven over there. Made more of an effort. He might still…’ She broke off with a sob.
Approaching the door of the bedroom they were in, Kim saw Adam place his arm gently around Cassie, draw her to him. Their backs were towards her as they looked out of the window. ‘You sound like me,’ he said softly. ‘I think we both need to stop blaming ourselves, Cas. You’re right, Josh wouldn’t have wanted us tearing ourselves apart.’
Cassie moved closer, slid her arm around his waist. Kim couldn’t help thinking she should be counting her blessings, having a steadfast man like Adam to lean on. She was about to go in when any sympathy she might have had for Cassie vanished.
‘Do you think that man we saw really does own the property?’ she asked Adam. ‘I have a feeling he might be sub-letting.’
‘Very likely,’ Adam answered with a sigh.
‘We really should insist on Kim coming to stay with us, you know,’ Cassie said, glancing tentatively up at him. ‘I know this place can be improved – it would have huge potential if it were legally rented – but I’m worried that Kim might not be able to cope with it all.’
‘She wants her independence, Cas,’ Adam pointed out. ‘We have to respect that.’
‘I suppose,’ Cassie agreed half-heartedly.
Thinking she should make her presence known, Kim took another step towards them, and then froze as the woman went on. ‘Do you