Chapter 1

“What you doing?” the little girl asked him.

“I’m taking photos of the flowers,” the man replied.

“Why?” she asked again.

“Don’t bother the man, Maddy!” He looked up from the girl to the woman and smiled.

“That’s okay, I’m in no hurry! Well, Maddy, the council, who look after this park, asked me to take some pictures of it ... that’s my job. Would you like to see, Maddy?” The little girl nodded. The man held the digital camera in front of the girl so that she could see the preview screen. Using the controls he scrolled through some of the pictures that he’d already taken.

“Good!” the little girl exclaimed.

“Thank you!” He addressed the woman: “Would you like a picture of your daughter ... you as well, of course?”

“Well, you can take one of Maddy if you like, but I’m ... I’m not...”

“ ... You’re fine!” he interjected, “Maddy first, then together. Do you want to sit on the seat, Maddy.” With her mother’s help she clambered up onto the bench. “That’s it, Lovie ... big smile now!” The shutter clicked several times in quick succession. “That’s great! Now you, Mummy!” The woman moved next to the girl. “Okay ... more big smiles!” He waited. “Come on, Mum, I’m sure you can do better than that! That’s it, much better!”

Once again the electronic shutter repeatedly opened and shut. They remained seated and he sat down next to the girl. In only a few seconds they were looking at the images he’d just captured.

“Goodness!” the woman exclaimed, “Just look at me!” The man laughed softly.

“Well, I think you and your mummy both look very pretty, Maddy!” he said, “What do you think?”

“Yes!” the little girl replied, “I think my Mummy’s pretty, as well!” He smiled.

“There you go, then,” he said, addressing the woman, “ ... You’re outvoted!” The young woman managed a smile.

“ ... That’s still a matter of opinion! Would it be possible to get one of those of Maddy?”

“Nothing easier! Look, we’re going in the same direction ... ice creams all round?” She smiled.

“Why not! My name’s Evie, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you Evie, mine’s Owen. If you don’t mind me asking, is Maddy short for Madeline?”

“ ... No ... it’s ‘Madison’ actually ... her daddy’s choice.”

“Is that unusual? It sounds like one of those names Americans call their kids.”

“You’re probably right: Gary was always mad keen on anything American. I believe that it’s one of those names that’s quite popular here now, too. I’m an old-fashioned ‘Evelyn’, but I never liked it but it was my mum’s granny’s name. But Owen’s quite nice ... Welsh, isn’t it?”

“Mmm, but I’ve no idea why; as far as I know my family are all London born and bred. But you’re right, it’s like my hair ... short, and easy to live with!” Evie chuckled.

“ ... Here we are,” he said as they arrived at the ice cream kiosk, “what’s everyone having?” With the ice creams purchased they stood together for a few more minutes.

“I haven’t forgotten your prints, Evie, but rather than asking for an address or phone number, if you tell me when you’re likely to be in the park again I can meet you again ... say, here?”

“All right, that’s a good idea. I’m taking Maddy to Gary’s mum’s tomorrow but, weather permitting, the same time the day after, okay?”

“Okay! I hope to see you both then and there’ll be no charge for the prints.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind ... oh, and for the ice cream! Say goodbye to Owen, Maddy.”

“Bye, bye, Owen!” she said as she waved.

Owen Harper was twenty-seven years old and single. When he was ten his parents had given him an old film camera and although he never took that many photos with it, he subsequently became an avid reader of photography books and magazines. Whenever and wher­ever possible after that, his school projects also contained photo­graphs, for which he received credits.

It is very hard for a teenage boy to plan a career as a photographer, however, so while his parents were keen to encourage his continuing hobby, they counselled him to consider another, more readily available occupation when he left school. Although a diligent student, he had no real interest or incentive to continue his education past the age of sixteen. He reasoned, quite rightly, that if he changed his mind when he was older there were plenty of further education courses that he could pursue at a later time.

It so happened that Owen’s mother worked for Brent Council in London and she enquired about any jobs that might be suitable for her son with his expected nine GCSE passes. There were several opportunities available to him, and so within a few months of leaving school he found himself working for the local authority Planning Depart­ment, where he had been ever since.

His present job was to evaluate building applications, by first checking submissions against current building regulations and then to submit written reports to the planning committee. He did he also get out of the office sometimes, to check that current ongoing building work was within the guidelines and to take the appropriate action if it was found not to be so. He liked his job, it paid a good salary, and there was a degree of long-term security; so where did photographing flowers in the park come into it?

Well, simply, he often used photography as visual evidence in his job and he was known to be a keen and proficient amateur, so when the occasional images for council publications or their web site were required, he was sometimes asked to provide them and so, by chance, he happened to be in the park on that day.

He was generally considered to be quite a good-looking and presentable young guy, and despite her own protests, Evie Manning was a nice-looking young woman and he never denied that he found her attractive. As far as he was concerned, however, she had talked about the Gary who was Maddy’s father and she wore rings on her wedding finger, so he was under no illusion that it was anything other than a friendly encounter with a young mum in the park; someone who he would meet briefly at least once more and then in all probability, never again.

The evening after their first encounter he had gone back to his flat, where he had transferred the images from the camera to his computer. All of them, apart from those of Maddy and Evie, were then uploaded to the appropriate council department as compressed digital files. However, the best of the rest were edited if necessary and then printed out and mounted in those cardboard frames that photographers use for their clients’ pictures. These were then placed in a large envelope, ready for delivery to Evie when he next saw her.

They were waiting by the ice cream kiosk when he arrived, at more or less the time that they’d agreed; Maddy was already making short work of her ice cream. They were sitting on another bench and Owen joined them.

“Oh, these are lovely!” Evie exclaimed, when Owen presented her with the mounted images “ ... And I only expected one of Maddy.”

“I thought Gary’s mother might like copies and I put a few in, in case your parents...”

“Well, thank you again, Owen! Can you stay for a little while; I didn’t like the idea of you giving up your lunch to meet me, so I’ve brought coffee and sandwiches.”

“Then it’s my turn to thank you: I’d like that! I meant to ask the other day ... how old is Maddy ... pre-school, presumably?”

“Yes, she’s three and a half. She goes to nursery one morning a week at the moment and then a few more days when she’s a bit older, to prepare her for school in a year or so.”

“I guess you’re not working at the moment, then: will you when Maddy’s at school, full-time?”

“ ... Hmm ... not sure yet. I suppose I ought to, but at the moment I’m getting by on benefits and my armed forces widow’s payments.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry, Evie! I saw your rings and just assumed. It can’t have been long ago.”

“No, Maddy was two, so she doesn’t really remember Gary but I’ve got pictures, of course.” She sighed. “He was just an ordinary infantryman. He’d signed up for twelve years but he would probably have stayed in longer. He loved the lifestyle ... I hated it! I suppose that makes me sound very selfish.”

“No, not at all! Nobody who doesn’t live with that situation can know what it’s like ... and at least he was doing something he loved; while you could only stay behind and wonder and wait. Please don’t tell me any more than you want to, Evie ... but I’m assuming that he was killed in action.”

Maddy was sitting between them. Having finished her ice cream, she was now chewing happily on a sandwich.

“No, that’s okay, as long as you don’t mind listening. He was on patrol and there was an explosion. They told me it was quick and he wouldn’t have known ... which is good, I suppose. And again ... this might sound horrible, Owen, but I’m glad! Oh, not that he died, of course, but that he didn’t have to live with terrible injuries: he would have hated that. As you can imagine, soldiers need to be fit and he never liked sitting around doing nothing. Our married life was always very ... er... ‘physical’! I don’t know exactly what his injuries were, I never wanted to, but I know it involved internal inju­ries and loss of limbs.

“His parents and I disagreed about afterwards: they wanted a grave to visit but I wanted a cremation. I got my way, but even though they have his remains, things can still be a bit frosty sometimes when I go round there with Maddy, but they’ve been very good otherwise, and they have the right to see her regularly.” She looked at her watch.

“Goodness, haven’t you got to be back at work, Owen! It’s been nice talking to you, but I don’t want to get you into trouble with your bosses.”

“That’s okay, I’m out of the office this afternoon, anyway. Look, Evie, this is a little awkward, especially after what you’ve just told me, but would you care to meet up again, socially, sometime? I have no ties and however much you love your daughter, I’m sure that a little more grown-up company wouldn’t be unwelcome.” She looked a little coy but she looked at him and said: “I’d like that, Owen!”

“All right! If you give me a number I’ll call you tonight and we can chat some more and hopefully arrange something.” He put her number straight into his phone. “ ... Later, then, Evie! Bye, bye, Maddy!” The little girl smiled and waved: “Bye, bye, Owen!”

Evie was now twenty-eight. When she was young, free, and single, her parents had warned her about getting involved with soldiers, but she was young and pretty and they’d always held a certain fascina­tion for her and Gary Manning was very handsome and filled with a soldier’s self-assurance, although when she first met him he was out of uniform and she didn’t know that he was in the army. It may not have been love at first sight, exactly, but by the time that she woke up in his bed the next day, after the most incredible night of sex that she’d ever experienced, she was hooked!

It wasn’t just a one night stand: they stayed in bed for almost three days before his leave was up and he made her promise to write to him as soon as he was back at barracks. They wrote several times a week, and although he wasn’t the most articulate of men, he still wrote lovely, sweet, funny letters. At the end of his next leave he proposed. It wasn’t the big white wedding that she’d dreamed of as a girl, but it was a nice military ceremony with her parents and new in-laws ... and lots of soldiers in smart dress uniforms!

Evie found out for sure that she was pregnant the day before her husband was due to leave on his first overseas tour of duty. Gary was happy for both reasons, but although very happy to have what she had suspected confirmed, Evie was also feeling very vulnerable. The everyday realities of being a soldier’s wife were already known to her by then, but at least he was still there with her. Now he was gone and she faced the real possibility that she was going to be alone for most or the whole of the pregnancy and he wouldn’t be there at the time when she needed him most.

After Maddy was born, although Gary was a good and loving father and husband, Evie always had the feeling that he was restless at home and couldn’t wait to be deployed again: ‘To do the things that a soldier’s meant to do!’ he said. What a soldier’s meant to do is look after his family, she thought ... but she never told him that.

Maddy was about a year and ten months old when Gary kissed them both goodbye before boarding the transport plane with his happy, smiling mates. Kissed them and said goodbye for the last time...

When she’d had to leave her army accommodation, Evie had moved to the London Borough of Brent: it was where Gary had grown up and his parents still lived there. Evie’s parents weren’t so far away, in Stanmore, but things had become a little strained between them lately; especially when she’d declined their invitation to take Maddy there to live. She now had a privately owned, rented two-bedroom flat, on the ground floor of a large converted Victorian villa-type house, with access to the garden for Maddy in what seemed like a nice area. She didn’t want to live right on top of her in-laws, either, but on a nice day she could walk there in under an hour and when the weather prevented walking, she could just about afford the cab fare.