Josephine Cox 3-Book Collection 1: Midnight, Blood Brothers, Songbird. Josephine Cox

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      At that very moment, Thomas emerged from his kitchen with a tray of goodies. Taking them out to the garden where Eileen was waiting, he told her, ‘We’ve got a couple of cheese sandwiches and a piece of Battenberg cake. How’s that?’

      Shifting forward on the bench, Eileen cast her gaze over the tray’s contents. ‘Oh, Battenberg!’ she clapped her hands like a child. ‘Lovely, Thomas!’

      ‘Good.’ He set the tray on the table between them. ‘Well, at least I’ve managed to put a smile on your face.’ He had been concerned earlier, when they were in the park, that Eileen seemed unduly restless. But then, she often got that way. One minute she was right as rain, and the next she was like a naughty child. He was not overly concerned, because over the years, he had learned how to pacify her.

      Now, though, he did as he always did when they were having tea in the garden. He poured the tea and made sure to add enough milk to cool it down. When Eileen took up the spoon and began frantically shovelling sugar into the cup, he gently took away the spoon. Then, taking his empty cup, he filled it with tea, slid the cup over to her and spooned in two sugars. ‘You don’t want to be rotting your lovely teeth,’ he told her. ‘You know what Libby would say if she saw you putting all that sugar in your cup.’

      Making big eyes, Eileen looked towards the gate. ‘She didn’t see me, did she?’

      Thomas shook his head. ‘No, she didn’t see you.’

      Suddenly, from somewhere in the garden, the angelic tones of a songbird filtered through the air. ‘Oh, listen . . .’ Eileen put her finger to her lips. ‘Isn’t that beautiful?’

      But Thomas was not listening to the birdsong. Instead, he was looking at Eileen, and his old heart was turned over with love. ‘Yes, it is beautiful, my darling,’ he whispered, ‘but not as beautiful as you.’

      Leaning over, he drew the fleecy blanket further across her knees. ‘Be careful with the tea, now. Don’t drink it too quickly, or you might scald yourself.’ While she sipped, he held his hand under the saucer.

      ‘I’m not a baby. I won’t scald myself.’ When she smiled up at him, he wanted to hold her and kiss her, and tell her how much she had come to mean to him. But he would never tell her. Not when Eileen was so very poorly. He felt ashamed, to be thinking of her in such a way.

      The truth was, he had come to love this delightful woman, and the more he witnessed how helpless she could be, the more he felt he should take care of her. But he would then remind himself that it was not his place. He had no right. So, for everyone’s sake, he kept his feelings to himself.

      Libby was doing a marvellous job with her mother, but it saddened him to see her so tied down. He had always thought she should have a life of her own, with a husband, and children running round her feet. Yet here she was, a vibrant young woman, devoting her life to looking after her sick mother. Life was very cruel, he thought.