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Of all people, she should kno deep that rejection cut It would be like losing her uncle, the only person who had believed in her

‘But how did you handle it badly? You did nothing wrong,’ Fliss pointed out carefully ‘You stayed away because it was the kindest thing to do’

‘I left Wilf to cope all alone I ht not have been able to see Rosie, but I could have pretended to be someone else I could have been there for Wilf instead of just du him in it’

‘Ash, you were off fighting for your country You’re a colonel You were a major then The career path we’ve chosen isn’t like other jobs There are sacrifices Wilf and Rosie understood, even before the Alzheimer’s With the best will in the world, you couldn’t have been there’

‘I should have found a way I should have taken fewer postings away, fewer tours of duty’

‘But no ould you have ever made colonel At your level that would have been your career over’

‘I should have made that sacrifice for Rosie And for Wilf’

It was the grief talking, she knew that Hiswith an impossible situation In time he would see that, but for now all she could do was tell hiht he needed to hear

‘I don’t believe she would ever have wanted you to do that From what you’ve told me about them, I don’t think either of them would have thanked you for it They didn’t make those sacrifices to send you to Cadets, to fund you through university for you to walk away froone back’

‘I should have done it anyway I could have found a job in Civvy Street, moved in next door Even if I couldn’t have been there to help care for Rosie, I could have been there for Wilf whilst he cared for her’

‘That’s a hell of a thing to ask of anyone’ Fliss shook her head ‘I know you like to think of yourself as superhuuess what? You are only human You have emotions and you were in pain I don’t believe Wilf thinks you abandoned him’

‘It’s not about what Wilf thinks He can tell rily But she kneas anger directed at himself, not at her ‘It’s about what I know And I know I could have done more Should have done more I should have found a way’

A tight hand was squeezing Fliss’s heart inside her chest His pain was palpable He’d lost one of the only two people who had cared for hi himself from the other person becaus

e he couldn’t shake a sense of guilt which he shouldn’t be feeling

No wonder he kept with short-ter himself up to more hurt Just like her They were two of a kind