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“El? Can I borrow this?” Daisy asks, holding a book.
“Sure thing, sweet.” Ellie doesn’t look up from the casefile she’s reading and just waves a hand in Daisy’s general direction.
Hardy sighs and looks up at his daughter. “Daiz, you’re here to look after wee Fred while we work. Not to come in and distract us. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go home.”
“Leave her be, would you? She’s fine.” Ellie shoves a document under his nose. “What do you think of this?”
And just like that, Daisy is forgotten and he’s plunged back into the case. It’s so typically him that Ellie can’t help but smile.
Ellie’s phone vibrates loudly on her bedside table. The green digits of the clock are abrasive in the darkness of her bedroom: it’s 2:47.
“What?” she asks after lifting the phone to her ear.
“I’d never given much thought to how I would die—though I’d had reason enough in the last few months—but even if I had, I would not have imagined it like this.” It’s definitely Hardy’s voice, but he’s saying very un-Hardy things. “What’s this horseshit you’ve lent my daughter?”
“What the fuck are you talking about? It’s late. I’m tired. Explain.”
“This book you let Daiz borrow. Seems a bit dodgy.”
“I don’t even know what book it is. Why are you reading her book anyway?”
She hears the rustling of pages.
“Twilight,” he says. “Should I be worried? It seems a bit creepy.”
“She’s fine,” Ellie says. “Teenage girls the world over have read Twilight and are no worse for wear.”
More rustling.
“It says here that it was published in 2005.”
“Yeh, and…?”
“Why do you have a copy if it’s for teenage girls?” he asks. His voice is lighter than normal. Playful and teasing.
“I was curious—no need to be a twat about it. And you didn’t answer my question.”
“What question?”
“Why are you nosing through Daisy’s stuff?” Ellie asks, though she already knows the answer.
“Couldn’t sleep.”
“So you thought you’d poke around and then ring me about it?”
“Ach, sorry, Miller. I’ll go.”
“Enjoy the book. Night.”
“Night.”
Ellie drops her phone back on her bedside table and smiles as she falls back to sleep.
“So, are you Team Edward or Team Jacob?” Ellie asks brightly when she enters his office the next morning.
“Jacob—”
“So you read it then?” she asks, not trying to contain her amusement. “I’m more of Team Edward girl, myself.”
“What? But he’s a century-old creep stalking a seventeen-year-old girl. He watches her sleep!”
She laughs. “Oh my sweet summer child, just you wait. Jacob is no saint either in the stalking department. We can swing by mine later and I’ll get the other books for you.”
“Ach,” he says and waves a dismissive hand. “No need.”
“Oh, please. I know you’re dying to know what happens next.”
“Fine.”
“Yes!” She stops herself from doing a happy dance, but only just. “Tea?”
“Aye, please.”
She’s about to leave his office when he calls her back. “Miller? What’s a summer child?”
Ellie’s eyes bulge. “First we’ll do Twilight and then we can tackle Game of Thrones.”
Hardy groans and Ellie smiles.
Almost a week later, she answers the phone just as she’s going to bed.
“I can’t believe I’ve wasted an entire week of my life on this trash,” Hardy grumbles.
“I take it you’ve just finished Breaking Dawn?”
“Aye.”
“You’re now experiencing what’s known as the Twilight Hangover.”
“What now?”
“Twilight’s like tequila.”
“What?”
“It’s fun whilst it’s happening, but once you finish you realise you’ve been filling yourself with garbage and you have a funny taste in your mouth.”
“Ahhh. That’s exactly how this feels.”
“Come over tomorrow night, yeh? We can order an Indian and get started on Game of Thrones.”
“Should I bring Daiz?”
“Only if you want to watch siblings shag whilst she’s in the room.”
“What now?” he asks. Ellie can practically see his expression. All bulgy eyes and confused mouth.
“You’ll see.”
“Well, alright then.”
He hangs up and Ellie is smiling once again.