Conflicted Innocence by Netta Newbound Read Free Book Online Page B

think we need to have him come to our place instead and give it the once over,” I said, amazed.
    “I told you—he’s always doing something to keep himself busy.”
    I followed James up the stairs and paused briefly as we reached the top. I knew the first door we’d come to would be the bathroom, and my nerve endings jangled as he pushed it open.
    “Clean. Nothing to do in here.” He continued up the hallway.
    I stopped outside the bathroom and the breath caught in my throat. The simple white bathroom suite was nothing extraordinary, but just the fact that a little boy had lost his life in the bathtub broke my heart—I couldn’t tear my eyes away from it. A sharp intake of breath coming from James piqued my curiosity, and I hurried to see what had caused Mr Cool to gasp.
    I didn’t need to go far. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
    The middle room was fully kitted out with baby things. A cot draped in blue and white fabric was the main focus of the room. A Winnie the Pooh mobile hung above it. A changing station stood against the wall to the left, complete with baby wipes and powder. A matching Winnie the Pooh nappy holder dangled beside it. Next to the cot was a rocking chair, and in my mind’s eye, I could see a faceless woman nursing her baby and singing lullabies in the dead of night.
    Tears streamed down my face as I turned to James. “She can’t come home to this!” I said, with a sob.
    “We can’t just pack it all away, though. I’ll need to call Lee back.”
    “Yeah, but the poor woman’s been through enough without having to see this. It’s just not fair, James.”
    “I know, and I’ll say that to him, but the final say has to be Lee’s.”
    I opened the top drawer of the chest and gasped at the sight of the dinky white vests that would fit Grace, and my heart contracted once more. All the vests were neatly folded.
    In the next drawer down, I found more lovingly folded clothing. Not the actions of a woman at the end of her tether, in my opinion. But who could tell what was going on in someone else’s mind.
    Grace was wriggling, like a child possessed, trying to get out of James’ arms to play with the pile of toys on the carpet.
    “You ready? I won’t be able to hold this one for much longer.” He laughed, lifting Grace up into the air and blowing a raspberry on her stomach.
    She gave a deep belly laugh that made even me, in my newly depressed state, smile.
    “Well, there’s not a lot that needs doing, except maybe a vase of flowers and getting the fridge filled up. But the baby’s room is essential in my opinion,” I said.
    “I’ll call him back when we get home. But how do you feel about cleaning it out? I saw how all that stuff affected you.”
    “It is upsetting—I won’t lie. But I’d do it. I couldn’t allow her to come home to that if I had the choice.”
    Back home, James handed Grace to me and, after finding his phone in his jacket pocket, he rang Lee.
    “Hey, buddy. How’s it going?” he asked.
    I could hear Lee’s voice as though I had my ear to the phone. “Still slogging away. How about you?”
    “We went around to your place. Everything is perfectly clean and tidy. In fact, Geri asked if there’s any chance you can clean our house.” There was another minute or two of light-hearted banter before James brought the conversation back on track. “Geri suggested we get a bunch of flowers and stock up the fridge, but there is one other more delicate subject I want to discuss.”
    “Fire away!”
    “Joseph’s bedroom.”
    “Ah, yes.”
    “We don’t think it’s a good idea to leave the baby things for Lydia to find.”
    “I never thought. I never go in there anymore—just blocked it out, you know?”
    “Of course you did, mate. It’s understandable. But it might be a shock for Lydia to come across it. Would you like us to box it all up for you?”
    “Umm...err...I dunno really. I suppose it would be very upsetting for her, but shouldn’t it be something I