“Bella. My puppy.” She says burying her head into her fur.
I sink down onto the bed beside her. She doesn’t look at me, just continues cuddling the dog.
“We found her in the ruins.” I say. “I don’t know how she survived.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have admitted that. Maybe I should have kept that to myself.
Lara looks at me then. “I hid her.” She says.
“What?”
“When those men came, when they started shooting at everyone I hid Bella and me in the cupboard. I didn’t want them to find us. Only they got me anyway.”
I lift my hand wanting so desperately to hold her but instead I stroke the dog.
She watches me as I do it. “Mummy must be missing Bella too.” She says with such a small voice.
I nod. “Yeah she must be.” I agree. “Can you take care of her? Can you look after Bella for mummy till she gets back?”
Lara looks at me with fresh tears in her eyes. “Okay daddy.”
“There’s my girl.” I say cupping her face. I can feel how wet her cheeks are. She’s trembling too.
“She has to have that special food remember.” She mumbles.
“I know. We’ve got it here.” I reassure her.
And then she’s hugging me, burying her face into my body. “I missed you so much.”
“I missed you too.” I reply.
She heaves into my body, moulds herself into me as I hold her so tightly.
“I was so scared. The whole time. I was so scared.” She sobs.
“I know you were Sweetpea. I’m so sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner.”
“Why couldn’t you?” She asks.
I take in a deep breath. “I had an accident.”
“Were you hurt?”
I nod. “But I’m better now.”
“Did they do that to you? Did they hurt you too?”
I nod again.
“They hurt you so you couldn’t save us?” She guesses.
I meet her gaze. I’m not going to lie. I want her to understand this, even if she’s too young to get the full subtleties. “They planned this. They planned to break us up.”
“Why?”
I grit my teeth. It’s a step too far to tell her why. “Because they’re bad men Lara. Bad people.”
“I hate them.” She says.