Page 79 of Too Close To Home

“You said you drive that road most nights.”

“Aye, that’s right.”

“Why?”

Andy shrugged. “Habit.”

Harrison held his gaze to see if there was anything else buried in the answer. Nothing came forward. So he turned and crossed the yard to the pool car. When he slid into the driver’s seat, he let out a breath and rubbed the back of his head, the conversation seeping into his bones.

But it wasn’t Andy Mitchell he kept circling back to.

It was Jake Whitton.

The passenger door opened, and Calder climbed in beside him, so Harrison straightened, forcing his thoughts back onto the job.

He fastened his seatbelt. “I think it’s time I spoke to the Whitton family.”

chapter twelve

Exposed Rafters

Jake stood on the touchline with his hands shoved deep in his gilet pockets, shoulders hunched against the wind cutting straight across the open field. He should’ve worn a coat, but he’d come straight from a job, so it was his hoodie and gilet, the only thing between him and the biting wind.

The cold had got into him hours ago, creeping through his boots and denim down into his bones until it felt permanent. He lifted his hands to his mouth to blow into them, breath fogging the air.

Friday night rugby was always like this.

Standing under the yellow floodlights, Jake thought the pitch looked more mud than grass, churned to ribbons by boots and bodies. The white lines had long since blurred into brown streaks. Beyond the far posts the land dropped away into the dark fields stretching towards the moors, the sky low and heavy with damp, promising rain but never quite delivering.

Typical Yorkshire evening.

Jake stamped his feet to bring some feeling back into them and kept his eyes on the pitch. “Tackle him, Ted! Go on!”

Teddy was all elbows and stubborn determination, barrelling across the field after the ball. Jersey streaked with mud, hair plastered to his forehead, the kid ran as if the cold didn’t exist. Jake felt the familiar swell in his chest watching him. The lad had talent. Proper talent. Coaches had talked about academy pathways last year, trials and development squads. Jake knew little about that world, but he knew enough to see Teddy had something special.

Which meant the boy needed someone turning up.

Therefore, Jake did.

Rain or shine. Training or matches. Weeknights and weekends. Different pitches in different towns. Early morning drives with the heater blasting and Teddy half-asleep in the passenger seat, clutching a sports bag bigger than he was. Feeding him afterwards, too, because teenage boys burned through food like bonfires.

His parents couldn’t do it anymore. They’d done their years raising kids, taking Robyn to swimming and dance lessons, and him to guitar and drumming lessons followed by football training. Then, having to raise Robyn’s baby when everything went wrong, they were exhausted. They couldn’t handle cold evenings on the touchlines anymore. And Teddy’s dad…Well, he hadn’t bothered for a while now, even if Gavin had once been a promising rugby player himself.

Jake sighed at the thought.

Gavin wasn’t a bad man. Not really. Life had simply hit him hard and left him lying where he’d fallen. Some people got back up after that. Some never quite did. Jake had always understood that. He felt for him. But Teddy still needed someone. So Jake was here. Every time. Because someone had to be. And one day, whether in this life or whatever waited after it, when Jake saw Robyn again, she’d know: Jake hadn’t left her boy alone.

Not like he had her.

On the pitch, Teddy scooped the ball up from a loose tackle and sprinted.

“Go on, lad!” Jake’s voice carried across the touchline.

Teddy darted past one defender, then another, boots sliding in the mud before he regained balance and pushed forward again. The last defender lunged and missed. Then Teddy dived over the try line.

Jake punched the air. “Yes!”

The whistle blew. A few parents clapped politely under umbrellas, but Jake whooped loud enough for everyone as Teddy pushed himself up from the mud, cheeks flushed red with cold and effort, and scanned the sideline until he spotted Jake.