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He was thrilled for them, but every email from a far off place had made him wish he could have dropped everything and leaped on a plane to Boston. But he needed to work and build a life.

There was a lot he, Evelyn and Summer had missed out on – and he was planning to make up for all of those missed moments, and then some. But none of it mattered. Because Summer had responded well to the treatment, and her medical team were happy for her to continue at home. She was back in chemical remission – with no measurable trace of the cancer – and she was tolerating the immunotherapy well. It was showing every sign that it was working and successfully teaching Summer’s own immune system to fight the cancer. It truly was remarkable. Evelyn had requested every report, and sent them all to him. He and Cal – and his dad via email from his sabbatical – had devoured them – not only because they cared about Summer, but for the ongoing possibilities for so many other people in the future.

The last five months had dragged miserably for him – even worse than the weeks before Christmas – and now the minutes while he was waiting for their arrival time to tick by and for their flight information to flick over to “disembarking” was starting to feel almost as long as all those lonely weeks. He’d spoken to them both almost every day, and was still sure of his feelings – and Evelyn reassured him regularly of hers – but it was different having a relationship squeezed into calls, promises and pixels than it was being physically together every day. For one thing, he’d have to get better at cleaning up the kitchen and not “leaving things to soak” for quite so long.

The glowing figures on the arrival screen tormented him. There were definitely moving far more slowly than the normal rules of physics allowed.

He flicked his phone screen on again, hoping for a message from Evelyn to let him know they had landed. Still nothing. He was at risk of driving himself insane before they arrived. Trying not to be too irritable, he stomped over to a seat and flopped down, and thumbed open his picture gallery. He smiled to himself, instantly cheered, as he flicked through the photos of his last visit.

Summer grinned at him proudly from behind the glass screen, with Tilly close to heel on a purple leash that matched her new vest as they walked down a brightly lit hospital corridor.

Every time Jake saw that image, he knew all the effort, emails, calls and paperwork to get the little dog out there had been worth it. She’d had to be vaccinated, and quarantined from other dogs for a month before he’d been allowed to take her in to the country. None of that was particularly difficult, though Tilly had developed a wonderful array of stares and whimpers to make him feel guilty every time he had needed to shut her away from other dogs, or lock her in his flat when he went to work. She’d even taken to her travel crate with the minimal amount of fuss or bribery.

The training hadn’t been a problem either – he’d known she had the perfect temperament for supporting people and making them feel a little less bad. He’d emailed back and forth and video chatted with the Boston charity responsible for taking therapy dogs into hospitals, and managed to convince them to arrange an “interview” for Tilly at a time when Summer would be in treatment. He hadn’t liked lying to the little girl, but Evelyn was right – and it had all been worth it when he’d seen her face as she’d spotted her best four-legged friend trotting towards her, dressed in her purple Therapy Dog vest.

Just as he’d told the charity, it worked out perfectly. Because of the trial nature of her treatment, Summer had to spend a lot more time on site than most patients, and most of that time was spent waiting for tests between appointments and infusions. She’d rapidly grown bored of the hospital gardens and playrooms, and was now thrilled to introduce the younger members of the trial to Tilly. Tilly, of course had lapped up all the fuss and thoroughly enjoyed all the extra hugs and pats as she helped the children to not be so scared or upset by the procedures they were all having to go through.

He flicked to the next picture, and grinned at the image of himself with Summer, both of them covered in flour and chocolate as they tried to make breakfast for Evelyn together. The pancakes had been horrible, but the laughter and time shared with Summer made it all worthwhile. Especially when Evelyn stumbled into the kitchen looking for her morning caffeine fix, and saw the disaster zone they’d created.

He flicked through a few more images, smiling to himself as he let his hand slip into his pocket to check the small gift bag was still there. Even through the coloured fabric, he could feel the cold metal against his fingers. He just hoped he wasn’t moving too fast.

Evelyn rubbed her temples tiredly. It had been a really, really long flight, made even longer by Tilly’s whining and Summer’s constant begging. Tilly had had to be bribed and shoved into her travel crate, and Summer had almost been in tears to see her best friend locked up, despite the fact that it was the only way the little dog was allowed to travel, and Jake’s reassurances that she’d been fine when he’d originally flown her over. Though she half-wondered if it was Summer’s presence that made Tilly less settled, and more vocal in her complaints as she tried to get to her girl.

Eventually, when they’d learned she was a registered therapy dog, the on-flight steward team had given in to Summer’s begging, and Tilly was released, much to everyone’s relief because the whimpering from the crate ceased. Once out, Tilly was the very definition of well behaved – even climbing back into her crate to potty on the special pads that the airline had sold Evelyn.

But while unlocking Tilly had helped her and Summer to relax, it had put Evelyn immediately on edge as she knew she had to watch the dog for every second. She was well behaved, but in a confined space where she and Summer were both bored? It was only too easy for total chaos to break out. So she’d spent the entire flight either comforting the little dog and little girl, or watching them for the smallest sign of mischief.

And she was worried. Of course she trusted the English hospitals, and Callum Macpearson to keep up Summer’s treatments and the near-miraculous therapy that was already keeping the cancer at bay far better than anything else before had. But she was nervous. She knew it was silly, but until they’d had their first appointment with the new team in a few weeks, and until she’d seen the medication there in the UK, she knew she’d struggle to be completely happy.

By the time they’d reloaded the little dog for landing, and the tires hit the tarmac, she felt utterly frazzled and wanted nothing more than to climb into her mum’s car and finally relax. She couldn’t wait to get home, shower the travel grime off her skin, and crawl into bed.

‘We’re home. We’ve landed! Come on, Mum!’ She had to bite her tongue to not snap at Summer.

‘Calm down. We’re still going to be here for a while. Other people have to get off first.’

‘But that’s not fair,’ Summer whined in a tone that set Evelyn’s teeth on edge. ‘We’ve been on here forever!’

‘Everyone has, Summer, and we’ve got Tilly with us. It’ll take time to get her offloaded, so we should let everyone else go first.’

‘Fine.’ Summer flopped back down in her seat and glared mutinously out of the window for the next few minutes as the plane emptied. Evelyn pulled and tugged at Tilly’s carrier, grumbling under her breath as it caught somewhere. After a few more tugs, and a yelp of complaint, the carrier and Tilly shot forward and caught Evelyn’s fingers between the hard plastic and the base of the chair. She closed her eyes and exhaled slowly, forcing her temper back under control. ‘Come on.’ She lifted her cabin bag onto her shoulder, checked Summer had her backpack, and lifted Tilly.

‘Finally!’ Summer rolled her eyes and all but dashed off the plane, ignoring Evelyn’s pleas that she was careful on the stairs.

She struggled with Tilly’s carrier, banging her knees every other step and trying not to lose her footing on the stairs from the plane. The corridor to the baggage claim seem endless, and of course she had to scrabble around for the pound coin she needed to release the trolley from its stand. Eventually she had Tilly secured next to their bags, and she could drag them all to the baggage claim. Naturally, because sod’s law was real and liked to strike at the worst possible moment, she’d managed to pick the trolley with the wonky wheel, so had to fight all the way there.

By the time she, her bruised shins, and overtired daughter had made it to the carousels, Evelyn was having to fight back the tears. She was exhausted, her legs and back hurt, and she could hear Tilly scratching at the inside of the carrier as it wobbled back and forth. Trying to ignore all the irritations, and her grumbling stomach, she glanced around to try and find the right luggage carousel for their flight. When she finally spotted it, she turned to Summer.

‘Stay here with Tilly,’ she ordered Summer. ‘I’m going to grab our bags. You can look around and see if you can spot Nanny, but do not move from this spot or open Tilly’s crate.’ The last thing she needed now was to lose Summer or Tilly. ‘I mean it. If you move so much as an inch from Tilly’s side, there’ll be no Brockle cakes for tea!’

‘OK.’ Summer sulked and sat on the end of the trolley, clearly not willing to risk missing out on her favourite treat for a second longer than she already had.

After a couple of revolutions, she finally spotted the ribbons she’d tied around their cases. Of course, all three had come out at once, so she’d probably have to wait another full revolution to claim them all. There was no way she’d be quick enough to grab them all at once. With a sigh, she leaned forward and grabbed the first.

She turned around to put it behind her, and winced when her back complained. By the time she turned back, the bags had vanished, and she cursed under her breath. Hands on hips, she stared at the opening where they would reappear and took a couple more, deep, calming breaths. She waited for the cases to reappear and pounced, wrangling them from the carousel. ‘You’re going to have to walk please.’

‘Ugh, do I have to?’

‘Unless you want me to put these cases on top of you, yes. But keep your hand on the trolley. If you let go …’