Page 80 of Better the Devil

‘No bother,’ Tyler replied. ‘What’s burning, anyway?’

There was a long, pregnant pause.

‘What do you mean?’ Sinead finally shouted back. ‘How would I know?’

It was at this point that Tyler remembered the bacon.

‘Fuuuuck!’

Leaping down from the chair, he dashed into the smoke-filled kitchen, grabbed the handle of the grill tray, and pulled out six shrivelled slices of what appeared to be charcoal.

The smoke alarm gave a warning chirp, like it was about to kick off again. Tyler opened the back door, and some of the smoke rushed out, like even it’d had enough of the house for one day.

‘Toast?’

Tyler turned to find Sinead standing in the kitchen doorway, a smile tugging at one corner of her mouth.

Tyler turned off the grill.

‘Toast,’ he agreed.

Sinead ateher toast standing up, while jiggling Cal with one arm and trying to finish doing her hair using sheer willpower alone.

Tyler sat on the couch next to Lauren, who watched him eating his own slice of toast with such an intense fascination that Tyler was beginning to suspect she’d done something to it when he wasn’t looking.

Arsenic, maybe.

‘How you feeling?’ Sinead asked. ‘About today?’

‘I mean, it’s not off to a great start,’ Tyler replied. ‘Although, no worse than usual, I suppose.’

‘The bacon was a nice touch,’ Sinead said. She smiled. ‘But I meant the interview.’

‘Oh, that? Aye, I’m not worried. It’ll be a walk in the park. The idiot I’m up against doesn’t stand a chance.’

He laughed as he dodged the toast crust that was tossed in his direction.

‘Funny, I was going to say the same,’ Sinead told him. Her smile ebbed away. ‘But we’ll be fine, won’t we? Whatever happens?’

‘What do you mean?’ Tyler asked.

He side-eyed his daughter as he brought his toast to his mouth. She continued to watch the process with a worrying level of interest. He’d offered her a bit of it a few moments ago, and her firm rejection had only made him more paranoid.

‘I mean, whoever doesn’t get it, they’re going to be fine, right?’ Sinead switched Cal from one arm to the other, mid-jiggle. ‘Like… we’re going to be alright?’

‘Aye. Of course,’ Tyler said, rising to his feet. He crossed to his wife and son and kissed them both on the head, one after the other. ‘You’ll get over it, no problem.’

Sinead rolled her eyes and held up a buttery hand. ‘Shut up, or I’ll rub crumbs through your hair.’

Tyler paled at the thought. ‘You wouldn’t dare.’

‘I probably wouldn’t manage. It’s rock solid,’ Sinead pointed out. ‘You’d need a chisel to get through that. What did you use in it this morning, superglue?’

‘Laugh it up all you want, Detective Constable,’ Tyler said, tucking his thumbs into an imaginary pair of braces and rocking back on his heels. ‘There’ll be less of that sort of cheek when I’m in charge.’

Sinead laughed. ‘Aye, you keep telling yourself that. Even if you get the promotion, you won’t be in charge. We both know it.’

‘That’s a fair point,’ Tyler conceded. He took her buttery hand in his and gave it a squeeze. ‘We’ll be fine. Whatever happens.’