In Safe Hands (Maggie Sayer Series Book 2)

A Moving Story of Compassion, Resilience, and Second Chances

Counsellor Maggie Sayer spends her days helping people carry burdens that often feel impossible to bear. Ruth is facing infertility, Sue is overwhelmed by new motherhood, and David is caring for his wife as dementia slowly changes their life together.

But it is Lindy, a teenage girl in a young offender unit, who challenges Maggie most deeply. As Lindy begins to reveal the trauma of her childhood and the brother she lost, Maggie joins a search that could reconnect the young woman with her past—and give her hope for the future.

Set against Maggie’s own fears for her husband Peter’s health, In Safe Hands by Gillian Jackson weaves together stories of loss, trust, healing, and quiet courage. The second novel in the Maggie Sayer Series is a tender portrait of ordinary people carrying extraordinary burdens, and the small acts of kindness that can change a life.

Discover In Safe Hands and continue Maggie Sayer’s compassionate journey.

Excerpt from the book

‘Promise me something.’ Peter had said it lightly, almost jokingly, but Maggie knew him well enough to hear the seriousness beneath it. ‘If things get bad… if the MS takes a turn… you won’t feel you have to stay.’

Maggie had stared at him across the kitchen table, stunned for a moment by the quiet fear in his voice. Then she reached across and took his hand. ‘That’s not how love works,’ she told him.

Maggie Lloyd still remembered that conversation whenever Peter tried to pretend he wasn’t worried about the future. In her professional life, she remained Maggie Sayer, therapeutic counsellor. The name had become part of her identity long before Peter entered her life, and he understood why she kept it. Inside the calm, private space of her consulting room, where people entrusted her with their deepest fears and griefs, she needed to be wholly herself.

Their life together had been a whirlwind for both of them. Joy and shock had arrived hand in hand, carrying them from moments of deep happiness to sudden emotional lows. Yet through it all, their love had proved remarkably resilient. Together they had formed a partnership neither of them had expected to find again, a union built on honesty, humour, and a quiet determination to face whatever life chose to throw at them.

Their relationship had still been new and fragile when the first bombshell fell, and Peter had been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. If Peter had followed his first instinct, they might never have married at all. Unable to bear the thought of Maggie losing another husband, he had briefly considered ending their relationship before it grew any deeper. Both of them already knew far too much about loss.

For Maggie, loss had been the death of her first husband, Chris, several years earlier, after just three short years of marriage. Peter’s own marriage had ended in divorce long before they met, and neither of them had expected life to offer them another chance at happiness. But Maggie had learned something from grief that Peter did not yet fully understand. Life rarely offered guarantees. Waiting for certainty meant missing the moments that mattered. So instead of stepping away, Maggie did something that surprised them both. She proposed to him.

Looking back now, she could still picture the astonishment on Peter’s face before relief slowly replaced it, and he said yes. That simple answer gave them both a fresh beginning, and they learned to treat each new day as a gift. Peter confronted his illness with pragmatic determination, often using humour when things became difficult.

There was no cure for MS. They both knew that, but treatments were improving rapidly, and so far, Peter had responded well. As he liked to say, there were still far more good days than bad, and Maggie intended to make the most of every one of them.