For the first time Lissa started to wonder: Could she build a life here? Not with Cormac of course, that was ridiculous, they hadn’t even met, she didn’t even know what he looked like. Of course he wasn’t going to like her—how could he? It was a silly crush, that was all, a good distraction from the anxiety and the pain. Plus, she had his job.

But even without that . . . might this be a place for her? She thought of Nina’s friendly face behind the piles of books she organized so beautifully. She had found a home here. And Zoe too, even if she was trailed by what looked like six or seven children at all times and, if Lissa’s professional opinion was not mistaken, what looked like another one on the way.

They had found a place here. Could she?

She would read the letter. She would read it, and she would face up to it, and then, when the secondment was over—then she would see.

She glanced, sadly, once more at the phone. She missed him already.

Just as she crossed the threshold, it pinged. She grabbed it delightedly. Was it him?

It was.

So, it said.

Cormac had thought about things. He’d heard from Jake about Ginty MacGuire, which was patently terrible news for Jake, who was stuck somewhere with a terrible headache and deep regrets.

And he’d thought about everything. About everything he’d learned in London, where people were bold and not shy, where people came to get what they wanted, to try everything out there. He knew he’d been lazy in relationships, had always preferred to think of humanity in the abstract, rather than people in particular. He wanted to change that. Starting now.

So. Wanna meet in London then?

Chapter 58

The letter had been short and straightforward, with a date a week hence and a time she was due at Southwark Crown Court. It warned her that the timings might be off and she may have to wait, and there was a form for expenses.

The lawyer had rung her just as Lissa was trying to pluck up the courage to ring her, and she, Roisin, talked her through what would happen. Lissa would be given the opportunity to read the statement she’d given at the police station the first time around to refresh her memory for the small details, then Roisin would walk her through it on the stand. Then the defense lawyer would ask her a few questions.