As she steered the boat towards them, Joe jumped on to the Soleil Anne and shuffled towards her along the gunwale running the length of the boat. He tied the balloons to the handrail before jumping onto the deck to plant a kiss on her cheek.

‘I said no fuss.’

‘This isn’t a fuss!’ Beth shouted over to her.

‘We just wanted to see you off,’ Karin added.

Leanne wasn’t surprised that Joe, Beth, and Karin had been in cahoots. They had enjoyed some serious debriefing sessions in the Bridgewater Inn after Leanne’s dip in the canal, and had been joined occasionally by Amelia and her mum. Karin refused vehemently to take credit for saving Amelia. It was as if there was a mental block, or perhaps a memory that refused to resurface. The Empress hadn’t given up all her secrets and never would, but it had allowed a small group of friends to make bonds that would never be broken. This simple fact should have made it easier for Leanne to leave.

‘Don’t you dare make me cry,’ Leanne warned.

She cut back the engine and allowed the boat to drift slowly along the canal without coming to a complete stop. She wasn’t going to moor up. She didn’t want to face leaving all over again.

As Karin and Beth linked arms and began walking along the towpath at a pace that matched the boat, Joe put his arm around Leanne. He pressed his head against hers. ‘You’re making me cry,’ he whispered. ‘I’m going to miss you.’

‘And I’ll miss you,’ she replied as the boat thumped against the side of the bank.

Leanne moved the tiller bar to steer it back on course and pushed Joe away in the process. He needed a new start too and Leanne was holding him back. She didn’t want to be around when he found a new love that wasn’t Lois, and she suspected that was going to happen sooner rather than later. She hoped sooner. She really did.

‘I get the message,’ he said, giving her one last hug.

To rejoin Karin and Beth, Joe had to jump a couple feet to get ashore. He landed on an uneven patch of grass and for one heart-stopping moment it looked like he was going to fall backwards. Instinctively, Leanne revved the engine and steered the boat away from him to avoid hitting Joe or squashing him against the canal bank if he did fall in. Beth and Karin reacted too, and it was Karin who grabbed the hem of Joe’s T-shirt and held on until he righted himself.

‘Jesus, Joe!’ Leanne called. ‘Don’t frighten me like that.’

‘Don’t worry, he’s safe with us!’ Karin shouted, her smile a beam of light and joy.