‘Exactly! And what gorgeous shoes they were. I would have died for those heels – silver crystal platforms.’ He shook his head and made dreamy eyes, clearly in shoe heaven.

‘Well, you nearly did die that time when your dad caught you and whacked your backside for dressing up like a “big girl’s blouse”,’ Grace said bluntly, and instantly regretted it on seeing a flicker of a flinch on Jamie’s face. ‘Sorry, that was insensitive of me,’ she swiftly added, touching her friend’s arm.

‘Ah, don’t be. I’m over it. Dad was a dinosaur. He was never cut out for having a son like me. A big pansy!’ Jamie rolled his eyes. ‘Anyway, back to the point … you and I have been friends for donkey’s years and there has been many an occasion when you’ve helped me out. Like when you let me stash my eyeliner in your school bag, not to mention when I used to go on dates with boys and you pretended that I was with you when Dad came round here shouting the odds the next day. So, let me help you out now, please. Plus, you have to trust me … I’m a nurse! So I’m ordering you to get some rest.’ And he lifted her feet up and swung her legs round so she was now lying on the sofa.

‘But …’ She went to sit back up.

‘Nope! I shan’t take no for an answer. Stay there and I will see to Cora. And then later on we can work out a plan for you to play detective and go and visit the address you have for Connie, to see what you can discover about her whereabouts.’

‘I can’t do that!’ Grace said, immediately panicked. She couldn’t remember Mrs Donato’s address off the top of her head, but she was quite certain a trip there would involve going on a bus that took a different route to the one she was used to, or worse still, a train journey involving many, many steps just to get to the station before even boarding the train.

‘Yes you can.’ Silence followed. ‘Come on, Grace … where’s your fire?’ He crouched down in front of her and placed one hand on her shoulder, then in a gentler voice he added, ‘OK, I know it’s not easy, my love. But look how far you’ve already come. You can do this. You really can. I know you can, I promise you.’

‘Hmm, maybe,’ Grace ventured, placing her hand on top of his.

‘Maybe what?’ Jamie tilted his head to one side and smiled tenderly. She moved her hand to the side of his face. He was such a kind and thoughtful man.

‘Well, it depends …’

‘Depends on what?’