‘Are you all right?’

She smiled at Tom. ‘Yes. I was just remembering how I used to babysit when I was a teenager.’

‘I’m not a baby!’ Hayley protested at once.

Andi bent down again to help her straighten her clothes. ‘I can see that. But they call it babysitting even when it’s looking after ten-year-olds. You must be – what – six?’ She added a year, knowing how young children cared about looking older.

Hayley beamed at her. ‘I’m nearly five.’

‘Goodness, you’re tall for your age.’

‘Like my daddy.’

Tom winked at Andi then shepherded them into the sitting room and Jane offered to make some coffee.

The hour they spent playing with the children was the happiest Andi had spent since she’d woken up in hospital.

As she walked back home with her mother, accompanied by Kevin, she said thoughtfully, ‘I’d forgotten how much I like being with small children.’

‘You always were better than me at dealing with them.’

It was a small thing, but it felt good to have her mother admit her daughter was better at something than her, because really, Andi knew she’d made a mess of her life. Big time. For a moment, tears threatened again, but she sniffed them away.

‘I’ll go and have a lie-down now, I think. I feel really washed out still.’

Her mother gave her a quick hug and she hesitated, then hugged her mother back. ‘You still wear the same perfume. I remember it from when I was a child.’

Surely Andi’s remark was a small step in the right direction? Sophie hoped so.

William rang that evening. ‘How’s Andi?’

‘Ask her yourself.’ Sophie passed the phone to her daughter, mouthing William as she did so.

Andi pulled a face at the phone. ‘Hi, Willi.’

Sophie couldn’t help smiling. Her son hated anyone shortening his name, especially to Willi – which of course had made his sister do it quite often.

The two of them chatted for a few moments, more amicably than usual, then Andi passed the phone back to her mother.

William had his fussy tone. ‘Mum, Kerry’s worried about Andi. She wants to come round and see her tomorrow some time. Is that all right?’

Knowing how much the two young women disliked one another, Sophie said at once, ‘No. We’re not having visitors at the moment.’

‘Kerry’s not a visitor, she’s family.’

‘Even so.’

‘She needn’t stay long.’

‘William, did you hear me say no? We do not want any visitors, even family. Your sister needs peace and quiet to recover. Now, I really have to get back to work.’

She put the phone down without waiting for his answer and saw Andi smiling at her. ‘What’s so amusing?’

‘The way you put your foot down with William. I’m glad you did. Kerry is the last person I want to talk to.’ Andi’s smile faded. ‘But I bet she turns up tomorrow anyway.’

‘If she does, we’ll pretend we’re not at home. She can’t force us to open the door, after all.’