The light shadowed his face. His hair was messy and he needed to shave but he looked a lot less bleak than when she’d seen him last at Hörnan in Gamla Stan.

Then Josie popped out beneath his arm, her face shining. ‘Hello, Hannah! We met you at the wedding, didn’t we? We’ve come to live here. It’s called Middledip.’

Maria, not to be outdone, squirmed under Josie’s arm, socks drooping off the ends of her toes. ‘’Ullo!’ Her round face creased in a grin. The three of them looked like a picture entitled ‘We are family!’ Ratty glanced between them and Hannah with an expression of interest then thanked Hannah for the wine and melted away into the evening.

Nico’s blue eyes held an unsettling expression. Was it consternation? Brain whirling, Hannah dropped her gaze to Josie. ‘Wow, you’ve come to live here? I didn’t know that was going to happen.’

‘I’ve left my old school, Maria’s staying with us and Mum’s staying at Grandma’s,’ chattered Josie. ‘Come and see our new room. Maria and I are sharing.’

‘Well—’ Hannah took a step back.

Josie patted Nico’s arm. ‘You were going to make coffee, weren’t you, Dad?’ Then, beckoning as if she could scoop Hannah into the house if she did it enthusiastically enough, ‘We can show you upstairs while my dad boils the kettle.’

‘Mydad kettle,’ Maria echoed, puffing her lips and sticking out her belly.

With a small smile Nico stepped back. ‘Come in. Apparently, I’m about to make coffee.’

Hannah didn’t have the heart to disappoint the girls. ‘I’ll remember I have to rush home before you get to the coffee stage if you like,’ she murmured, stepping past him into a kitchen where boxes littered the uneven flagged floor between plain wooden units.

‘C’mon!’ yelled Josie. Bare lightbulbs lit their way through a room where a sofa stood smothered by more boxes and into a miniature hall. Both girls took the staircase on all fours, Josie scurrying like a spider and Maria hopping like a frog.

It didn’t take long to admire the new bedroom. Black bin bags stuffed full enough to pop were shoved against two bare single beds and wardrobes with matching drawers. ‘Dad’s going to get curtains. There are two windows,’ Josie pointed out.

‘One, two!’ yodelled Maria and jumped onto a bin bag.

‘I’m going to FaceTime with Mum later so she can see us in our new room.’ Josie tugged Hannah out across the tiny landing to another door. ‘This is Dad’s room.’ Another bare bed, this time a double, stood among the boxes and bags. ‘And the bathroom.’ Josie showed Hannah a room with just space enough for loo, basin and a bath with shower over.