‘I think you should,’ Rob corrected her, comfortingly. ‘Leesa and I will call on Nan and Brett at the weekend and check all’s OK. You go drink snaps, eat that Christmas smörgåsbord thing – what is it? Julbord? And tell Pettersson he’s lucky to have help from my stupid sister.’

‘I will.’ Hannah, whose mind had whirled with a mix of excitement and doubts all day, had relaxed, though she wasn’t sure she’d follow the advice about snaps. The fiery Swedish liquor was meant to help you digest but she generally preferred a nice glass of wine.

Now her ears popped as the aircraft throttled back for its final descent. She glanced across the aisle to see Nico giving Maria a drink. He was a thoughtful dad. Probably because Sweden was a few hundred metres below her, Albin flashed into her mind. What kind of father would he have made? She could barely imagine. He’d had such a strangely distant relationship with his own parents he’d have no warm and loving example to follow. Would he have thought to give a toddler a drink so her swallowing would equalise the pressure in her ears?

She couldn’t imagine that either.

Turning back to the window to watch the airport rushing closer, snowy pine trees ranged behind its white-roofed buildings, she wondered again if she’d be able to grab time to whiz up to Stockholm and track Albin down. The funds he owed her still hadn’t arrived and now he wasn’t answering her phone calls except with brief texts like, Incredibly busy. It was as if he was enjoying playing telephone tag, awarding himself points for not responding adequately to messages or calls. The train took two and a half hours from Älgäng to Stockholm and she’d need another half hour to get from Stockholm Centralstation to Frihamnen where his office was. Building security was high but a hullaballoo in reception should force a reaction from him.

She’d probably avoid Gamla Stan. It would upset her to see her lovely shop in its new guise as a sleazy ‘private club’. She shuddered.

Then they were landing, bumping onto the runway, the engines roaring into reverse thrust. Josie turned and grinned, blue eyes dancing. ‘I feel as if Mr Invisible’s pulling me out of my seat.’ She called across the aisle. ‘Maria! Did that feel funny?’

Maria laughed and dropped her cup to clap her hands. ‘Yeah! Funny, Yozee. Funny, Mydad.’

Nico deftly caught the cup and grinned at Josie and Hannah. ‘Välkommen till Sverige.’

‘Tack, det är härligt att vara här igen,’ Hannah replied. Then she translated ‘Welcome to Sweden’ and ‘Thanks, it’s good to be back’ for Josie. ‘Now you can say, “Tack, Pappa,” for “Thanks, Dad.”’

‘Dad taught me that,’ Josie cried. ‘Tack, Pappa. And if Farmor gives me a meal I say, Tack för maten.’