Nico stared at Mattias, his mind refusing to supply the comforting words that he wanted to offer. So he put his arms around the brother he sometimes hardly knew and gave him a long, long hug.

‘Don’t tell Mum and Dad,’ Mattias choked against Nico’s shoulder.

It was a phrase siblings said to each other all the time but it was so long since Nico had heard it that he had to swallow a lump in his throat. ‘No, I won’t. It’s up to you and Felicia how and when you tell people. I’m incredibly sorry.’

Then Lars began to draw the curtain back and they broke apart. Mattias said, ‘You might as well take Dad. I’ll go back to work.’ He stuck out his hand to Nico. ‘Have a good trip home tomorrow.’ It made Nico hope that they’d reached a better understanding.

While Lars rested after lunch the girls baked with Carina, Maria spending a lot of time squidging one piece of dough but Josie lapping up all the stirring and rolling. Nico watched, heart aching. The sisters were getting closer and closer. He’d been so wrapped up in solving the immediate problem he hadn’t thought of the long game. He couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid.

He mooched out of the kitchen and collapsed on the sofa in the next room, mind whirling.

Hannah followed him out. ‘Are you ill?’ she whispered, her face creased with concern.

He shook his head, holding out his arms. ‘Just realised that when Loren gets well, the girls won’t be living a ten-minute walk away from each other. They’re going to be wrenched apart.’

‘Oh.’ Her arms tightened around him. ‘I hadn’t thought of it.’

Josie burst in wearing an apron that wrapped right around her like a dress. ‘When we go to the rink, Farmor’s going to stay with Farfar and cook pork with mushrooms for dinner. It’s our Swedish Christmas tonight, isn’t it?’

‘You’re right,’ said Nico, summoning a smile that Josie was taking no notice that he was hugging Hannah. Each night they’d spent together they’d been careful to be back in their own beds well before the children woke up because there were certain scenarios you eased kids into carefully. Josie might not ask after Loren very often but was bound to be unsettled by the realisation that Nico had found somebody new. ‘After Farmor’s special dinner we’re going to exchange our Swedish family gifts. We’ll go soon so Farfar can rest. Your saffron buns will have baked ready for when he wakes.’