‘You know what, Clara, I could always do with a hug from my best girl,’ Jo said, her mood soothed by the sweetness of this little girl.

A broad smile broke out over Clara’s face as she scrambled up onto the sofa and curled herself into the nook made by Jo’s legs. She wrapped her thin pale arms around Jo, and rested her head on Jo’s chest.

‘I missed you,’ Clara said. ‘But Mammy and I had so much fun. The best fun. And she let me sleep in her bed! And we went for an ice cream. And we did art. But I still missed you.’

‘Well, I’m home now,’ Jo smiled. ‘I missed you too. Sure, aren’t you the best wee sister in the whole entire world?’

She looked down to see Clara nod her head vigorously. ‘I am.’

There was a pause and Jo revelled in feeling the weight of Clara’s body against hers, the strength of her squeezy hug. She kissed the top of Clara’s head and counted her blessings.

‘Jojo,’ Clara said, her voice quiet, ‘I was worried you were going away for a long time and I wouldn’t see you again.’

‘Clara, I promise you that you will always see me again. I will never go away for a really long time. Even when I move back to my flat, or move to live somewhere new, I will visit all the time. And you can come and have sleepovers with me. You can even bring Buttercup.’

‘I heard you tell Mammy you had to go on a plane to meet the book man. Will you go away for weeks and weeks like Daddy? Or go away and not come back like my other mammy?’

Jo felt her heart ache for this gorgeous little girl who was still confused and hurt by her past. It made Jo’s own self woes pale into insignificance. She also felt a little impressed by her bat-like hearing. No conversation took place in that house without her hearing it, it seemed.

‘Oh, darling heart,’ she said, pulling Clara even closer. ‘Yes. I do have to go on a plane to see a man about my book. He’s called Graham and he wants to help me get it made into a real book you can buy in a shop. But it’s only a meeting. I’ll be gone for maybe one or two sleeps. That’s all. I promise. And you will always, always have us. Mammy and Daddy and Noah and Libby and Auntie Mags and all our friends. And we have so much to look forward to. Like Daddy coming back, and Noah and Libby getting married. We’ve got to pick your flower-girl dress too!’

‘Libby says Buttercup can have her own fancy dress too,’ Clara said, her eyes wide with excitement, and that was all it took to make everything right in her world again.