Jo looked at the empty coffee cup on her desk. ‘Can you make it a decaf? That last one was a bit strong and I can feel my heart going nineteen to the dozen.’

‘Maybe that’s just the effect I have on people,’ Lorcan said with a cheeky smile before immediately apologising. ‘Sorry,’ he said. ‘It’s probably a bit too soon for cheesy flirty banter. I’m just nervous.’

‘Not as nervous as I am,’ Jo told him and as he walked to get their drinks, she realised she hadn’t been exaggerating. Spending time with Lorcan Gallagher unnerved her.

When he came back, he sat down and before she even had the chance to take her first drink of decaf he started to speak.

‘I think I’m just going to have to come out and say all this,’ he began. ‘Because, ever since Friday, I’ve been running this through my head on a loop and the only way to stop it is to just tell you the truth. I hate that you think badly of me…’

‘I don’t,’ she interrupted.

‘You do a bit,’ he said, with a sad smile. ‘And I can understand that. You care about Grandad and I appreciate that more than you know. We all do, you know, his family. I respect that you are protective of him, but I really did have a valid reason for not coming over last summer.’

She twisted the napkin that had been on the table in front of her, feeling a little uneasy. ‘You don’t have to…’

‘I do,’ he replied, and cleared his throat. ‘Last summer. When Grandad took ill, I desperately wanted to come back and help Dad look after him. I even went as far as to book the ticket for my flight, but then…’ He glanced to the ground. ‘Sophie and I had been together a long time, as I told you. I suppose, well, last summer was when it all started to go wrong. Specifically, two days after Grandad took ill. Even more specifically, about six hours before I was due to board a flight to Belfast.’

He looked a little grey of face, and if Jo wasn’t mistaken, she could see the muscles in his forearm tense as he replayed the memory of whatever it was that happened in his head.

‘Sophie was pregnant,’ he blurted and Jo felt dizzy. Memories of her own short-lived pregnancy flooded her mind, and the pain that had accompanied it. Looking up, she was sure she saw that same pain in Lorcan’s eyes and everything started to make sense.

Jo wanted to speak. She wanted to stop him opening up about this pain, but she couldn’t find the words. But it was all so close to her own trauma that she was almost scared of hearing any more.