‘I know you love us all. We couldn’t ask for better. I just meant that you give your undivided time and energy to Clara now, which is exactly as it should be. She doesn’t have to share you with anyone. She doesn’t want for love and attention, but it must be hard for her. How was she when she went to bed?’

Her mother sighed – one of those huge sighs that come right from your soul. ‘By then she was crying and I was crying, although I did my best to hide it from her. I did leave her in her room, but she must have sneaked into yours. I wish I knew how to make it better for her.’

‘But, Mum, you make it better for her every day. She just has to go through it and she’s still so young. I wonder, maybe, if Noah could talk to her a little? He knows what it’s like to move into a whole new family. I know it was different and he was older… but…’

Jo thought back to the day a moody, broken teenager arrived to stay with them, his family having been wiped out in a horrible accident. She had helped him come back out of his shell and learn how to laugh again. Even though he was older than her, their bond was immediate and she couldn’t ever imagine her life without him in it, but however much they had become his family, for Noah there would always be a part of him missing, a part that had been taken away when he lost his family.

‘That might just be a great idea,’ her mother said. ‘I don’t know how I didn’t think of it myself.’

‘Because you’ve been busy parenting all day!’ Jo said.

‘I’ll call in to see Noah tomorrow. Chat to him about it and ask him what he thinks.’

‘I think he’s taking tomorrow off,’ Jo replied. ‘But he has no plans other than taking Paddy for a walk and meeting with Libby later on to discuss their guest list.’

‘Okay, love. That’s good to know. Thank you, darling. Do you want me to carry Clara back to her own bed?’

‘Not at all,’ Jo protested. ‘She’s fine in beside me.’

Her mother crossed the room and pulled Jo into a hug, kissing the top of her head. ‘I love you, darling.’

‘I love you more,’ Jo said back, and she meant it.