She was happy with the love of her family and friends. She was reminded there was good in the world through her growing relationship with Clara, then just a chubby toddler. Watching the world through the eyes of a child was a great leveller.

But Jo Campbell still held a part of herself back. She never wanted to be hurt again like she had been hurt by Colm. So she put up walls around her heart and settled into her safe zone where she lived and worked among people who she knew would always love her.

And until recently that had been more than enough for her, but at the same time that she unlocked the need to chase her dream of becoming a published author, she started to wonder if there were other chances worth taking.

It was time to take down the walls around her heart.

19

Grease

Jo looked in the mirror and saw an adult looking back. Groomed. Professional. Sensible, but stylish. She was definitely stylish. The blue suit did indeed bring out the blue in her eyes. The conditioning treatment had done what it promised and her hair was frizz-free and in sleek curls, which tumbled from a funky updo that screamed ‘bohemian chic’.

While normally her make-up routine involved some tinted moisturiser and a brush of mascara, Jo had gone all out and had attempted contouring, which had involved watching some pretty baffling YouTube videos and using three different make-up sponges and five different brushes to give her a natural no-make-up look.

A pair of her favourite earrings and the fine silver bracelet her parents had bought her for her twenty-first birthday finished the look.

‘Fake it, ’til you make it,’ she told herself as she took a deep breath and got ready to leave for Once Upon A Book.

She’d snapped a quick picture and sent it to Erin, who had Facetimed her immediately to wish her all the luck in the world and tell her she was ‘smoking hot’. Jo had grinned and admitted that for the first time in a long time she felt ‘smoking hot’.

‘Well, I hope Mr McLachlan appreciates the effort you’ve gone to. Although you can admit to me that it’s the luscious Lorcan you really want to wow,’ Erin had said.

Jo had blushed and immediately denied it, but if Lorcan did happen to think she looked nice then that wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. And she knew he was going to be there. True to her word, she’d spoken to Libby and had arranged an extra ticket just for him. As it happened, Libby was only too delighted to invite a possible love interest to an event Jo would be attending, even though Jo had told her that Lorcan was most certainly not in a place for a new relationship.