I nodded in agreement. ‘In that case, my favourite has to be my tenth birthday party. I was so embarrassed I could have cried when she started singing that Sugababes song. Then she began the rap and jumped on the table, and all those scary girls from school started clapping along and squealing. For one, sweet day I felt good enough. They were all lining up for her autograph.’

Jed nodded his approval. ‘The big shows were great, but nothing beats a personal performance.’

‘I’m so angry with myself for missing so many of her last ones.’ I pressed my head into my hands, although the pain was lower than that, ripping through my chest.

‘You have a choice now, Bea. It’s one I talk to my students about almost every day. You can beat yourself up about what’s happened. Allow the guilt to keep gnawing away. Or, you can accept that the only thing you can change now is what happens next. Make the most of that.’

‘Only she might not have any time left.’

He was silent for a moment. ‘Maybe not. But the rest of us do.’

We found Mia chatting quietly with Henry, having finally persuaded the children to get some sleep after hearing that Nana Joy was sleeping, too. She made a pot of tea and assembled a platter of leftover Christmas Day cheese and crackers. I felt weary down to my bones, but, once I’d hauled myself up to the attic, found it impossible to settle. Instead, I opened up my social media accounts, deciding to work through some of the comments and messages in the hope that it would take my mind off things.

There was a semblance of comfort to be found in reading the Christmas greetings and chatter between the people who frequented my feeds. Mrs Lewinski thought it hilarious that I’d gone looking for her and ended up starting a street party, offering me a formal invitation to have lunch in the new year.

As I scrolled down, responding with a like or a brief reply where appropriate, a realisation started to bloom.

I love this.

I love these people, this community I’ve helped to build.

I don’t know if I want to leave them, to give this up.

What Henry had said was true. While I’d presented Baxter Bigwood with my ‘vision’ for how I could replicate the success of my local role on a national scale, it would be impossible for one person to manage. There were already so many people actively involved online that it was getting hard to keep track of the different profiles. Baxter had mentioned assistants, media people, but did I want a random intern posting while pretending to be me?