As she turned the corner the sight of the bakery windows all boarded up gave her a painful jolt. The windows above the shop were blackened, gaping hollows, the brickwork charred.

Anna fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief, feeling foolish. It had been nearly a month since the fire, and she had been coming at least once a week to see it ever since.

And every time it made her cry.

‘Back again, love?’ Anna started at the sound of Mr Hudson’s voice. He had come out of the shop next door, wiping his hands on his stained apron.

‘Yes.’ Anna quickly stuffed her handkerchief back in her coat pocket, determined not to let him see her weep.

Mr Hudson came to stand beside her, looking up at the roof. The last few remaining slate tiles clung precariously to the soot-blackened skeleton of the rafters. ‘I daresay it must be a shock for you, seeing it like this again.’ He shook his head. ‘And they say lightning doesn’t strike twice, eh?’ He paused, and Anna felt his sidelong look. ‘I don’t s’pose there’s any word on …’

‘No.’ Anna cut him off abruptly.

‘Well, you know what they say. No news is good news. I’m sure he’s safe and sound somewhere.’

‘I hope so.’ She meant it, too. In spite of everything he had done to her, she would never want Edward to suffer what she had gone through.

Even now, just thinking about it made her heart drum again her ribs in fear. She could almost feel the burning heat in her throat, her eyes stinging, the terrible panic as she fought to breathe in the choking smoke …

No, she wouldn’t have wished that on her worst enemy.

‘And to think young Tom Franklin went to all that trouble to rebuild it after the last time,’ Mr Hudson was saying. ‘A crying shame, I call it. What does your father say about it? I daresay he’s heartbroken, ain’t he?’

‘I haven’t told him.’

‘But surely you should?’

‘Why? It was Edward’s shop.’ Anna glanced at the sign over the door. She could only make out the letters ‘S’ and ‘G’ in the blistering paintwork.

‘Yes, but—’

‘You said yourself, Mr Hudson, my father would be heartbroken if he knew. And since he’s so settled in Germany now, I see no reason to upset him. I think he’s been through enough, don’t you?’

But Mr Hudson wasn’t listening. He was looking past Anna’s shoulder, a broad grin on his face.

‘Well, I never! Look who it is. We were just talking about you, young man.’

Anna froze, every muscle tensing like a hunted animal’s.

Edward.

She didn’t dare turn round. She couldn’t trust what she might do if she had to look into his face again, not after everything that had happened …

And then she heard his voice, a voice she’d never thought she’d hear again.

‘Is that right? And what would you have to say about me?’