‘You’ll ruin my car with crumbs and jam,’ he said in a funny voice.

‘Oh, shut up, we both know that you’re probably going to get a new one as soon as next year’s plates are out.’ Pete drove a very flash car, too flash really for him, but it was a company car and they insisted on buying the very best for their senior executives. They could banter like this the whole way home, but it was late and Liv was tired after her shift. She closed her eyes and leant her head against the window.

‘It’ll be nice to get home though, won’t it?’ Pete said softly.

‘It will,’ Liv agreed, because there really was nowhere like Ballycove at Christmas time.

‘Any big plans this year?’ he asked and for a moment, Liv wondered if Eddie had said something about the ring. Probably not – Eddie and Pete weren’t that close. Liv was the glue that held them together.

‘Nothing special. What about you?’

‘Quiet. I’ll spend Christmas Day at home, do the washing up before I slump in front of the telly and then spend the next day trying to walk off the effects of my mum’s pudding and brandy sauce.’ He laughed at this – didn’t everyone feel the same way on St Stephen’s Day. Wasn’t that why the beach was packed with walkers and the village annual five-a-side pulled in even the least sporty bodies around. ‘I hear there’s big plans at your place…’

‘Oh?’ Liv tried to keep the surprise from her voice. Eddie must have mentioned something. ‘Really, I don’t know what you’re talking about,’ she said, but she shot up straighter in the seat, all tiredness falling from her with even the hint of Eddie proposing to her.

‘Yeah, I heard you had invited Eddie and Barbara over for Christmas.’ He shook his head and made a snorting sound that she knew, if she was honest, she’d probably have shared with him. Everyone in the village knew that Eddie’s mother, Barbara, was a complete nightmare. ‘Now that really is going the extra mile to spread the Christmas spirit.’

‘Ah, come on, Pete, she’s not that bad.’ Liv was trying hard to think of one good trait the woman could lay claim to, apart from being Eddie’s mother.

‘You would say that – you never see the bad in anyone.’ Pete laughed kindly. It had long been a running joke between them – Liv expected the best from everyone she met and mostly, she figured that was what she got.