‘You can thank him yourself next time we run into him.’ She bent towards him for another kiss, and this time, he held her in his arms and looked into her eyes for just a moment before kissing her forehead softly and pulling her into him for a hug. That was Eddie – he was a great hugger. Liv loved when he pulled her close like this. It felt as if he was shielding her from any harm that might decide to come knocking on their door.

‘So, this dinner?’ he said looking round and topping up his glass from the open bottle of red wine her mother had left on the big old kitchen table.

‘Ahem?’ she said, holding her hands out.

‘Oh, yes.’ He smiled at her. ‘Your gift? It’s in the car – do you want me to get it now?’ he asked.

‘If you think it’s the right time?’ Liv could hear everyone moving about in the sitting room. Her father was shepherding them into the old parlour that they’d set up as a dining room with her grandmother’s long mahogany table at its centre and mismatched chairs that her mother had picked up from auction rooms and charity shops over the years before she’d lovingly restored the lot.

‘I don’t mind…’ he said, although she could tell by his body language that he was only reluctantly making for the door. It was hardly the most romantic spot to ask her to marry him.

‘No, we’ll leave it until later,’ she said, reaching out to his arm. At this stage, with her father in the hallway and a dinner to pop on the table, it would all feel a bit rushed. Liv didn’t want to be proposed to in a hurry, as if it could be slipped in between courses. It needed to be more special than that. The anticipation of finally getting that beautiful ring on her finger might just kill her over lunch, but it would be worth it. She was going to be Mrs Quirke, hopefully by the end of the coming year, and then they could start on having a family and really settling into life as she’d always imagined it.

She dipped the ladle into her home-made French onion soup for starters. She would have to avoid the croutons for Barbara – but otherwise it tasted great.

It was perfect; everything was going to be just wonderful, wasn’t it? Just as soon as they got this dinner over with and she and Eddie could be alone together, he would sweep her off her feet – wouldn’t he?

*

It had been a very long night. For everyone.

Finn O’Connell was transferred to ICU. Thankfully, as yet there was no sign of any internal bleeding; however, he was still unconscious.

‘Peggy?’ Liv said when she saw one of the nurses replacing her. For a second Liv did a double take.